I’m trying to record lines from a TV show for a soundboard kind of thing. I just play the show off of files on my computer. In order to do this, I would normally go to the control panel, go to “sound”, go to “recording”, and then show disabled devices, select whatever internal audio thing I have, and then record from that.
But for some reason the option isn’t there. And I can’t ask Microsoft about this because I have a builder’s copy of the OS which means they won’t help me. Since I use Audacity, and since I assume you guys have probably encountered similar problems, I thought maybe you could help.
As you can see in the screenshot, there are audio devices for playback, but none for recording, and “show disabled devices” is checked off. I normally use a pair of external speakers to play my sound. In Audacity’s preferences, under the Devices section, Recording’s drop-down menu lists “No devices found”. You would think I’d be able to use the Digital Audio (S/PDIF) option to record from, since that’s internal. But no, for some reason, that doesn’t appear on the recording section of either Audacity or the Windows Sound section. There are no new drivers available for it either.
I’m using the latest Audacity. Please help. All I want to do is record sound from my computer. It should be able to work, because it can output sound just fine which means it can interpret those files. I don’t understand why there’s no option for it to record its own internal sound.
Why? What format are the files in? File > Import > Audio… in Audacity.
If you need support for other file formats, install FFmpeg: Audacity Manual .
Have you right-clicked over those microphones and line-in on the Recording tab of Sound > Enable? No programs will see them unless you do.
You may need latest drivers supplied by the motherboard maker if you are to find a stereo mix recording option, and you may not find it even then. But you should also look in the sound device’s own control panel in the Windows Control Panel.
Alright, here’s the deal. Sorry for the late reply:
-I wanted to record the sounds so I could eventually change what my computer says to me when errors happen, to instead fit a favorite character from something I watch. Basically, to make my computer go “I’m sorry master” in stead of making that “PING!” noise when I press the wrong key, among other lines with other things. So I needed a .wav format for that.
-Wishing no disrespect, your idea couldn’t possibly work. First of all, I don’t want to use the “line-in” or “microphone” options. (And yes, they are enabled.) The “Line-in” option is for things I plug into the audio and video ports, not for sounds happening within the computer itself. And using the microphone would be too grainy. What I’m looking for is the sound within the computer itself. A kind of “record what the computer is playing” thing. The problem wasn’t that the options I already had weren’t working. The problem was that I didn’t have an option that was supposed to be there, even when I clicked “Show disabled devices”.
-All of the drivers are up to date. They were windows drivers. They update automatically. And let’s be realistic here: Updating the default drivers rarely ever solves the problem. That’s a last resort solution when you’re at your wits end and you figure “Well nothing else worked, so I might as well give it a shot.” But realistically, whatever issue you have is usually obscure enough that it’ll never get fixed in new driver releases.
BUT NOW THE SOLUTION
I’m replying now so that any frustrated individual who runs into the same problem can see my post in a google search and know immediately what to do. The problem is that I was missing the option known as “Stereo Mix”, which is the “record what you’re playing” option. But there’s a way you can get “Stereo Mix” if you don’t currently have it. All you have to do is download and install the RealTek drivers that fit your system. Don’t worry about conflicts, these things work perfectly fine. They’ll put the “Stereo Mix” option right back into your recording devices, and even give you a nice array of speaker control options to boot.
Glad you got it fixed RepeatAfterMe. Not sure if it’s worth mentioning but the answer was also in the second link that Gale posted: http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Mixer_Toolbar_Issues#cp That article covers the subject more broadly and offers a number of solutions. Installing generic RealTek drivers is not recommended as a first step because: 1) RealTek drivers are ONLY for realtek sound cards and should not be used for any other type of sound card, 2)They may not work with all realtek sound cards and/or may loose functionality that has been added by the sound card/motherboard manufacturer, 3) there may be an easier and safer solution such as enabling a hidden option (as described in the linked article).
Well, as you can see my first image, I enabled hidden options and it wasn’t there. So this was basically my last resort. But if installing new drivers doesn’t work, you can always revert back to the way things were earlier, or make a back up of existing ones. Though I was a little uncomfortable trying a different set of drivers, it all worked out.
Oh, I forgot to include this image in my last post. Might as well show it now. This is what it should look like if you have the correct options:
Glad you got it fixed, but you were really lucky to get a generic Realtek driver to work for you and to add stereo mix into the bargain. For many people this would not work and could break the audio device completely (as Steve said). Possibly it works because the device actually is Realtek and (as you admit) you were only using Microsoft audio drivers before (which would be even more generic).
If you had not had that luck, then going to the motherboard maker’s site to get audio drivers matched with your motherboard would be the next step. Failing that, using a cable to connect the audio out to line-in and recording the line-in would be a solution.
This is just to help others along where getting generic Realtek drivers doesn’t help.
It could have broken my audio device? Are you forserious? Honestly, I should probably look up what my actual drivers should be, and maybe consider switching to those. I don’t want compatibility issues down the line. But for the purpose of switching all of my Windows noises with a recorded sexy robot girl voice, this temporary solution did the trick. And so far I haven’t had any drawbacks. Actually, the increased control over my speakers via Realtek’s panel is actually a welcomed feature.
Yes, if you did not have a Realtek sound device. From the sound of it, you do have Realtek.
We just don’t want other users who may have SoundMax, IDT or other sound devices to go downloading a generic Realtek driver thinking it will solve their problem.
Another good rule of thumb with drivers is “if it ain’t broke, don’t mend it” Hopefully your current Realtek driver will be close enough to what you should theoretically have to do the trick.
“break” in the sense that the sound card might stop working altogether, then you would probably need to clear out all the sound card drivers (on XP you can do this by removing the drivers in Safe Mode - I’ve not tried this in later versions of Windows), and then installing the current drivers from the manufacturer of the motherbaoard (for an on-board sound card). The “breakage” isn’t fatal, but it can be awkward to fix
As Gale wrote, we were just a little concerned at leaving your fix description as “the answer” to this topic as for most users it will not work and could cause them more problems than they started with. In your case, if it’s all working fine, then that’s excellent - don’t change it.
For other users the advice is in this article: Missing features - Audacity Support
Thanks for your feedback RepeatAfterMe. Hopefully this is now clear for current readers and those that find this topic in the future.
Thanks for letting us know.