Audacity on Cloud Computer #2

I am using VNC via ssh to Cloud Computer, and when I use it in full screen mode, it runs so smoothly and comfortably that it is indistinguishable from my home PC. There is one important problem: most VNC do not support sound. I have yet to find a free one that supports Linux, which is the target of this project (lol). In other words, ordinary Cloud Computer cannot, in principle, use sound. On the other hand, AWS Workspaces is an original application that is not VNC, so it is indeed possible to use sound as a standard feature. I have always thought that I can watch video services such as Youtube and Netflix on my FireTV, so this is not a big problem, but I would like to try VNC with sound one day if I can find one. I was wondering what would happen if I tried to use Audacity on a Cloud Computer with no sound.
When I tried it on AWS Workspaces, I was able to record easily and the sound quality was much better than on my home computer, which was a bonus. As with AWS Workspaces, I started up Pavucontrol, which is a good companion to Audacity, but it did not actually produce sound. The Output Devices showed only Dummy Output, and since there were no other options, I was able to record as is. It is a little inconvenient that I cannot operate the PC while checking the audio output on the home PC side, but the sound quality is very good and the result is better than I expected, just like with AWS Workspaces. It exceeded my expectations (IoI).

Audacity on Cloud Computer

I have a hobby, apart from computers, of extracting sound from various Video objects and listening to it, but I have not heard of other people doing this (:-o), so it might be a minor hobby. However, it seems that our brains process images and sounds at the same time, but actually they are biased toward visual information (I just heard a brain scientist told this), so if you listen to even familiar images with only the sound extracted, you will feel sounds you never noticed before, and you will “see” a different world. (I hope, probably).
I am playing with AWS Workspaces, which I have named Cloud Personal Computer for personal cloud use, and I will try using Audacity there. Audacity is so wonderful audio editing application that can be used on both Linux and Windows, so it can easily be installed on AWS Workspaces . In addition, I’ll install pavucontrol, which works well with Audacity, and since it’s RedHat-based, it looks something like this

$ sudo yum install audacity pavucontrol

With Audacity running and recording started (or paused), simply start pavucontrol and change Audacity’s input in the Recording tab to fit your environment. Of course, for those who want to listen with higher accuracy and sound quality, this may be a little insufficient, but for my hobby level, it is so good. Since it picks up all the sounds of the computer, even operating system error sound are recorded, but since it is a Cloud Computer, it will continue to record even if the physical computer application is closed and left alone (:-).
Also, one of the biggest advantages of the Cloud Computer is that the Cloud Computer is physically located in a data center somewhere, and the network distance from the sound source you want to record is often closer than at home, so the quality is often better. Although the quality of home networks has improved recently, there are still times on weekends when I get what is called “Circling…” and have to pause while watching videos, but I have not yet experienced this with the Cloud Computer. I have the impression that the quality is quite good (of course, it depends on the situation and environment). However, as I wrote a bit about this before , this method can also be used to record various video and music services that are popular nowadays if you try to, so you need to pay attention carefully to the laws and copyrights of each country.

Audacity

 Computers and video/music content have developed by constantly balancing their compatibility with copyright issues. There have been the conflict between copy protection for CDs and DVDs and the law's limits on personal use. And recent advances in computer performance have made it possible to record computer screens with reasonable performance. On the other hand, the technology of the guarding side is also evolving. There are many cases where it is very useful in the range of personal use, and we want to use it while keeping in mind the scope of the law.

I tried using Audacity on Ubuntu Remix installed in my Dynabook N40, which is an audio editing software that is very easy to use, and the Windows and Linux versions are almost the same. By combining Audacity with your computer's audio settings, you can record the sound of your computer. In short, all you have to do is connect the sound output of your computer to the sound input of your computer. Of course, if you try to, you could also record audio from today's subscription services, but please be sure to comply with the laws of your country.

In the past, Windows used to allow you to connect "Output and Input" from the sound settings, but this is no longer possible by default, and you need to install an application such as voicemeeter, but I won't go into that here.

In Ubuntu on my dynabook N40, I installed Pavucontrol and was able to record with Audacity by tweaking the "Set as alternative" item in the "Input Devices" tab.

What you have to be careful of, of course, is that all the sounds of the computer are recorded, so if an error sound occurs during recording due to an operational error, that sound will be recorded as well (:-o). Moreover, Ubuntu Japanese Remix can change the warning sound to "dog" or "water" or "glass" (:-) on the settings menu , but I can't find an item to remove it completely at the moment (;-o). It seems that even if I set the setting volume to zero, the input to Audacity is not zeroed out. I'll try not to touch the dynabook N40 while recording for the time being (lol).