Last week, we have reviewed the top 5 best streaming audio shareware. They work perfectly to record music online from most music apps or local media players as long as you paid a few dollars to buy a personal license. After posing the review, I have received multiple questions from users such as is there a way to get the streaming recorder for free.
Well, there are multiple such freewares available online. The problem is that some of them combine lots adwares or viruses. If you don't pay much attention before you download them for free, your computer will risk being infectious easily.
Screen Recorder software (Mac & Windows) helps you you record screen (video/audio) and take a snapshot on PC/Mac. It can be a good online videos recording, game video recorder, streaming music recorder and snapshot app to capture your screen on Windows 10/8/7 and Mac. ScreenRec is a free screen recorder with no watermark that lets you to capture your desktop in one click and share instantly. Get started in 60 seconds. Record computer audio. Record your voice. Record your webcam. No watermarks or time limits. Lightweight screen recorder (no lag) Cloud Recording technology. Get ScreenRec For Windows. Free Sound Recorder is a very neat audio recorder that allows you to record music from any online music sites like Grooveshark / YouTube. You need to pay nothing for tons of new released songs and classic albums. Now, enjoy the recorded online music on your music player!
To help you all pick up a superior free MP3 music recorder, I have tested almost every streaming media software in the market and generate the following list. Want to take a look at it? Just read on.
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Learn how to record your screen with internal audio on mac for free!. Secure your tickets for the Grow With Video Online Experience HERE ️ http://Gr. Apowersoft Streaming Audio Recorder is a nice tool to record streaming audio from music sites, video platforms, radio stations or capture sound from audio chats. It can also deliver output files in a few formats like AAC, MP3. This tool not only functions being a good audio recorder, but also offers the purpose of a free audio editing tool, CD.
No 1. Aktiv MP3 Recorder (Windows)
This is a fantastic tool for recording music for free from various sources such as CDs, DVDs, Tapes, TV, Internet radio, video games as well as other sound files which are playing on your computer. It supports various output formats such as MP3, WAV, OGG, WMA, VOX, AU and AIFF without using third party plugin like Lame encoder. Before converting, you can easily choose the bit rate, sample size, number of channels, frequency and volume of recording. Besides, it has the advanced features such as smart silence detection, schedule recording, system hot keys which makes it more user friendly and flexible to use.
Pros: 1. Easy to use. 2. Multiple output formats compatibility. 3. Advanced recording scheduler.
Cons: 1. The installer may contain some unwanted extra software, you can decline the offers during installing if you want them.
View also:How to Download Spotify Songs as MP3
No 2. QuickTime Player (Mac)
If you are an Apple Fan, this is the best free streaming media recorder for you. It comes with the Mac computers with 10.6 or later versions. Older Mac supports the built-in microphone and line-in from the 3.5mm jack while the new Mac only supports microphone. To start capturing songs, you just need to play them from your computer and click the 'File' > 'New Audio Recording' and choose the red 'Start' button. You can customize the quality settings for the output files too. If you want to balance the quality, file size and compatibility, you can choose 'High Quality' which records M4A files with variable bit rate using AAC codec. Else you can choose 'Maximum Quality' to export to AIFC files with PCM S24 codec. What is worth to mention is that this free tool also support to record screen video of your computer.
Pros: 1. It is readily available on Mac, no need to install. 2. Support to record music with maximum quality. 3. Support to record video as well.
Cons: 1. The microphone may record external sound noise around you during recording.
View also:VLC Media Player vs. QuickTime Player
No 3. Apowersoft Free Online Audio Recorder (Windows & Mac)
This free streaming music recorder works well on both Windows and Mac computer. It can directly and effectively record sound from your computer to MP3/OGG/WMA/WAV files. Weather you want to download songs from music websites like VEVO, Grooveshark, Jango or radio stations such as Pandora, BBC, VOA or voice chat on the Skype, AIM, Yahoo Messenger, Apowersoft Free Audio Recorder will do that in a breeze. With the built-in ID3 system, it can automatically search and add the tag info, meta data to your songs after recording. Also, you can skip the silence passages in the process of recording, edit the recorded songs such as cutting out the unwanted parts. The converted songs will be compatible with almost any devices and players like Windows Media player, Chromebook, tablets and so on.
Pros: 1. Supports multiple output formats. 2. Automatically complete the ID3 tags for the saved songs. 3. Edit songs after capturing.
Cons: 1. Sometimes the recording sound is low. 2. Can't split tracks.
