When you are using Stereo Mix to record audio that is coming directly from your computer, is the quality of that recording dependent on the quality of your audio card? i.e. If you are using just onboard audio from your motherboard to record with vs say a higher dollar add-on audio card…can there be a difference in the audio quality just from this difference? I have recorded the exact same audio from two different computers and one sounds kind of bad, while the other sounds great. Both have onboard motherboard audio, but was wondering if the difference in the the actual audio hardware might be the problem. I am running the latest and most up to date drivers…etc…still problem is the same.
I believe the process is digital so the hardware shouldn’t have any affect, but there can be some “processing” going on… There are sometimes Windows “enhancements” on the recording or playback side, and some soundcards come with sound adjustment/enhancement utilities (equalization, surround effects, etc.).
If you have Windows 7 or newer, try [u]WASAPI loopback[/u].
OK, thanks! I didn’t believe the hardware would play a part, but wasn’t 100% for sure how that recording process worked.
Stereo Mix on an older computer used to send the sound all the way out to the analog service in the soundcard, turn it around and bring it back in, so you got the combined distortion of both sides of the sound card in addition to volume problems (I can make a good recording, but the speaker volume is ear-splitting and I can’t change it.)
The newer services don’t do that.
Fair warning, remember how you did this, because you will have to change it if you need to do a straight, plain recording such as from a microphone. AudioBook or entertainment recording take different settings than recording YouTube. I think you can also get into trouble with Skype and Games.
Koz