diff --git a/cmd/revid-cli/main.go b/cmd/revid-cli/main.go
index ab55188a..b0fc89a1 100644
--- a/cmd/revid-cli/main.go
+++ b/cmd/revid-cli/main.go
@@ -138,7 +138,7 @@ func handleFlags() revid.Config {
 		// Audio specific flags.
 		sampleRatePtr = flag.Int("SampleRate", 48000, "Sample rate of recorded audio")
 		channelsPtr   = flag.Int("Channels", 1, "Record in Mono or Stereo (1 or 2)")
-		recPeriodPtr  = flag.Int("recPeriod", 1, "How many seconds to record at a time")
+		recPeriodPtr  = flag.Float64("recPeriod", 1, "How many seconds to record at a time")
 		bitDepthPtr   = flag.Int("bitDepth", 16, "Bit Depth to record audio at.")
 	)
 
@@ -209,9 +209,9 @@ func handleFlags() revid.Config {
 
 	switch *inputPtr {
 	case "Audio":
-		cfg.WriteRate = uint(*recPeriodPtr)
+		cfg.WriteRate = 1.0 / (*recPeriodPtr)
 	default:
-		cfg.WriteRate = *frameRatePtr
+		cfg.WriteRate = float64(*frameRatePtr)
 	}
 
 	if len(outputs) == 0 {
diff --git a/revid/audio-input.go b/revid/audio-input.go
index 40e80abb..c19a4d21 100644
--- a/revid/audio-input.go
+++ b/revid/audio-input.go
@@ -52,6 +52,8 @@ const (
 	stopped
 )
 
+var rates = [8]int{8000, 16000, 32000, 44100, 48000, 88200, 96000, 192000}
+
 var log *logger.Logger
 
 // audioDevice holds everything we need to know about the audio input stream.
@@ -141,7 +143,7 @@ func (a *audioDevice) Start() {
 	a.mu.Unlock()
 }
 
-// Stop will stop recording audio and close
+// Stop will stop recording audio and close the device
 func (a *audioDevice) Stop() {
 	a.mu.Lock()
 	a.mode = stopped
@@ -178,7 +180,7 @@ func (a *audioDevice) open() error {
 	for _, card := range cards {
 		devices, err := card.Devices()
 		if err != nil {
-			return err
+			continue
 		}
 		for _, dev := range devices {
 			if dev.Type != alsa.PCM || !dev.Record {
@@ -214,8 +216,7 @@ func (a *audioDevice) open() error {
 	// so that it can be easily downsampled to the wanted rate.
 	// Note: if a card thinks it can record at a rate but can't actually, this can cause a failure. Eg.
 	// the audioinjector is supposed to record at 8000Hz and 16000Hz but it can't due to a firmware issue,
-	// to fix this 8000 and 16000 must be removed from this slice.
-	rates := [8]int{8000, 16000, 32000, 44100, 48000, 88200, 96000, 192000}
+	// to fix this 8000 and 16000 must be removed from the rates slice.
 	foundRate := false
 	for i := 0; i < len(rates) && !foundRate; i++ {
 		if rates[i] < a.SampleRate {
diff --git a/revid/audio-input_test.go b/revid/audio-input_test.go
index a77158a6..0a1cb44e 100644
--- a/revid/audio-input_test.go
+++ b/revid/audio-input_test.go
@@ -3,32 +3,80 @@ package revid
 import (
 	"testing"
 
-	"bitbucket.org/ausocean/av/container/mts"
-	"bitbucket.org/ausocean/av/container/mts/meta"
-	"bitbucket.org/ausocean/iot/pi/netsender"
+	"github.com/yobert/alsa"
 )
 
-func TestAudioPipeline(t *testing.T) {
-	mts.Meta = meta.New()
-	var logger testLogger
-	ns, err := netsender.New(&logger, nil, nil, nil)
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Errorf("netsender.New failed with error %v", err)
+func TestAudioDevice(t *testing.T) {
+	// We want to open a device with a standard configuration.
+	ac := &AudioConfig{
+		SampleRate: 8000,
+		Channels:   1,
+		RecPeriod:  1,
+		BitDepth:   16,
+		Codec:      ADPCM,
 	}
 