No 4. Free System Sound Recorder (Windows)
If you have Windows 7/8, this is a handy software to record voice playing online from your computer. You can use it for capturing the moment, recording presentations or just for fun. To use it, you can click 'Start' > 'All Programs' > 'Accessories' > Double click 'Sound Recorder'. You will see the tiny windows of with the main 'Start Recording' button. When it is done, you can click 'Stop Recording“ save it as .WMA Windows media files for playing on any players. It supports supports to do the recording from the command line too. On Windows 10, it doesn't come with this desktop program by default, but don't worry, you can download the app from the Microsoft Store online directly. What is even better is that with this free app, you can ask Cortana to do the song recording directly for you.
Pros: 1. Easy to use and lightweight. 2. Support to record through command line. 3. The Windows 10 Sound Recorder works well with Cortana.
Cons: 1. Don't have any extra features like editing.
View also:How to Play Spotify Songs on Windows Media Player
No 5. Audacity (Windows, Mac, Linux)
Audacity is a free open source streaming recorder which record sound from both a microphone and computer playback. It is beloved by users who do voice recording for podcasts and similar endeavors for years. You can use it to make your own recordings, remove noise, cut voice clips, apply special effects and so on. The user interface looks beautiful. But don't let its simple appearance fool you. Under it, there are a bundle of arsenal features such as multi-track editing, smooth fading, labeling, syncing and more. Audacity can change frequencies with its equalization, bass, treble, high/low pass. Besides, it can help you easily remove any annoying humming or other backgrounds. The only drawback is that as a most powerful audio software, it takes a longer time for you to learn all the features well. But it is totally worth it if you are planning to do free recording for a long period.
Pros: 1. Support all kind of platforms. 2. Powerful sound editing features such as adding sound effects.
Cons: 1. It takes deep learning curve to use it.
Which Is the Best Free Audio Recorder
That is all about what are mainly want to talk today. Have you made a decision which free voice recorder works best for you? Actually there are still a lot other similar tools out there such as Streamosaur, Screamer Radio, iMusic, Wavosaur, The Kristal Audio Engine. But the ones we listed are better alternatives to them compared to the usability, features, performance and so on.
To sum up, if you don't want to install any extra packages to your computer, the QuickTime Player and Windows Sound Recorder will be best for you to use on Mac or PC. Else if you want more powerful free music recorder, you can try to download the Aktiv MP3 Recorder, Apowersoft Free Online Audio Recorder, Audacity.
By the way, though free tools can help you get the job done, it just doesn't have as high performance as other commercial software. If you are just seeking for more powerful tools, you can also refer to the top 5 streaming music converters which we have talked previously.
Although there are a lot of audio recording programs out there claiming to record almost any sound play on computer, the fact you should always keep in mind is that only a few of them promise capturing high quality audio. Therefore, if you care much about the quality of your recordings, choosing a proper high-powered audio recorder could really matter. Are you just looking for such recording tool but with a low budget? Luckily, among the numerous audio recording software available on internet, we are glad to see most of them are offered for free. To help you quickly pick up the best free streaming audio recorder online, we complied a list of top 5 most popular free audio recording programs that can record streaming music, radios, in-game sound, music in videos, and any other sound play on Mac and Windows with high quality.
- Top 1. Audacity (Mac & Windows)
- Top 2. Apowersoft Free Online Audio Recorder
- Top 3. Ardour (Mac & Windows)
- Top 4. Aktiv MP3 Recorder (Windows)
- Top 5. Traverso DAW (Mac & Windows)
- Alternative - TunesKit Audio Capture [Best]
Top 1. Audacity (Mac & Windows)
As a well-known open source free audio recorder, Audacity is capable of recording and editing anything you throw at it, including audio through microphone and sound card all in a few clicks thanks to the clean interface. It also allows users adjust pitch, bass, and treble, or normalize noise and add effects like reverb and phasing to the recordings. In addition, it supports multi-track capturing to save a lot of time for you. And unlike most other free audio recorders which are free for a limited time or free with locked features, Audacity is a real free of charge audio recording application offered in full free version. Overall, Audacity offers one of the most robust packages available among free recording programs.
