"What you hear" option is missing from audacity
Can't record with "What you hear" in audacity
How do i enable "What you hear" recording in audacity
How to record what you hear in vista
This seems to be the question we were having in our last post:
http://gecsoft.blogspot.com/2008/07/audacity-missing-what-you-hear.html
It seemed to be an issue with MS Vista and last time i suggested that it may need a driver update to overwrite the existing one which may be causing some sort of limitation of the "What you hear" function that allows you to record everything your speaker plays.
After a bit of tips and inspiration from Judas (Thanks Judas) from the forum DriverHeaven I've come up with my simple to follow complete guide for fixing (really re-enabling this feature in Vista machine) the problem of not being able to record "What you hear" and lets be honest there are some of us who use this for legit reason and why should we suffer?
SOLUTION
STEP 1 (Re-enabling "Stereo Mix", apparently this is the name of the function in the sound card that allows recording of output audio.)
Start > Control Panel > (In Classic View) Sound > Recording This is for Vista, XP is similar
Right-click in empty area > Click [Show Disabled Devices]
There should be a icon in the list called "Stereo Mix"
Right-click and uncheck [Disable], so it is not disabled (i.e. no tick next to disable)
than click OK and your Done!!
STEP 2 (Getting Audacity to record from the Stereo Mix device) If your not using Audacity, you'll have to search a tutorial for the software your using else search my blog to find out more about Audacity and use it instead. BUT read this part anyway it may contain similar instructions just in different properties dialogues for your software.
Open up Audacity
You will see that the traditional box that has Mic, What you Hear, Line-in etc. is still shaded out and has nothing in it, unlike that of Windows XP and 98se machines. For me at least
OK so what we got to do now and in the future is:
(In Audacity btw) Edit > Preference > (In "Recording" Box) Change the Device to "Stereo Mix (Realtek High Definition)" It may not be Realtek, depending on the brand of your sound card.
Now click [OK]
Open a movie or MP3 and start recording in Audacity, stop and play. Does it play back what you've just recorded? If so your done!
If you ever want to change back to recording from the Mic. change the settings in the "Recording" Box of preferences to Microphone.
Its not as convenient as the Windows XP or 98SE Audacity but at least it now works so you can continue to record sound clips from your digital videos and make mp3 ringtones from family holiday movie sound clips etc. Enjoy!!
If I've helped you solve this huge problem that I thought was impossible too, please post a comment on how I've helped you or how happy you feel in the post. Or you can always support my supporters websites above in Google Ads too if your interested in their products/services.
My final conclusion:
Install and Run WINDOWS XP as dual boot =D
Friday, July 11, 2008
Audacity missing "What you hear" recording option (Follow Up and Success Fixed)
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Thanks a lot
ReplyDeleteand yeah I think the final solution would be to reinstall XP
Very useful and clear, thanks!
ReplyDeleteDoesn't help me. I don't even have the option to "record what I hear" on my computer. I've only got a Mic input.
ReplyDeleteditto. plz help!
DeleteHave you enabled the Stereo Mix in Step 1 of my tutorial?
ReplyDeleteFor some people, especially if you are using an on-board sound card it may be known as "Microsoft Sound Mapper" in Step 1. But on-board sound cards usually get jitter if your computer is under big CPU loads IMO.
Doesnt work for me either... I get the stereo mix up in vista and in audacity, but when I try to record... nothing gets recorded(no, I havent muted my computer)
ReplyDeleteYeah this is a big issue. Are you using a computer designed for Vista or a XP one but running Vista?
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your help. I acutally had to combine your post with another to get it working on my dell. I posed the solution on Fix Dell SoundMax to Record Streaming Audio (ie what you hear) in Vista. I tagged you as a reference.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the help!
Thanks a million!! Your steps worked like a charm!
ReplyDeleteI thought Audacity had a new version that didn't have this functionality anymore or something -- your steps worked great!! Thanks a lot.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the reminder. Whenever I upgrade computers I always have to remember all these little tweaks to get things working right again!
