What's the best software for recording real audio streams and converting to mp3?

December 11, 2003 9:35 AM

What's the best software for recording real audio streams and converting to mp3?
posted by echelon to computers & internet (8 comments total)

audacity can record straight from your soundcard output, so you could stream the realmedia and record it realtime.
posted by Hackworth at 9:47 AM on December 11, 2003

MPlayer can do it, and does not need the sound card to accomplish the task.
posted by Galvatron at 9:54 AM on December 11, 2003

For OS X, use Audio Hijack.

For Windows, try Total Recorder.
posted by Mo Nickels at 9:54 AM on December 11, 2003

I use the free app WireTap on the Mac. Works like a charm.
posted by jdroth at 9:59 AM on December 11, 2003

I second Total Recorder. It's great. Well worth the $12 to register.
posted by elvissinatra at 10:55 AM on December 11, 2003

Keep in mind the quality will get (even) worse when reencoding to mp3, if you can you should try to get whatever player you use to use a realaudio codec instead.
posted by fvw at 11:03 AM on December 11, 2003

Keep in mind the quality will get (even) worse when reencoding to mp3

This is true, and particularly noticeable if you're listening through earphones or earplugs. But since most streaming audio is low quality, anyway, you're not losing much, or else likely won't care. However, many of the programs listed here will let you control the MP3 settings, so you can record at a higher resolution than the sound is being transmitted, preserving it, for all practical purposes, as you would have otherwise heard it. Some even let you record to AIFF or AAC, which will make big files which offer near-perfect reproduction of what is being streamed.

if you can you should try to get whatever player you use to use a realaudio codec instead.

The whole problem with streaming content that these programs solve is that you usually have to be online to hear it, so using a RealAudio codec is not an option if you want to play the files offline, such as on an iPod.

Audio Hijack Pro gives you many audio filters which can let you process the stream as it is being recorded, to improve the the sound quality. For example, you can take a mono stream and stereofy it: it's not true stereo, but it does sound deeper and wider. The high- and low-pass filters can help cut buzz, and of course there is an equalizer, reverb, and a number of other filters that probably only a professional sound engineer would want. The other apps on this page may have the same filtering features, but I do not use them, and so do not know.
posted by Mo Nickels at 11:31 AM on December 11, 2003

The whole problem with streaming content that these programs solve is that you usually have to be online to hear it

Which begs the question: does the audio need to be in mp3 format? If you just want to save the stream, MPlayer can dump it to a realaudio file that you can listen to offline. This is the best solution in terms of audio quality.
posted by Galvatron at 3:01 PM on December 11, 2003