pacat(1)
NAME
pacat - Play back or record raw or encoded audio streams on a PulseAudio sound server
SYNOPSIS
paplay [options] [FILE] parecord [options] [FILE] pacat [options] [FILE] parec [options] [FILE] pamon [options] [FILE] pacat --help pacat --version
DESCRIPTION
pacat is a simple tool for playing back or capturing raw or encoded audio files on a PulseAudio sound server. It understands all audio file formats supported by libsndfile.
OPTIONS
-h | --help
Show help.
--version
Show version information.
-r | --record
Capture audio data and write it to the specified file or to
STDOUT if none is specified. If the tool is called under the
name parec this is the default.
-p | --playback
Read audio data from the specified file or STDIN if none is
specified, and play it back. If the tool is called under the
name pacat this is the default.
-v | --verbose
Enable verbose operation. Dumps the current playback time to
STDERR during playback/capturing.
-s | --server=SERVER
Choose the server to connect to.
-d | --device=SINKORSOURCE
Specify the symbolic name of the sink/source to play/record this
stream on/from.
--monitor-stream=INDEX
Record from the sink input with index INDEX.
-n | --client-name=NAME
Specify the client name paplay shall pass to the server when
connecting.
--stream-name=NAME
Specify the stream name paplay shall pass to the server when
creating the stream.
--volume=VOLUME
Specify the initial playback volume to use. Choose a value
between 0 (silent) and 65536 (100% volume).
--rate=SAMPLERATE
Capture or play back audio with the specified sample rate.
Defaults to 44100 Hz.
--format=FORMAT
Capture or play back audio with the specified sample format.
Specify one of u8, s16le, s16be, s32le, s32be, float32le,
float32be, ulaw, alaw, s32le, s32be, s24le, s24be, s24-32le,
s24-32be. Depending on the endianness of the CPU the formats
s16ne, s16re, s32ne, s32re, float32ne, float32re, s32ne, s32re,
s24ne, s24re, s24-32ne, s24-32re (for native, resp. reverse
endian) are available as aliases. Defaults to s16ne.
--channels=CHANNELS
Capture or play back audio with the specified number of
channels. If more than two channels are used it is recommended
to use the --channel-map option below. Defaults to 2.
--channel-map=CHANNELMAP
Explicitly choose a channel map when playing back this stream.
The argument should be a comma separated list of channel names:
front-left, front-right, mono, front-center, rear-left, rear-
right, rear-center, lfe, front-left-of-center, front-right-of-
center, side-left, side-right, top-center, top-front-center,
top-front-left, top-front-right, top-rear-left, top-rear-right,
top-rear-center, or any of the 32 auxiliary channel names aux0
to aux31.
--fix-format
If passed, the sample format of the stream is changed to the
native format of the sink the stream is connected to.
--fix-rate
If passed, the sampling rate of the stream is changed to the
native rate of the sink the stream is connected to.
--fix-channels
If passed, the number of channels and the channel map of the
stream is changed to the native number of channels and the
native channel map of the sink the stream is connected to.
--no-remix
Never upmix or downmix channels.
--no-remap
Never remap channels. Instead of mapping channels by their name
this will match them solely by their index/order.
--latency=BYTES
Explicitly configure the latency, with a time specified in bytes
in the selected sample format. If left out the server will pick
the latency, usually relatively high for power saving reasons.
Use either this option or --latency-msec, but not both.
--latency-msec=MSEC
Explicitly configure the latency, with a time specified in
milliseconds. If left out the server will pick the latency,
usually relatively high for power saving reasons. Use either
this option or --latency, but not both.
--process-time=BYTES
Explicitly configure the process time, with a time specified in
bytes in the selected sample format. If left out the server will
pick the process time. Use either this option or --process-time-
msec, but not both.
--process-time-msec=MSEC
Explicitly configure the process time, with a time specified in
miliseconds. If left out the server will pick the process time.
Use either this option or --process-time, but not both.
--property=PROPERTY=VALUE
Attach a property to the client and stream. May be used multiple
times
--raw Play/record raw audio data. This is the default if this program
is invoked as pacat , parec or pamon
--file-format[=FFORMAT]
Play/record encoded audio data in the file format specified.
This is the default if this program is invoked as paplay and
parecord
--list-file-formats
List supported file formats.
LIMITATIONS
Due to a limitation in libsndfile paplay currently does not always set the correct channel mapping for playback of multichannel (i.e. surround) audio files, even if the channel mapping information is available in the audio file.
AUTHORS
The PulseAudio Developers <pulseaudio-discuss (at) lists (dot) freedesktop (dot) org>; PulseAudio is available from http://pulseaudio.org/
SEE ALSO
pulseaudio(1), pactl(1)
Opportunity
Personal Opportunity - Free software gives you access to billions of dollars of software at no cost. Use this software for your business, personal use or to develop a profitable skill. Access to source code provides access to a level of capabilities/information that companies protect though copyrights. Open source is a core component of the Internet and it is available to you. Leverage the billions of dollars in resources and capabilities to build a career, establish a business or change the world. The potential is endless for those who understand the opportunity.
Business Opportunity - Goldman Sachs, IBM and countless large corporations are leveraging open source to reduce costs, develop products and increase their bottom lines. Learn what these companies know about open source and how open source can give you the advantage.
Free Software
Free Software provides computer programs and capabilities at no cost but more importantly, it provides the freedom to run, edit, contribute to, and share the software. The importance of free software is a matter of access, not price. Software at no cost is a benefit but ownership rights to the software and source code is far more significant.
Free Office Software - The Libre Office suite provides top desktop productivity tools for free. This includes, a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation engine, drawing and flowcharting, database and math applications. Libre Office is available for Linux or Windows.
Free Books
The Free Books Library is a collection of thousands of the most popular public domain books in an online readable format. The collection includes great classical literature and more recent works where the U.S. copyright has expired. These books are yours to read and use without restrictions.
Source Code - Want to change a program or know how it works? Open Source provides the source code for its programs so that anyone can use, modify or learn how to write those programs themselves. Visit the GNU source code repositories to download the source.
Education
Study at Harvard, Stanford or MIT - Open edX provides free online courses from Harvard, MIT, Columbia, UC Berkeley and other top Universities. Hundreds of courses for almost all major subjects and course levels. Open edx also offers some paid courses and selected certifications.
Linux Manual Pages - A man or manual page is a form of software documentation found on Linux/Unix operating systems. Topics covered include computer programs (including library and system calls), formal standards and conventions, and even abstract concepts.
