Talk:Tutorial - Recording Computer Playback on Linux
Steve 16Sept11: Most (by popularity) Linux desktop systems use PulseAudio as the default sound system. In the past PulseAudio has been buggy on many systems, but is very much improved these days, so I propose that the first method in the Recording Computer Playback on Linux tutorial should be to use PulseAudio.
In cases where PulseAudio is the default sound system, I don't think it is necessary to go into a description of what PulseAudio is (you don't need to explain the engine management system within instructions for how to drive a car). So here's a proposal of some revised text (taken from this post on the forum):
PulseAudio
If the Device toolbar lists pulse then you can record computer playback using PulseAudio.
You will need the Pulse Audio Volume Control application (pavucontrol), so if not already installed, install it now. If available, it may also be useful to install the PulseAudio Device Chooser (padevchooser) for easy access to the Pulse Audio Volume Control.
- Open Audacity and select pulse as the recording device.
- Click on the Recording meter to activate it, then open Pulse Audio Volume Control. Audacity should be listed in the Recording tab of pavucontrol.
- Set Audacity (in pavucontrol) to record from the "Monitor" of your sound card. The available options are typically Internal Audio Analog stereo and Monitor Internal Internal Audio Analog Stereo, in which case you would select the latter.
Audacity will now record whatever is playing through the sound card.
For a more detailed description, see Stereo Mix with Ubuntu 10 on the Audacity wiki.
