# What about recording music/sounds off the web?



## Confounded Also (Aug 19, 2015)

In what little reading I've done, it appears it can be done with Audacity and a few other programs, but not exactly easily. They also talk about a potential loss of quality since it has to go digital to analog, then back to digital.

Has anybody tried it?

Unless you're an audiophile is the loss noticeable?

Is there another way? Better program to do it with?


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## Canceled 01/11/16 (Oct 17, 2015)

Confounded Also said:


> In what little reading I've done, it appears it can be done with Audacity and a few other programs, but not exactly easily. They also talk about a potential loss of quality since it has to go digital to analog, then back to digital.
> 
> Has anybody tried it?
> 
> ...


I use Audio Hijack Pro on my macbook and the quality, seems to me, is pretty good, recording options include lossless, and it is super simple to use yet complex enough to tackle all sorts of inputs.

Audacity (Windows) is also good, but not as good. I know little but to my ear the recording is not as good as a mac recording, it is not as loud as the original sound. (whereas audio hijack is the same) But maybe its just me. 
Also Windows doesn't make it too easy to record what I hear, I had to figure out first how to enable the hidden stereo mix. 
Plus with Audacity there is the 'get the right conversation tools', still, it all adds to the fun of discovery.

:wavey::wiggle2: :smile:


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## koala (Mar 27, 2005)

If you have any trouble with Audacity, try this one instead: Audio Recorder for Free (freeware, safe to download)

I've used it a few times. Very easy to use and the results are good. Just make sure you select the right settings for the recording quality, and enable AGC to balance out the low/high volumes. 

Click the How-To tab for details on recording internet streams: Audio Recorder for Free - How to Record Internet Streaming


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## Confounded Also (Aug 19, 2015)

Interesting. Looks like it builds all the pieces into one place.


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## Canceled 01/11/16 (Oct 17, 2015)

nice, I haven't seen this program before, something new to try, yay. :sayyes: 

:flowers: ty :smile:


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## Canceled 01/11/16 (Oct 17, 2015)

inauditus said:


> nice, I haven't seen this program before, something new to try, yay. :sayyes:
> 
> :flowers: ty :smile:



hey, even by declining chromium and Norton, sneaky install ad on,- it also installed other bloat/spy rubbish (without asking), 
...I would say, this program may be free but it has a cheek putting stuff on my pc- good thing I checked!

(wonders if malwarebyes should be employed, hm. yes, I think I will! mutter, mutter, grumble.)

 I rather pay for a clean program, thanks.


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## Canceled 01/11/16 (Oct 17, 2015)

malwarebytes: marketScore. weatherTool. relevantKnowledge. yontoo...optional ProductSetup, in my regestry! what's all that then?


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## Confounded Also (Aug 19, 2015)

Drums fingers.

Awaits follow up.


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## MPR (Aug 28, 2010)

I use Apowersoft's version 2.3.4 recorder (note that the newest version is a limited trail version). It might not be as "professional" as Audigy but it is free, relatively small, easy to use, and suits my needs.

Apowersoft Free Audio Recorder - Download


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## koala (Mar 27, 2005)

I installed it on my computer and didn't have any problems. There are 4 steps during installation, offering some optional extras, each requiring the user to read the screen and select the relevant options, same as all other software setups.

One of the steps gives you the option to install Yahoo Search & Homepage in your browsers. Click the Decline button to refuse the option and move onto the next step. At the end it gives another optional install, this time for Palikan Search & Homepage. Again, click the Decline button and continue.

VirusTotal scans show it includes a PUP (potentially unwanted program), and I also got a Malwarebytes warning when running the install file. Both of these warnings are for the Yahoo and Palikan options, not the program itself.

If you'd like to use another stereo-mix recording program instead, there are plenty of choices.


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## Confounded Also (Aug 19, 2015)

I may try it on a clean machine recently acquired where nothing ie really at risk and see what happens.

With any of these programs ......

>> Will they record any audio that plays from the web? Or are there limitations?

My main focus is Amazon's Prime Music where tracks are offered that aren't available in their other offerings. They use streaming only, or limited downloads to certain devices that have to phone home periodically to maintain licensing and availability of the tracks.

I simply want certain tracks for my own personal use, no distribution.


So, if audio plays over your PC speakers, these programs will capture and record, regardless of the source?


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## koala (Mar 27, 2005)

Yes, they record any audio that you can hear. You might need to contact Amazon about obtaining their exclusive tracks if you want to bypass their legitimate services, that's not something we can help with.


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## Confounded Also (Aug 19, 2015)

Tried it. This is a new to me/off-lease machine with Win7 Pro 64Bit.

