DIY: How to record streamed audio

Many online music sites prefer to stream audio offerings rather than serve them up as downloadable files; this way, the sites can maintain control over the distribution of these tunes. But there are -- and will always be -- ways to record these streams. Ideally, this would be done on a high-speed connection to minimise skipping and ensure the highest possible sound quality. But no matter what connection speed you have, this tutorial will show you how to record streamed audio as a stereo WAV file, which can easily be turned into an MP3 for storage or trading (check out the Next Steps section below to find out how to perform this extra process).

Note: this tutorial works only with Windows.

Required attention span: 1 hour

Before you start, you'll need to gather these elements:

1. Total Recorder


2. Any kind of audio files (RealAudio, MP3, Windows Media Player) streaming to your computer from a source such as an online radio station.

Step one
Download and install Total Recorder. Close all other applications in order to free up processing power.

Step two
Open Total Recorder and click the Recording Source And Parameters button. Click the radio buttons for Software and "Convert using parameters specified below." Then hit the Change button at the bottom of the screen. If you want to record to MP3, choose MPEG-Layer 3 from the Format drop-down menu. If you want to record the audio as a WAV file, select PCM. Remember, WAV files at CD quality take up about 10MB for every minute, so we advise recording as MP3, unless you're going to burn the resulting file to CD. No matter which file type you want, we recommend selecting 44.100KHz, 16-bit, stereo, which is the standard for both CDs and MP3s. Hit OK twice.

Step three
Start whatever stream it is that you want to record by clicking the link or opening the location within the audio player that you use (RealPlayer or Windows Media Player, for example).

Step four
Press the round, red Record button at the lower right of Total Recorder. You should see green, yellow, and maybe red bars in the Status box at the upper right. If the red lines go all the way to the right, you need to turn down the volume on your audio player. If there are no yellow lines, you should turn up the volume on your audio player until they appear.

Step five
If you haven't registered Total Recorder (US$11.95), an audible noise will be inserted after every 60 seconds of recording. When you've recorded as much as you want, press the square Stop button. Then go to File, Save, and save the finished file. Note: WAV files cannot exceed 4GB. If you record for longer than that (at CD quality, 4GB equals about 400 minutes), you'll need to click Stop, save the file, and hit Record again. Read the Total Recorder help file to learn more about the advanced capabilities of the program, such as saving only portions of recordings.