How to Record Audio from Computer in 5 simple ways
- Karen Nelson
- June 1, 2022
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Are you looking for a simple method to collect music on YouTube or collect chats in video games? Do you worry about missing the important material in webinars or online expert interviews? Would you like to grab the music that cannot be easily downloaded for offline listening? To help you steer clear of trouble, we compiled 5 simple ways for you to record computer audio: system sound or microphone sound, or both.
Easiest Way to Record Computer Audio [High Quality]
VideoSolo Screen Recorder is capable to capture all the computer screen activities and allows you to only record sound generated by Mac/Windows computer or any outer source, or record both.
- Clear and simple software interface. No advertisements, no bundled application, won’t upload your recording. It is 100% safe.
- Feature-powerful and abundant in personalized settings including task scheduling, audio output format & quality, hotkey setting, etc.
- Consummate after-sale service system and feedback system. Moreover, there’s a wealth of screen recorder tutorials on the VideoSolo official website.
VideoSolo Screen Recorder
High-performance and multifunctional screen recorder that records video & audio activities on your computer in high quality.
- Capture any areas of your computer screen in HD quality.
- Record all types of audios to MP3/AAC/M4A/WMA.
- Marvelous editing features to help you record better.
- Advanced recording features to fit your using habits.
Windows 11/10/8/7/Vista/XP/Mac OS X 10.7 or above
Step 1. Click "Audio Recorder" on the Main Interface
Download VideoSolo Screen Recorder and open it, to record computer system audio, click “Audio Recorder” on the main interface when the program is launched.
Notice: It’s noted that you need to install an audio driver when recording audio if your device is Mac.
Step 2. Set Proper Recording Volume
Volume is an important element of pleasant audio. Before officially recording, you need to adjust the appropriate system sound to record computer audio.
- If you want to record music playing or podcast on your computer or whatever audio is on your computer and then pull the slider to adjust the volume.
- If you just want to record computer sound, you’d better turn off the microphone for better audio quality.
Note:
If you want to record and download the music from an online video platform like Youtube, we recommend Inovideo, a simple online video/audio downloader, just simply copy and paste the link of the video you want to download, and the software will help you download the video or convert the file into audio.
Step 3. Modify Output Settings (Optional)
In the output tab, “MP3” & “High” are selected by default and you can easily modify them to WMA, M4A, AAC, and lossless in Windows.
In the Mac version, the output formats are MP3, M4A, WMA, CAF, FLAC, OGG, and OPUS.
Step 4. Click "REC" to Start a Recording
To avoid missing a few seconds at the beginning of the audio, you’d better start the recording first by clicking the “REC” button then turn on the audio playing on your computer. And you can use the “Trim” feature to remove the unwanted part from the recorded audio track.
You can control audio recording by clicking the “Pause“, “Stop“, “Set record length” and “Option” buttons.
Step 5. Preview and Clip Computer Audio Recording
Once stopped recording, you will enter a preview window. Here you can use the “Clip” feature to adjust the length of your audio recording file. Click “Save” if you are satisfied with it.
Now you can find the computer audio recording files in the output folder.
VideoSolo Screen Recorder is a multi-functional video recording and editing tool. More than recording your audio, it can also do clip-editing, recording live streams, and recording zoom meetings. You can even mirror your phone to your computer as a Web camera and record audio from browser.
How to Record Audio on Windows 10 using Microsoft Voice Recorder
Using the built-in Windows tool, Window Voice Recorder is the easiest way for Windows users to record the external sound. All you need to do is to check your computer microphone accessibility and capture your voice. But there is one thing you need to notice is that this tool only works for microphone recording and it doesn’t capture any internal audio playing on your computer.
Step 1. Check your Microphone
Before recording your audio, make sure that your microphone is turned on. You can open the System Settings and go to the Input tab. Choose your microphone from the Drop-down menu and set the volume.
Step 2. Open Windows Voice Recorder
Click Start menu and search for Windows Voice Recorder in the search bar. Then open the app.
Step 3. Start Audio Recording
You can see the recording icon in the middle center. Hit it and start recording. When you finish your recording, the file will be automatically saved in the Sound Recordings folder.
How to Record Computer Sounds with QuickTime Player on Mac
Developed by Apple, QuickTime Player is a popular and free official Mac media player for any downloaded video or image but also a powerful audio recorder. Whether you want to record a conversation or interview, QuickTime Player can easily record yourself with a couple of steps.
Step 1. Open QuickTime Player
QuickTime is a build-in software on your Mac device, you can search it in your search bar and open it.
Step 2. Select “ New Audio Recording”
Once you open the QuickTime Player, choose the “New Audio Recording” in the File list of the top-bar menu.
