introduction

It often happens that you find/hear a good sample on the internet, but you can't find a way to download the sample, or you don't want to sign in to a new website in order to download a sample. There's a simple solution to this problem: loopback recording!

Loopback recording is recording the computer's output. I will use Audacity for this guide, I don't know if other audio recording/editing software supports this functionality and the way I did it. The Stereo Mix technique will work on every software, though.

the loopback way

This one is fairly simple and this is the way that I use. You just need to change the input/recording device to whatever device you're currently using, it should have a (loopback) written next to it.

After setting it up, just press record and play the thing you want to record. That's it!

If you have no such devices listed or your software does not have such an option, you need to enable Stereo Mix.

stereo mix

In case that you don't have any loopback device, or your program doesn't support it, you can always turn on Stereo Mix on your computer. You do not need to install any additional programs, it's just a little setting in the Control Panel.

You need to follow these steps.

1. Open Control Panel, press Win + R and type "control" in the run window.
2. Sort by large icons, find Sound and click on it.

3. A new window should open. Click on the Recording tab. You should see Stereo Mix down there.

4. Double click on Stereo Mix. Down there should be a drop down option named "Device usage". Click on it and select the enable option.

5. Click on the Apply button.
6. Go to your software of choice and rescan your audio devices or close and open the program.
7. In your input devices, you should see a new option called "Stereo Mix".

8. Congratulations, you have set up Stereo Mix! Select it as your input device, press record and play the thing you want to record.