recording audio from my pc speakers?

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by lbj23, Jul 11, 2007.

  1. lbj23

    lbj23 Private E-2

    I just recently put a different sound card in my computer (Sound Blaster Live 16) and now I can't seem to record streams or or audio from the internet like i was doing with my previous sound card. I was previously recording through the mix-record source on my old sound card but the sound card I have now doesn't have that so how do i record through the sound card I have now? The sources on my new sound card are Wave, TAD-In, Auxiliary, Microphone, Line-In, CD Audio, MIDI, CD Digital, and SPDIF-In. I tried all of them but none worked. Is it not possible with this sound card? Any help would be appreciated.

    And in case you don't understand what I'm talking about, I mean recording not through a microphone but through my pc speakers. Like if I was playing a stream through Windows Media Player or a radio stream online how I could I record it through this soundcard?

    I also didn't know where to post this thread so if this is the wrong place just move it or let me know and I'll post in the right section.
     
  2. risk_reversal

    risk_reversal MajorGeek

    Well you seem to be missing the somewhat vital "What U hear" option. In addition all the entries you have listed, my Creative sound card(s) all have this feature so that whatever you hear through your speakers will be recorded.

    I guess to overcome the problem you could buy a microphone, play what you want on the speakers with the mic adjacent and hope that it works. Obviously, you would need to select the 'microphone' input on the sound card.

    Failing that, get a sound blaster Audigy from ebay they are cheap and will be much better than your current sound card.

    Good Luck
     
  3. Dan Penny

    Dan Penny Specialist

    Try (free) Audacity as a recording program. I have a home recording studio and this is what I use. You can save to either .wav or .mp3 formats.

    http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
     
  4. Kiprusoff

    Kiprusoff Private E-2

    what if you got a cable that has 2 male ends on it and plugged one in to the line out and one into the line in and then got a program to record from line in?
     
  5. Dan Penny

    Dan Penny Specialist

    A caution about the above scenario; Most likely all you'll get is distortion, and you can blow the sound card electronics.
     
  6. risk_reversal

    risk_reversal MajorGeek

    Dan Penny is quite correct Audacity is the way forwards. Don't know why I didn't recommend it before as I have it installed on several of my pcs as well as my daughter's Dell whose sound card does not have a 'What U Hear' option on the sound card.

    Good Luck
     
  7. Kiprusoff

    Kiprusoff Private E-2

    how would this cause distortion and blow electronics?
    the line in port is meant to accept audio in
    and line out is meant to put it out, so how exactly would that happen?
     
  8. lbj23

    lbj23 Private E-2


    I just tried this and it worked. I didn't hear any distortion either, it was very clear.

    I downloaded Audacity but I already have a program to record the streams, I needed an alternate way to record since I couldn't record directly through my pc speakers with this soundcard. What is "What U Hear" that you're talking about? I didn't see that. Thanks for the help so far.
     
  9. risk_reversal

    risk_reversal MajorGeek

    When you open Audacity, there is a box in the top centre with a drop down menu. 'What U Hear' option will record the sounds that 'you' hear from the speakers.
     
  10. lbj23

    lbj23 Private E-2

    Are you talking about this? [​IMG]

    I don't see "What U Hear" on the menu. Is it possible that my soundcard doesn't support that feature?
     
  11. Kiprusoff

    Kiprusoff Private E-2

    you could use a male to male cable and if your sound card doesnt support 2 ports giveing off the same audio then you could buy one of those cables that allows you to use 2 sets of headphones on a mp3 player, as another you said it worked for you so why not do it
     
  12. lbj23

    lbj23 Private E-2

    It worked but I'm trying to see if I can record the streams while listening to them. I can't do that using the cable. By the way, thanks for telling me about that.
     
  13. Kiprusoff

    Kiprusoff Private E-2

  14. lbj23

    lbj23 Private E-2

  15. risk_reversal

    risk_reversal MajorGeek

    ibj23 that is very odd. My daughter's Dell laptop has a crappy sound card and in the drop down menu that you showed she has the 'What U Hear' option.

    Since this was puzzling to me, I did a search on this issue and apparently the items listed in the drop down menu are a function of the sound cards capabilities. Bottom line, I found this google groups thread (2nd post)

    http://groups.google.co.uk/group/re...ity+what+u+hear&rnum=1&hl=en#5273894730165126

    which explains this and talks of a progs called Total Recorder which adds the 'What U Hear' function to a computer/soundcard that does not support it natively. However, there is a small $12 cost associated.

    I have never used this before so cannot endorse. Also there may well be a freeware alternative version.

    Good Luck
     
  16. Dan Penny

    Dan Penny Specialist

    My statement was merely "A caution about the above scenario; Most likely all you'll get is distortion, and you can blow the sound card electronics."

    I have a home recording studio with three machines (hence three different sound cards). I have patched pretty well all possible connections tying things together and splitting them (the signals) apart. The "most likely" part of my statement was based upon my experiences doing just that (Line IN to Line OUT). I also italicized "can". I'm not saying all sound cards will react this way, just merely cautioning. I've blown more than one sound card (and more than one amplifier too).
     
  17. Tarquin BA

    Tarquin BA Private First Class

    I occasionally use Audacity to record sounds from sites such as Youtube etc. The setting that works for me is Stereo Mix. There is also a software playthrough option with Audacity so you can play a track whilst recording it (Edit - Preferences - Audio I/O), however you probably won't need this settting unless recording from an external device such as a tape deck or record player, where this was the only way of hearing what is playing.
     

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