How to record mic AND speakers on Vista with Realtek

I love sharing solutions to life's everyday problems. Not only does it help you, it highlights usability issues that should be fixed in the next iterations. Alas, they tend to not be, which is why knowing the right path is even more important — there's simply no substitute for raw experience.

I was helping my wife record microphone AND speakers. She wants sound and music on her computer to be captured at the same time as her vocal narration. She's been doing Second Life videoblogging with Xfire, and we've been working on improving her setup over the weekend. Also, she was previously on a USB headset, but alas, we didn't find an easier way to record from that and the standard stereo minijacks.

Thankfully, using the usual 3.5mm connections can have…

A few advantages over USB:

1. Your sound card may have better quality. Contrary thoughts are a fuzzy myth, and dependent on what hardware's involved, since a surprising amount of USB headsets capture tinny sound with their cheap chipsets — trust your ears.
2. It's easier to switch between headset and speakers, instead of having to change the output each time in the Control Panel. (What a hassle!)
3. Consequently, hotswapping in the midst of an application is easier.

Vista or XP?

My wife's on Windows Vista while I'm still on XP. If you're on XP too, related info can be found in my popular "How to boost the mic volume on your Realtek audio codec". Basically on XP, it's a matter of making sure the "Mic Volume" AND "Stereo Mix" are both enabled in Realtek HD Sound Manager > Mixer tab (or equivalent). As a perfect example of one of those tricky subtleties, you may need to click a wrench icon and make sure those inputs are enabled — otherwise, they'll be invisible.

The following details may vary; in my travels, I've come across many variations that work on the same basic principles. Many integrated audio chipsets are Realtek, and if yours differs, consult your manuals (if there are any, and hopefully they're helpful).

Now then, on with the show! Here's how you do it…

Easy steps!

Make sure your mic is plugged in (often to a pink color-coded 3.5mm stereo minijack port), and if applicable, the headphones part of your headset is plugged in too. Otherwise, leave that (green plug) unplugged, and the sound will come out of your speakers.

Do a quick sound check to make sure sound is playing as expected.

In Windows Vista's Control Panel, select Classic View on the left.

Open the Sound control panel and click Recording tab.

Speak into the microphone and confirm that the green bars light up.

If you don't see Stereo Mix (or "What U Hear" on some systems), right-click and check "Show Disabled Devices". This should show it.

Further help with that:

• "How to enable Stereo Mix in Vista" – Brief video tutorial by alexisviewing.
• Another video tutorial on the same thing – More in-depth and has narration, by Split10.
• "Enabling disabled sound devices in Vista" – Written guide with pictures by Godjonez.

Select Stereo Mix, then click Set Default and there should be a checkmark on it.

Open Control Panel > Classic View > Realtek HD Audio Manager.

Click the Microphone tab, and look next to Playback Volume. Check the speaker icon (it's generally disabled by default), and now, try speaking into your mic at a moderate volume.

If you've got things setup correctly, you should hear your voice coming out of the speakers because it's playing through with everything else (which will be recorded).

There, you've done it!

Quick test!

Make sure to test in a recording program such as Audacity. My fave way of doing this in a minute is:

1. Play a piece of music with very clear tones that don't conflict with your voice's pitch. "Tubular Bells" is beautiful.
2. Speak into the microphone, saying "Testing" and random gibberish, pausing, and then repeat it a few seconds later.
3. Record yourself for about 10 seconds, stop the music so there's silence, then play the recording back to yourself.

If all went right, you should hear both yourself and the audio that was playing on your computer.

Keep in mind…

this will record everything you hear from your computer's stereo mix output. If you're in a game and you play a song in Winamp or another MP3 player, that gets recorded too.

If it ever gets too confusing to hear yourself from your speakers, either move your microphone away to where it won't be spoken into or thumped, or simply unplug it. You could also uncheck Playback Volume, but that may be a repeated inconvenience.

Happy sounding! Let me know if this helps you so I'll be encouraged to make more tutorials!

Tagged as: General