ESP32 INMP441 SD and White NOISE

Using Arduino Programming Questions
1

Let me start by saying that what a wonderful community this is. I have been reading and getting help without asking any questions so far for months.
I am a DIY Enthusiast and a software developer, always had fascination for hardware and because of arduino and esp32 i've been looking into it lately.

I have the following setup at the moment.
1: ESP32-WROOM-32U
2: 5v SD Card Module
3: INMP441 Microphones

I am trying to build an automatic audio recorder which turns on upon hearing a certain volume. So far I am able to read and write streams to SD Card using SD.h and arduino audio tools library but the audio files only contain white noise.

I have tried doing it using ESP-IDF with i2s_read but failed. Moved to Arduino IDE which made my life much easier but still can't get it to work.

Here is my test code:

#include <AudioTools.h>
#include "SD.h"
#include "FS.h"
#include <SPI.h>

// Uncomment and set up if you want to use custom pins for the SPI communication
#define REASSIGN_PINS
int sck = 0;
int miso = 4;
int mosi = 15;
int cs = 18;

I2SStream i2sStream;  // Access I2S as stream

File audioFile;  // final output stream
WAVEncoder encoder;

EncodedAudioStream out_stream(&audioFile, &encoder);  // encode as wav file
StreamCopy copier(out_stream, i2sStream);             // copies sound into 

void setup() {
  // Set up Serial Monitor
  Serial.begin(115200);
  //AudioLogger::instance().begin(Serial, AudioLogger::Debug);

  I2SConfig config = i2sStream.defaultConfig(RX_MODE);
  config.i2s_format = I2S_STD_FORMAT;
  config.sample_rate = 44100;
  config.channels = 1;
  config.bits_per_sample = 32;
  config.is_master = true;
  config.use_apll = false;
  // i2s pins used on ESP32
  config.pin_bck = 32;
  config.pin_ws = 25;
  config.pin_data_rx = 33;  // input
//  config.pin_data = 33;     // output

  i2sStream.begin(config);
  out_stream.begin(config);

  SPI.begin(sck, miso, mosi, cs);
  if(!SD.begin(cs)){
    ESP.restart();
  }

  int randNumber = random(30000);

  String filename;
  filename += "/";
  filename += randNumber;
  filename +=  ".wav";

  if (!SD.exists(filename)) {
    audioFile = SD.open(filename, FILE_WRITE);
  } else {
    ESP.restart();
  }
}

void loop() {
  copier.copy();
  audioFile.flush();  // force write down of data
}

Currently only trying to sample data on left channel with 1 microphone. I have been stuck on this for weeks now, any directions would be helpful.
Another issue is that if i remove config.pin_data = 33; ESP starts crashing with Guru Meditation error

2

If someone can point me to the right direction, that would be great.

3

Have you tested that this white noise is not present at the input of your system? (before saving to the SD).