Want to convert some of these old cassettes to digital MP3s? Want to use a voice dictation software? Want to record audio from a music streaming website? Want to use your computer as an impromptu karaoke machine? It is not always easy to get Windows to record all of these sounds.
Windows allows you to use more than one audio device — a “feature†that usually makes troubleshooting sound problems unnecessarily difficult. This is especially true when recording audio, given that Windows can only record from one source at a time.
One audio device can have two or three audio inputs: an analog (mono) microphone input, an analog stereo Line-In or auxiliary input, and sometimes a digital S / PDIF input. In addition, dedicated devices such as voice dictation headsets and TV tuner cards have their own inputs.
Windows audio input
All inputs for all your audio devices are listed in Control Panel ? Sound ? Record tab.
To select a default audio source, highlight the device you want to use and click Set as Default. Most applications will automatically use the default device to record audio, but some (especially voice dictation software) require you to select the source separately within the application itself. If you are speaking into a microphone, the microphone level should increase in real time:
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If you select a microphone and click Properties, you can adjust quite a few parameters. The General tab gives you basic information about the device and you can disable it here if you like. A more interesting function is found in the “Listen” tab.
This is a great feature with which you can play the sound recorded by your microphone directly to your speakers. When you speak into the microphone, the sound will play in the speakers in real time. Obviously this will work much better if you are using headphones so that the sound from the speakers is not sent back to the microphone.
Select the Listen to this device checkbox and select the device through which you want to play sound. The default is the default playback device, which is usually headphones or speakers. If you have multiple playback devices, you can select them from the drop-down list. Click the Apply button and any sound picked up by the microphone should play through the speakers in real time.
On the “Levels” tab, you can adjust the microphone sensitivity according to your needs. On the Advanced tab, you can change the default audio format. The default is 1 channel, 16 bit and 44100 Hz, which corresponds to CD quality. There are many other options, including DVD quality, that can be used if you have a high quality microphone.
If you return to the Recording tab, select Microphone and click Configure, the Speech Recognition dialog box appears. Here you can set up voice control for Windows, teach your computer to understand your voice better, and properly set up your microphone for speech recognition.
Finally, back on the Record tab, you may notice an option called Stereo Mix. If you do not have this option, then your sound card does not support this feature.
So what does he do? Basically, it lets you record any sound played on your computer. For example, if you watch YouTube videos on your computer, how would you record the audio? You can try placing the microphone next to the speakers, but this is not the best way to record audio. Stereo Mix will allow you to open the audio recording program on your computer, select Stereo Mix as the input, and it will record any sound coming from your computer.
If you use the default Sound Recorder or Voice Recorder (Windows 10) apps, they will automatically record from Stereo Mix if you mute your microphone first. If you are using a program like Audacity, just change the audio input to Stereo Mix. Using this input, you can record music playing on your computer, sound from a video playing on your computer, or any other sound from your PC.
Hopefully this gives you a good overview of the various audio inputs in Windows and how you can use them to record the sound you want. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to leave comments. Enjoy!
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