Record system sounds and mic

Help for Audacity on Windows.
Forum rules
ImageThis forum is for Audacity on Windows.
Please state which version of Windows you are using,
and the exact three-section version number of Audacity from "Help menu > About Audacity".


Audacity 1.2.x and 1.3.x are obsolete and no longer supported. If you still have those versions, please upgrade at https://www.audacityteam.org/download/.
The old forums for those versions are now closed, but you can still read the archives of the 1.2.x and 1.3.x forums.
Shiyato
Posts: 6
Joined: Mon Nov 16, 2015 5:41 pm
Operating System: Please select

Record system sounds and mic

Post by Shiyato » Mon Nov 16, 2015 6:17 pm

Information:
Audacity version 2.1.1
Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1

Now my problem, I want to record my voice and the system sound at the same time, I tried the steps from the wiki for like 2 hours and I'm still stuck.
I'm using a Logitech G430 (connected via USB Dongle, because of 7.1) and a Realtek onboard soundcard (don't know the name, but have screenshot).
If I got everything right, I've to record my voice with the G430 and the system sound (voice of a friend and sound of a game) with my onboard soundcard?
If yes please tell me how, I really have no idea....
I need to record the sound with Audacity, because the voice of other people in OBS is like an echo.
So is there a way to record my voice and the system sounds at the same time?
Attachments
ss+(2015-11-16+at+06.45.35).jpg
My soundcard
ss+(2015-11-16+at+06.45.35).jpg (82.8 KiB) Viewed 1627 times

kozikowski
Forum Staff
Posts: 69374
Joined: Thu Aug 02, 2007 5:57 pm
Operating System: macOS 10.13 High Sierra

Re: Record system sounds and mic

Post by kozikowski » Mon Nov 16, 2015 7:35 pm

I think if you were using your soundcard for everything, you had a fighting chance to make this work. But you were using your USB microphone and the Sound Card which are different sound devices. Audacity will only record from one device at a time, so I think you're stuck.

Koz

Shiyato
Posts: 6
Joined: Mon Nov 16, 2015 5:41 pm
Operating System: Please select

Re: Record system sounds and mic

Post by Shiyato » Mon Nov 16, 2015 9:09 pm

1.Is there maybe a way to record my voice with OBS and the system sound with Audacity? I mean in OBS I can simply mute the speakers, but I don't know if I can do the same in Audacity, haven't found something like that yet.
2.My second idea would be disabeling the soundcard, but then I couldn't record the system sound right?

kozikowski
Forum Staff
Posts: 69374
Joined: Thu Aug 02, 2007 5:57 pm
Operating System: macOS 10.13 High Sierra

Re: Record system sounds and mic

Post by kozikowski » Mon Nov 16, 2015 9:44 pm

I think what kills you is the insistence on using one computer for everything.

You could record the system and game sound with any of the tools that allow "recording from the internet," but then capture your voice with your stand-alone voice recorder or second computer.

I've done that. I have an older computer with a bad screen (and perfect sound) and I have an Olympus sound recorder.

You may have to jockey to marry the two for the final production, but once you straighten that out, it's a standard correction.

Use headphones. Having the game sound leak into your voice is deadly for sync and sound quality.

Koz

kozikowski
Forum Staff
Posts: 69374
Joined: Thu Aug 02, 2007 5:57 pm
Operating System: macOS 10.13 High Sierra

Re: Record system sounds and mic

Post by kozikowski » Mon Nov 16, 2015 9:45 pm

It could also be said that the person at the far end running the game should be recording The Whole Thing with FRAPS.

Koz

Gale Andrews
Quality Assurance
Posts: 41761
Joined: Fri Jul 27, 2007 12:02 am
Operating System: Windows 10

Re: Record system sounds and mic

Post by Gale Andrews » Mon Nov 16, 2015 9:53 pm

Shiyato wrote:Information:
Audacity version 2.1.1
Windows 7 Ultimate x64 SP1

Now my problem, I want to record my voice and the system sound at the same time, I tried the steps from the wiki for like 2 hours and I'm still stuck.
What steps were you following?
Shiyato wrote:I'm using a Logitech G430 (connected via USB Dongle, because of 7.1) and a Realtek onboard soundcard (don't know the name, but have screenshot).
If I got everything right, I've to record my voice with the G430 and the system sound (voice of a friend and sound of a game) with my onboard soundcard?
Where is the voice of a friend coming from - Skype? Do you hear that voice now in the onboard sound?
Shiyato wrote:is there a way to record my voice and the system sounds at the same time?
You could record your voice separately such as mic into Audacity and system sound into some other app, or vice-versa. If OBS can record your USB mic to your satisfaction and the mic is not in the system sound, then yes, Audacity can record system sound using stereo mix or Windows WASAPI (loopback).

