Posted by Ed on 02/05/07 21:35

With Windows XP I could use Total Recorder to record streaming audio from
Musicmatch. With the Windows Vista, this doesn't work anymore. The reason
why is kind of complicated and I don't completely understand it.

Here is what the people at Total Recorder say:

"With Windows Vista, the Total Recorder driver can record output only of
those programs that do not use (or can work without using) Direct Sound and
allow to select an audio device independently of the system settings. The
issue is related to the significant changes in functioning of the sound
subsystem in Windows Vista. Regretfully, most audio playback programs do
not satisfy these criteria and cannot be recorded in the Software mode. You
can only record output of these programs in the Soundboard mode if your
soundcard has an appropriate line."

I had to read this about 10 times to start to understand this. I think what
it says is that for Total Recorder to be able to record from a program, that
program can not be using Direct Sound (also know as Microsoft DirectX).
Does anyone know if there are any audio playback programs that do not use
Direct Sound?

People are starting to come up with ways to make Total Recorder work, but
none of them that I know of are good solutions yet. Some ways I have found
so far are:
1) selecting "Stereo Mix", "Wave-Out Mix", "Wave", "What U Hear" or
something similar from the recording tab under sound. I think this has the
affect of jumpering from line out to line in, but I'm not 100% sure.
2) place an external jumper, using a 1/8" male stereo connector, between
line out and line in on the sound card. I tried this and it did work.
However, Total Recorder will not stop recording at the end of a song because
it can't tell the difference between silence and "noise". Also with this
method the recording is not 100% digital, so the quality may not be as good.

Does anyone have any ideas/better options for making recording of streaming
audio easy to use with good quality on Windows Vista?

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