PC INTERNET DIRECTLY INTO COOL EDIT

[hungryhawk]

Is this possible without a mixer or other rigging?

 

[bobbybooey]

Depends on the PC... my old PC had XP Media Center Edition, which allowed me to record anything that was playing through the PC. My new machine has XP Pro and I'm no longer able to do this.

 

[Emmett1057]

Is this possible without a mixer or other rigging?

This is done through soundcard settings. If you use the windows mixer, you need to set it to record "what you hear". If it's another interface, you'll need to record the wave output.

 

[Goat Rodeo Cowboy]

I gather that some sound cards are "duplex" capable and others are not. (Part of the sound card can do playback while part of the card can do record.) I don't know if a non-duplex card can be set the way Emmit suggested or not. And apparently when we bring up "MIXER" part of what we are seeing and using is what Microsoft has given us, and part of what we are seeing and using depend on the drivers provided by your sound card manufacturer to make MIXER complete. The best example of that is for those of us who have M-Audio Audiophile cards. There is no way to control incoming RECORD volume. You have to do that externally at your mixer.

Several years ago I picked up a very low cost Canadian produced software from High Criteria called TOTAL RECORDER. I bought it because they included the ability to easily record whatever was playing back on your sound card: Internet, games output, etc. Their basic program was then $13 (U.S.) and the last time I looked it was still under $20, and I later upgraded to their version that sells for $30 to $40. The second reason I purchased TOTAL RECORDER was it's handiness if you go on site to record a choir, a high school band, a speech, a church worship service. It will automatically start a new track every so many minutes, or if you are monitoring, hit one key on the keyboard to start a new track at a logical pause in the program being recorded. And all the previous tracks are safely written to hard drive as they are recorded. If you lose power down into the recording session, all the previous cuts are safely stored away on the hard drive, ready for playback. It will only do 2-track or stereo. No multi-track abilities.

Their bread-and-butter business is apparently providing dictation style software for people who do court reporting, medical records transcription, etc. Some of you may find those products of interest. TOTAL RECORDER appears to almost be something they let the programmers do as a hobby, something to suit their personal interests.

 

[SirRoxalot]

The ability to record "wave out" or "what you hear" is also dependent on the sound card drivers. For example, most Dell sound drivers don't allow you to record "wave out". You may be able to plug a jumper from the speaker out to the mic in, fools with levels, and achieve the same capability, but it's inconvenient at best.

You might try checking out this document for advice on resolving the issue. You may also be able to resolve the issue with an advanced audio mixer like Power Mixer from Actual Solutions. You can try the program for free, and pay them $17.95 if it resolves the issue.

Of course, you should always check to see if there are updated drivers available from your sound card or computer manufacturer. In some cases, the early drivers for Vista were not complete, or issues that were not addressed correctly have been repaired with more current drivers.