-	var c Config
-	c.Logger = &logger
-	c.Input = File
-	c.InputPath = "../../test/test-data/av/input/original_8kHz_adpcm_test.pcm"
-	c.Outputs = []uint8{File}
-	c.OutputPath = "./test-temp"
-
-	rv, err := New(c, ns)
+	// Check that a device exists with the desired parameters.
+	cards, err := alsa.OpenCards()
 	if err != nil {
-		t.Errorf("revid.New failed with error %v", err)
-	} else if rv == nil {
-		t.Errorf("revid.New did not return a new revid")
+		t.Skip("skipping, no audio card found")
 	}
+	defer alsa.CloseCards(cards)
+	var testDev *alsa.Device
+	for _, card := range cards {
+		devices, err := card.Devices()
+		if err != nil {
+			continue
+		}
+		for _, dev := range devices {
+			if dev.Type != alsa.PCM || !dev.Record {
+				continue
+			}
+			testDev = dev
+			break
+		}
+	}
+	if testDev == nil {
+		t.Skip("skipping, no suitable audio device found")
+	}
+	_, err = testDev.NegotiateChannels(2)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Skip("skipping, no suitable audio device found")
+	}
+	foundRate := false
+	for i := 0; i < len(rates) && !foundRate; i++ {
+		if rates[i] < ac.SampleRate {
+			continue
+		}
+		if rates[i]%ac.SampleRate == 0 {
+			_, err = testDev.NegotiateRate(rates[i])
+			if err == nil {
+				foundRate = true
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	if !foundRate {
+		_, err = testDev.NegotiateRate(defaultSampleRate)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Skip("skipping, no suitable audio device found")
+		}
+	}
+	_, err = testDev.NegotiateFormat(alsa.S16_LE)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Skip("skipping, no suitable audio device found")
+	}
+	_, err = testDev.NegotiateBufferSize(8192, 16384)
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Skip("skipping, no suitable audio device found")
+	}
+	if err = testDev.Prepare(); err != nil {
+		t.Skip("skipping, no suitable audio device found")
+	}
+	testDev.Close()
 
-	rv.Stop()
+	ai := NewAudioDevice(ac)
+
+	ai.Start()
+
+	ai.Stop()
 }
diff --git a/revid/config.go b/revid/config.go
index d914e221..82a940a1 100644
--- a/revid/config.go
+++ b/revid/config.go
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ type Config struct {
 	IntraRefreshPeriod uint
 	RtpAddress         string
 	SendRetry          bool
-	WriteRate          uint // How many times a second revid encoders will be written to.
+	WriteRate          float64 // How many times a second revid encoders will be written to.
 
 	// Video
 	Height        uint
diff --git a/revid/revid.go b/revid/revid.go
index 9fa2f560..982910d7 100644
--- a/revid/revid.go
+++ b/revid/revid.go
@@ -161,8 +161,8 @@ func (r *Revid) reset(config Config) error {
 	r.config.Logger.SetLevel(config.LogLevel)
 
 	err = r.setupPipeline(
-		func(dst io.WriteCloser, fps, medType int) (io.WriteCloser, error) {
-			e := mts.NewEncoder(dst, float64(fps), medType)
+		func(dst io.WriteCloser, fps float64, medType int) (io.WriteCloser, error) {
+			e := mts.NewEncoder(dst, fps, medType)
 			return e, nil
 		},
 		func(dst io.WriteCloser, fps int) (io.WriteCloser, error) {
@@ -196,7 +196,7 @@ func (r *Revid) setConfig(config Config) error {
 // mtsEnc and flvEnc will be called to obtain an mts encoder and flv encoder
 // respectively. multiWriter will be used to create an ioext.multiWriteCloser
 // so that encoders can write to multiple senders.
-func (r *Revid) setupPipeline(mtsEnc func(dst io.WriteCloser, rate, mediaType int) (io.WriteCloser, error), flvEnc func(dst io.WriteCloser, rate int) (io.WriteCloser, error), multiWriter func(...io.WriteCloser) io.WriteCloser) error {
+func (r *Revid) setupPipeline(mtsEnc func(dst io.WriteCloser, rate float64, mediaType int) (io.WriteCloser, error), flvEnc func(dst io.WriteCloser, rate int) (io.WriteCloser, error), multiWriter func(...io.WriteCloser) io.WriteCloser) error {
 	// encoders will hold the encoders that are required for revid's current
 	// configuration.
 	var encoders []io.WriteCloser
@@ -246,7 +246,7 @@ func (r *Revid) setupPipeline(mtsEnc func(dst io.WriteCloser, rate, mediaType in
 		} else {
 			mediaType = mts.Video
 		}
-		e, _ := mtsEnc(mw, int(r.config.WriteRate), mediaType)
+		e, _ := mtsEnc(mw, r.config.WriteRate, mediaType)
 		encoders = append(encoders, e)
 	}
 
diff --git a/revid/revid_test.go b/revid/revid_test.go
index 17739221..ece494ca 100644
--- a/revid/revid_test.go
+++ b/revid/revid_test.go
@@ -232,7 +232,7 @@ func TestResetEncoderSenderSetup(t *testing.T) {
 
 		// This logic is what we want to check.
 		err = rv.setupPipeline(
-			func(dst io.WriteCloser, rate int, mediaType int) (io.WriteCloser, error) {
+			func(dst io.WriteCloser, rate float64, mediaType int) (io.WriteCloser, error) {
 				return &tstMtsEncoder{dst: dst}, nil
 			},
 			func(dst io.WriteCloser, rate int) (io.WriteCloser, error) {