How do I record PC mic/headset and PC sounds simultaneously?

Jim Andrada · February 28th, 2009, 01:13 AM

Chris,

If you have a headphone port on your notebook that should work as a line out. Notebooks almost always have a headphone jack with some kind of volume control wheel.

Mic ports and line ports are different because mic signals are really weak and require a pre-amp to get them up to anything like line level.

I'm just gambling that most consumer sound cards or sound modules built in to the motherboard are not clever enough to try to sense which ports are getting signal and ignoring the other ports, so I suspect that runing a mic in through the mic port and another signal in through the ine-in port will just sum the signals in a fairly stupid way and if so this could all work.

Anyhow, you could try it with any kind of player like an ipod or walkman or anything to see if it works.

If I'm feeling better in the AM I may get under the desk and try to find the mic port on my PC and see what happens.

Steve House · February 28th, 2009, 05:55 AM

You initial post said you were using a Blackbird. Is that the HP Blackbird desktop gaming computer you're talking about? If so, which model? According to the info on the HP web site it came 'stock' with either motherboard jacks for a mic (pink), line in (blue), speakers/line out (green), 7.1 surround (pink/blue/green/gold/black/grey), or a Creative (Soundblaster) X-Fi Titanium Pro sound card that lets you hook up surround sound speakers, subwoofer, etc - is that in your system? Which one? If you can you let us know exactly what hardware you've got to work with, perhaps we can do a better job helping figure it out. You said also you were using a USB headset, is that right? Do you also have a conventional analog headset or a pair of headphones. What are your options for a mic besides the headset? Do you have a mixer or is there any budget to get an inexpensive one on the order of a hundred bucks or so? Would an external audio interface be at all in the cards?

By the way, I checked my setup suggestion of using an external mixer and audio interface with Vegas as the recording software as well as Audition, using either Real Player, Winamp, and MS Media Player as the playback source for the music and FX and it worked without a hitch. You can definitely get it working the way you've indicated you want to do it but you may have to invest in a bit of additional hardware, depending on what you already have.

Jim Andrada · February 28th, 2009, 07:18 PM

I saw a Presonus Audiobox for under $130 - it has two channels in so ought to work

Now for a really simple stupid idea

IF (I know, big IF) you had a different USB mic that didn't need to be right in your mouth like a headset mic does, why couldn't you just play the sound effects out through your speakers and record your voice together with the output of the speakers?

I think even a built in mic like they have on some notebooks (like MacBooks) would do the trick and pick it up OK

The missing link in all this is that somehow there has to be a way to mix two audio streams in order to get what you want.

Greg Bellotte · February 28th, 2009, 07:23 PM

I live in a Mac house (where audio hijack excells!!) but we still have one PC. On our one PC you can right click the little speaker icon on the right side of the taskbar (next to the clock) and a menu comes up. On it we find a "Recording devices" item. In that item is not only the mic input and the line input, but also something thats says "Mixer output". If I select that as the recording device, my recording software records everything played by the mixer. I can have a mic, my ipod plugged into the line in, and any system sounds or software playback all recorded together and use the mixer to balance levels between them. Is it not that simple, or am I missing something...

Jim Andrada · February 28th, 2009, 09:01 PM

AHA!!!!

I had the damndest feeling that there had to be something like this somewhere in the system - but on my XP system there's no speaker in the taskbar! Wonder if it depends on the soundcard/driver combination that's installed??? I found the sound icon in Control Panel and it offers no options for mixing - just shows the name of my sound card.

Yes - it should be this simple. It is this simple. There just needs to be a mixer of some kind in the picture, whether it's an external box or part of the system or a function provided by the sound card or some other piece of software or whatever.

Part of the problem a lot of us have in helping in this particular situation is that we do have mixers and systems that have various pieces of gear optimized for audio processing and we never depend on whatever may or may not be part of the OS or the standard sound card that's usually built into the PC.

By the way, I found something that has a recorder function and you can select an input source - but no mixer option. Looks like it was installed with my sound card. I bet if I had a better sound card and opened whatever software came with it that it would offer mixing and other useful options.

Greg Boston · March 1st, 2009, 04:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greg Bellotte

I live in a Mac house (where audio hijack excells!!) but we still have one PC. On our one PC you can right click the little speaker icon on the right side of the taskbar (next to the clock) and a menu comes up. On it we find a "Recording devices" item. In that item is not only the mic input and the line input, but also something thats says "Mixer output". If I select that as the recording device, my recording software records everything played by the mixer. I can have a mic, my ipod plugged into the line in, and any system sounds or software playback all recorded together and use the mixer to balance levels between them. Is it not that simple, or am I missing something...

