diff --git a/internal/daemon/daemon.go b/internal/daemon/daemon.go
index e72009c..7658eea 100644
--- a/internal/daemon/daemon.go
+++ b/internal/daemon/daemon.go
@@ -172,36 +172,67 @@ func (d *Daemon) handle(c net.Conn) {
 }
 
 func (d *Daemon) toggle() {
-	switch d.status {
+	// Capture current state and prepare action under lock
+	d.mu.Lock()
+	status := d.status
+	var pipelineToStop pipeline.Pipeline
+	var actionChan chan<- pipeline.Action
+
+	switch status {
 	case Idle:
-		// Defensive: if a prior pipeline exists, stop and wait before starting a new one
+		// Clean up any existing pipeline first
 		if d.pipeline != nil {
-			d.pipeline.Stop()
+			pipelineToStop = d.pipeline
 			d.pipeline = nil
 		}
 
+		// Start new pipeline
 		p := pipeline.New()
 		statusCh, actionCh := p.Run(d.ctx)
-
 		d.pipeline = p
 		d.actionChannel = actionCh
 
-		go d.notifier.RecordingStarted()
+		d.mu.Unlock()
 
+		// Stop old pipeline if needed (outside lock)
+		if pipelineToStop != nil {
+			pipelineToStop.Stop()
+		}
+
+		go d.notifier.RecordingStarted()
 		go d.startStatusReader(d.ctx, statusCh)
 
 	case Recording:
+		pipelineToStop = d.pipeline
+		d.mu.Unlock()
+
 		go d.notifier.RecordingEnded()
-		d.pipeline.Stop()
+		if pipelineToStop != nil {
+			pipelineToStop.Stop()
+		}
 
 	case Transcribing:
-		select {
-		case d.actionChannel <- pipeline.Inject:
-		default:
+		actionChan = d.actionChannel
+		d.mu.Unlock()
+
+		// Try to inject (non-blocking)
+		if actionChan != nil {
+			select {
+			case actionChan <- pipeline.Inject:
+			default:
+			}
 		}
 
 	case Injecting:
+		pipelineToStop = d.pipeline
+		d.mu.Unlock()
+
 		go d.notifier.RecordingEnded()
-		d.pipeline.Stop() // aborted during injection
+		if pipelineToStop != nil {
+			pipelineToStop.Stop() // aborted during injection
+		}
+
+	default:
+		d.mu.Unlock()
 	}
 }
diff --git a/internal/pipeline/pipeline.go b/internal/pipeline/pipeline.go
index 15c4713..e7f16f8 100644
--- a/internal/pipeline/pipeline.go
+++ b/internal/pipeline/pipeline.go
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@ import (
 	"log"
 	"sync"
 	"time"
+
+	"github.com/leonardotrapani/hyprvoice/internal/recording"
 )
 
 type Status string
@@ -61,45 +63,62 @@ func (p *pipeline) run(ctx context.Context, statusCh chan<- Status) {
 	log.Printf("Pipeline: Starting recording")
 	statusCh <- Recording
 
-	// Recording phase
-	select {
-	case <-time.After(2 * time.Second):
-		log.Printf("Pipeline: TODO start recording, and on first chunk set transcribing and start streaming with Whisper")
-		statusCh <- Transcribing
-	case <-ctx.Done():
-		log.Printf("Pipeline: Stopped during recording")
+	recorder := recording.NewDefaultRecorder()
+	frameCh, errCh, err := recorder.Start(ctx)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Printf("Pipeline: Recording error: %v", err)
+		statusCh <- Idle
 		return
 	}
+	defer recorder.Stop()
 
-	// TODO: when integrating the recorder, ensure its context is cancelled here on exit paths
-	// Wait for an action or timeout
-	select {
-	case action := <-p.actionCh:
-		switch action {
-		case Inject:
-			log.Printf("Pipeline: Injection started")
-			statusCh <- Injecting
+	// Track statistics for logging
+	frameCount := 0
+	totalBytes := 0
+	startTime := time.Now()
+
+	// Main event loop
+	for {
+		select {
+		case frame, ok := <-frameCh:
+			if !ok {
+				// Frame channel closed, recording ended
+				log.Printf("Pipeline: Recording ended. Total frames: %d, Total bytes: %d, Duration: %v",
+					frameCount, totalBytes, time.Since(startTime))
+				statusCh <- Transcribing
 
-			// Injection work
-			select {
-			case <-time.After(1 * time.Second):
-				log.Printf("Pipeline: Injection complete")
-				statusCh <- Idle
-			case <-ctx.Done():
-				log.Printf("Pipeline: Stopped during injection")
 				return
 			}
-		default:
-			// Unknown action: ignore for now
+			// Log frame details
+			frameCount++
+			totalBytes += len(frame.Data)
+			log.Printf("Pipeline: Received frame #%d - Size: %d bytes, Timestamp: %v, Total bytes so far: %d",
+				frameCount, len(frame.Data), frame.Timestamp.Format("15:04:05.000"), totalBytes)
+			// TODO: pass this channel to the transcriber
+
+		case err := <-errCh:
+			if err != nil {
+				log.Printf("Pipeline: Recording error: %v", err)
+				statusCh <- Idle
+				return
+			}
+
+		case action := <-p.actionCh:
+			log.Printf("Pipeline: Received action: %v", action)
+			if action == Inject {
+				log.Printf("Pipeline: Inject action received, stopping recording")
+
+				if err := recorder.Stop(); err != nil {
+					log.Printf("Pipeline: Error stopping recorder: %v", err)
+				}
+				statusCh <- Injecting
+				return
+			}
+
+		case <-ctx.Done():
+			log.Printf("Pipeline: Context cancelled, stopping")
+			return
 		}
-
-	case <-time.After(10 * time.Second): // use context timeout
-		log.Printf("Pipeline: Auto-timeout, completing")
-		statusCh <- Idle // Instead of Completed
-
-	case <-ctx.Done():
-		log.Printf("Pipeline: Stopped during transcription wait")
-		return
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/internal/recording/recording.go b/internal/recording/recording.go
index 1c311db..d1597c4 100644
--- a/internal/recording/recording.go
+++ b/internal/recording/recording.go
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ func DefaultConfig() Config {
 	return Config{
 		SampleRate:        16000,
 		Channels:          1,
-		Format:            "s16le",
+		Format:            "s16",
 		BufferSize:        4096,
 		Device:            "",
 		ChannelBufferSize: 20,
@@ -175,7 +175,6 @@ func (r *Recorder) captureLoop(ctx context.Context, frameCh chan<- AudioFrame, e
 			case frameCh <- frame:
 				sentCount++
 			case <-ctx.Done():
-				// Context cancelled, stop cleanly after writing any pending frames.
 				return
 			default:
 				droppedCount++
@@ -266,8 +265,8 @@ func (r *Recorder) validateConfig() error {
 	if r.config.Format == "" {
 		return fmt.Errorf("invalid Format: empty")
 	}
-	// For s16le, sample frame size is 2 bytes per sample per channel.
-	if r.config.Format == "s16le" {
+	// For s16, sample frame size is 2 bytes per sample per channel.
+	if r.config.Format == "s16" {
 		frameBytes := 2 * r.config.Channels
 		if r.config.BufferSize%frameBytes != 0 {
 			log.Printf("Recording: BufferSize %d not aligned to frame size %d; audio frames may split",