Downloaded their installer. First two screen appear to be EULA type screens with 'Accept' and 'Decline' buttons, but they are actually other programs of some type wanting to be installed. Didn't get the names written down or copied. Declined both and install proceeded.

Next was another EULA type screen with:



> In order to provide this free download, RelevantKnowledge software, provided by TMRG, Inc., a comScore, Inc. company, is included in this download. This software allows millions of participants in an online market research community to voice their opinions by allowing their online browsing and purchasing behavior to be monitored, collected, aggregated, and once anonymized, used to generate market reports which our clients use to understand Internet trends and patterns and other market research purposes. The information which is monitored and collected includes internet usage information, basic demographic information, certain hardware, software, computer configuration and application usage information about the computer on which you install RelevantKnowledge. We may use the information that we monitor, such as name and address, to better understand your household demographics; for example, we may combine the information that you provide us with additional information from consumer data brokers and other data sources in accordance with our privacy policy. We make commercially viable efforts to automatically filter confidential personally identifiable information and to purge our databases of such information about our panelists when inadvertently collected. By clicking Accept you acknowledge that you are 18 years of age or older, an authorized user of the computer on which you are installing this application, and that you have read, agreed to, and have obtained the consent of all computer and TV users to the terms and conditions of the Privacy Statement, User License Agreement (ULA), and Patent Notice.


I clicked No on that also and the install appeared to proceed. Program would not run though. Some kind of AppCrash.

Deleted everything and started over. Said Yes to the above this time. Once the install completed a survey popped up asking demographic information. Skipped all that, program appeared to install, but still wouldn't run.

Tried again filling the survey with irrelevant information. Program still wouldn't run.

Gave up. Deleted everything. Went into Control Panel and found the RK program noted above. Deleted it. Window popped up indicating it was phoning home, delete might take a while and would be completed on reboot. Also found a folder under Program File (x86); deleted that.

Rebooted. Nothing reappeared that I can tell.

Meanwhile, something received 130+MB in 30 minutes, but that could have been Windows Update or MSE since that PC hasn't been turned on for a few weeks.


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## Canceled 01/11/16 (Oct 17, 2015)

Confounded Also said:


> I may try it on a clean machine recently acquired where nothing ie really at risk and see what happens.
> 
> With any of these programs ......
> 
> ...


Audacity used stereo mix to record 'what you hear', and records as long as you wish . You might have to enable stereo mix first. :smile:

Amazon Prime has offline playback for all your devices-:thumb:


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## Canceled 01/11/16 (Oct 17, 2015)

koala said:


> I installed it on my computer and didn't have any problems. There are 4 steps during installation, offering some optional extras, each requiring the user to read the screen and select the relevant options, same as all other software setups.
> 
> One of the steps gives you the option to install Yahoo Search & Homepage in your browsers. Click the Decline button to refuse the option and move onto the next step. At the end it gives another optional install, this time for Palikan Search & Homepage. Again, click the Decline button and continue.
> 
> ...


Yes I know there are other programs, are you cross with me? 
Btw, I also declined. And Meh, as I said I use Audacity and Audio Hijack Pro (not expensive and really good) so I'm cool, thanks. I just get a bit irked if programs push stuff like that, inexperienced users are at a disadvantage here. (I'm just thinking of my hubbie who always has all sorts of rubbish on his pc that slows everything down.) Yes, it's free and advertising pays...but still. 

:huh:


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## koala (Mar 27, 2005)

No, not cross at all. I was just pointing out that there are more programs available than the ones mentioned in this thread. :smile:

I've been using Audacity since the early days for recording and sound editing, and agree with you that it's probably the best option for this type of project. I was just offering an alternative in case Confounded Also had any problems with it.


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## pctechy92 (Dec 5, 2015)

I just find my song I want on YouTube and then use http://www.video2mp3.com/


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## Confounded Also (Aug 19, 2015)

Digging through old threads.

Audacity worked quite well. Used their VOX-type function that stops recoridng when the sound ends. Then had to go in and manually split tracks, label and encode. A bit labor intensive, but the end result is the same as digitizing LPs.


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## kendallt (Feb 21, 2007)

I was digging oput old threads as well!
You do what I do.
I record albums and cassettes mostly, just let them play/record and split them afterwards.
I also turn off any type of leveling/equalizing option there is, the low and high volume changes are part of the music, high and low notes also get lost when you do too much processing.


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## Confounded Also (Aug 19, 2015)

Audacity also has a tool that rips audio from video, so I was able to pull the tracks from some concerts I had recorded off TV.


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