Linux CLI Audio Cheatsheet

Related Posts

• Linux CLI Cheatsheet

Manage Volume

Increase Volume

amixer -D pulse sset Master 2%+

Decrease Volume

amixer -D pulse sset Master 2%-

Set Specific Volume

Set volume to a specific amount:

amixer -D pulse sset Master 50%

Manage Microphone

Listen To Microphone

If you want to hear what your microphone sounds like, then do the following:

arecord -f cd - | aplay -

Listen To Microphone And Record

If you wish to record the microphone whilst listening to it, do the following:

arecord -f cd - | tee output.wav | aplay -

List Microphones

arecord -l

List Audio Sources

pactl list sources

Create Virtual Microphone

SOURCE_NAME="virtmic"
FILE_PATH="$HOME/virtmic"

pactl load-module module-pipe-source \
  source_name=$SOURCE_NAME \
  file=$FILE_PATH \
  format=s16le \
  rate=16000 \
  channels=1

If you need to find a source name, be sure to list audio sources.

Set Default Microphone

pactl set-default-source $SOURCE_NAME

Play Sound Down Virtual Microphone

SOUND_FILEPATH="/path/to/example.mp3"
VIRTUAL_MIC_FILEPATH="$HOME/virtualmic"

ffmpeg -re \
  -i $SOUND_FILEPATH \
  -f s16le \
  -ar 16000 \
  -ac 1 - \
  > $VIRTUAL_MIC_FILEPATH

References

• Ask Ubuntu - Terminal command to set audio volume?
• Ask Ubuntu - How to hear my voice in speakers with a mic?
• Stack Overflow - Linux pipe audio file to microphone input
• Unix And Linux - How to merge two microphone inputs into a single virtual microphone in realtime?
• arecord: Linux Command to List all Soundcards and Digital Audio Devices