Microphone Plugins in OVOS

Microphone plugins in Open Voice OS (OVOS) are responsible for capturing audio input and feeding it to the listener. Introduced in ovos-core version 0.0.8, these plugins allow for flexible integration with different audio backends and platforms.

Usage Guide

To use a microphone plugin in OVOS:

• Install the desired plugin with pip:

pip install ovos-microphone-plugin-<name>

• Update your mycroft.conf (or ovos.conf) to specify the plugin:

{
 "listener": {
   "microphone": {
     "module": "ovos-microphone-plugin-alsa"  // or another plugin
   }
 }
}

• Restart OVOS to apply the new microphone plugin configuration.

Supported Microphone Plugins

Plugin	Description	OS Compatibility
ovos-microphone-plugin-alsa	Based on pyalsaaudio. Offers low-latency and high performance on ALSA-compatible devices.	Linux
ovos-microphone-plugin-pyaudio	Uses PyAudio. Good general-purpose plugin for Linux.	Linux
ovos-microphone-plugin-sounddevice	Built on python-sounddevice. Offers cross-platform support.	Linux, macOS, Windows
ovos-microphone-plugin-files	Uses audio files as input instead of a live microphone—ideal for testing and debugging.	Linux, macOS, Windows
ovos-microphone-plugin-arecord	Wraps arecord using subprocess calls. Simple and effective on systems with ALSA.	Linux
ovos-microphone-plugin-socket	Receives audio over a socket connection. Useful for remote microphone setups.	Linux, macOS, Windows

Technical Explanation

OVOS uses a plugin architecture to decouple the audio input system from the rest of the voice stack. Microphone plugins implement a common interface, making it easy to swap between different audio sources or backends without changing application code.

Each plugin provides a stream of audio data that OVOS uses to detect wake words and perform speech-to-text (STT) processing. The microphone module is configured in the main listener settings, and the selected plugin is loaded dynamically at runtime.

Tips & Caveats

• Performance: For best results on Linux, the ALSA plugin typically provides the lowest latency.
• Cross-platform development: Use the sounddevice or files plugin when developing on non-Linux systems.
• Testing: The files plugin is ideal for automated testing environments where live input isn’t available.
• Remote audio: The socket plugin is a proof-of-concept for networked microphones and is not recommended for production use without customization.

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Coming Soon - Standalone usage examples - How to create your own microphone plugin (plugin template)