Record Skype conversation with Audacity

Question

I want to record a conversation I am having with a single person over Skype using Audacity. I looked around and found plenty of resources on the Web suggesting it can be done. There were two methods, in summary:

a) In the Sound applet of the Control Panel on Windows, right click and select 'View Disabled Drivers'. If you have the drivers installed, an option named 'Stereo Mix' shows up. Enable this driver. This is supposed to channel all output that goes into your computer's built-in speakers into a logical device.

Next, in Audacity (or any other tool you wish to use), indicate that the recording device to be used should not be your microphone but instead must be Stereo Mix. Therefore, Audacity will pick up the output of your speakers as its recording input. So, theoretically, your voice and any other sound that is being output to your computer's speaker will be sent to the recorder in Audacity and will thus get recorded.

b) The second option is to buy a host of third-party tools to record audio and video streams from IM clients.

I tried option (a) but now Audacity only records the sound of the other person in Skype and not my own voice that is going in through the microphone. I want to try doing it without spending any money, although I will spend money if I have to, but not if it is unnecessary. Could anyone explain why the first option is not working?

Answer 1

I've been using CallGraph to record a weekly podcast over Skype for three years and highly recommend it. It records as either an MP3 or WAV file. http://scribie.com/free-skype-recorder

I use Audacity to edit, but not to record from Skype - it's not the right tool for the job.

Answer 2

In this kind of scenario, where you don't have a multichannel audio interface (or native multichannel functionality) to route Skype through (or the ability to record you and your callee's audio independently) I would perhaps recommend you give Virtual Audio Cable a shot. It costs 30 USD but can give you the kind of flexibility you might be after, particularly if you're after further routing facilities or more extensible setups for multitrack recording, mixing etc.

Also, if you're running Windows 7 sound on a Realtek-based audio chipset and you can't 'see' Stereo Mix, the VAC site has a handy guide on how to enable the chipset's available Stereo Mix facility.

Answer 3

Better try MX Skype Recorder http://skyperec.com/ which is very simple and reliable, works in fully automatic or manual mode and supports various voip apps.