Soundcard for Win7 64 bit: need to record internal audio (eg. "what you hear")

[Sherry C]

Howdy folks,

I'm taking the opportunity to make use of the collective wisdom here :)

I'm looking for recommendations for a soundcard that I can use on my Win7 64 bit machine for recording internal audio.

I need to be able to record (using Camtasia) what the screen is showing and the audio that accompanies it (eg. for the new videos that we've done for the main website, as well as the tutorial videos I have in mind for Musician and Composer.) I had been doing this before with the SB Audigy 2 sound card that was in my XP machine. My XP machine died, however, and my new machine is Win7 (which I really do like). However, the "What U Hear" feature does not work in Win7. I also sometimes use a mixture of soundfonts and sound library (GPO) for my music, and being able to record that together was quite convenient.

I contacted Creative, and they weren't very informative as to whether the "What u hear" option might be "fixed" for Win7. I'm now shopping around for another sound card, preferably less than $200.

So I'm looking for recommendations: what card do you use to capture "what you hear", or the internal audio stereo mix (I need stereo, not mono) directly from your sound card? I'd be happy to know about alternative sound cards, preferably PCI, but will be glad to explore other options as well if they fit my needs and budget.

I don't need to have inputs, as I have a separate audio/MIDI interface unit that is working just fine. But I do need to be able to record internal sound. The onboard soundchip that came with the computer does not have that option.

Thanks!
Sherry

[herbert]

Hi Sherry,

I am still on Windows XP. On my PC I can connect “Line In” to “Line out” on the integrated audio of my PC. All you need is a pair of audio cables to try it on your machine.

Best wishes,

Herbert


Edit
The audio connectors are likely to be 3.5 mm stero plugs. In that case you need only one stereo cable.

[Sherry C]

Howdy Herbert,

Thanks for the recommendation. I had avoided doing anything like a physical cable previously because of digital-to-audio-to-digital conversion degradation of signal. I did try doing line out/line in on the Audigy alone out of curiosity, and ended up with some nasty crackling.

However, since you do it successfully, and I know you create soundtracks for various reasons, your suggestion sparked another idea to try: run a physical cable from the "Line out" of the Audigy card to the "Line in" of the onboard Realtek High Definition chipset. The Realtek does not have the capability to record anything like a "What you hear" or "Stereo mix" or anything like that, but it can use the Line In for recording. I figured I had nothing to lose at this point by trying it out :)

Result: I'm pretty impressed so far - no big testing yet - with this setup, though I'm sure it's not as good as if I had the true internal recording. It's a lot cleaner than I anticipated it would be. So, for now it's a cheap ($6 for the cable) solution for my current needs. I can deal with that :)

Thanks!
Sherry

[herbert]

Hi Sherry,

You said:

“I had avoided doing anything like a physical cable previously because of digital-to-audio-to-digital conversion degradation of signal.”

Recording over the sound card will always result in “digital-to-audio-to-digital conversion degradation of signal”, whether you use an external cable or the sound is directed internally in the analog part of the sound card.

Using the onboard Realtek HD audio by itself should give you the better results, even if you have to use an external cable to connect “out” to “in”. Best results of cause are achieved if the sound remains in digital form at all times and the sound card is only used for monitoring but is not part of the actual recording system.

Best wishes,

Herbert

[Sherry C]

Howdy Herbert,


Using the onboard Realtek HD audio by itself should give you the better results, even if you have to use an external cable to connect “out” to “in”. Best results of cause are achieved if the sound remains in digital form at all times and the sound card is only used for monitoring but is not part of the actual recording system.

You're right, of course, on all points :) The reason that I don't use the Realtek for "both sides" is that the Audigy 2 card can load and play soundfonts along with any other sound libraries I use with Composer. I find it much easier to use various sounds with Composer this way (no advance setup after the initial one-time loading of soundfonts on my sound card) rather than setting up the VST host stuff. The Realtek doesn't have such capability. I guess I'm just lazy ;)

Thanks for your insights here, and I'm sure other folks will find them helpful too!

ttfn,
Sherry

[cidscrihopleea]

I am having problems with chrome.
The menu works like a charm on IE, FF and Opera but no show in chrome

[Sherry C]

Howdy,

I am having problems with chrome.
The menu works like a charm on IE, FF and Opera but no show in chrome

The menu for.....?

A description of what program and the steps you're trying to use, as well as the operating system (eg. XP, Vista, Windows 7) will be helpful in figuring out the problem.

Thanks!
Sherry

[veneman]

Howdy,


The menu for.....?

A description of what program and the steps you're trying to use, as well as the operating system (eg. XP, Vista, Windows 7) will be helpful in figuring out the problem.

Thanks!
Sherry

Hello Cherry,

May be I'm wrong here, but Chrome (google) as well as Opera are Internet Browsers, competitors of Internet Explorer.
Its likely meant that the Forum pages do not display well in Chrome.

If so.
There are quite some small incompatibilities between Internet Browsers.
Microsoft's IE is used by the major of users. On my site I see 95 %.
Most WEBsites ans will as Forum, Shop's are primarily designed
for MS-IE. It's the choice of the WEBsite designer/programmer
whether he also test in depth the WEbsite in Chrome and other browsers.
And then resolves most. or all errors:).

So the question might be is Notation's Forum programmed and tested
with other that IE. If not then this might clarify why you have these errors.:(

Cheers Jaap

[Sherry C]

Hi Jaap,

Good to see you :)

Yes, Chrome is a browser, but I'm not sure if C. is having a problem with (1) the forum (2) the Notation Software website's MIDI pages (3) another linked MIDI website's pages (I get a surprising number of inquiries about them because folks follow a link from our website) (4) the browser launching from Musician or Composer or (5) ????

There are a lot of possibilities where a browser peculiarity could affect a user's experience, so I'm just trying to be efficient and find the specific problem so we can address it. It's much more helpful to know where the needle is, rather than plowing through the entire haystack on my own to try and find it :) (this is from the saying "trying to find a needle in a haystack")

ttfn,
Sherry