What you're missing is that some Vista systems, mine included, are lacking the stereo or mono mixer function as a recording device. It's dependent on the sound card you are using. Vista completely re-did the way audio is handled, partly to prevent piracy. The missing mixer function prevents you from making digital recordings of other audio sources.

-gb-

Greg Bellotte · March 1st, 2009, 11:13 AM

Well I guess I got lucky with my one PC then. :-) So some genius needs to make something like Audio HiJack for the PC now...

Jim Andrada · March 1st, 2009, 09:46 PM

Well Greg, you got luckier than me. I fooled around with it today and for the life of me couldn't get the mic input mixed with a file playback.

Somewhere around here I have a Sound Blaster Audigy and i was thinking of trying it - but on the other hand know I could do it through one of my external boxes with about 3 mouse clicks.

I guess what it all boils down to is that Chris might get lucky - or might not, depending on his sound card, drivers, OS, etc etc etc.

Greg Bellotte · March 9th, 2009, 12:31 PM

Lucky yes, but I am feeling luckier that I ditched the PC thing and am mostly Apple now. I hate when someone's interpretation of technology gets in MY way of doing what *I* want with a tool-be it computer, camera, or anything else. And what was being asked of by the OP is straightforward, simple, and as basic of a task you could ask of a computer audio system. Good luck to us all...

Jim Andrada · March 9th, 2009, 04:06 PM

Maybe I'm just stupid (don't rule it out!) but I haven't been able to make this work on my MacBook either.

I downloaded the demo for Audio Hijack Pro but fail to see any "mixer" function. It's the newest release - do you think something has changed, or am a I just computer illiterate?

(Or maybe computer senile, considering I wrote my first program for pay in June of 1959. I think computers were still powered by steam in those days)

Greg Bellotte · March 9th, 2009, 08:28 PM

in hijackpro, change the source type to system audio (all found on the input tab) and it will record everything that comes out of the speakers. (requires install of sound flower, it will prompt you to add it)

btw, my brother has a machine running XP, he can record his mixer out too. more lucky people...

February 28th, 2009, 05:55 AM	#17
Steve House Inner Circle Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Hamilton, Ontario, Canada Posts: 5,742	You initial post said you were using a Blackbird. Is that the HP Blackbird desktop gaming computer you're talking about? If so, which model? According to the info on the HP web site it came 'stock' with either motherboard jacks for a mic (pink), line in (blue), speakers/line out (green), 7.1 surround (pink/blue/green/gold/black/grey), or a Creative (Soundblaster) X-Fi Titanium Pro sound card that lets you hook up surround sound speakers, subwoofer, etc - is that in your system? Which one? If you can you let us know exactly what hardware you've got to work with, perhaps we can do a better job helping figure it out. You said also you were using a USB headset, is that right? Do you also have a conventional analog headset or a pair of headphones. What are your options for a mic besides the headset? Do you have a mixer or is there any budget to get an inexpensive one on the order of a hundred bucks or so? Would an external audio interface be at all in the cards? By the way, I checked my setup suggestion of using an external mixer and audio interface with Vegas as the recording software as well as Audition, using either Real Player, Winamp, and MS Media Player as the playback source for the music and FX and it worked without a hitch. You can definitely get it working the way you've indicated you want to do it but you may have to invest in a bit of additional hardware, depending on what you already have. __________________ Good news, Cousins! This week's chocolate ration is 15 grams! Last edited by Steve House; February 28th, 2009 at 01:18 PM. Reason: Added note re software

February 28th, 2009, 07:18 PM	#18
Jim Andrada Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Tucson AZ Posts: 2,211	I saw a Presonus Audiobox for under $130 - it has two channels in so ought to work Now for a really simple stupid idea IF (I know, big IF) you had a different USB mic that didn't need to be right in your mouth like a headset mic does, why couldn't you just play the sound effects out through your speakers and record your voice together with the output of the speakers? I think even a built in mic like they have on some notebooks (like MacBooks) would do the trick and pick it up OK The missing link in all this is that somehow there has to be a way to mix two audio streams in order to get what you want. Last edited by Jim Andrada; February 28th, 2009 at 08:29 PM.

