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Support: no "Stereo Mix" option? What' the deal here? Many (particularly newer Vista & 7 laptop computers) no longer support recording iNet Radio broadcasts and "streaming audio". They offer no option to select "Stereo Mix (speaker output)" as the record source. Why is this? Well... you'll have an awful time getting computer manufactures/ vendors to admit this but the answer is that they have been pressured by the RIAA (and thus Microsoft) to disable this feature (so that folks can't get fair use out of their system). Their thinking is that folks may use it to illegally (I personally consider this action "fair use" but your mileage may vary) record sound. They (the computer and sound card makers) have "sold you out"! What's the next step they (the RIAA) are working on to limit your "fair use"? The RIAA, computer software developers, as well as computer vendors are working hard to implement a "tag" on any streaming audio (i.e. iNet Radio Broadcasts, etc...) that will not allow the audio stream to be recorded. This is the future! Talk about being super sensitive to copyright issues (well... anyone that would put a 13 year old girl in jail for downloading a few mp3's will do anything I suppose;-( I truly hope it will cause such an outrage, from the folks, that a nationwide protest will arise! The following is info you may be able to use to get "stereo mix" implemented on your system ;-)First - the basics... Setting the Record Source to "Stereo Mix (speaker output) in XP:
Accessing Sounds and Audio Devices:
Setting the Record Source to "Stereo Mix (speaker output) in Vista and 7:
Accessing Sounds and Audio Devices:
Alternative names for "Stereo Mix your system/
soundcard may use. Stereo Mix not supported? Here's some universal solutions: More a work-around than a true solution, this method might work well enough to suit your needs. One good thing about this work-around is that it’s somewhat less technical than trying to install a new sound card or going through a mixer. The basic idea is to “trick” your computer by running a cable from your headphone/speaker (audio out) port directly into the Line in (audio in) port. Note: Vista/7 users, make sure your cable is plugged in so it can be detected and you still have to make sure your Line in port is enabled. What is this mysterious cable and where can you get one? Many electronic component stores will have them for around $5. You can also enter, “3.5mm stereo cable” into your favorite online shopping site. Be sure to get a “male to male” cable. 3.5 mm stereo audio cable. Buy it from your electronics local store.
Connect your computer's in and out jacks with the 3.5mm audio cable.
There are a couple downsides to this workaround. The first downside is that since the sound is going directly from your headphone/speaker, you can’t hear it! This may be very frustrating. The second downside is the audio quality may not be as good as if you could record it directly from your sound card. However, depending on your needs, you may not even notice or care. Here’s what it the cable looks like with the computer:
You can add one more level of workaround trickery by adding a 3.5mm splitter (one 3.5mm male, two 3.5mm female). These are also very inexpensive and allow you to split the headphone/speaker port into two outputs. You can sometimes find these splitters in the MP3 player/iPod section of your electronics store as they allow two people to listen to the same device.
Using this method put the splitter into the headphones/speaker port. Then plug your headphones into one of the female ports. Take your patch cable and connect the other female end to the Line in port on your computer.
Now the good news is that you can hear the system audio so you can achieve precision and synchronization with the audio recording. The bad news is that audio quality will probably degrade. Conclusion: The connected in and out jacks acts like a microphone but the sound loss is minimal because it doesn't go through the air, only small fraction is lost in transmission through the 3.5mm audio cable. This tricks/ fools the computer because it doesn't know that it's recording itself. IMPORTANT! If you do everything as explained and no sound records: make sure you enabled recording option from your Volume Control (explained above): have the "Line In" selected as the record source. NOW FOR A VERY LOW TECH SOLUTION If sound quality is not that important to you - you can just put your PC microphone near your speakers and use "microphone" as the record source. This method will however record any background noise along with the speaker output so quality will not be that great;-( Buy a New Sound Card or Purchase an Audio MixerWe cannot possibly know of, or test all the various models. Be aware that prices and functionality vary dramatically. The main purpose of this section is to raise awareness that
An audio mixer may sound expensive and intimidating, and like many things, prices vary dramatically ($50 – hundreds of dollars). Advantages include the ability to use the mixer with any number of computers, getting a high level of control, great audio quality, and peace of mind that you won’t have to struggle with a multitude of sound card settings, drivers etc. USB mixers are generally preferred, but analog is fine too. Here’s a picture of a cable that might be used with an analogue mixer. The 3.5mm male end of the cable is plugged into the sound card’s audio out (headphone/speaker) port. The other ends are left and right speaker audio that go into the mixer. You'll need another cable to go from the mixer back into your computer’s Line in port.
