Recording Vent/TS Using Vista

[Acey]

Hi everyone, I tried using the search function to no avail and I read over the FAQ. I'm trying to record either Ventrilo or teamspeak. My problem is such that I can only record either what comes out of my speakers, (windows noises, other people talking, music playing, etc) OR myself (ie. my microphone). I can't set it to record BOTH. How is this done??

I have the following available in windows Sound->Recording
-FrontMic
-Microphone (built in)
-Stereo Mix

And in Audacity:
-Microsoft Sound Mapper - Input
-FrontMic (Realtek High Definition)
-Stereo Mix (Realtek High Definition)

No matter what I set it to I can't record others and myself. :/
Thanks for reading.

[kozikowski]

Yes. That's perfectly true. I believe Vonage has a custom software package that allows you to record both sides. Consult your communications provider.

Koz

[steve]

There was a post about this a while ago - If I remember correctly, Ventrilo and teamspeak do some weird stuff with the audio so as to prevent your microphone from feeding back through your speakers - unfortunately this completely screws it up for recording in the normal way, so you either need to use special software to record both sides, or use Audacity to record the other people, and a second microphone connected to an external cassette recorder/Dictaphone to record yourself. (The cassette recorder track can be added and mixed with the original Audacity recording later).

[Acey]

Wow, that sucks. Do you remember what the special software was called?
And it's not really just vent/ts... say if I wanted to record music playing in winamp as well as my own mic, I can't do that either.

[steve]

Do you remember what the special software was called?

Sorry, no - but Google brought this up: http://www.ventrilo.com/forums/archive/ ... -7693.html
Perhaps you will be able to enlighten us.

say if I wanted to record music playing in winamp as well as my own mic, I can't do that either.

That should be no problem, as long as your hardware supports recording "Stereo Mix" (some new laptops don't support "stereo Mix", but sometimes a driver update, or using an older driver can fix that).
See here: http://audacityteam.org/wiki/index.php? ... e_computer

You may come across some Vista specific issues, in which case it's worth reading this: http://audacityteam.org/wiki/index.php? ... s_Vista_OS

[Acey]

Thanks for the replies.

I'm thinking that that thread was probably referring to the built-in option in vent to record conversations. That's all I can find in the vent FAQ.

Yeah, I have "Stereo Mix" as an option, but when I use it, only the music is recorded. Neither my built-in mic or my plug-in mic is recorded. I'm gonna check out the drivers now I guess. Sigh, this shouldn't be a problem but nothing is ever easy. >_<

[steve]

Yeah, I have "Stereo Mix" as an option, but when I use it, only the music is recorded. Neither my built-in mic or my plug-in mic is recorded.

That's good that you have "Stereo Mix" as an option. Driver upgrades should not be necessary.

(Note: this is not to fix the vent/TS problem, just recording multiple inputs at the same time).
Use headphones, not speakers for monitoring to avoid "screaming feedback" while you try this.

Open Audacity and click on the recording meter to activate it.
Go to your sound card mixer application (Windows Mixer, or whatever you have) and open the Recording settings.
Select "Stereo Mix" as your recording source.
Now go to the playback settings of the mixer and enable the microphone and give it some level - you should be able to hear the microphone through the headphones, and see the recording meters in Audacity responding. (This will NOT work with a USB microphone - only a microphone plugged into your sound card).

I can not guarantee this will work as sound cards vary in their capabilities, but it should work as described.

[Acey]

Ok I'm a bit confused and not sure I'm looking in the right places.

Open Audacity and click on the recording meter to activate it.
Go to your sound card mixer application (Windows Mixer, or whatever you have) and open the Recording settings.
Select "Stereo Mix" as your recording source.
Now go to the playback settings of the mixer and enable the microphone and give it some level - you should be able to hear the microphone through the headphones, and see the recording meters in Audacity responding. (This will NOT work with a USB microphone - only a microphone plugged into your sound card).

-What's the recording meter?
-I open up my recording devices and I can set "Stereo Mix" as default.
-Where can I find the playback settings of the mixer to enable the mic? The properties of "stereo mix" doesn't say anything about a microphone.
-I don't have a usb mic so that's good.

Thanks!

[steve]

-What's the recording meter?

In Audacity, Click on the View menu and you will see an item near the bottom called "Float (or "Dock) Meter toolbar"
The left part of the meter toolbar shows the playback levels (in green) and the right hand part of it shows the recording level in red. If the recording level shows no red, then there is no signal getting through to Audacity.

-Where can I find the playback settings of the mixer to enable the mic?

This is in our sound card mixer application (Windows Mixer, or whatever you have). Some sound cards use the standard Windows Mixer, but some sound cards have their own custom interface.

There is more information about the Windows mixer in these two articles:
http://audacityteam.org/wiki/index.php? ... bar_Issues
http://audacityteam.org/wiki/index.php? ... s_Vista_OS

Sorry I can't give more detailed information, but I don't use Vista.