5/20/12 12:31 PMHow to capture audio with Soundflower | Macworld

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How to capture audio with Soundflower

Record any sounds coming from your Mac -- for free

by Christopher Breen, Macworld.com May 4, 2011 8:00 pm

Your Mac is capable of producing sound as well as playing sound channeled from outside sources—devices pluggedinto the Mac’s USB- and sound input ports as well as audio streamed from the Internet. Wouldn’t it be great if youcould captures some of those sounds for later listening? You can. And you can for free with Soundflower. Here’s howit works.

Step 1: Download Soundflower

The first step involves finding a way to grab audio playing in one application—a Web browser, for example—and routeit to an application that can capture that audio. Cycling ’74’s free Soundflower is that way. Soundflower is a systemextension that lets you channel audio from one application to another. For example, you can take the audio playingfrom a movie in your Web browser and channel it into QuickTime Player’s audio input where you then record it.

Step 2: Configure Soundflower

After you’ve installed Soundflower launch the Sound system preference and you’ll see evidence of Soundflower in the

5/20/12 12:31 PMHow to capture audio with Soundflower | Macworld

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Output and Input tabs. Select the Output tab and choose Soundflower (2ch). Do this and any sound that wouldnormally come out of your Mac’s speakers is now routed through Soundflower. Any is the key word here. If your Macmakes any sound—not just the sound you’re trying to capture but also e-mail and Twitter alerts, for example—it willroute that too.

Step 3: Configure your capture application

You have a couple of applications on your Mac that can capture Soundflower’s audio—QuickTime Player andGarageBand. To configure QuickTime Player choose File -> New Audio Recording. In the Audio Recording windowthat appears click on the downward-pointing triangle to the right of the Record button. From the menu that appearschoose Soundflower (2ch). When you’re ready to begin your capture, just click Record.

You set up GarageBand by launching the application and in the New Project window that appears choosing AcousticInstrument. This creates a GarageBand project that contains a single digital audio track. Use the default tempo andtime- and key-signature settings that appear in the New Project Template window and click the Create button. OpenGarageBand's preferences, select the Audio/MIDI tab and from the Audio Output and Audio Input pop-up menuschoose Soundflower (2ch). Close the Preferences window. If the Info pane for the track doesn’t appear, choose Track-> Show Track Info. In the Browse tab of the Info pane choose Stereo 1/2 Soundflower (2ch) from the Input sourcepop-up menu. When your Mac makes sound you should see it register in the track’s meters. Click Record to capturethe audio.

Step 4: Monitor the Mac’s sound

5/20/12 12:31 PMHow to capture audio with Soundflower | Macworld

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By DCJ001

When you choose Soundflower as your Mac’s audio output you can no longer hear it through attached speakers orheadphones. In order for you to monitor what’s happening, launch the Soundflowerbed application (found in/Applications/Soundflower). Click the Soundflowerbed menu bar item that appears and choose your speakers orheadphones from the menu. Now, not only will your audio application capture what your Mac plays, but you’ll be ableto listen to the source audio as well. (You may want to do this before setting up QuickTime or GarageBand to captureyour audio, but that's up to you.)

Again, any sound your Mac makes will be channeled through Soundflower so you’ll want to disable alert sounds or quitthose applications that make them. Additionally, if you change your Mac’s volume, that change will be captured by theapplication that’s recording Soundflower’s sound. So, lay off the volume and mute controls.

You can avoid both of these issues by using an application such as Ambrosia Software’s $69 WireTap Studio orRogue Amoeba’s $32 Audio Hijack Pro. Each of these applications allows you to capture sound from specificapplications. You can adjust volume or fire off system alerts all you like and they won't affect the audio the applicationscapture. (If you go the Audio Hijack Pro route consider purchasing the $50 Audio Hijack Pro/Fission bundle, whichincludes the Fission sound editor. WireTap Studio includes an editor.)

5/20/12 12:31 PMHow to capture audio with Soundflower | Macworld

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This is good information. I have used Soundflower for since I upgraded to 10.6 for including my Mac's soundwhen doing screen recordings.

The article said:

"Additionally, if you change your Mac’s volume, that change will be captured by the application that’s recordingSoundflower’s sound. So, lay off the volume and mute controls."

If the Command and Shift keys are depressed when the volume is changed, no sound is made for the volumechange. This might be helpful for some people.

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By PaulGuinnessy

I find however, that Soundflower can cause system crashes.

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By AaronShep

PaulGuinnessy said

I find however, that Soundflower can cause system crashes.

Macworld doesn't care about that. They'll recommend any program with spiffy features, regardless of howdangerous the underlying technology. They forget that not everyone enjoys spending hours troubleshootingtheir Macs.

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5/20/12 12:31 PMHow to capture audio with Soundflower | Macworld

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By Chris BreenEditor

AaronShep said

PaulGuinnessy said

I find however, that Soundflower can cause system crashes.

Macworld doesn't care about that. They'll recommend any program with spiffy features, regardless of howdangerous the underlying technology. They forget that not everyone enjoys spending hours troubleshootingtheir Macs.