Audacity can only ever record from one input at a time, so if you want Audacity to record voice and system you have to use "Listen to this device" for the USB mic in Windows Sound to route the USB mic into the system sound then record system sound into Audacity using the same stereo mix or Windows WASAPI (loopback).

Or use VoiceMeeter to do the routing and record into Audacity from VoiceMeeter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6rp9lkiFBU.


Gale
________________________________________FOR INSTANT HELP: (Click on Link below)
* * * * * Tips * * * * * Tutorials * * * * * Quick Start Guide * * * * * Audacity Manual

cyrano
Posts: 2629
Joined: Fri Apr 17, 2015 11:54 pm
Operating System: macOS 10.13 High Sierra

Re: Record system sounds and mic

Post by cyrano » Tue Nov 17, 2015 2:09 am

The only easy way to avoid using two computers, is with fairly expensive external hardware. The bigger audio interfaces support internal routing, mixing and gain control. These allow you to patch any channel to any channel and even to create mixes and route them to the computer.

Think about it as a microphone amp with many channels in and out and switches to patch ins and outs together without creating feedback.

One of the least expensive ones is the iConnect Audio4+

http://www.thomann.de/uk/iconnectivity_ ... udio_4.htm

You could even connect that one to two computers at the same time. It's almost 400 €. A second computer could be less expensive...

kozikowski
Forum Staff
Posts: 69374
Joined: Thu Aug 02, 2007 5:57 pm
Operating System: macOS 10.13 High Sierra

Re: Record system sounds and mic

Post by kozikowski » Tue Nov 17, 2015 4:47 am

There is hope for VoiceMeeter. That program actually produces custom sound channels and bundles them into a single device.

As I recall, the only down side is the single show file. If you miss the sound balance for any reason, you're stuck. No way to pull the show apart into individual voices and fix it.

Koz

Shiyato
Posts: 6
Joined: Mon Nov 16, 2015 5:41 pm
Operating System: Please select

Re: Record system sounds and mic

Post by Shiyato » Tue Nov 17, 2015 4:35 pm

First of all, thanks to all of you.
I thought about the ideas that you wrote and ended up with VoiceMeeter, it's great, but is there a way to activate my 7.1 sound while recording the system sound and the voice using VoiceMeeter?
I followed all the steps in the video, so I set VoiceMeeter to default device, for hardware input 1 I set my mic and for hardware out the speakers of the headset.
Is there maybe an option to turn it on? I didn't found anything.
cyrano wrote:The only easy way to avoid using two computers, is with fairly expensive external hardware. The bigger audio interfaces support internal routing, mixing and gain control. These allow you to patch any channel to any channel and even to create mixes and route them to the computer.

Think about it as a microphone amp with many channels in and out and switches to patch ins and outs together without creating feedback.

One of the least expensive ones is the iConnect Audio4+

http://www.thomann.de/uk/iconnectivity_ ... udio_4.htm

You could even connect that one to two computers at the same time. It's almost 400 €. A second computer could be less expensive...
Well I do have an old computer, but my parents don't allow me to use the second computers just for recording my voice. And I think it's not worth for now, as I just want to begin to record.

kozikowski
Forum Staff
Posts: 69374
Joined: Thu Aug 02, 2007 5:57 pm
Operating System: macOS 10.13 High Sierra

Re: Record system sounds and mic

Post by kozikowski » Tue Nov 17, 2015 10:08 pm

You don't need a second computer and all the other stuff to record a voice. Attached a voice test I did with an Olympus WS-823.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/control ... &A=details

I clamped it to my mic stand for this test, but you can sticky-tape it to a box of corn flakes and set it so the top of the recorder points toward you. That's the sweet spot. It will produce a stereo, 44100, 16-bit sound file and it will do that for several hours on one battery. That's Audacity default sound standard.

Of course as with any live recording a good, quiet room is important. This unit has a "zoom" microphone and you can use that to suppress room noise if needed.

Everybody insists on using a computer because they already have one. If you don't, then the task is to match the job to the equipment. I have stopped hauling out my laptop every time I want to record something quick and simple. The quality of this thing is more than enough.

There are some waveform shape problems, but I suspect that happens when I convert from stereo to mono. Experiments to follow.

Koz
Attachments
WS823Test.wav
(1.69 MiB) Downloaded 44 times

Post Reply