Missing sound recording option "Stereo Mix" / "Record What you hear" / "Waveout mix"

Originally Posted by any ANONYMOUS forum user

hi

We're using Sony, Dell, HP and Acer laptops with built-in sound cards like (Intel Sound AC'97) in our network. All these laptops use Windows Vista or Windows 7. I have a couple of PCs that do have the Stereo Mix option if Windows XP, but don't have it in Windows 7 or Vista.

I can't find a working solution for recording sound internally via the mixer. There should be an option like "Stereo Mix" / "Record What you hear" / "Waveout mix" etc. listed in the mixer output.

Updated Sigmatel, Realtek, Intel drivers didn't change anything


Do I have to use an audio cable from output to input on the back on these laptops to "record what i hear" ?

Anybody with a hint on that subject ? Is there actually a tool for Windows Vista or Windows 7? Should we downgrade to Windows XP to be able to record sound?

We were not willing to switch to Linux, but safer Internet and safer office work almost without viruses and trojans looks promising. If we switch to Linux, will there be an option like "Stereo Mix" / "Record What you hear" / "Waveout mix" or similar? What Linux distributive is good enough for sound recording, office work, Internet browsing and VoIP?

Salutation

Windows 7 looks like a service pack for Vista, but it doesn't fix the audio recording problem. Microsoft is purposefully preventing us from recording sound.

First of all you need to try to enable the "Wave Out mix" ("Stereo Mix", "Record What you hear")

How to enable the "Wave Out mix" ("Stereo Mix", "Record What you hear") in Windows 7/Vista

1. Go to the Control panel and double click the "Sound".
2. Select the "Recording" tab
3. Right click on the background of the tab and select "Show Disabled Devices"
4. Find the "Wave Out mix" ("Stereo Mix", "Record What you hear") item, right click on it and select Enable.
   Now you can capture audio from any program in Windows 7/Vista.