Any software to record from USB device even if removed & reinserte

2013-06-12 12:00:58

I can't seem to formulate a suitable search expression to find software with the feature I'm after.

Does anyone know of any software that will RECORD or APPEND-RECORD lossless audio whenever a particular USB Sound Card device is connected and resume when re-connected without any further user input?

I was trying to record a live performance using Audacity from a Bose Tonematch on-stage soundboard/mixer over USB cable where it acts as a USB sound card with my laptop screen closed, on the floor by the music stand.

The device is recognised in Windows 7 as "Bose USB Stereo Audio" (from memory), and its native format is 48000Hz 24-bit stereo. No sampling rate or bit depth negotiation is required or possible, as far as I'm aware.

This works well usually, but this time the performer inadvertently unplugged/replugged the power or turned the Bose USB device on and off before starting the performance, effectively disconnecting and reconnecting a USB device from my system.

As a result, Audacity automatically stopped recording once the USB sound card wasn't visible and did not resume, so it only recorded the preceding 10 minutes with all channels on MUTE and not the show itself that began a little later.

So, I'm wondering if there's a program that will just record or append lossless audio to a file whenever a certain audio USB sound card device is detected?

Any software to record from USB device even if removed & reinserte

Reply #1 – 2013-06-12 12:05:45

I could easily script it in BASH with arecord and polling /proc/asound/cards. No idea about Windows.

Any software to record from USB device even if removed & reinserte

Reply #2 – 2013-06-12 15:57:13

Thanks for the hint, skamp.

Of course, that ought to be a good deal easier in Linux, as would keeping control of the running processes and their priorities.

Actually, I was thinking about dual-booting into some form of Linux as I'd been having problems with Windows Media Center polling USB to look for my DVB-T device when it wants to record a TV program and causing brief audio dropouts in my Audacity recordings (which means I have to go into the recording schedule and clear it before starting a recording session, not to mention killing a load of other tasks for good measure).

Perhaps when I get round to replacing my HP ProtectTools security management with a disk encryption that supports Linux and Windows 7 (TrueCrypt, it looks like), I'll go ahead (or I'll clear an unencrypted partition specially, which could improve speed a little). I'm thinking of trying Ubuntu, maybe Mint, or even GNUGuitarINUX with its real-time kernel, and perhaps I'll try more than one option. A slimmed-down commandline-only shell would be fine for a single-purpose like this and would probably save enough power to enable me to run for longer on battery (e.g. turn off GPU, turn off networking, turn off screen)

Thanks again, those are good pointers.

Any software to record from USB device even if removed & reinserte

Reply #3 – 2013-06-12 17:38:26

Just a thought and don't actually know how feasible, but you could experiment with a virtual Linux machine inside your current Windows installation. Latest versions of hypervisors like VirtualBox or VMWare let the VM grab direct access to an USB port and write to a folder in the host filesystem.

Any software to record from USB device even if removed & reinserte

Reply #4 – 2013-06-12 17:47:00

My advice is, Don't use a computer for recording anything critical, unless you have a backup system recording in parallel....  Computers are the least reliable gadgets we own!*

Many times (like in your case) you don't realize there's a problem 'till the next day.  And usually, the fix isn't as quick-and-simple as re-starting Audacity. 

Also, don't use a computer for anything that's critical to a live performance unless you have a backup.

A microphone can last a lifetime.  A guitar amplifier can last nearly a lifetime without failing (or without failing badly-enough to shut-down the show).    A computer rarely goes a year without a problem. 

...You should carry some spare cables with you too.



* Usually it's a user error or configuration problem rather than a "computer failure", but the bottom line is still the same...  Sooner or later, you will have computer problems.  The trick is to make sure that a compuer failure doesn't shut-down (or delay) the show, or fail to record something critical where there's no chance for "take two"

Any software to record from USB device even if removed & reinserte

Reply #5 – 2013-06-15 21:19:31

Thanks for the pointers folks. I might try a virtualized Linux to try things out first before I switch my disk encryption and run it alone.

Fortunately these show recordings are "nice-to-have" rather than critical, but the advice to have a backup recording device is sound. The number of podcasts I've heard where they've admitted they had to redo a whole hour or missed most of a live show is quite amazing. Anything important and one-off would be best to double-up. We use an iPad for playing ALAC backing tracks (so far very reliable for practice and shows and easy enough to use on stage and not used for any other purpose), but I have all the backing tracks on the laptop as well and can play through the USB mixer as a USB sound card or via the analogue headphone jack with excellent quality, so the show can go on if the iPad fails (and fb2k can play track-at-a-time). I sometimes have lossy copies on a couple of our smartphones too.