Recording

Kwave is able to record audio data from various sources, with all sample rates, sample formats and other modes that your sound hardware supports. Currently Kwave records through the old OSS sound interface, and since v0.7.4 also the newer and more powerful ALSA interface that is the preferred choice for linux kernel 2.6.

The recording can be reached from the menu under File->Record.

Here is a screenshot of the Kwave record dialog, showing the first page with the recording controls during a running recording session. Like in most dialogs of Kwave you can get some help or see tooltips on the controls.

Here you have the following controls:

Pre-Record: If the pre-recording feature of Kwave is enabled and the recording is startet, Kwave records into an internal buffer which is some seconds long. If you press the Record ( ) button again, then the recording really starts, and also keeps the already pre-recorded data. This is useful for example if you want to record your favorite song from radio, but you recognize too late that the song has started. In this case you can still press the record button and get the start of the song from what Kwave has already pre-recorded before, so that you will no longer miss a start.
Record-Time: If the length of the recording should be limited to some time, you can activate this setting and select a time in hours, minutes, seconds for your recording. If this option is not enabled, the recording runns until you press the Stop () button.
Record Trigger: If enabled, the recording starts only if the volume of the input goes over a certain limit, which can be defined from 0 to 100% of the highest possible input volume. This is useful if you do not want to record leading silence.
The New () button is active when the recording is not running or is finished, to discard the current file content and start again.
The Stop () button is active when the recording or pre-recording is running or Kwave is waiting for the trigger. If pressed, the current progress will be stopped.
The Pause () button is active when the recording or pre-recording is running. The first time you press it, the rcording will be halted and the button starts blinking. When you press it again the button will stop blinking and recording will continue immediately, without waiting for a trigger.
The Record () button starts the recording and/or prerecording, depending on the features enabled above:
1. If neither prerecording nor trigger level are used, the recording starts as soon as you press the record button.
2. If prerecording is not used and a trigger level is set, the first press will let Kwave wait for the trigger level to be reached. While waiting for a trigger, you can force the recording to start immediately by pressing the record button again, otherwise the recording will start automatically when the trigger level has been reached.
3. If prerecording is enabled, the first press starts only the prerecording and the second press really starts the recording.