ReplyDeleteDoesn't work for me. After this piece of trash software Vista decided to kill itself so it couldn't boot for some utterly indecipherable reason and there was no way to fix the problem, I had to re-install the piece of trash from zero. Yes. I didn't do anything odd or wrong the day(s) before, one morning it just refused to boot, and there was no way to fix it. So I had to reinstall the piece of trash. And now I can't find the stereo mixer and I am so angry. No, it is not "disabled". It just isn't there. It's as if it doesn't exist. I hear the sound alright, but the stereo mixer can't be found and therefore I can not record anything.
ReplyDeleteI never had this problem before because on my previous Vista install I had the stereo mixer there for two solid years without any problem and I never had to go seek for it. It was there all along. Now, it's missing in action and can't be found anywhere. I can't even put into words how much I hate Microsoft and Windows. I've already spent the last two hours trying to find a solution (nevermind the hours spent on reinstalling not only Vista but all the software and transfering many gigabytes of files). In any case these are hours that are wasted for no reason apart from the utter, complete, total, absofrickinglute failure that is Windows Vista and Microsoft.
THANK YOU SO MUCH!
ReplyDeleteHere is a relatively easy solution for fixing the missing “what you hear” in Vista. It worked for me and should for you. All you need are two cables: a “Y” audio cable with a 3.5mm male plug at one end and two 3.5mm female receptacles at the other, and a short stereo audio cable with a 3.5mm male plug at each end. These can be purchased at Radio Shack, Walmart, etc. I recommend the Shack as they usually know exaclty what you need.
ReplyDeleteNow unplug the line running from your sound card to your speaker/stereo system and plug it into one of the female receptacles on the “Y” cable. Plug the “Y” cable back into your sound card. Next plug your stereo cable with the 1/8” male plugs into the remaining female “Y” receptacle and the “line in” receptacle on your sound card. Now when you open your recorder software you should be able to record from either the “Line-in/Mic-In or Wave/MIDI/CD options. P.S. Make sure
My sound card is a SB “Live” USB. But this solution should work on any card with a line in receptacle. GLTA.
Here is a relatively easy solution for fixing the missing “what you hear” in Vista. It worked for me and should for you. All you need are two cables: a “Y” cable with a 3.5mm male plug at one end and two 3.5mm female receptacles at the other, and a short stereo cable with a 3.5mm male plug at each end. These can be purchased at Radio Shack, Walmart, etc. I recommend the Shack because they almost always know exactly what you need.
ReplyDeleteNow unplug the line running from your sound card to your speaker/stereo system and plug it into one of the female receptacles on the “Y” cable. Plug the “Y” cable back into your sound card. Next plug your stereo cable with the 3.5mm male plugs into the remaining female “Y” receptacle and the “line in” receptacle on your sound card. Now when you open your recorder software you should be able to record from either the “Line-in/Mic-In or Wave/MIDI/CD options.
My sound card is a SB “Live” USB. But this solution should work on any card with a line in receptacle. GLTA.
ummm. did you just ctrl+c, ctrl+v the comment above? plagiarism much?
DeleteThanks Lee Z. for your time and efforts on helping others keep their hair on their heads instead of their hands.
ReplyDeleteAny one have any luck with Lee Z.'s method?
Highly appreciated Lee, Thanks
Worked GREAT! Thanks.
ReplyDelete..on Vista
RIP Vinyl can record what you are listening to on Vista, even if your sound card doesn't support it.
ReplyDeleteHave to admit, I'm biased, as we wrote it.
Anthony Wieser
Wieser Software Ltd
www.ripvinyl.com
Thanks a lot! I've been struggling with this for ages!
ReplyDeleteIve got an HP pavillion laptop.
ReplyDeleteI have no disabled devices.
Ugh!
this worked for me in Windows 7, thanks very much.
ReplyDeleteThanks alot, I've had this problem for a while and now it works :D
ReplyDeleteThank you. I could have spent hours searching to figure this out myself!
ReplyDeletethank you for the fast and easy solution!!
