At first glance, it may look like Microsoft disabled recording of internal—or “what you hear”—sounds in Windows 7. Well, they didn’t. It’s a little trickier, granted, but this is (often) a quick fix.
To enable it:
1. Right click on the speaker icon in the system tray (bottom right).
2. Choose Recording Devices
3. In the empty white space, right-click and choose Show Disabled Devices. You should see Stereo Mix appear in the list.
4. Right click on Stereo Mix and choose Enable.
5. Right click on Stereo Mix again, and choose Set as Default Device.
Now you can record anything you hear through your speakers. If you don’t have a program that can record audio, you can get a nice one called Audacity over here. (It’s free!)
Update 1:
I have a SoundBlaster card and this isn’t working!
As near as I can tell, this is a driver issue. In XP/Vista, the driver supported a “What U Hear” mode, which they seem to have axed since, or at least jacked with.
Since there are a variety of Sound Blaster cards and a slew of different driver sets, the best I can do is give you a list of things to try. Each of these options has worked for at least one person I know.
Option 1: Manually uninstall your drivers, then reinstall.
- Mash your Start Ball (start menu) and type in Device Manager
- Click the arrow next to Sound, video, and game controllers
- Find your SB card, then right click on it and choose Uninstall
Now there are two ways to proceed. First, try simply restarting your computer and let Windows 7 try to install the driver for you. There’s a chance you’re done at this point. If not, run Windows Update and let Windows 7 find and install the latest driver.
Option 2: Manually reinstall your drivers from your CD.
Apparently, the automatic installer on many of these driver CDs is doing it wrong. To manually install the driver…
- Insert your driver disc—but don’t let it do anything for you! Close any installers it opens.
- Mash your Start Ball (start menu) and type in Device Manager
- Click the arrow next to Sound, video, and game controllers
- Find your SB card, then right click on it and choose Update Driver Software…
- Click on Browse my computer for driver software
- Browse to your CD. Look for a “drivers” folder, and then find a sub-folder that fits your computer (64-bit or 32-bit). Install using those drivers and restart. If it still doesn’t work, you might have picked the wrong one (especially if your card stops working altogether). You might want to try a different driver from your disc.
Option 3: is to specifically locate SB24_VTDRV_LB_1_04_0065A.exe (if you have an Audigy, SE/LS/Live!24-bit). This version is outdated, but is known to have the “What U Hear” function.
Update 2:
Possibly Major Caveat
Since originally posting this, I’ve learned that some RealTek chipsets simply don’t support Stereo Mix, meaning you will likely never get this to work without another card, or some serious kludgery. More info as it becomes available.
Posted under: Fixing Stuff
69 comments ↓
For windows 7
To record what you hear or to get stereo mix, just reinstall your sound card driver and restart your pc. Then right click your speaker icon select recording devices go to recording right click white space area. Next put check marks by Show Disable Devices and Show Disconnected Devices, enbale Stereo Mix, now you can record what you hear. It worked for me 100%, Im using Realtek HD Audio.
Works fine on SB Audigy LS under windows 7 RC
Doesn’t work here either (Asus Eee PC 1101HA with Realtek HD)
Its always been tricky setting up what u hear on reluctant machines as I call them lol. But it can be done. Various ways around it mainly involving installing most recent drivers for ur soundcard or u could try installing a different soundcard or even just the drivers from another soundcard. The latter option worked for me. Windows 7 functionality in this is not that different to vista. Same sort of solutions will apply but it depends what sound card u have.
I have RealTek HD Audio and unfortunately this does not work for me. All that I have is “Microphone” as a recording option.
Mine doesn’t work iether. I have onboard sound, the latest Realtek drivers. Stereo Mix shown as the Default Device, I have ticked Listen In in the Properties all to no avail. I have tried four different recorders and still no joy. Why the hades didn’t I stay with XP? Nonplussed to say the least. Pass the 45. No one round will be sufficient.
Win 7 \ RealTek HD Audio \No Stereo Mix option
Each time I tried to update my RealTek HD Audio drivers it looked like it worked. But after rebooting, when I checked the sound driver it was still a Microsoft driver.
So I unpacked the RealTek HD Audio drivers to c:\program files\ RealTek\ Audio folder.
Then the next time I updated the drivers I Browsed back to the same location and it worked. After the next reboot I had the Stereo Mix option.
Thank you, thank you, thank you. Worked on a Gigabyte motherboard and Windows 7.
Worked for me, exactly as suggested above. I use Cooleditpro and it records what I hear no problem.
