man1/arecord.1

#

    arecord()							    arecord()

    NAME
      arecord - An AF record client.

    SYNOPSIS
      arecord [-server audioserver]	[-d device] [-l	length]	[-t time] [-
      silentlevel level (dB)] [-silenttime time] [-printpower] [-g gain] [-e
      encoding] [-B] [-L] [file]

    DDESCRIPTION

      arecord reads	samples	from the audio server and writes the data to file, or
      stdout if file is not	specified.  The	file will be written in	a sample for-
      mat appropriate for the record device.  By default, the byte order of	any
      16 bit data will be that of the host on which	arecord	is executing.

    OPTIONS

      -server audioserver

           Specifies which audio server to connect to in order to record the
           sound file.  If audioserver is not specified, arecord uses the default
           server.	See the	AUDIOFILE environment variable.

      -d device

           Specifies which audio device to record the sound	file from.  If device
           is not specified, arecord defaults to the first device that isn't con-
           nected to the telephone.

      -l length

           length of sound data to record, specified in seconds.

      -silentlevel level

           level (in dBm) below which the sound is deemed to be silent.  The
           default value is	-60

      -silenttime time

           time (in	seconds) of silence which will terminate the recording.	 The
           default value is	3.0.

           If either -silentlevel or -silenttime is	set, then arecord will ter-
           minate recording	after so many seconds of "silence".

      -e ncoding

           encoding	will specify the type of the data to be	written	to the file
           or standard output.  Legal values are described in the audio.h header
           file, and may be	obtained via arecord -e	xxx.  The -e flag simply
           informs the AF server of	the datatype. Some encodings may fail if they
           are not supported by the	AF server.  See	also aconvert(1).

      -g gain

           A gain in dB can	be used	to attenuate or	amplify	the sound data prior
           to recording from the audio server.  Many AF servers do not support
           client gain on record, so use with suspicion.

      -printpower

           Print input power level in dBm on stderr	every block (8 times a
           second).

      -B

           Specifies that for 16 bit data, the bytes are in	"Big Endian" byte
           order (e.g. Sparc, RIOS,	PA).

      -L

           Specifies that for 16 bit data, the bytes are in	"Little	Endian"	byte
           order (e.g. Alpha, Intel	x86, VAX).

      -t time

           time can	be used	to adjust the audio device time	at which the the
           arecord client begins to	record the sound data.	A positive value of
           time will begin recording time seconds in the future.  If time is
           negative, sound data will be returned from time seconds in the past.
           If the time offset begins earlier than the start	of the recording
           buffer, silence will be returned.  Defaults to 0.125 seconds.

      file

           arecord writes data to file in the current working directory

    ENVIRONMENT

      AUDIOFILE	 specifies the host and	server to use.

    BUGS
      If you encounter a reproducible bug, please submit a problem report to
      (af-bugs@crl.dec.com).

    SEE ALSO
      AF(1), aplay(1)

    COPYRIGHT
      Copyright 1992-1994, Digital Equipment Corporation.
      See AF(1) for	a full statement of rights and permissions.

    AUTHORS
      Digital Cambridge Research Lab