Pros:
1. Totally free and extremely easy to use;
2. Support recording any sound on computer;
3. Edit recorded audio's quality with many effects;
4. Support multi-track recording.
Cons:
1. Require plugins to accomplish optimal functionality;
2. Can't export audio recordings to MP3;
3. Effect editing is destructive to original audio track.
Top 2. Apowersoft Free Online Audio Recorder
Differing from Audacity or other free audio streaming recorder, Apowersoft Audio Recorder is a free online recording solution that needs no plug-in on Windows or Mac. It allows you record any sound from system sound card and microphone in high quality within 3 steps only. It fully supports capturing streaming music, radio stations, music in games, voice chats, etc. playing via devices like Windows Media Player, QuickTime, iTunes, Tablets, Chromebook, Android smartphones, iPhone, Windows Phone and more. Besides, it offers additional recording functions like converting audio records to MP3, WMA, AAC, FLAC, WAV, M4A, OGG, adding ID3 tags, sharing recorded audios online, playing recordings in real time, etc.
Pros:
1. Free and no need to install setup file on computer;
2. Support any sound sources;
3. Save recordings in multiple popular formats;
4. Support extensional functions for recording.
Cons:
1. Can't edit output audio quality;
2. Multi-track recording not supported.
Top 3. Ardour (Mac & Windows)
Ardour DAW is another great open-source audio recorder with professional music recording features and no cost. Developed by Paul Davis, Ardour is aiming at providing powerful recorder for studios who are at low budgets. Featuring highly versatile multi-track audio recording, Ardour can record and edit audios non-destructively or destructively. Its use of Jack, an underlying sound server, makes it compatible with a number of outside applications as well. With the release of third edition, Ardour is supposed to import video for film scoring purpose and record, edit MIDI without a hassle. However, unlike most of other free DAWs, Ardour comes with a confusing graphical user interface which is inaccessible for beginners. It's more like a professional tool developed for musicians or audio engineers.
Pros:
1. Free and professional;
2. Support multi-track recording;
3. Edit recorded tracks non-destructively.
Cons:
1. It's complex and difficult for newbie;
2. No built-in effects or instruments.
Top 4. Aktiv MP3 Recorder (Windows)
If you are looking for a free streaming music recorder that can convey CD, tape, DVD, live performance, TV, Internet radio, streaming music, video games and any other sound source into popular audio formats like MP3, WMA, OGG, VOX, AU, AIFF, then you can't miss Aktiv MP3 Recorder. As a full-featured audio recorder, the big difference between Aktiv and other free recording tools is that it comes with recording scheduler which provides you the ability to record streaming audio at certain times according to your requirements.
Pros:
1. Free streaming audio recorder;
2. Support most popular output formats;
3. Provide schedule recording tasks.
Cons:
Record System Audio Mac
1. Available for Windows only;
2. Installer contains some extra software.
Top 5. Traverso DAW (Mac & Windows)
Traverso DAW is another cross-platform free multitrack audio recording and audio editing suite with support for CD mastering and non-linear processing. Traverso is different with other in UI as it offers a unique user interface using both the mouse and the keyboard together for precision and speed. In addition, Traverso includes non-destructive editing, the ability to use plugins and make edits without changing the actual recorded sample. Also it is offering full support for ALSA, Jack and PortAudio, and lockless real-time audio processing.
Pros:
1. Fullfeatured free recording app;
2. Innovative keyboard and mouse shortcuts;
3. Support non-destructive audio editing.
Cons:
1. Take some time for users to get used to the shortcuts;
2. Need plugins to edit audio non-destructively.
More Professional Audio Recorder for Low Budget - TunesKit
Of course, no piece of free software is without its shortcomings. So do those free audio recorders. They are not as advanced as other paid software in functionality. In case you are searching for such paid recording products with reasonable price, we highly recommend a best free sound recorder to you. The renowned program is called TunesKit Audio Capture. It's available for both Mac and Windows platforms. It costs $19.95 but with more powerful features, including multi-track lossless recording, automatically fulfilling ID3 tags, editing output quality, splitting or merging recorded tracks, etc. You can download the free trial versions as below to test it out by yourself. For complete tutorial, visit this user guide.
Conclusion & Suggestion
As you can see, all the above recording tools are free of charge to meet most of your recording needs with options of recording audio, adding effects, and cutting waveforms, as well as other basic recording tasks. To conclude, if you are referring an all-in-one application that combines easy operation and high performance, Audacity and Aktiv MP3 Recorder could be the best audio recording software. But if you concern more about the professionalism and quality, you are suggested to go for Ardour or Traverso DAW that are more professional oriented. Or alternatively, Apowersoft Audio Recorder could be a great choice if you don't want to install any software on your computer. If you still have no idea which one to choose, simply try them out one by one and decide which works best for you.
Record Audio Stream Mac Free
Nick Orin is a review writer, software geek and Mac OS enthusiast. He spends all his free time in searching useful software and gadgets to share with others.