February 28th, 2009, 01:13 AM	#16
Jim Andrada Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Tucson AZ Posts: 2,211	Chris, If you have a headphone port on your notebook that should work as a line out. Notebooks almost always have a headphone jack with some kind of volume control wheel. Mic ports and line ports are different because mic signals are really weak and require a pre-amp to get them up to anything like line level. I'm just gambling that most consumer sound cards or sound modules built in to the motherboard are not clever enough to try to sense which ports are getting signal and ignoring the other ports, so I suspect that runing a mic in through the mic port and another signal in through the ine-in port will just sum the signals in a fairly stupid way and if so this could all work. Anyhow, you could try it with any kind of player like an ipod or walkman or anything to see if it works. If I'm feeling better in the AM I may get under the desk and try to find the mic port on my PC and see what happens.

February 28th, 2009, 07:23 PM	#19
Greg Bellotte Major Player Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: SLC, UT Posts: 291	I live in a Mac house (where audio hijack excells!!) but we still have one PC. On our one PC you can right click the little speaker icon on the right side of the taskbar (next to the clock) and a menu comes up. On it we find a "Recording devices" item. In that item is not only the mic input and the line input, but also something thats says "Mixer output". If I select that as the recording device, my recording software records everything played by the mixer. I can have a mic, my ipod plugged into the line in, and any system sounds or software playback all recorded together and use the mixer to balance levels between them. Is it not that simple, or am I missing something...

February 28th, 2009, 09:01 PM	#20
Jim Andrada Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Tucson AZ Posts: 2,211	AHA!!!! I had the damndest feeling that there had to be something like this somewhere in the system - but on my XP system there's no speaker in the taskbar! Wonder if it depends on the soundcard/driver combination that's installed??? I found the sound icon in Control Panel and it offers no options for mixing - just shows the name of my sound card. Yes - it should be this simple. It is this simple. There just needs to be a mixer of some kind in the picture, whether it's an external box or part of the system or a function provided by the sound card or some other piece of software or whatever. Part of the problem a lot of us have in helping in this particular situation is that we do have mixers and systems that have various pieces of gear optimized for audio processing and we never depend on whatever may or may not be part of the OS or the standard sound card that's usually built into the PC. By the way, I found something that has a recorder function and you can select an input source - but no mixer option. Looks like it was installed with my sound card. I bet if I had a better sound card and opened whatever software came with it that it would offer mixing and other useful options.

March 1st, 2009, 11:13 AM	#22
Greg Bellotte Major Player Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: SLC, UT Posts: 291	Well I guess I got lucky with my one PC then. :-) So some genius needs to make something like Audio HiJack for the PC now...

March 1st, 2009, 09:46 PM	#23
Jim Andrada Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Tucson AZ Posts: 2,211	Well Greg, you got luckier than me. I fooled around with it today and for the life of me couldn't get the mic input mixed with a file playback. Somewhere around here I have a Sound Blaster Audigy and i was thinking of trying it - but on the other hand know I could do it through one of my external boxes with about 3 mouse clicks. I guess what it all boils down to is that Chris might get lucky - or might not, depending on his sound card, drivers, OS, etc etc etc.

March 9th, 2009, 12:31 PM	#24
Greg Bellotte Major Player Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: SLC, UT Posts: 291	Lucky yes, but I am feeling luckier that I ditched the PC thing and am mostly Apple now. I hate when someone's interpretation of technology gets in MY way of doing what I want with a tool-be it computer, camera, or anything else. And what was being asked of by the OP is straightforward, simple, and as basic of a task you could ask of a computer audio system. Good luck to us all...

March 9th, 2009, 04:06 PM	#25
Jim Andrada Inner Circle Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Tucson AZ Posts: 2,211	Maybe I'm just stupid (don't rule it out!) but I haven't been able to make this work on my MacBook either. I downloaded the demo for Audio Hijack Pro but fail to see any "mixer" function. It's the newest release - do you think something has changed, or am a I just computer illiterate? (Or maybe computer senile, considering I wrote my first program for pay in June of 1959. I think computers were still powered by steam in those days)

March 9th, 2009, 08:28 PM	#26
Greg Bellotte Major Player Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: SLC, UT Posts: 291	in hijackpro, change the source type to system audio (all found on the input tab) and it will record everything that comes out of the speakers. (requires install of sound flower, it will prompt you to add it) btw, my brother has a machine running XP, he can record his mixer out too. more lucky people...