Here are a couple of examples of hardware that we know have led to high rates of customer success. Sound Card: Customer Support has reported high rates of success with the Sound Blaster Audigy cards from Creative. Cost is as low as approx. $25 and installation is no that technical/ hard UNLESS you have a laptop system.
Below - is a link to a video showing you how easy it is (? = your mileage may vary) to add a REAL soundcard (instead of a embedded chip within your system)... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWrNig2alEc
Audio Mixer: We have reports of success with mixers such as the Alesis MultiMix 8 USB 2.0. Cost is approx. $125: is your best bet for laptop users that want high quality sound recording and don't mind putting out a few bucks.
Here's a software solution that I have personally tested and worked good for me. To be honest - I have spent months to try to "clone" this software but have failed! Such is life? After seeing how really hard it was to develop I contacted the author/ developer to see if he would license it to me so I could include it within most all my software - yes, he would - but at the cost of $4,000.00 per software application that had it embedded. That put me out of the game - as this one feature would add approx. $20.00 (to recover the cost) to every software application I offer - think my sales might suffer?
Virtual Audio Cable is a Windows WDM multimedia driver that allows a user to transfer audio streams from one application to another. Any application is able to send an audio stream to the output side of a "virtual cable" while a corresponding application can receive this stream from the input side. Since all transfers are made digitally there is absolutely no loss in sound quality. VAC is the audio equivalent of a MIDI loopback device such as MultiMid or Hubi. The latest package, VAC 4, includes a 32-Bit and 64-Bit Windows Vista compatible version along with the previous Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista/7. VAC is written entirely in object-oriented C++ and has no external dependencies. Windows 98/ME/2000/XP versions consist of user-mode and kernel-mode components which are compiled from a single source file set. VAC is unique in that if more than one application is sending audio through an output virtual cable, it is able to mix all of the streams together or create separate corresponding virtual input cables. Similarly, more than one application is able to receive audio from an input cable, whether it's sharing the same audio data with another target or receiving its own personal audio stream. VAC is extremely useful for recording an application's audio output in real time or transferring a sound stream to another application so it may process it. A person could use two or more software audio generators/synthesizers/sequencers to produce audio streams and send them to a VAC output cable and record the mixed stream from the VAC input cable using any type of recording software. Due to the fact VAC routes audio streams in real time it is able to be utilized in various unique manners. A person is capable of using VAC to 'steal' an output audio stream from an application that normally does not allow files to be written into WAV. A user could also manipulate VAC into recording conversations through Voice Over IP (VoIP) or Internet Telephony applications such as Skype. Features
This software is offered as 'shareware' (try before you buy) and sells for $30.00. It is highly recommended that you try it out before even considering registration. http://software.muzychenko.net/eng/vac.htm Dell & Sigmatel, Stereo Mix According to my research this driver works perfectly on DELL Inspiron 1525, Dell Lattitude D531 and Dell XPS M1530. Dell & Sigmatel, Stereo Mix This solution was tested on a Dell Expiron 6400 with
Windows Vista Home Premium: Download this newest driver for Windows XP
http://ftp.us.dell.com/audio/R171789.exe IMPORTANT! Run the driver in Windows XP SP2 compatibility mode and it will work in VISTA. After installation you will have the “Stereo Mix” input and control panel will allow you to change the record source. Please note: this drive will work only with Sigmatel C-Major 92XX HD Audio codec. Should be applicable for:
Dell Inspiron 1720 32bit, that originally came with Vista Home,
upgraded to Windows7 Ultimate. Sound card is a Sigmatel STAC
92XX C-Major HD Audio.
This driver solved the problem of not being able to record using
stereo mix - driver (from Dell) >>> http://ftp.us.dell.com/audio/R171789.exe
No Stereo Mix for Conexant HD Audio Just a short comment from Microsoft about “Stereo
Mix” for Conexant High Definition Smart Audio under Windows Vista. Enabling Stereo Mix for Realtek ALC885 According Realtek’s support, all HD Audio Codecs has supported “Stereo Mix” for recording, except ALC861 and ALC660. In some cases, the driver may disable this input due to the manufacturers request (Sony, Dell…). Under Windows Vista installed driver always was the original Microsoft driver and doesn’t support the “Stereo Mix” input. To install Realtek driver: Download the newest driver from Realtek Enabling Stereo Mix with SoundMAX drivers. Audio drivers from ASUS don't support the “Stereo Mix” input, but audio drivers from Intel do the trick. a Wyoming, USA company since 1997
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