audio - How to enable "Stereo mix" on windows 7
2014-04
My current setup allowed me to have a "stereo mix" recording device back when i used windows XP, so I know its not a hardware issue. But it doesn't show up in the list of recording devices anymore.
I've already taken a look at the following resources:
- http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/39532/how-to-enable-stereo-mix-in-windows-7-to-record-audio/ - this is helpful, but doesn't give me enough information. Showing disabled and disconnected devices doesn't work for me. The guide mentions you might have to downgrade your audio drivers, but doesn't explain how to do that.
- Cannot find 'Stereo Mix' on Windows 7 - the answer isn't correct
- Window 7 stereomix
- How can I get stereo mix for my Windows 7 computer?
- Stereo Mix does not work
- "Stereo Mix" equivalent recording in vista
- http://forum.audacityteam.org/viewtopic.php?f=36&t=4826 - this is helpful, but I don't want to have to use a loop-back cable. I can, but that's not what this question's about.
So I've tried showing disabled and disconnected devices in the Sound -> Recording list. Doesn't work. So:
A. Are there any other methods (or programs) to help solve this problem (other than ones mentioned above ^)?
B. How should I go about downgrading my audio drivers, if that's the best method to take? What year, or version of drivers should I be looking for? Etc.
My specifics:
In Device Manager, under Sound, Video and game controllers, I see "High Devinition Audio Device" which has a driver from Microsoft dated 2010-11-19. I also see 4 instnaces of "NVIDIA High Definition Audio" all with drivers from NVIDIA dating 2013-06-16 (version 1.3.26.4).
Any ideas?
The traditional way to capture audio is to pick a "Stereo Mix" or "What U Hear" recording device and record in a program like Sound Recorder or Audacity. However that relies on your sound card exposing that feature.
In Vista they introduced an API to capture your PC's sound output independent of any sound card support, but it seems few programs have added that feature. Does anyone know of a program that does it that runs on Windows 7? FRAPS does it but records video as well, which I don't want.
High Criteria’s Total Recorder does exactly that, and does support Windows 7™.
It seems it is driver dependent. In my PC, I have a Sound Blaster X-FI Xtreme Audio, which has what-u-hear in Windows XP, but not in Windows 7.
Onboard chips (such as the Realtech HD) have this option with the driver from the realtech site (but not with the built in drivers). You could try to install a virtualized XP and try to play&record within the virtualized environment (through the SB16 wrapper)