Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with audio and software

Turn up the radio

CodeMonkey — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 09:25:24 -0800

What is the best software for recording streaming AM radio stations? There are late night shows on, some that have podcasts but some that don't. I want to 'set it and forget it' and have the results in an mp3 format.

Webcam recording softwrae

gocubbies — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 19:36:47 -0800

I need to record myself giving a presentation for school. My laptop has a built in webcam and microphone. What free Windows software would you recommend for this task?

I need an audio mixer for my mac!

NeonBlueDecember — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:18:21 -0800

[Mac Audio Filter] Help me find a software "mixer board" for my mac! Specifics inside First the details of what I've got, and then what I want.

I have a mac with several input options, default sound card line in, built in microphone, usb microphone, Griffin iMic and so on.

I have multiple output options as well, the default sound card line out, and the iMic.

Now what I want is a software audio mixing board. Some piece of software that would allow me collect sound from multiple sources above in to individual channels, adjust their volume indipendantly, and then choose which line out to route the final mixed audio. Recording is not necessary, but real-time output is.

End result is allowing me to talk on a voice service like skype or ventrillo, and be able to play sound effects, music, plug in multiple mics, etc.

Does this magical piece of software exist or am I just going to have to purchase the hardware. Since this is just for goofing around, and not pro-audio I'd prefer not to have a big mixer sitting on my desk.

Simple AV capture program for a Windows laptop?

killdevil — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 04:06:50 -0800

I need a Windows program that will capture audio from my laptop's mic and video from my laptop's built-in camera, then dump the combined results to disk in some convenient video format. This sort of quick-and-dirty video capture is such an obvious thing to do that I feel sure decent software must exist (how else would the YouTube-loving peoples of the world capture for posterity the gyrations of their cats upon monitors and keyboards, after all?), but Google turns up nothing but terrible-looking junk. Bonus points for free and/or open source. I'm also not averse to paying for trial-ware that I can check out before I commit to anything.

Also, as I'm just hoping to record some lectures for my own review later on, the output doesn't have be production-quality -- it just has to let me see and hear what went on.

Podcasting software

tdreyer — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 06:42:02 -0800

Looking for website software to host podcasts & generate an XML feed to sent to iTunes. I've got the site, space, and bandwidth; now I just need software to organize the podcasts (audio) and generate an XML feed to submit to iTunes. Any suggestions for good software or tools to do this will be appreciated.

Audio files for non-audiophiles

fusinski — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 21:27:21 -0800

What is the simplest way (free or otherwise) to convert M4P and M4A audio files to MP3 en masse?

Challenging Video Editing Software for PC Question

noir — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 14:56:42 -0800

Challenging Video Editing question: If I wanted to take video from a multiple number of different sources (off DVD's or maybe Blue-Ray) and produce a single video from those sources (say each video has its own quarter of the screen), which editing tool(s) would be best to perform these tasks? Software must be PC. By best, I mean: * relatively simple to learn, * open source, or relatively inexpensive * produces good quality, quad-screen videos in high enough resolution to look good on typical home televisions, not just computer screens. *Makes it easy to add your own music tracks or soundtrack, or it can use audio from any of the 4 videos as well, preferably both.

Can I save, in mp3 form, the songs recommended to me by Pandora, on a Windows PC?

newfers — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 13:33:06 -0800

Is there anything approximating a Windows-based version of the OSX application PandoraJam, allowing me to record tracks suggested by the Pandora website? I purchased an amazing shareware program for my Mac, called PandoraJam... It records and downloads all music recommended by the wonderful music recommendation site Pandora.

I would love to have a similar program on my Windows-based PC, but other than some very clunky solutions, I can't seem to find a piece of shareware/freeware that would do the trick easily, and preferably legally, though that isn't a prerequisite :)

Help? Anyone? Please?

Record yahoo messenger?

nyxxxx — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 19:12:50 -0800

How can I record audio from yahoo messenger? More inside. I would like to record audio from yahoo messenger. YOu would think it could do it on it's on, but I can't seem to find anyway of doing that.

We're trying to start a call in talk show using yahoo. I tried the built in audio recorder but it would only record 1 side of the conversation. It only records the audio on the computer it's on.

Audacity doesn't seem to be able to do it either.

Am I missing something? Is there some setting in these programs so that I can record all the audio that goes through the chat room? Is it possible to do it on irc or some other program? It has to be a common program that can run under windows.

Speech Recognition and Recording Software

AngerBoy — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 11:14:25 -0800

What (if any) are good speech-recognition programs that also serve as full-function recording software? I'm not sure if this is a dumb question, but I sure couldn't find the answer easily online or in the Ask MeFi archives (despite some good stuff about speech-recognition programs). What I'm hoping to find is a good speech-recognition program (I'm looking at the basic model of Dragon NaturallySpeaking for now) that also allows you to record and edit long blocks of text. I suppose I could buy two separate programs - I have also been looking at WavePad as a good recording/editing option - but I'd love to find one program that bundles both capabilities. If anyone has good suggestions - or even the simple answer to whether I can do the recording/editing stuff with NaturallySpeaking, I'd love to hear from you! (Another helpful possibility might be if you've got a good freeware option that can do the stuff WavePad does. Older posts here on Ask MeFi have indicated that Audacity might be a good option for this. Any other thoughts?) Thanks, all!

