How to record Windows Vista audio output sound to MP3 or WAV?

Here is the solution how to record wave output sound on Windows Vista to any audio format (WAV, MP3, WMA etc.):

1. Right click the Speaker icon in the Taskbar (right bottom corner of your screen)
2. Choose Recording Devices
3. Click Recording tab (if not opened), right click in the listbox (middle part of the dialog box), choose Show Disabled Devices
4. Scroll down and right click "Waht U Hear" item (or "Wave Out Mix" or something like this, the exact name can vary), choose Enable

That's all! Now you can go to your favorite recording program, use "What U Hear" audio device, record what you want to and store it in needed audio format (to save in MP3 your program must support it).

Addendum. Here are steps how to record Windows output in free audio editor Audacity. Remeber, you must follow steps form previous post first!

1. Download and install Audacity - http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
2. Choose Edit > Preferences...
3. In Recording combobox choose MME: What U Hear and press OK
4. Press the Record (the red one) button in the toolbar and the recording starts...

I have only microphone and cd audio as devices in the list. Is it a problem with sound card? I can not record any thing from the sound card.

>have only microphone and cd audio as devices in the list

Are you sure you have the menu item "Show Disabled Devices" checked?

>Is it a problem with sound card?

I think it is also possible your sound card does not support it.

thanks for reply. yes, I have "show disabled device" checked. my sound card says Sigmatel high def audio CODEC. I have latest driver too. I am not sure, may be it is sound card then, thanks.

I am able to see What You Hear but when I record in Audacity I can only record mono

It works in stereo for me. Thanks a lot!

many laptos are now coming with sound cards that do not support this function. most Gateways lack it. most laptop with Sigmatel Audio CODEC sound card in motherboard lack it.

Hey - I have found this : http://www.ekhoury.com/2006/08/25/sigmatel-stereo-mix-support-for-dells/

With Windows Vista go to Start> All Programs> Accessories> Sound Recorder.

With this feature you simply play or listen online to what you wish to record and click the "Record" Button. When you are finished it will direct you to file it where you would like. Hope this helps.

Anonym35645, I believe that Audicity is set to one channel (mono) recording as default. If you want to change this, you will have to do that in the options (preferences). To do so, to set Audicity to record in stereo do the following:

1. Start Audicity
2. Go to Edit menue, then click the Preferences button
3. Click on the Sound in/out tab in that dialogue box that appears
4. Within the Recording box, make sure that you have set the recording device to "Stereo mix", or "What you hear" or else what that corresponds to your specific sound card.
5. As you can see there is also a "Channel" pull-down menu right under the device menu. Click on it and set it to 2.
6. Click OK

That's it! Try recording something now. The recording level meter in the upper right corner of the application window should show two independent level meters, one for the the left and one for the right sound channel above each other (horizontal level meter). Also, when you start recording and play something back in the background (i.e. YouTube video) two graphs should be shown in the editor section corresponding to the left and right sound channel respectively.

I hope that helps.

PS. Thanks for this tip, I never thought it would be this hard to configure these things in Vista. XP and earlier Windows were so much easier to configure audio settings for. I guess they wanted to make it easier for those morons who call Microsoft support and complain that "there is no sound on my computer". I guess that is why every new application window opened in Windows Vista gets it's own output volume slider in the Audio mixer (Volume control). And also, if you lower all the sliders and then rise the slider for the "Speakers" device, all the other sliders are following the move automatically. So this is kind of a nice improvement for those who perhaps should not be sitting by a computer in the first place. So it's a nice feature. But! For those of us who know what we are doing, these sometimes "user friendly" features slow us down, right?

Here is one example! I have figured out by now how to enable recording of Stereo output in Vista. I also know how to adjust the output volume, simply by using the Audio mixer (Volume control). But where the fuck do I adjust the input levels? Where is the mixer for the recording devices?... do I really have to 1: right click on the speaker icon in the taskbar, 2. chose recording devices, 3. double-click on the "Stereo mix" device (or mark it and click the properties button), 4. select the tab called "levels" and there adjust the input level for the Stereo mix device? What a piece of shit this is! And even if there maybe isn't so much clicking around, there is still one problem with this kind of design when adjusting the input level for one device. But what if I am working with music and sound production, and I want to be able to see and adjust the input level of two or more devices from one spot? I have realised that Vista really sucks when it comes to sound recording and the way it handles audio devices. It's just stupid to me!

I have only microphone and cd audio as devices in the list. Is it a problem with sound card? I can not record any thing from the sound card.

i got exactlly same problem, but how, my soundcard is brand new 1, and even ones from 1999 record sound... pls help!