Hi for those who can’t find Stereo Mix Option, there’s a simple way to record what you hear, a software called Wendershare Streaming Audio Recorder, this software allows to record sounds via the Virtual Sound Card of your PC, the software is not for free of course but you know what to do to get it for free
Do not worry it’s not a kind of publicity, this software really works for me
Thanks for this, worked like a charm, was wondering where that option went.
thank you. spot on with the RealTek HD Audio drivers
Thank you so much for this blog. You are a champion!
Alex
Wondershare Streaming Audio Recorder is not available for 64 bit systems so this is not a solution. Anyone have any more ideas for those of us who have Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme audio cards?
I’ve tried at least a half dozen times to get a response from Creative but to no avail. Amazing how they just drop you cold! Another upgrade that takes us a step backwards.
VREY NICEEEEEEEEE……..THNX
Thanks, worked nicely for me with Asus Mobo and Realtek.
This is not the solution for Win 7 and Realtek HD… because it simply dos not work! Yes, you can’t activate the stereomix like said, but you can’t route audio into the stereomix – therefore only silence will come out!
I’m a pro sound tech working with studio computer setups and the real problem is Microsoft: Since Vista (and Win 7 is in reality just Vista V2) sound, audio, ASIO, and MIDI handling in Win has been a pain in the a**? Win XP was a dream when it came to setting up and handling this stuf, but since Vista I have told music clients to by Apple or dedicated Pro Tools systems.
My advice… choose one of the following solution.
1) The easy way: Buy a virtual sound device like Wondershare.
2) The analog way: Buy a male-male mini-jack cord and connect your computers output plug with your computers input plug.
3) The digital way: If you do no. 2 you’ll propably get a lot of noise caused by the low quality of Realtek onbord soundcard – so a buy a decent soundcard – it could be a pci or a usb card. When you plug it in and the drivers are installed, the driver software will take over control of the stereomix and everything will propably work fine with no need to do no. 1 or 2!
I have a Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme card and nothing seems to work in Win 7, as others remarked. But the 2) The analog way by audiofreak worked very well, not much white noise at all. Thanks a lot!
It worked, Thanks.
i have a quit complicatet fix for using”what you hear” sb audigy ls
under windows 7 ultimate-it works 100%in my system!
so:
install your old audigy drivers and all the features-restart-DO NOT TRY
A FEATURE AND INSTALLED TOOLS!
install the newest drivers-restart-OLD FEATURES AND TOOLS WILL STILL BE THERE-DO NOT USE!—-
now go on—open control panel–go device manager– choose-
the installed audigy—insert your old driver disk again—choose
driver update but do not intstall automatically!–instead click thru
to choose the driver from your computer-click thru so that you
can choose the naked driver file from your disk and install!—restart–
OLD FEATURES ARE STILL THERE BUT DO NOT USE THEM
BECAUSE NEW CONFIGURATION MIGHT BE LOST-OTHER HAND DO NOT REMOVE THEM OR STOP THEM FROM AUTOSTART!!!!
NOW-WONDER!–open recording panel that is provided by windows(just click on the small “speaker icon”in your taskbar)
and and activate audigy auxiliary-after that make it”standard”!
after that you should see the option “what you hear”–”activate”then
make it “standard”DONE!
get a recording tool insert an audio cd run record and enjoy!
greetz from germany
Well I stoped reading after the first 10 or so this may came up but when i do the “show disabled device” I still only see the mic. I may be having more problems because my computer for some reason only has a port for the the mic and headphones but not for speakers. But I would like to record what I hear because I am doing stuff I would like to put on the net and it would be nice to have the sound with my screen recordings.
en mi pc si me aparece el icono de sonido, pero no se escucha absolutamente nada, di un click derecho en el icono y me aparecio dispositivos de grabacion y me aparecio el cuadro blanco, alli di un click derecho y aparecio: mostrar dispositivos deshabilitados.finalmente di un click y no aparecio nada ( ya he intentado muchas veces¨ que puedo hacer para que se habilite esa funcion? (es windows vista 7)
donde puedo encontrar la respuesta a mis dudas?
Thank you Aaron, that’s saved me a lot of trouble.
Why do progammers make things so difficult?
thx to you from switzerland. workds great, you helped me a lot. I was looking for hours before I could fix the problem with your help.
Who wouzld have the idea to click around in a white field to discover hidden things. ..
No problem! Es freut mich dass Ich helfen koennte.
