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Audio Capturing And 4 Best Ways to Go About It

Audio capturing

Hoping to rip some audio on your computer can be difficult. Once upon a day, it was an easy task, but now sites use security measures to prevent recording. But there are ways to record streaming audio without being a hacker. Let’s talk about audio capturing and the four best ways to go about it.

Capturing Internet Audio

If you want to capture audio on the internet, the best way is to get yourself some software. I’ve played around with a lot of recording options, but this is the easiest way. As anyone who’s tried it knows, downloading a digital file off the internet directly isn’t the easiest job.

Rest easy. I know of the most widely used tools for the task: apps that record internet streams. These solutions grab any audio running through the outputs for your sound card.

The drawbacks include that we’ve gotten so used to compressed downloading, the live recording might throw you off. Whether it’s a song or a radio show, audio capture requires you to listen to the entire piece. (This is still easier than trying to download from a website directly.) Another downside revolves around your computer’s behavior. Such as, if there’s noise while recording, the unwanted sound may end up on your capture.

Is This Legal?

Legality hinges on what you want to capture. Any stream that’s copyrighted technically cannot be recorded. If you did and proceeded to distribute the file you’re moving into illegal activity.

There’s a loophole called the Analog Hole. This argument says when you record analog audio, you’re not making a direct copy. By taking a digital original and converting it to analog for your sound card you’ve created a new digital file. But my research has found no state recognizes this as a legitimate argument.

The safest ways to capture audio is for personal use and sticking to non-copywritten material. If you distribute — or worse, include audio in new material or give it away — you create problems you don’t want.

Best Audio Capture Software

Streaming audio converters may support different formats, though MP3 tends to be the standard for compatibility. Some programs are free while others are shareware. Others have specifying features that might suit exacting measures. Do your due diligence and find the solution that works for you.

Audacity

Audacity is an open-source sound editor and recorder. A free solution, Audacity has a range of recording settings. There are two ways to use the program. Through your sound card if it supports recording computer playback or through a cable. You’ll need the LAME MP3 Encoder to export to MP3.

uSave.it

uSave.it is a platform that records and archives live streams. You can store data in the cloud, giving you access to your audio captures wherever. You’ll never have to concern yourself with system performance, storage space of security. The comprehensive dashboard makes recording audio easy with a ton of personal settings. You can export sections, upload and embed the player on your website.

Krut

Krut records both audio and video as separate files. This free program records.WAVs and you’ll need a secondary program to convert to other formats. Features include timer controls, moveable areas during captures, previews of ongoing recording, two frame rates, and video-audio synching.

Ondesoft Audio Recorder

A Mac recorder, Ondesoft Audio captures and records off of Spotify, Firefox, Chrome, Apple Music, VLC, and much more. The program saves a variety of sound formats. You can cut and splice clips, choose sampling rates, and utilize a scheduler for start and end times.