parec

Parec is a command-line audio recording utility that is part of the PulseAudio sound server. It records audio from a PulseAudio source and writes the raw PCM data to standard output, or to a file if the output is redirected. The source can be the default recording source or a user-specified one, such as a microphone or a monitor source associated with a playback sink.

As a client of the PulseAudio Simple API, parec does not perform any encoding itself. Users typically pipe its output into a file or into another program that encodes the data (for example, a WAV or MP3 encoder). It is commonly used in scripts, diagnostics, or streaming setups where direct access to the PulseAudio stream is desirable.

Common use cases include capturing system audio by selecting the monitor source of a sink or recording from a microphone. Because it operates through PulseAudio, parec works across different hardware and configurations as long as PulseAudio is running.

Options generally allow selecting the input source, and configuring output characteristics such as sample format, sample rate, and channel count, along with how the output is written. The exact syntax and available options can vary by version, so consulting the man page (parec(1)) or official documentation is recommended for precise usage.

See also: PulseAudio, pacat, pactl, audio sources, and monitor sources within PulseAudio.