[Trisquel-users] Recording from the sound card output

[onpon4]

I've been wondering this for some time. In Windows, there's an option to  
record from the same source as the sound output; this is called "Stereo Mix"  
in Windows. But in my searches, I have never been able to find a way to do  
this in GNU/Linux. Forum posts tell you to use some special equipment or  
connect the headphone jack to the microphone jack. The problem I have with  
this is I don't have special equipment like tht, and connecting the headphone  
jack to the microphone jack disables the other speakers. Another minor thing  
is I think the audio quality is slightly reduced, though I don't particularly  
notice it, and it's harder to get the volume right because of amplification  
settings in the microphone and not being able to hear it in real time.

So my question is, is there a way to record directly from the output of the  
sound card or speakers (preferably, make the sound card or speaker output  
into an input source as well as an output source)?