Setting Up Professional Audio Recording on FreeBSD

I recently embarked on a project to create a FreeBSD tutorial in my native language, and I wanted to ensure the audio quality was top-notch. To achieve this, I invested in some professional audio equipment, including a RODE PodMic, a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2, and a mic booster.

Connecting the Scarlett 2i2

The Scarlett 2i2 connects via USB, and the first step is to load the USB audio kernel module at boot. Given that the Scarlett supports a sampling rate of up to 24 bits and a bitrate of up to 192 kHz, I wanted to configure my driver to achieve this sample rate. However, due to feature limitations at higher bitrates, I opted to set the maximum bitrate to 96 kHz, which allows me to utilize the Scarlett’s features without compromise.

To configure the audio settings, I added the following lines to my /boot/loader.conf:

# Audio Configuration
snd_uaudio_load="YES"
hw.usb.uaudio.default_bits="24"
hw.usb.uaudio.default_rate="96000"

This configuration will ensure that the system recognizes the Scarlett 2i2 with the desired audio settings.

Verifying the Configuration

After making these changes, you can verify the audio configuration by running the following command:

sysctl dev.pcm.7