Sound Card Mixer - Some Sound Recording Tips

Some Sound Recording Tips

• Convert MIDI into WAV: Play a MIDI file with SW synth or Wave (depending on the playing software) controls at high volume. In record control select mono mix or stereo mix (depends of whether you want a mono or stereo output). The sound can be recorded using any recording software like Windows Sound Recorder.
  In order to avoid interference, all other controls in play control should be muted. If you want to hear the sound while being recorded, care should be taken to avoid feedback, either by lowering speaker volume or repositioning the microphone.
• Record streaming sound (i.e. sound from an internet-radio station): To record sound that is played on PC there is a special virtual recording source called stereo mix or mono mix. All sounds on your PC are “duplicated” to this recording source by the audio driver or by the sound card hardware.
  Just select stereo mix source in your favorite recording tool and record what you hear. Not all the sound cards have stereo mix and it works only on Windows XP and older operating systems.
  Starting from Windows Vista and 7 new sound API model was introduced. There is no stereo mix or mono mix. Instead every playback device can be opened in loopback recording mode, so you can record what you hear from your speakers, headphones, digital output etc. Even if your audio card does not support it, Windows will emulate this functionality. HD Audio Recorder is the single tool that records “what you hear” in Windows Vista or Windows 7 using new API.
  Few sound cards temporary support stereo mix source in Vista for backward compatibility with old software, but it is not enabled by default and is looking not very stable just like it used to be in Windows XP.
  In this way you can also record any other internal sound of your PC, i.e. voices of TTS engines, sounds of the operating system, ...
• A sound coupling can be easily produced by setting microphone and volume control controls to high volume, especially if the microphone's mic boost setting is turned on.