Get windows devices names with python and sounddevice

I needed to get the mic name to avoid changing a script that used it, every time I changed the mic or just the usb port for the mic. So I found that the sounddevice module was the best for my purpose and that’s how easy is to get it and use it in a program that needs it. You can check the specs too of the devices.

So, if you need to know the name that windows uses for its devices, like a microphone for example, in your programs you can do this:

import sounddevice as sd

def get_mic_name():
    "Uses sounddevice to get the name of the mic in case it changed"
    s = sd.query_devices()
    audio = f"""{s[1]["name"]})"""
    return audio

name = get_mic_name()

So, here I am getting the name of the mic, that (in my case) is the “name” key of the second dictionary in the list of dictionaries that are made by the query_devices function class of sounddevice.

Watch the video to get an example of use of it.

The program I use to record the screen

This needs to be adapted to your needs, but I post it here in case you could take some tips out of it for your needs.

import os
import glob
import sounddevice as sd


x = 0

def ask():
    root = "G:\\video\\"
    filename = input("Nome del file: ")
    filepath = root + filename + ".mp4"
    return filepath, root

def automatic_name():
    "Crea il nome da solo / ora chiedo il nome del file prima"
    global x

    fld = "G:\\video"
    if not fld + str(x) + ".mp4" in glob.glob(fld + "*.mp4"):
        filename = fld + str(x) + ".mp4"
    else:
        x += 1
        record()
    filename = fld + filename + ".mp4"
    return filename


def get_mic_name():
    "Uses sounddevice to get the name of the mic in case it changed"
    s = sd.query_devices()
    audio = f"""{s[1]["name"]})"""
    return audio


def record(filename):
    # audio = "Microfono (Logitech USB Headset)"
    # audio = "Stereo Mix (Realtek High Definition Audio(SST))"
    audio = get_mic_name()
    print(f"Using {audio}")
    i = f"-i audio=\"{audio}\""
    # video_size = "1366x768"
    video_size = "1680x1050"
    
    # added a compressor 15/03/2020
    # Capture both screens
    # i = f"-i video=\"UScreenCapture\":audio=\"{audio}\""
    #Capture one screen
    #screen = "UScreenCapture"
    #screen = "gdigrab"
    screen = "UScreenCapture"

    compressor = "-af acompressor=threshold=0.089:ratio=9:attack=200:release=1000"
    # attenuate 10db at 1000 Hz
    # equalizer = "-af \"equalizer=f=1000:width_type=h:width=200:g=-10\""
    # Apply 2 dB gain at 1000 Hz with Q 1 and attenuate 5 dB at 100 Hz with Q 2:
    # equalizer = "-af \"equalizer=f=1000:t=q:w=1:g=2,equalizer=f=100:t=q:w=2:g=-5\""

    #lowpass at 1000
    b0 = -8
    b250 = 4
    e1000 = -8
    e4000 = 0
    e16000 = -8
    equalizer = f"-af \"firequalizer=gain_entry='entry(0,{b0});entry(250,{b250});entry(1000,{e1000});entry(4000,{e4000});entry(16000,{e16000})'\""

    # echo = "-af aecho=1:0.3:10:1"
    # echo = "-af aecho=1.0:0.7:10:0.5"
    echo = ""

    # fr = input("Frame rate (10):")
    fr = 10
    os.system(f"""ffmpeg -y -rtbufsize 200M -f gdigrab -thread_queue_size 1024 -probesize 10M -r {fr} -draw_mouse 1 -video_size {video_size} -i desktop -f dshow -channel_layout stereo -thread_queue_size 1024 {i} {compressor} {equalizer} -c:v libx264 -r 10 -preset ultrafast -tune zerolatency -crf 25 -pix_fmt yuv420p -c:a aac -strict -2 -ac 2 -b:a 128k -vf "pad=ceil(iw/2)*2:ceil(ih/2)*2" {echo} "{filename}" """)


# filename = "rtmp://youtube_stream_url/03r8-71q2-yrvm-bbe7"
filepath, root = ask()
print(root)




def mk_bat(cmd):
    command = "py -m " + cmd
    with open(root + cmd + ".bat", "w") as file:
        file.write(command)


# # Create the join.bat program
# command = "py -m joinmp4"
# with open(root + "join.bat", "w") as file:
#     file.write(command)

# create the frame rate program
mk_bat("joinmp4")
mk_bat("framerate")



with open("c:\\users\\giova\\desktop\\ffmpeg_open.bat", "w") as file:
    file.write("start " + root)


record(filepath)
# os.startfile("timer.py")

# TO OPEN THE FOLDER 
os.system("start " + root)