Running Audacity 2.0.6 on Macbook Pro 2012 model with OSX 10.10.2
At first when I downloaded Audacity, I could use the option “System Audio Recorder” under Recording Device, and it would record any system audio without any problems. Then, I saw something else I wanted to do, and I needed soundflower for it, so I downloaded and installed it, but ended up not caring for it, so uninstalled it soon after. Now, Audacity won’t record any system audio (using the same settings as before). I googled the problem, and it says (ironically) that I need soundflower to record system audio with Audacity, which is weird because I was doing it just fine before. I then downloaded soundflower again, and I managed to get it to record system audio again, but it only works using soundflower now. Any idea what’s going on?
Side note - I rebooted after installing or uninstalling soundflower each time.
I could use the option “System Audio Recorder” under Recording Device
I don’t have any such thing under 10.9. I wonder if that arrived in OS-X 10.10 in an effort to resolve the common complaint that Macs have no native ability to self-record like Windows (usually) does. It’s also possible you installed Something Else that came with System Audio Recorder. Any other audio programs?
Sometimes you have to set that up in Mac System Preferences, not Audacity (attach).
Koz
If this was Greatdy system audio (a Soundflower alternative that does not work for most people), download the GreatdyAudioDevice New app from https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B7u-ChIr3ATUYm9xNHdoTjlKME1odE1QM1lrWDN3MlV6ZnRF/view, run the app and choose the option to uninstall.
If you want an alternative app, you can try Sound Siphon: http://staticz.com/soundsiphon/. The free version can record all sounds playing on the computer, but can’t choose which apps to record from. You only need to set the output device in System Sound Preferences to Sound Siphon and the recording device in Audacity to Sound Siphon.
Turn Audacity’s Software Playthrough off, because you have the ability to hear audio when Sound Siphon is the system output device.
The recording volume is fixed irrespective of output level, so if you want to turn down the sound while recording, turn down either the Sound Siphon output slider in System Preferences or the Playback Volume slider in Audacity.
Gale
Unfortunately Sound Siphon free version has now become a demo with the restriction that filtering is applied to the recording from time to time.
I have not been able to find any old versions of Sound Siphon online.
Gale
but ended up not caring for it, so uninstalled it soon after.
What didn’t you like about it? I have it installed on all my Macs and it does what it says on the tin. Granted, it’s not the most straightforward software package and you do have to manually manage the monitoring sound channels, but it does do exactly what it was designed to do.
Also given that Macs don’t have any native ability to self-record, so there’s no such thing as digging in the settings until you find it. There is no “it.”
It’s scary that apparently, there is no longer a free, supported software package that will work.
Koz
I don’t see the necessity of using Audacity anymore if it cannot record system audio, which is halarious. I mean thats what you need it for, why keeping a pen that can’t write?
Audacity isn’t right for everybody or every situation. I use a handful of audio/video applications.
I consider Audacity to be primarily an “audio editor” with the ability to record. A lot of people use it to record from a microphone. A lot of people make audiobooks or record music with Audacity. Or, you can record/digitize vinyl records with a USB turntable, etc. The ability to record from an external audio source is built-into the operating system as long as you have a driver for your hardware so it’s usually straightforward.
The capture of streaming audio has always been “tricky” because it wasn’t always built-into the operating system. It has been built-into Window since Win7 but there are still some limitations and occasional “issues”.