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  • How do I capture an Internet audio stream?

How do I capture an Internet audio stream?

December 29, 2004 / Dave Taylor / Computer & Internet Basics, Windows PC Help / 27 Comments

I seem to recall that I’ve read about some applications for both Mac and
Windows that let you capture a streaming audio source to a file so you can
listen to it later, slice it up, mail an excerpt to your parents, whatever.
Anyone have a clue what kind of software does this, and perhaps a few
pointers to specific applications I could download?

I polled a couple of colleagues for help with this question and here’s what I found out…

Mike suggests that Streaming Audio Recorder is a good choice for the PC and they also offers a Mac product called Mac OS Audio Recorder, if you’re cross platform.

Phil says that TotalRecorder will capture anything that plays to your speakers in Windows. There’s also a utility floating around call ASFRecorder that will grab Microsoft audio streams
straight off the net (violating the stream-only rule, I think). I think it violates (and
predates) the DMCA, so it may be hard to find. (Hint: I’ve got it around here somewhere.)
Comes with source code. I don’t know about a util for RealAudio, though. TotalRecorder works for it, but it has
to go through another level of compression.

Kirk says that for the Mac, there’s a freeware program called StreamRipperX that’s worth checking out. Ambrosia also released a nice utility called WireTap, which records any audio going out
of your Mac.

Margy shares that she’s been using the PolderbitS Sound Recorder
— It’s a Windows program that can record
anything that comes out of your speakers. Their web site doesn’t really
make this clear (maybe because it’s translated from the Dutch), but it
works fine and you get a 15-day free trial. Once you’ve captured the stream, the program also makes it easy to split
the recording into tracks for recording as an audio CD. I usually use
Windows Media Player to burn the CD.

Thanks to Kirk McElhearn, Phil Hord and Margy Levine Young for their contributions to this answer

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Starbucks coffee cup I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you, Dave, for all your helpful information by buying you a cup of coffee!

27 comments on “How do I capture an Internet audio stream?”

  1. Peter says:
    August 8, 2012 at 8:01 am

    You should be able to download on a Mac by pressing Option+Command+A and double-clicking on the downloading (streaming) audio file. You don’t need all this software.

    Reply
  2. Russell says:
    April 13, 2012 at 7:21 am

    Someone please help me…
    I am trying to record sound off the internet but the recorders I have downloaded dont record it clearly. I get different sound volumes and fuzzyness and sound quality is not good.
    It asks me for a sound card to record from but I only have the drop down option of using “master volume” which makes the sound quality bad.
    Anyone know what I can use ??
    please post or email me on 0835658491@mtnloaded.co.za

    Reply
  3. Stevo says:
    February 25, 2012 at 8:41 pm

    You can also try devices such a BlueSIM Bluetooth Lanline Phones, connect it to your PC via Bluetooth and stream and record on your iPod

    Reply
  4. Dustin says:
    September 14, 2011 at 2:10 pm

    Might also try FStream for the Mac. It’s free and has a recent version.
    http://www.macupdate.com/app/mac/22005/fstream

    Reply
  5. Phil says:
    August 14, 2011 at 1:54 pm

    Another answer to this question:
    http://www.kondencuotaspienas.lt/how-to-capture-sound-from-a-website-or-just-your-sound-card/
    (working!)

    Reply
  6. audiophile says:
    June 10, 2011 at 1:35 pm

    Guys, music files are binary, but to translate them into audio they have to be changed back to waveform so you can actually hear it….therefore this means anything that actually plays off the pc soundcard can be recorded directly from there, stripping out any digital fluff, naming, tagging, encryption and so on – just pure sound.
    Use the free ‘sound recorder’ on windows or the open source ‘audacity’ program..or just about any sound recorder out there

    Reply
  7. Art says:
    April 28, 2011 at 5:19 am

    Check this one: http://recordonlineradio.com/

    Reply
  8. Kirkbot says:
    March 22, 2010 at 5:15 pm

    hi! Kirk is Captain “Tom Kirk”? 🙂

    Reply
  9. Michael says:
    January 4, 2010 at 6:05 pm

    Most sound recorders required “Stereo Mix” input or install virtual audio devices.
    Take a look on this sound recorder for Windows 7/Vista http://www.abyssmedia.com/isound7/
    It not install fake sound cards and get audio directly from speakers.

    Reply
  10. Kesari says:
    December 30, 2009 at 5:24 am

    Is there any software that will help me capture the digital audio stream independent of the volume settings of the sound-card ?
    Most of the softwares that are featured here will record anything from the sound-card, but the quality of the recorded audio suffers from the quality of the sound-card and in addition the volume settings affect the quality too, too high a volume setting will clip the audio peaks and introduce distortion.