Step 3. Set Your Recording Volume
You can adjust the slider beneath your recording button to change the recording volume. QuickTime also has the option to adjust the recording quality by clicking the Drop Arrow next to the recording button.
Step 4. Click the Record Button and Begin Recording
After all the settings are done, you can click the red dot and begin the record. Once you’re done, click the “Stop” icon. And the file will be saved as an M4A file on your device.
Using Handy Freeware to Record Computer Audio with Audacity
For people who want to record their computer audio with professional but free software both suit for Windows and Mac systems, try Audacity out.
Audacity is an open-source and completely free audio recording software for recording computer sounds, which includes several capabilities. It can record multiple tracks at once, you can edit your recordings with more professional adjustments for the tracks, and also apply effects on those sounds.
Step 1. Download and open Audacity
Navigate to the Audacity website to download and install the software.
Step 2. Setting the input and output devices to record the audio.
You need to set the correct input and output device before your recording. Go to the “File” then choose “Preferences” to do your settings, for Mac devices you just click “Preferences” in the Audacity interface.
Note:
If you’re using Windows devices to record sounds, you need to select the “Windows WASAPI” option as the audio host.
Step 3. Start recording and save your audio file.
Click the “Record” button to start recording after all the settings, and hit “Stop” to finish.
Once you finish, Open the File tab and find the “Save Project”, click to save your files. If you don’t want to do extra editing for your audio, just click “Export” in the “File” menu to export your files.
If you want to do some detailed adjustments to your recordings, you can click on the soundtracks in the timeline, and do the cutting, effects adding, and other editings for the audio.
Note:
You can export the audio files in a variety of formats, including MP3. Just choose the output format you want to export your files.
With Audacity, you can further fine-tune the performance of your audio. The operating interface, however, is a little bit complex, not user-friendly, or handy for the newcomers. And it doesn’t contain screen or webcam recording function. In this respect, VideoSolo Screen Recorder does better in clear and easy-used interface and additional screen and web recording features.
Record Audio from Computer by Online Voice Recorder
Online Voice Recorder is a convenient and simple free online tool that can be used right in your browser. It has a clean and intuitive interface which also easy to use. Online Voice Recorder allows you to record your voice using a microphone and save it as an mp3 file.
Step 1. Open Online Voice Recorder
Search online voice recorder in your browser and open it.
Step 2. Microphone Settings
You can adjust your microphone settings by clicking the rightmost setting icon.
Step 3. Start Recording
After selecting the right microphone, you can begin your recording by hitting the red dot button. You can stop recording by hitting the Pause button. After you’re recording done, hit the Red Square and finish recording.
Step 4. Trim and Save Your File
After recording, you can preview and trim your audio. And the file will be directly saved to your device as an mp3 file.
Choose Best Way to Record Audio from Computer (Table Comparison)
| Product | VideoSolo Screen Recorder | Microsoft Voice Recorder | QuickTime Player | Audactiy | Online Voice Recorder |
| Output Format | WMA, M4A, AAC and lossless in Windows. MP3, M4A, WMA, CAF, FLAC, OGG and OPUS in Mac. | M4A | M4A | MP3, WAV, OGG | MP3 |
| Audio Quality | High Quality | × | High Quality | High Quality | × |
| Customized Editing | √ | × | × | √ | × |
| Pause or Stop | √ | √ | × | √ | √ |
| Trim Audio Length | √ | √ | √ | √ | √ |
| Hotkey Setting | √ | × | × | √ | × |
| Easy to use | √ | √ | √ | × | √ |
We can clearly find that VideoSolo Screen Recorder is a better choice with its excellent performance, you can easily use it to record your audio from your computer and export high-quality audio files with a variety of output formats available. And you can also do customized editing and trimming for your audio after the recording if you want. The editing and operation can be controlled by the hotkey setting for your convenience.
Tip - How to Add ID3 Metadata If You Recorded A Song
The recorded audio doesn’t have ID3 information. So if the audio you want to record is music, you need to manually add the ID3 metadata information to the audio file. Here we will use VideoSolo Video Converter Ultimate to show you how to add ID3 metadata information. Or you can go to Recommended: Top 3 Easy ID3 Metadata Editor to get more choices.
- Download VideoSolo Video Converter Ultimate and install it on your computer. Then go to “Toolbox” > “Media Metadata Editor“.
- Now click the “+” button to add the recorded audio file.
- When it comes to the editing panel, you are able to add the title, artist, album, composer, genre, year, track and comments to the audio file.
With VideoSolo Screen Recorder, you can record any audio on your computer such as online streaming music, radio, BGM in gameplay, music in anime as well as songs on Spotify/Apple Music. Now it’s time to get the trial version to have a try!
