Just for informational purposes, not all audio device drivers include the Stereo Mix device. It is actually very common for laptops not to have Stereo Mix as part of the audio devices. My laptop does not. My desktop does show it as a hidden/disabled device. I actually have to enable it for one of my games or it crashes.
Does the OP just want to record whatever sound is coming from speakers?
EDIT: It seems so.
Here's how I achieved that.
-Installed Realtek HD Audio Manager and it installed a device 'Stereo Mix' (and 2-3 more but that aren't important for the objective) as shown in sceenshot.
-Make sure it is enabled.
-Play something like a song.
-Open Sound Recorder and start recording.
Last edited by EzioAuditore; 13 Apr 2012 at 03:59.
Wkesi2:
The fact is that some sound cards simply will not provide "stereo mix" or "what you hear" recording, regardless of settings, in Windows 7. The "show disconnected devices" or "show disabled devices" idea will not work.
Stereo mix is somewhat more difficult than it was in Vista, and a lot more difficult than it was in XP. As you suspect, it was likely made more difficult in Windows 7 deliberately, to pacify those who don't want you to easily record on your PC.
Here are your choices:
1: try the cable connector from line out to mic in as mentioned previously.
2: try all possible pre-Windows 7 drivers for your existing sound card (Vista, XP, modified drivers found on the net, etc). Try them in normal and compatibility modes. Sometimes this works, but it is a lot of trial and error.
3: Get another sound card known to provide stereo mix on Windows 7. The following cards are likely to provide stereo mix:
HT Omega Striker 7.1
Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi series (excluding Extreme Audio series) and Sound Blaster Audigy series (excluding Sound Blaster Audigy LE, SE, and Audigy Value).
Most any external USB sound card, such as Behringer UFO 202
4: I have heard that certain recording applications, such as Total Recorder, can get around this limitation. I assume Soundflower and Screenflow that you mentioned work similarly to Total Recorder. Unfortunately, the widely used Audacity application cannot by itself get around the limitation. If you want to use Audacity, you would have to try method 1, 2, or 3 above.
There is a fifth option that will cost some money. There are devices out there that capture video and audio from VCRs and digital television receivers. Some of them are called Personal Video Recorders (PVRs). Most video editing software will provide the user with a method to extract just the audio from the video recording, usually in .wav format. There is software out there that will then convert .wav to mp3 or whatever format you want.
To connect a video capture device to your computer, you would need a Y cable splitter (stereo to RCA converter/headphone to RCA converter). I do this all the time for capturing video off my computer for my PhD research. I have used my video editing software to extract audio from video and convert that audio to mp3 before, as well.
Thanks everyone for your suggestions! I really do appreciate it. The problem at this point seems to be that my sound card is simply incapable of recording the system audio. If I try to get it to work that way, I'll probably end up getting an external usb one like ignatzatsonic suggested. Thanks again everyone :)
That's too bad you don't have Stereo Mix. I just tried Audacity using SM as the input device and set to record on sound. I then went to the Sounds panel, clicked on a system sound and hit Test. Audacity recorded it.
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