    Reply
  11. Roy Baxtor says:
    October 8, 2009 at 2:40 am

    Thank you, PolderbitS Sound Recorder captures treaming sound beautifully. Its been at great help.

    Reply
  12. Bruce77 says:
    July 22, 2009 at 1:02 am

    I found a simple way to capture internet audio stream,
    http://www.recordstreamingaudio.net/how-to-record-streaming-audio-off-the-internet.html

    Reply
  13. Jack says:
    April 24, 2009 at 1:46 pm

    I have to say that I have bought a program called Jaksta for all of my streaming media recording needs. So easy and rather inexpensive too.

    Reply
  14. Máy Bộ �?àm says:
    February 23, 2008 at 1:51 am

    I use FlashGet software: right click on player -> Properties -> Location -> find the location of file then I can capture it with FlashGet.

    Reply
  15. steve says:
    August 13, 2007 at 5:39 am

    Ripcast http://www.xoteck.com/ripcast/ is the best program to record streams.

    Reply
  16. dean n says:
    August 10, 2007 at 4:13 am

    totalrecorder is a very good program, ive used it quite often. however it takes over your audio settings, and i started to get audio problems on games, so i had to uninstall totalrecorder on my main computer. i still use it, but just on a computer i record my own music on. and dont use that computer for anything else.

    Reply
  17. Dixis says:
    June 1, 2007 at 3:00 am

    Here is a lot of streaming audio recorders(shareware and freeware) http://www.topmediatools.com/Streaming_Audio_23/

    Reply
  18. Paul says:
    May 26, 2007 at 8:02 am

    I always see notes, comments, suggestions about software… what does one use for software? His audio card with one in?

    Reply
  19. Ivan C. says:
    May 23, 2007 at 11:30 am

    Try http://streamripper.sourceforge.net/
    It’s free, and I’m using it as I type this 🙂

    Reply
  20. Michael says:
    May 15, 2007 at 9:50 am

    i-Sound WMA MP3 Recorder http://www.abyssmedia.com/capture-streaming-audio.shtml work perfectly for me.

    Reply
  21. Rosdi says:
    February 23, 2007 at 12:28 am

    PolderbitS Sound Recorder captures streaming sound beautifully, I already tried it.
    Although the website does not advertise it to be able to captures streaming sound but it does work. Just start the program, then listen to your streaming audio as usual, PolderbitS Sound Recorder will record the sound as you listen.
    5 star!

    Reply
  22. q y says:
    January 7, 2005 at 2:18 am

    audiograbber-free
    [ total recorder is not free and sound quality is poor imho]

    Reply
  23. Clint Olson says:
    December 31, 2004 at 1:46 am

    Heh. The absolute best program for saving any sort of streaming audio is Net Transport, at http://www.xi-soft.com . Net Transport is primarily a segmented download manager, but also has the ability to download all of the major streaming media formats (Real, Windows Media, and QuickTime) directly to your hard drive. The program doesn’t have any spyware, and keeps a fairly small memory footprint. Technically, the program is shareware, but I have the last freeware version on my site, http://pad.olsonnetwork.com/downloads/ . Enjoy!
    Clint Olson
    http://www.olsonnetwork.com

    Reply
  24. Richard Coleman says:
    December 30, 2004 at 10:34 am

    In relation to your column of 12/30 discussing utilities that will allow recording of streaming audio, I woudl recommend Voeytra. It ahs a componeent calle Disc Orchestrator that does a bank up job recording anything that can come off your Windows sound card. It is especially good if you have a lot of cassettes, vinyl, or 8 tracks you want to burn to CDs. There are other components to the software as well that the buyers will find useful. It costs around $40 though it is probalby cheaper now.

    Reply
  25. Lockergnome's Windows Fanatics says:
    December 29, 2004 at 4:17 pm

    How do I capture an Internet audio stream?

    I seem to recall that I’ve read about some applications for both Mac and Windows that let you capture a streaming audio source to a file so you can listen to it later, slice it up, mail an excerpt to…

    Reply
  26. Lockergnome's Windows Fanatics says:
    December 29, 2004 at 4:15 pm

    How do I capture an Internet audio stream?

    I seem to recall that I’ve read about some applications for both Mac and Windows that let you capture a streaming audio source to a file so you can listen to it later, slice it up, mail an excerpt to…

    Reply
  27. Lockergnome's Web Developers says:
    December 29, 2004 at 4:12 pm

    How do I capture an Internet audio stream?

    I seem to recall that I’ve read about some applications for both Mac and Windows that let you capture a streaming audio source to a file so you can listen to it later, slice it up, mail an excerpt to…

    Reply

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