# Audio Configuration

This is often the hardest part to setup, but don't worry, if you follow theses steps, everything should be ok

# Test Audio Input

The first task it to check if the audio is working. In a terminal window run the following command to record

arecord test.wav

Press "Ctrl+C" to stop the recording and then type the following command to hear the recording

aplay test.wav

If you hear what you recorded everything is setup properly and you can move on to the the profile setup section. If it did not work correctly continue with this section.

# Install alsa-utils

If you get a message like -bash: arecordi: command not found and you are running a Debian derivative like Raspbian, then you probably just need to install alsa-utils using the command sudo apt install alsa-utils.

# Setup Audio

Run the following command to display every audio output device, i.e. speakers

aplay -l

The command should output something like this:

card 0: ALSA [bcm2835 ALSA], device 0: bcm2835 ALSA [bcm2835 ALSA]
  Subdevices: 7/8
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
  Subdevice #1: subdevice #1
  Subdevice #2: subdevice #2
  Subdevice #3: subdevice #3
  Subdevice #4: subdevice #4
  Subdevice #5: subdevice #5
  Subdevice #6: subdevice #6
  Subdevice #7: subdevice #7
card 0: ALSA [bcm2835 ALSA], device 1: bcm2835 ALSA [bcm2835 IEC958/HDMI]
  Subdevices: 1/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0
card 1: Headset [Logitech USB Headset], device 0: USB Audio [USB Audio]
  Subdevices: 0/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

Here you can see we have: An analog audio output is on the card 0 and subdevice 0 (card0, device0). And an USB audio output is on the card 1 and subdevice 0 Run the following command to display every audio input device, i.e. microphones

arecord -l

The command should output something like this:

List of CAPTURE Hardware Devices
card 1: Headset [Logitech USB Headset], device 0: USB Audio [USB Audio]
  Subdevices: 0/1
  Subdevice #0: subdevice #0

Here we can see an USB microphone input on card 1 and subdevice 0

Now we are going to create the appropriate .asoundrc file. Use the analog output as our audio output (speakers on the jack port) and use the USB input as our audio input (microphone on the USB)

sudo nano /home/pi/.asoundrc

Then type the following parameters

pcm.!default {
   type asym
   playback.pcm {
     type plug
     slave.pcm "hw:1,0"
   }
   capture.pcm {
     type plug
     slave.pcm "hw:1,0"
   }
}

Save to your home directory and Close the file and then restart audio system. To restart on a init.d based services use the following command:

sudo /etc/init.d/alsa-utils restart

For restart where services are managed by Systemd use the following command:

systemctl --user restart pulseaudio.service

Now redo the Test Audio Input. If you now hear something then everything worked and you can move onto the profile setup section.