ReplyDeleteFor those of you who dont have what-u-hear option I didnt either and I was like great this isnt gonna work but if you enable the stereo-mix on your vista as said above then go on audacity click the drop down menu from the mic box and select monitor input then record - it works =]
ReplyDeleteWorked in Win7 on a Lenovo/IBM T60 with standard SoundMAX cards. Thanks for the help.
ReplyDeleteFor anyone who doesn't have a 'Stereo Mix' option in the Sound Properties dialog box, try downloading the latest audio drivers for your sound card or motherboard. This worked for me on Win 7 x64 with on-board sound after downloading Realtek drivers from my motherboard's website.
ReplyDeleteThis recorder work correct without Stereo Mix input http://www.abyssmedia.com/isound7/
ReplyDeleteAfter installation you need to select Speakers. That's all.
Thanks so much.
ReplyDeleteFollowed you steps exactly and they worked perfectly. Thanks--you were the third site I tried, but obviously the first to actually fix this. You're a hero! --mark d.
ReplyDelete... ahh i hate bill gates
ReplyDeleteHi
ReplyDeleteI had to download the latest realtek drivers for the onboard sound so I could enable "stereo mix" on the realtek sound manager program.
Get these from your computer manufacturers website.
Brilliant, thanks so much. Couldn't figure out why this worked on XP but not Vista
ReplyDeleteWell, hear it is 2010, two years after your post. Some of us are slow learners, so thanks for keeping this post open. My OS, Vista 64 Ultimate. Yep, it worked just fine at step 2.
ReplyDeleteThanks again,
sdenne
Thanks a lot.
ReplyDeleteI was just about to give up and then i found this.
Works perfect.
::::THANKS::::
I've been struggling with Audacity on Windows 7 but this worked fine, no problem. Bloomin' obvious really. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI have vista, and cannot get it to work!? i dont have stereo mix or 'What-you-hear'
ReplyDeletedamn, my life sucks.
back to the apple macs i think.
Thanks.
ReplyDeletetyvm!:))
ReplyDeleteGreat instructions! Worked on Windows 7 as well.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
THANK YOU I BEEN TRYING TO FIGURE THIS OUT FOR AGES
ReplyDeleteAwesome, thank you very much! I've been wanting to do this!
ReplyDeleteThanks, worked like a charm under win 7.
ReplyDeleteThanks. I had done this before but I forgot about the disabled Stereo Mix device.
ReplyDeleteNote: I'm using Windows 7
Thank you so much, this silly restriction in Windows Vista actually made me stop making my music. Thanks to you I'm back in action!!! w00t!!!
ReplyDeleteAnother windows 7 user who was bemused here. Thanks for the walk-through. Much appreciated.
ReplyDeleteI have this issue with a Sony Vaio, however the the Realtek drivers are crippled.
ReplyDeleteA very simple solution, install your Linux Distro of choice and all is solved.
Next go tell M$ and Sony to go fuck themselves and never buy any of their products again. Now in revenge I'm going to go and pirate to my hearts content.
Great!
ReplyDeleteIt worked with Windows 7.
Awesome! Thank you.
ReplyDeletenice man awesome
ReplyDeleteTop man, thanks!
ReplyDeleteThank you very much, it works great on windows 7 too.
ReplyDeleteGood job!
Very nice to find this when I (felt I) needed it!
ReplyDeleteThank you, thank your for your help! I got it to record properly!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I feel so happy!
ReplyDeleteIt works, but I get an annoying echo-ish sound when I turn up the volume. If ruins the song I try to record and it sounds like my speakers are going to explode
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like you are "listening" or "Line-In" the actual recording? Like what you record is being played back through the speakers?
DeleteFrom Portugal
ReplyDeleteThank you verry much!
Trinchas
Yep, it worked on this Asus Eee netbook with Windows 7 Starter. I had read elsewhere that I would need a PC with a dedicated sound card, but apparently not necessary. By the way, I have to tweak Windows 7 so much just to get up to the same functionality as my Windows 98 machine that it is just ridiculous.
ReplyDelete