How do I record sound from YouTube?

[Pieter Padmos]

I have audacity 1.3.10-beta, running on Windows 7.
I don't know to record sound from my own PC, e.g. from YouTube.
The Input Selector seems to be located on the right side of the Mixer Toolbar? It only gives the possibility Master.
On the meter for the input signal I see a (rather weak) signal but after recording I don't see even a faint trace.
With Preferences | Devices I put Recording Line In. The other possibility Microfoft Sound Mapper I tried also, without success.

What can I do? In the past, with an older version of Audacity running on Windows XP I could do this job.
But the Manual is not very clear on this topic.

I thank you for a helpful suggestion.
Pieter Padmos

[whomper]

i am guessing that this is a windows 7 settings issue

if you did everything else the same way that worked on xp
if you can install the older version of audacity and it fails then that would point to win7, but if it does work, and everything else is set the same (win 7 drivers and settings may need changing) then it could be audacity.

i would look at win 7 first

[steve]

You should update to Audacity 1.3.11
Then see here: http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Mixer ... trol_Panel

[Pieter Padmos]

Thank you, SteveThe Fiddler!

I downloaded Audacity 1.3.11 and studied the Wiki document, as you advised. But without succes, even when I followed all the directions from the Mixer-manual for Windows 7 (In Control Panel|Hardware and Sound|Sound, Line in and Microphone were the only recording possibilities, even after trying to uncover hidden ones).

On Audicity's recording devices toolbar I tried all possibilities, as there are:
* Windows Direct Sound: Line In, Primary Sound Capture Device and even Microphone.
* MME: Line In, Microsoft Sound Mapper - Input, Microphone.
No positive result. Only with Microphone, when I put the output sound of Audacity very loud (apparently the sound arrives in Audacity; but the input signal shows only noise) I get a weak recording, probably through the microphone on my PC.

What can I do? I'm getting pretty desparate! The suggestion of Whomper, to install my older version of Audacity, is impossible because I recently installed Windows 7, with loss of the software.

Thanks for your trouble to give me suggestions,
Pieter Padmos.

[steve]

Line in and Microphone were the only recording possibilities, even after trying to uncover hidden ones

If that is the case then no amount of twiddling with Audacity will make any difference. Audacity can only use features of the sound system that are there - if Stereo Mix does not exist, then Audacity can't use it.

There is still an option that is available, though it is not very convenient, and that is to use an audio cable to connect the "line/speaker out" from your sound card to the "line in" of your sound card. Doing this the sound card output (whatever is playing on your computer) will be coming out of the Line out socket and is then fed into the line input and recorded. The problem with this method is that you cannot actually hear what is going on because you need to disconnect the speakers in order to connect that output to the line input. It is therefore necessary to first check that the output is working correctly (by playing something on the computer) and then check that you are able to record correctly from the line in socket (by connecting something, for example a CD player, to the line in socket) and making a test recording. Setting the levels is then part guesswork and part looking at the recording meter and the recorded waveform in Audacity while it is recording.

[Pieter Padmos]

There is still an option that is available, though it is not very convenient, and that is to use an audio cable to connect the "line/speaker out" from your sound card to the "line in" of your sound card.

Thank you, Steve the Fiddler, I TRIED THIS OPTION AND IT WORKED!
Indeed, not very convenient not being able to hear the sound to be recorded, but better than nothing.
I think that I can buy a 3-way plug that I place in Line Out and connect the output to my boxes and Line In together.

By the way, I found the same solution in http://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Mixer ... s_Problems
With the words: If all else fails, you can connect a cable from the line-out (green) port of the computer to the line-in (blue), and choose the line-in as recording source. If you need to hear what you're recording, you can buy a single stereo to double stereo adaptor that will give you a spare jack to plug the speakers into.

Thank you again. Unless you come upon an even better solution I think that we can close this discussion?

By the way, I am frequenting another forum (Waypoint, a Garmin GPS dealer in The Netherlands) that sends you an e-mail whenever a new contribution appears for your topic. Wouldn't that be a useful suggestion for this Audacity forum?

Best regards, Pieter Padmos

[Trebor]

Thank you again. Unless you come upon an even better solution I think that we can close this discussion?

Can download (some) videos from YouTube using keepvid or similar programme,
and rip the audio from the video using super(c) or similar programme.
Here is one I did using this method (see "Butterflies" before)... http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic ... 895#p73834

The techical quality of the ripped audio is better than the speaker to line-in loop method as it avoids conversions which degrade the audio.

I think there are other sites similar to Keepvid which allow you to download the sound from a Youtube video directly as MP3, (no need for rip on Super).

[waxcylinder]

By the way, I am frequenting another forum (Waypoint, a Garmin GPS dealer in The Netherlands) that sends you an e-mail whenever a new contribution appears for your topic. Wouldn't that be a useful suggestion for this Audacity forum?

Pieter,

I have transferrred this suggestion to the Forum Issues section of the forum - see: http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic ... 751#p74751

WC

[Trebor]

I think there are other sites similar to Keepvid which allow you to download the sound from a Youtube video directly as MP3, (no need for rip on Super).

Freebee YouTube downloader will download youtube video then rip a high quality (256Kbps 48000Hz) Mp3 from it.

("YouTube downloader" also rips MP3 from other video formats, even VOB).

NB: Some Youtube videos cannot be downloaded.

[Irish]

I am frequenting another forum (Waypoint, a Garmin GPS dealer in The Netherlands) that sends you an e-mail whenever a new contribution appears for your topic. Wouldn't that be a useful suggestion for this Audacity forum?

It's already there.

When you are posting, in the panel below the text window, in the "Options" tab, check "Notify me when a reply is posted".
Alternatively, at the bottom of the page, (if you are not posting), click on "Subscribe Topic"

PO'L