I want to turn my DS into an FX processor. How?

lekvar — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 18:33:58 -0800

My Nintendo DS has a mic-in and headphone jack. I want to be able to send a signal from my amp/mixer/etc. to the DS for processing in the DS audio homebrew I've downloaded and send the processed signal out to the mixer/amp/etc. Short version:
I want to turn my DS into an FX processor. How?

Long Version:
Part 1:
I've got a DS and I've got the headset. I plan on re-wiring the mic from the headset to a 1/8" or 1/4" jack so I can run a signal from my other noise toys into ProteinDS, Nitrotracker and other homebrew audio fun. I'm fairly certain that the signal from an amp, mixer or synth is going to be too hot, and I'm unwilling to burn something out by overloading the circuit. How do I calm the signal down from line-in to mic-in? Would wiring a potentiometer do the trick? If so, what kind?

Part 2:
I've wired the headphone wires from the headset to a 1/4" jack. I thought that it would be a foolproof way to send an audio signal from the DS to my mixer or amplifier but the signal is coming out very, very quiet.
Like "barely-audible" quiet. Have I done something wrong? Is my theory unsound? Any ideas how to fix it?

Any hints, tips, critiques, advice, etc. gladly accepted.

YAGFF (Yet Another Google-Fu Failure)

jpdoane — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 14:42:44 -0800

I read something online a few weeks ago about a new open source tool for audio recording amd processing. I have searched my RSS feeds and via Google, and haven't found it. It wasn't Audacity. I do believe its title was a single word, perhaps beginning with 'R'. I thought it was developed by the same guy(s) that did Winamp or Skype or something (but Googling with this fact hasn't helped me)

How to shorten an MP3 without clipping the ends?

howling fantods — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 07:30:48 -0800

I have an mp3 I'd like to use as a ring tone, but it's 2 seconds too long. I don't want to cut off the beginning or end, but is there some other way to shorten it to 30 seconds? What software (OS X please) can do this? I realize some options might make it sound slightly off, but it's a ring tone so I shouldn't be too bothered by it.

Snip snip snip...Oh no my music!

softlord — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 08:03:08 -0800

At work, we have to deal with many many requests for audio clips. That is, receiving a CD, cutting 30, 60 or 90 seconds (or some other arbitrary length) from some or all of the tracks and turning them into MP3 or FLV files for use on our websites. I'm searching for a way to better automate this process, as it is unbelievably tedious process as you can imagine. My ideal solution would be able to insert a CD (or take a set of mp3 files) and run a program that would let me select start and end points for all tracks or each track individually, select a format (mp3 required, swf/flv nice but not absolutely necessary) and press a button to have it executed. Does anyone know of such a beast?

I need mp3 editing software

BradNelson — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 21:14:37 -0800

I need Mac software to let me edit out "stage talk" on some mp3s. I have a few mp3s of live recordings, many of which have annoying stage banter at the end or beginning of the track. So, I need a (Mac) program that will allow me to easily edit a few seconds/milliseconds from either the end or beginning.

Surely Word's Embedded Audio Can't Too Crippled To Export or Control

icebourg — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 15:48:22 -0800

How to change the program Word opens embedded audio with? Alternatively, suggestions for foot-pedal software that plays well with audio embedded in Word or RTF documents. When you have an embedded audio file in Word, the only program Word will open it with is Sound Recorder. (doesn't matter what wav files are associated with in Explorer) Is there a way to change this behavior?

If not, is there a way to extract the audio as a wav and save it somewhere? (I am aware that you can open it, copy and paste it into a new Sound Recorder window, then save it wherever you want, but I'm hoping for something simpler for our transcriptionists)

I'm also open to some script or program that will parse the RTF and export the wav file. (I could modify it to make it easy for our users)

And if neither is possible, does anyone have recommendations for foot-pedal software the plays nice with embedded RTF/Word audio? We have WAVPedal now, but it has the limitation that it needs to be able to get its hand on an actual wav file, it won't control Sound Recorder or Word's internal sound player.

We are using Word 2003 on XP.

Utility to tell which program is makeing sounds?

killThisKid — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 07:41:34 -0800

I'm looking for a utility that will indicate which program is making sound for Windows XP. Here's why: every few minutes or so, my computer makes a 'schhht' ... pause ... 'schht' noise.

I don't know what program is making the noise! I've tried selectively running or not running software, but just when I think I've figured it out, it makes the sound again.

The Ripper's blues

Iosephus — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 00:11:59 -0800

One-CD-to-one-audiofile software ripper? Failing that, audiofiles merger software? Quick version: what it says up there.

