Windows (2000): piping sound to a file?

[cellio]

My google-fu is not good enough, it appears. Or rather, my vocabulary for this problem space isn't good enough to generate useful search terms.

Suppose I have some random application that generates sound -- that is, signal to my speakers -- but does not directly support any "save as" options for capturing that sound to disk. Is there any way, either built into Windows or done via freeware/cheapware, to capture that audio and write it to disk in some broadly-understood audio format, so that someone else can get the sound without running the original application?

Trope Trainer has a "play this torah portion" function, and one of my readers has asked for a recording of his portion. I'm looking for improvements on "hold a tape recorder up to the speaker", especially as I don't own a standard tape recorder. (I have one that uses micro-cassettes, but since the other person doesn't, that doesn't help.)

I'd welcome any hints y'all feel inclined to throw my way. Thanks.

Comments

[the-never.livejournal.com]

Well, there used to be. I know because I used to use something like that to record from a crippled version of Rebirth that wouldn't save files. Let me look.

[the-never.livejournal.com]

What kind of audio is it? Something like http://www.looprecorder.de/ can record web radio streams in various formats.

[laurabee.livejournal.com]

You might be able to run a cable from audio out to the audio in on the same sound card. I'm not sure it would play nicely with itself, but it might work. Worst case, you can borrow someone else's laptop or computer and send the sounds to the other machine and record there.

I would assume there's something you're after, but my google-fu is lousy as well.

[ironangel]

hmm. alternatively, you could run a cable from audio out to a tape deck (if you have one) or a CDR?

[cellio]

Thanks! I'll give Loop Recorder a try; it seems to handle a variety of inputs. (I don't know what kind of audio it is. I run the application, I click the "play" button, and sound comes out of the speakers. There is no file-saving built into the app. I assume that once I capture it with some other tool, like Loop Recorder, any standard output format will do -- but I have no idea what Trope Trainer is using internally.)

[cellio]

That's a good point; I can reduce this to the problem of recording arbitrary audio in. (I've never used a PC to burn music from, say, LPs, but I know such exists.) And we have more computers than people in the house, so sending to another machine isn't a problem. :-)

[cahwyguy.livejournal.com]

You can record the audio in with the tools in the Roxio suite (that's what I do).

[http://users.livejournal.com/tim_/]

Depending on your sound card, you may be able to do this without any special programs at all. Try opening the sound recording volume (in the audio panel of the "sounds and audio device properties" control panel) and selecting Options->Properties. You may have a recording volume control listed for "wave out mix" or something like that; it's probably unchecked. That's the loopback feed that records from whathever the sound card is currently producing. If you check it, you'll get a new recording volume control; click the select checkbox for it to use it as the current recording source. Then you can use any audio recording tool.

If your sound card doesn't have any such facility (and you've turned on all the reasonably possible recording volume controls and checked that none of them produce anything useful), then Virtual Audio Cable (http://www.ntonyx.com/vac.htm) is probably what you want. One page (http://hauptwerk.co.uk/links.html) says it's the only such program they're aware of.

[http://users.livejournal.com/tim_/]

Oops, it looks like that second link has too strict criteria for this case: Total Recorder (http://www.highcriteria.com/) should also work, and is much cheaper, too.

[cellio]

Dang. VAC looks like it should be just what I need, but I can't get the demo version to work. I've configured the sound settings (on the control panel) to use the device, and even checked the "use only preferred devices" option, but I get sound to my speaker and not to Sound Recorder. My input app (Trope Trainer) does not provide any options for configuring its audio output, so that's why I'm doing the brute-force approach of using the control panel.

The limitations on the demo version are within acceptable parameters (one cable and a three-minute limit). I wish I could make it work.

Onward to your other comment. :-)

[cellio]

Ding ding ding. The demo for Total Recorder just worked for me (very painless, too!), so I'm going to buy that. (Its 40-second limit is more restrictive than VAC's 3-minute limit. :-) )