I recently got a new Surface Book as a replacement for my old Surface Pro 2. On that machine I sometimes used to record some audio from different sources like YouTube or some other program running on this machine. I used the Windows WASAPI settings where the input device are my Realtek speakers.
So naturally I wanted the same setup on my new machine. However, when using the exact same settings, I can’t seem to record. I have no idea what’s causing this problem. When starting a recording, it just starts to wait for music/sound even though sound is playing through the speakers. When trying to record through the microphone, there is no problem. It is specific this setup when using the speakers as input that Audacity is unable to record anything.
There’s two different sound pathways in the machine, Record and Playback. When you play something such as YouTube, the sound arrives on the Playback pathway and into your speakers or headphones. Audacity is listening to the Record side.
Unless some method is constructed to connect those two system together, Audacity will only manage the microphone which is naturally part of the Record side.
So what you have now is perfectly normal. The WASAPI settings are supposed to connect the two systems together.
And now we encounter the shortcomings of the Forum. If nobody posted by now; we don’t know, don’t have Windows, or don’t have a Surface Pro. I feature all three.
In Forum-Speak, you need to wait for someone with all three to drop in and help you.