Anecdotal version (well, if I got you to kindly read this at least I could provide you some entertainment!). Being the happy owner of an iRiver T10 2GB, after some fiddling around I realized that ripping my not numerous CD collection to OGG VBR 64 kbs was just fine for me (I'll now dodge decaying produce from the hardcore audiofiles, do excuse me for a moment). Trouble is, this would easily put around 1200 tracks on the T10, which (and this is the first and only bad thing I've found so far about the lovely T10) can only endure 1000. So either I rip (some/all) CDs as whole tracks, or find some decent merger. I've tried some of the mergers around and they produce files that don't get read past the equivalent of the first unmerged track (not sure where the fault is, merger or T10's decoder).

I'm afraid there weren't any monkeys wearing a fez in the anecdote, which makes me sad.

Is there an audio PVR for PC?

phirleh — Fri, 01 Dec 2006 06:05:02 -0800

What would be a good software audio PVR to record an internet stream or line-in on a PC? I'm looking for a combo of Audio Hijack and Radio Shark to record audio broadcasts at specific times of the day.

Linux music software.

Jimbob — Thu, 27 Jul 2006 07:17:30 -0800

So, what's the state of music production software in Linux? What are people using? Music software is about the only thing that seems to be keeping Ubuntu off the default position on my GRUB boot menu - I have, up until now, done all my composition in Windows, using a wide range of software; Audiomulch, Modplug Tracker, Fruityloops, Audition, Orangator, SimSynth, others. What sort of equivalents exist on Linux? I live in hope that there is a great general-purpose sequencer / sampler / synthesizer in the vein of Fruityloops out there in Open Source land, But all I can seem to find are buggy alpha-stage single purpose synthesizers, text-mode software, MIDI sheetmusic composition software, and PD, which while allegedly an amazing piece of software, I've never been able to squeeze a soggy fart out of it. For multi-track mixing, Audacity does the job, but lacks some vital features, including such basics as being able to modify the sample rate for a track.

So, is anyone out there successfully using Linux as a music workstation? What secrets do you have? What software is the most complete, and offers the most creative freedom?

Are there any OSX burning programs that let you edit the tracks on the fly?

Envoy — Tue, 11 Jul 2006 15:50:21 -0800

Are there any programs out there for OSX that allow you to burn a standard audio disk from MP3 Files that also allow you to, within the program itself, do simple editing of the CD tracks? In other words, I don't want to edit the mp3 files, but I'd like to be able to do things like clip the start and end of the tracks a bit to cut out extra noise and/or adjust the timing of the transitions. Nero for the PC let me do this, but I haven't been able to find a single program for the Mac that lets me do the same thing.

Organizing my music. All automatically.

Devileyezz — Sat, 15 Apr 2006 12:44:25 -0800

I've never really bought albums/CDs and ripped them. Atleast not all of them, I probably have like 15-20 albums, but that's it. The major part of my music collection happens to come from the Napster times. Where only tracks would be downloaded, which have little or no filename according to convention. So, I have tracks like "12-Thievery Corp-Fedime's Flight.mp3". I'd like to see this track as "Thievery Corporation - Fedime's Flight.mp3" Is there any simple to use software, that will scan all the music I have in, for example, one drive (Drive F:). Look it up on CDDB/FreeDB/Amazon/Yahoo/etc, get the real information, rename the file, and update the artist/track tags and move it to a clean, new folder? All without too much human intervention? I've searched on here, and I've tried numerous taggers, and so far MB Tagger worked well. But 60% of my collection comes up as "unidentified". It did the renaming/moving/updating tags thing really well. But too bad, it doesn't have good, correct info for 60% of my music. Has anyone ever accomplished this, without spending too much time on it personally?

Speech to text without a secretary

Kickstart70 — Thu, 29 Dec 2005 22:07:38 -0800

Is there a free/cheap speech-to-text converter (ie. dictation, verbal notes) that works reasonably well? Best if it accepts wav files. Bonus points for Linux command line, but Windows is acceptable. All I really want is raw text from speech-only audio, and it doesn't have to be perfect. Oh, and I don't want to invest massive time cobbling together my own tools from the half-baked libraries and things that are out there.

How do I clean up a voice recording?

blue_beetle — Wed, 21 Dec 2005 14:34:56 -0800

How do I clean up a voice recording? I have a WAV file of a friend of mine singing (with piano accompaniement). The recording isn't the best quality, so I would like to clean it up, and possibly enhance the vocals. There are a million sound editing apps but I have no idea which is best. Can you recommend some free applications, and/or ways that I could get the recording in better shape?

My programs all got rather picky about how to play a CD.

Tuwa — Sun, 18 Dec 2005 13:05:37 -0800

I had a brief power outage last night; today some of the computer programs are not reading a CD in the DVD drive correctly, while others still read it without a problem. What's going on? I went to sleep with iTunes on and woke up with one of my clocks blinking and the computer showing the login screen. After booting up (win2000), the computer had some trouble recognizing the CD in the DVD drive. A reboot cleared that up, but now Winamp and Creative's player both play the CD with a lot of loud static overlaid (it sounds like a radio trying to pick up a fading station). Roxio's Easy CD Creator 5 has the same trouble on track preview; but iTunes and WinDVD both play it perfectly: clear, warm sound.

Do you have any idea what's likely gone wrong and how I should fix it? Is this a problem with the sound card? The DVD player? Something else entirely?