Hi all. This one does not work with my pc. I just bought a new lap with win7. Guess d problem’s with d sound-card:: I dont find the Sterio mix option anywhere
under Hidden/disabled devices. Can you people help me get some kinda soft-wares atleast that will do d task. …
BTW, mine is Sony Vaio laptop VPCEB24EN
brill tip, saved me buying a card, cheers !
Heres how I got mine to work
SOUNDMAX Integrated Digital Audio
Windows 7
IBM T60p laptop
Download the VISTA drivers, install (may get error), update drivers using device manager and select the folder. Reboot computer.
Enjoy
You’re awesome, it FINALLY worked.
*
THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ALOT !
)))))))))))
How to Enable What U Hear Recording
For those of you who want to record what you are hearing over your speakers/headset.
You will need to un-hide and enable recording options. If you are using a Creative Sound Blaster sound card this option will be called “What U Hear” if you are using another audio device such as Realtek on-board or generic sound devices this option will be called “Stereo Mix”.
For the tutorial I am going to show how to un-hide and enable the “What U Hear” option. The same steps may be followed for the “Stereo Mix” option also.
Here’s How:
1. First open your audio options. “Start/Control Panel/Sound”
2. Now go to the “Recording” tab.
3. You will need to right click and check the following options:
Click this bar to view the full image.
“What U Hear” Recording – Enable-stereo_mix1.jpg
5. Now that the hidden options are visible, right click on each of them and click on enable.
6. Right click on the What U Hear option (Stereo Mix for non Sound Blaster devices) and click on Set as default device.
Click this bar to view the full image.
“What U Hear” Recording – Enable-stereo_mix2.jpg
7. Once the device is set as default you will be able to use the “What U Hear”/”Stereo Mix” option in your applications to record the audio you are currently hearing over your speakers/headset.
If you wish to record from the mic or use it in a game you can come back to this tab in the audio options and right click the mic and set it as default again.
I am sure there is probably a way to use both the “What U Hear”/”Stereo Mix” while still using the mic but I have not gotten that far since I only need to record audio once in a while. So I generally just leave the mic default until I am ready to record audio then I switch for that operation.
I hope this helps all of those who have had issues recording audio being played back over the speakers/headset.
Ranger, so simple, set as Default, but simple is not intuative! Thanks!! I finally got the music from an .exe I was wanting!!!
After hours reading foruns this is EXACTLY what I really needed. You are the ONE. So simple but no one knows how to enable this device in Win7 with HD Audio…. Congrats, congrats!! ahuahuauhah Now Audacity can record anything I am hearing…
Soundblaster solution that worked for me using Windows 7 64 bit with Creative Audigy sound card :
I couldn’t get “What You hear” under Recording Devices list, only Auxiliary for some reason so nothing would be recorded with Audacity or Sound Forge.
After installing the latest drivers, trying every option available in the recording programs, I decided to disinstall the SoundBlaster Audigy device under hardware manager in the Windows Control Panel.
Rebooted. Windows now decided to install the device on it’s own and discovered some kind of update and “What You Hear” appeared in the list of Recording Devices!
I noticed a Soundblaster update suddenly appeared in the Update list from Microsoft as well. Strange but it works.
i have a sony vaio laptop, realtek hd audio. installed the latest drivers.
win7 x64 home edition, soundforge 10. all updated.
nothing works and MASTER MIX not showing up. ADVICES PLZ!!!
AVS Audio Editor is all you need and set your Win 7 64bit to “Stereo Mix” you can record ANYTHING you hear in MP3 format.. End of story. AVS is not a free app but well worth it*
* I do not work for AVS but have been using their video & audio products for quite some time and have exprienced no problems with their software.
have the same problem with my Sound Blaster Xfi Fatality… uninstalling the device and letting Windows 7 re-install it after reboot SEEMS to fix …
Wow, thanks a lot, I thought that it was my on board sound-card that didn’t had the capability, it turns out it was windows who was hiding it!
Mercy Buckets! I finally managed to record Napster. I have been paying for it for 9 months and unable to use it, because I am in Beijing. I paid for a VPN and it still dod not work, because I had too slow a connection. After 8 months I finally convinced somebody that something was wrong in my wall, and not with me or my routrer. Now I have sufficient speed to log into pster, but only throiugh their spoftware. THis will enable me to play when offline. The trick with the settings worked. Audacioty worked. Great thread! I will pass iot on in my blogs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wDenD-IKNo
This site still pops up when someone searches for this in google, so I guess another comment couldnt hurt.
I’d like to add that Realtek’s Stereo Mix input will often only work with certain other Realtek outputs. When having issues, try setting your default playback to Speakers.