Oh really? Have you been sitting in on our editorial meetings where we plot to make our readers' livesmiserable?

Silly and ill-informed accusation Aaron.

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By Biallystock

I have been using Audio HiJack for years to selectively record sound from my Mac. It works extremely well anddoes not capture extraneous noises nor is it affected by the volume control (it has its own).

It seems to me that Soundflower is not a useful solution if you actually care about WHAT you capture.

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By Chris BreenEditor

Biallystock said

It seems to me that Soundflower is not a useful solution if you actually care about WHAT you capture.

Many people don't perform audio captures often enough to justify spending the price of Audio Hijack or WiretapStudio. For them (and those who can control the sounds their Macs make) this free solution makes sense.

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5/20/12 12:31 PMHow to capture audio with Soundflower | Macworld

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By JohnLawrencea5ap

Thank you for this article. I ran into Soundflower for the first time today while trying to record a speaker, forposterity using a videoconferencing platform, and attempting to push audio content out to non-virtual audience.Soundflower showed up as an option but I had no idea what it was.

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By moose_n_squirrel

DCJ001 said

The article said:

"Additionally, if you change your Macâs volume, that change will be captured by the application thatâsrecording Soundflowerâs sound. So, lay off the volume and mute controls."

If the Command and Shift keys are depressed when the volume is changed, no sound is made for the volumechange. This might be helpful for some people.

The only key you need to press is the Shift key. The command key is not part of the shortcut. You're justpressing one more key than you have to.

It's better, though, to go into the Sound Effects tab of the Sound preference and uncheck "Play feedback whenvolume is changed." THen you don't have to remember which key to press. Volume change feedback will bepermanently silenced. Actually, what the Shift key really does is reverse that preference. If the volume feedbackpref is on, Shift suppresses the sound. If the pref is off, Shift makes the sound happen.

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5/20/12 12:31 PMHow to capture audio with Soundflower | Macworld

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By FredE.Miller

Screenflow, not free, but a great value, allows you to capture sound, video, and static images. The sound trackcan be separated from the rest.

The sound can be adjusted in Screenflow or exported to Garageband where more and finer adjustments, ifnecessary, can be made.

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By spinoza2

The problem with Audio Hijack is they never upgraded it to work with the latest versions of Safari. You can onlyuse it with Firefox, which I find very frustrating.

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By mopar_mike

spinoza2 said

The problem with Audio Hijack is they never upgraded it to work with the latest versions of Safari. You can onlyuse it with Firefox, which I find very frustrating.

Audio Hijack Pro works great with Safari 5.0.5. However, there does seem to be a problem with the latestFirefox 4.0.1. At least on my iMac.

5/20/12 12:31 PMHow to capture audio with Soundflower | Macworld

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By wilkinsb

Chris Breen said

Biallystock said

It seems to me that Soundflower is not a useful solution if you actually care about WHAT you capture.

Many people don't perform audio captures often enough to justify spending the price of Audio Hijack or WiretapStudio. For them (and those who can control the sounds their Macs make) this free solution makes sense.

I still use the free version of wiretap pro. It is still so much easier than what I read about Sunflower. you selectthe input then select which application to drop it into (I use Sound Studio which gives the best bang for the buckever since it came with my eMac) as well as the folder it goes into. I realize this version of wiretap is no longeravailable but in the past if it has given me difficulty then I go in to Time machine and get a copy that last workedand replace it. I have only had to do that twice in 4 years.

So simple and easy I don't need to follow complicated instructions about how to get it to work for me.

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By DH

wilkinsb said

Chris Breen said

Biallystock said

It seems to me that Soundflower is not a useful solution if you actually care about WHAT you capture.

Many people don't perform audio captures often enough to justify spending the price of Audio Hijack or WiretapStudio. For them (and those who can control the sounds their Macs make) this free solution makes sense.

I still use the free version of wiretap pro. It is still so much easier than what I read about Sunflower. you selectthe input then select which application to drop it into (I use Sound Studio which gives the best bang for the buck

5/20/12 12:31 PMHow to capture audio with Soundflower | Macworld

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ever since it came with my eMac) as well as the folder it goes into. I realize this version of wiretap is no longeravailable but in the past if it has given me difficulty then I go in to Time machine and get a copy that last workedand replace it. I have only had to do that twice in 4 years.

So simple and easy I don't need to follow complicated instructions about how to get it to work for me.

I did this too along time ago.. but wiretap pro does not work with Snow Leopard and there is no free version thatdoes.

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By robertcoogan

Chris Breen said

Biallystock said

It seems to me that Soundflower is not a useful solution if you actually care about WHAT you capture.

Many people don't perform audio captures often enough to justify spending the price of Audio Hijack or WiretapStudio. For them (and those who can control the sounds their Macs make) this free solution makes sense.

A cheap way to record streaming audio is iNet Stream Archiver. I use it to record somafm all the time, into atemporary playlist which I then load onto my iPhone. It even breaks up the stream into separate .mp3 files.

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By maclite

Quicktime only allows me to save as .mov or other useless file types. Is there a way I can save the recording asan .mp3?

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