GOt it to work by doing the following:

Right-click on sound in taskbar

Goto 'recording devices'

(make sure you can see 'disabled devices' by right clicking in main window)

The TRICK: make sure 'stereo mix' is the defaut, not mic.

Now, start playing music and you should see the EQ bars light up!

Lastly, make sure 'stereo mix' has a level of 100 by going into the properties.

Have fun. I use recordSmart on Vista Home Premium.

For windows vista users, if your speakers are working correctly, but when you try to record, it doesnt work.
Or if want to activate your microphone or speakers
Here is what i had to do...Follow this
Start/Control Panel/Hardware and Sound/Sound/Playback
See if you have any devices in the area that says: Select a playback device to modify its settings.
I have something that says "Speakers Realtek High Definition Audio"
And it should have a checkmark
If you do not see any devices such as, speakers or microphones, right click right under where it says "Select a playback device to modify its settings." The big box, where it should have your device. If you have a device right click on it. If not, click on the blank area, where you device should be.
Click on Show Enabled Devices
Click on Show Disconnected Devices
Now, they should both have a checkmark next to them.
Hopefully, after doing this, your devices should show up and it should say whether they are disabled or not.

Sorry, the path to the previous post (Anonym82203)should be

Start/Control Panel/Hardware and Sound/Sound/Recording

Just go to the Recording tab instead of the playback tab.
Everything else is correct. Hope this helps.

I did this previously but, since reformat and reinstallation of Vista, I now don't have the option (previously I had a 'show hidden devices' option. Same sound card so Ive obviously missed something.

i dont have the stereo option.

when i click show disabled devices jsut auxilary comes up.

before when i had XP i used "what you hear" on a daily basis.

plz help

I am using Adobe Audition - Wave out Mix in show disabled devices reads "Currently Unavailable" - how do I fix this ?

I guess this does not work for those with Optical audio output

It only shows "Microphone" on my computer. I have vista home premium on an hp pavilion dv9700. I checked the "show disabled devices" and nothing showed up. do i need to install something? a driver? what? I'm stumped.

Its quite simple. freecorder.

Why I do not see any Stereo mixer or Wave in My Audio settings, thy are not even as disabled or disconnected

I search Thoroughly and didn't find the way to get another record input than the microphones

I just connect cable from out to in on sound card. :)

Use Replay Music from Applian tecnhologies. Works perfect when I'm playing webrado from the browser (flash-player). Can be found at http://applian.com/replay-music/index.php

Windows Vista handles audio differently than XP did. Whereas XP was intelligently designed and handled each channel seperately, Vista was made by a team of downy babies and uses a completely redundant system. If you're running on an upgraded machine, the above may still work for you. But if you're like me, and have a based Vista machine, you're fucked

Hey guys, i had the same problem with vista home premium(using onboard sound) and was looking all over to find the answer, and this one worked.

If you are using onboard sound (no other soundcard) Download CPU-Z.zip from http://www.cpuid.com and run
cpu-z.exe to find out what name/model your motherboard is. Then google it and try downloading drivers. I did this with mine, and now i can finally do the "show disabled devices" trick as mentioned before!

Try it out !

I had the same problem. Microsoft purposely limted the ability to record audio in Window Vista. Great "feature" huh?

thank you, this worked for me

Thank you very much, It worked perfectly

Using windows for recording is a waste of time! The sound qualitz leaves much to be desired. There are a number of sufficient software on the market, and freeware as well. I use MP3 Recorder Studio. I use it for recording on-line conferences, the records sound very professionally.

http://mymusictools.com/de/recorders_23/mp3_recorder_studio_26492.htm

I Have the same problem. there is no sterio mix in the recording devices so any kind of programs cant record directly from PC & Im sure my sound card supports (No problem with sound card)

I have Gigabyte GL-52-S3 motherboard & on board sound card I Installed Win 7 & downloaded the latest driver for it In my motherboard section in gigabyte website & still have this problem It seems the problem is unsolvable

under sound and recording all i have is
Microphone (working) and
Microphone (not working)

when i click "show disabled devices"
nothing happens, nothing pops up

]HELP

i want to play music on my windows media player when i do the music records but the mike dont work if i use the mike you cant here the music, help
i have a hp pavilion a 6720y pc amd plenom x49550 quad-core, can any one help
like to play the music and sing along with it , windows xp was no problem,

I want to record sound from game. I turned on audacity, but it recorded just my mic. PS: am using win 7