(I noticed this when trying to record while using a USB headset)
At Last! I was going nuts trying to figure it out. Thanks guys for your help. Worked like magic on Win7 w/RealTec on board sound!
I downloaded Virtual Audio Streaming from cNet, and it works for me. Windows 7 64 bit.
Creative sound blaster x-fi xtremeMusic recording 64 Bit for window 7
ahhh …i finally got it working
windows7 64bit, realtek audio, with a plugin for a headset on the front of the computer.
it would NOT record audio, except for the mic
so, i routed the audio (in the Windows audio controls) to the SPEAKERS plug on the back of the computer, instead of “headset”.. and plugged my headset in there, …and TADAAA!
i can now record anything i can hear
When I right click on the white space in the recording tab and select show disabled devices I can’t see ‘stereo mix’. I have recently had a complete Windows 7 re-install and looked at the ‘high definition audio’ driver but Windows tells me it’s up to date. Before my Windows reinstall I could get to see stereo mix, but could still not record from sound card direct into Audacity. Should I just give up?
Worked perfectly for me, just as you said here. Realtek HD audio Windows 7. HP 8100 Elite series, i7.
“This will very likely not work if you have a SoundBlaster, as that is a different kind of issue.” You all are illiterate ‘tards. Learn to READ before you start bashing his INFORMATIVE post. ****, people shed an ocean of tears when they find out something won’t work when it’s already been explained that IT WON’T WORK FOR SOME OF IF YOU HAVE SOUNDBLASTER. For **** sake.
The What-U-Hear issue for Sound Blaster Audigy Card in Windows 7 and Vista can be fixed by the following steps:
Insert your original Sound Blaster Audigy Disk in the CD drive
DO NOT DO THE AUTO INSTALL – IT WON’T WORK
Close the Auto-Run Window if it comes up
Duble Click on “Computer”
Right Click on the CD/DVD Drive and select “Open”
Open the “Audio” folder
Double click on the “setup” or “setup.exe” file
Select “Overwrite current drivers” and run the setup
When that is completed you can then follow the steps above in the original post to enable “What-U-Hear” in the Sound Panel.
I do not know if this will work with other versions of Sound Blaster Cards, but it does work with the older Audigy Cards.
“At first glance, it may look like Microsoft disabled recording of internal—or “what you hear”—sounds in Windows 7. Well, they didn’t. It’s a little trickier, granted, but this is (often) a quick fix.”
Brilliant! Thank you for this fix. I have been looking for the answer to this problem for a few days not knowing it was hidden in recording devices. I knew where to look, but didn’t know it was hidden. Thanks again.
Thanks!!!!!! “what you hear” topic!! it works now, “show disable device”!!!! lol now I got it! you rule!!
maybe it is possible to connect output (headphone) to micraphone input and then record this is same as function “rec what u hear”
Thanks a lot.
I have sound blaster audigy SE and 1st option worked for me. Forget about newest drivers from Creative website, just let windows 7 do the job:)
If it’s absent (there is no option) then you can still record by using the loopback recording device: https://github.com/rdp/virtual-audio-capture-grabber-device
The key is setting your device as default, mine was “line in”
You rule the school. I was lamenting the loss of my good old “what u hear” in Windows 98 and searched through the mixer settings to no avail. Thanks for this guide.
“Rule the school.” I love it! Thanks!
success! excellent tip.
http://www.doodgical.com/fix-dell-soundmax-to-record-streaming-audio-ie-what-you-hear-in-vista/
this is what i used and it worked because everything on this site didnt help nor any other site besides the link above. i actually downloaded the window xp version and it worked
Ranger u r amazing it actually WORKED!!!!!!
Thank you! It’s working at last
I am so grateful for your post. I was ready to give away my new computer and go buy a MAC. THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!
Sound Blaster Sound Cards produced by Creative are not made for Home Studio Recording I was conned into buying one by Dells Support via and Indian who spoke bad English, I have since found aout these Cards are Not Designed for Recording multi track or even one track at atime on a Home Studio
Thanks for the helpful post.
For those of you who still can’t get it to work: the simplest solution is http://www.virtualaudiorecorder.com …
Thank you Aaron, what a helpful post ( and page) ….. I wish I would have seen it before wasting hours trying to download various drivers, installing older sound cards, etc …..
Ranger’s advice (#33) worked like a charm! Why in the blazing bejesus would Microsoft DISABLE this handy feature in the first place?? Sheesh! Thanks, Ranger!
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