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The ability to record what you hear, aka recording "Stereo Mix", is something that is fading away. I thought there was nothing to it, based on how many people make YouTube videos of themselves talking while playing games and such, but I spent about three hours tonight wrestling with my motherboard sound, drivers, and Control Panel, trying every combination to get this to work.

I finally was able to get "Stereo Mix" to appear as a device in my Recording devices list by just trying driver after driver. But, even though it "appears" there and is "enabled," it's actually disabled. Any attempt to record the sound, every application throws it's own version of, "unable to record because the audio device is in use."

After stumbling across What's the reason behind "Stereo Mix" becoming a missing option?, it became clear that this is a rather increasingly common problem, especially since Vista and Windows 7.

Even if I accept the fact that my current motherboard and available drivers simply don't have the ability to record the sound coming out of my speakers, I can't seem to find any kind of list of sound cards and drivers that are confirmed working with no BS/third party intervention/driver hacks to "enable" the ability. I don't mind going out this weekend and picking up a sound card for my system, but I want to know, EXACTLY, what sound cards are available that will let me record what I hear without any trouble. That's all I want, just a brand, a model number, and driver version, that is confirmed working, and will work with Windows 7 64-bit, and will allow me to record microphone input at the same time.

Just for the record, so in case some other poor soul stumbles around the internet looking for an answer like this, my motherboard is Asus Model: P7P55D, and the drivers they offer are all "VIA High Definition Audio" by VIA Technologies.

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  • "a brand, a model number, and driver version" would make this a shopping question which would be off-topic and of short-lived usefulness. Feb 2, 2012 at 16:34
  • I disagree. You can easily remove my statement that I'm willing to buy something and then it just make it a general question about WHICH sound cards will not give problems for this goal. SuperUser FAQ clearly states this is the place to ask "If you have a question about … computer hardware" --- which this question is exactly that: what pieces of hardware (sound card in this case) will allow me to record what I hear? Further, if you research this topic, you'll find dead-end threads and unresolved issues galore, but never anywhere does someone say, "I have this, this and this, and it works." Feb 3, 2012 at 0:06
  • But I do thank you for your answer about the audio mixer and virtual audio cable, two things I hadn't even considered before :) Feb 3, 2012 at 0:10
  • Check it out: link. Maybe it helps you.
    – Phoenix
    May 21, 2014 at 7:52

3 Answers 3

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Get a stereo 1/8" audio cable and connect it from your computer's sound output to your computer's sound input.

Then use whatever recording programs you want to record from your computer's sound input device.

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  • But then how can I record microphone at the same time? I'll edit my original question to make that more clear, sorry. Feb 2, 2012 at 15:33
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Use an inexpensive audio mixer Example mixer $20 - $40 is probably cheaper than replacing a sound card.

Or use something like Virtual Audio Cable

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I have a Asus Xonar DS on my desktop. It is an inexpensive sound card that has Stereo Mix. But I won't have access to the desktop for a few months so unfortunately I can't double check nor prove it with a screenshot. Googling appears to kind of confirm it here and here

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