Hi All,

Can I get some suggestions to hardware/software that will allow me to record streaming audio as MP-3 files on my laptop? I have a favorite Big Band Show on Saturday mornings that would be easier to get as bits into a computer instead of (too much) analog tape. I could listen to those three hours of each show on an IPOD during the week.

Please let me know of sound boards (better as PCMIA plug-ins for the laptop) and any software packages you would suggest.

Thanks,

Ed Reitan

Hi Ed -

First off, Welcome to AK. :)

Now, about your questions...

Regarding software to record audio streams, I take it you are recording this audio from an FM receiver? Or are you recording audio streams from online?

In either event, there's a program I have been using for a while that might work quite well for you. It is called Total Recorder. You can download it from http://www.HighCriteria.com . It has a lot of features, one of which is recording directly to compressed MP3 or OGG files. Another feature is that you can set up timed recordings - so as long as your laptop is running, Total Recorder will start itself at a designated time and start recording. You can even have it break the show up into 30 minute sections, and such. All you need to do is have the radio turned on and plugged into the line-in jack on your sound card. There is a cost for this software though. To have all features, you may need to upgrade to the Pro version ($36) and it is worth it if you think you will use the program seriously. I've used it to record talk radio streams from online while I sleep so I can listen to them the next day. It has worked pretty well.

Now, if you are a total cheapskate, (not that there's anything wrong with that :thmbsp: ), and want a freeware program with similar features, you might try Messer. I have... uh... messed with it and it works quite well. It hasn't been changed since 2000. It has a much simpler interface, and includes some basic timer recording functions. It's not nearly as complicated as Total Recorder, but hey, its free. You can get Messer at http://www.dago.pmp.com.pl/messer/ . It can record both Internet and line-in audio.

As for the sound card, I thought most laptops had built in sound cards. If yours does not have a line-in jack on it, you would probably indeed need a PCMCIA card. I am not terribly familiar with audio cards of this kind, but I can suggest some reputable general sound card brands: Creative, Turtle Beach, and Diamond. They have all been around for a long time and all have good track records and you should have good luck with these brands. Also, there are USB devices that basically add a sound input device just by plugging them into a USB port. http://wwww.tigerdirect.com usually has good deals on these. You might want to check there for a PCMCIA sound card as well.

Hope this helps!

Owen

PS - Excellent musical taste.

You may want to look into external audio cards for the laptop if you don't haven an internal card. Also note that you will need "some" processing power to record straight to mp3 instead of wav->mp3 (some hints on your hardware would help).

As for external cards - I hear Creative Extigy's are going down in price. If you have PCMCIA slots open (you'll need dual height or type-2 if I'm not mistaken) you could try one of Creative's PCMCIA Sound Blaster cards.

Both options are in the affordable range.

Above that you have USB2 external cards, or if you have a Mac- firewire cards. There are too many of these to mention but just quickly the M-Audio Quattro is a pretty good deal - just make sure to stick with the driver that comes with it and know that support isn't so hot.

My $.02