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

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

echelon — Thu, 11 Dec 2003 09:35:16 -0800

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

By: Hackworth

Hackworth — Thu, 11 Dec 2003 09:47:50 -0800

audacity can record straight from your soundcard output, so you could stream the realmedia and record it realtime.

By: Galvatron

Galvatron — Thu, 11 Dec 2003 09:54:29 -0800

MPlayer can do it, and does not need the sound card to accomplish the task.

By: Mo Nickels

Mo Nickels — Thu, 11 Dec 2003 09:54:36 -0800

For OS X, use Audio Hijack.

For Windows, try Total Recorder.

By: jdroth

jdroth — Thu, 11 Dec 2003 09:59:56 -0800

I use the free app WireTap on the Mac. Works like a charm.

By: elvissinatra

elvissinatra — Thu, 11 Dec 2003 10:55:30 -0800

I second Total Recorder. It's great. Well worth the $12 to register.

By: fvw

fvw — Thu, 11 Dec 2003 11:03:02 -0800

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.

By: Mo Nickels

Mo Nickels — Thu, 11 Dec 2003 11:31:35 -0800

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.

By: Galvatron

Galvatron — Thu, 11 Dec 2003 15:01:07 -0800

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.