System Audio Recorder

[bayswater]

Finally got around to fussing with this today.

Got nothing from QuickTime (sorry Mike, but I can't get QT to record any system audio).

So I downloaded System Audio Recorder from. the App Store for $7.99.

Likes:
Works great right out of the box. No Soundflower or ACE needed.

Dislikes:
Only records as M4A (not really a problem, but Wave or MP3 would be nice)
Record volume is a bit low and there doesn't seem to be a way to adjust it

Overall, color me happy.

Do you know how it works on a long recording? The problem I’ve had using BlackHold (or Soundfower earlier) and QT is that after about 20 minutes, there seems to be a glitch in timing and the sound becomes distorted.

[Rick Cornish]

Do you know how it works on a long recording? The problem I’ve had using BlackHold (or Soundfower earlier) and QT is that after about 20 minutes, there seems to be a glitch in timing and the sound becomes distorted.

I honestly can’t imagine why I’d use this for a recording of that length. I’m usually just grabbing a song or part of a song to bring it into Anytune for transcription. I suppose it would work, but I have no idea.

[mikehalloran]

Since I last visited this topic, there have been a few changes.

The first is that Soundflower is dead and gone in Sonoma—if I'm reading the tea leaves right, this started with macOS 14.1 and finished in 14.4. In any case, my old app, Live Screen Capture from Roxio can only record through the microphone now which is useless to me so goodbye. It was bundled Toast 20 Pro which still works to burn CDs and DVDs but I suspect that without Soundflower, much of its other functionality is likewise gone.

So, to capture some audio today, I opened my copy of Audio Hijack, thinking that I would struggle through getting it to work if possible. It opened, told me that there was a free update so I installed. Wow, was I surprised!

Audio Hijack has now been redesigned and updated to become quite good. Now it just works without having to use Audio MIDI Setup.app or Aggregate Devices and fooling around with System Audio settings every time I went to use it. Frankly, they fixed everything I disliked and ACE is no longer needed. That I can save as mp3 (never for me) m4a (lossless), mp4, AIFF at different bit depths and sample rates is icing on the cake. Yea, it costs some money but the convenience and ease of use are more than worth it, IMO.

Oh yea, I've emboldened a couple of things that I wish would happen with DP, the Audio and MIDI drivers — if these guys can do it… right?

AUDIO HIJACK 4.4.0Your Installed Version

Released on April 3, 2024
A Powerful New Audio Capture Backend
Audio Hijack now uses a new audio capture backend called Audio Routing Kit, or “ARK” for short. Thanks to ARK, Audio Hijack can be set up on a new Mac in seconds, with no restarts or passwords required.

New “System Audio Access” Permission
The “Permissions” window has been updated, with a new “System Audio Access” permission. This permission enables you to use Audio Hijack to record audio from applications you specify.

Standard User Accounts Welcome
Standard MacOS user accounts can now capture and record audio with Audio Hijack, without needing any help from an Administrator account.

Erroneous Microphone-In-Use Indicators, Begone!
Previously, when Audio Hijack was playing audio to a device that also has input channels, or capturing from any application on MacOS 14.2 and higher, MacOS would erroneously display its orange microphone-in-use indicator. With changes to Audio Hijack’s audio capture backend, that is no longer the case, and we’re very glad about it.

Audio Hijack’s “Application” block now provides a more powerful device-specific capture for complex setups. With the “Limit audio capture” setting in the “Advanced” section, it’s now possible to capture any combination of audio an application is sending, even when it’s playing to multiple devices.

The “System Audio” source, used to capture all audio playing on the Mac, has now been renamed “System-Wide Audio”.

The “Siri” special source has been updated to work as expected on all releases of MacOS 14 (Sonoma).

Audio devices which contain brackets in their name are now displayed correctly throughout Audio Hijack

Accessibility improvements have been made for the “Permissions” window.

When the “Uninstall” button for “Scheduler” is clicked, “Scheduler” is immediately removed from “Login Items”. Now, if that uninstallation is subsequently cancelled, “Scheduler” is restored to “Login Items”.

Using the “Factory Reset” option in the “Debugging” window now correctly visually updates the “Hidden Settings” section.

The “Uninstall ACE…” button in the “Debugging” window will now only appear if ACE is currently installed.

Audio Hijack now includes an automated re-downloader, to ensure you have the proper variant for your MacOS version.

Audio Hijack’s “About” box now shows the details about the audio engine it’s using.

Audio Hijack 4.4.0 Is for MacOS 14.4 and Higher
This variant of Audio Hijack supports MacOS 14.4 and higher. On MacOS 11 through 14.3.1, a different variant is automatically used, with no action required on your part.