[RESOLVED] Problem recording internet radio

[broadley]

I've been using Audiograbber 1.83 on my old desktop PC to record an internet radio show for listening to later on or burning to a CD to play in my car. I've just got a new Dell Inspiron 6400 laptop which plays internet radio and CDs fine, but when I try to record radio streams it doesn't work. It produces a file which doesn't give any sound. I tried downloading the original Audiograbber software from my old PC, thinking "If it works on that PC it should work on the new one", but it didn't.

I tried using Audacity, but found it too unfriendly to use (I'm new to recording audio on a PC, and in any case I don't need its features). In both cases there were no sound levels showing. I don't know if this is some sort of configuration problem, or maybe I'm missing something obvious.

Any help will be appreciated. Thanks.

[fink]

What kind of unplayable file is saved (extension)? I'm not familiar with Audiograbber so I don't know if it saves as a wav file, an MP3 or something else. Can you play back already existing MP3s etc?

I'm wondering if it's a codec issue. You say it's an older computer so it might not have the codecs necessary to listen to all formats.

You could try downloading and installing the standard k-lite codec pack which contains many audio as well as video codecs..

http://www.free-codecs.com/download/...Codec_Pack.htm

[broadley]

The only type of file I've recorded so far are .wav files. I don't think Audiograbber actually plays back. As far as I can tell it uses WMP, as whenever I've played back files I've recorded it opens that. I think I've also used Real as well. As I said the files I recorded played without problem on my old PC, but not on the new Dell Inspiron 6400 I'm now using, so the problem is recording on the new laptop, not the old PC.

Something I've noticed is that when I open Windows Volume Control\Options\Properties\Recording, it only shows Line In and Microphone (both ticked). Could the problem be anything to do with this? Does Line In pick up the sound? I would have thought that if I can hear internet radio on my speakers that I should also be able to record it, but as I said I'm a bit of a dill on this stuff as it's all a bit new to me.

By the way, what are the codecs pack you mention? What do they do? Given the above info could they still help me?
Thanks

[broadley]

I downloaded and installed the Standard K-Lite Codec Pack 2.72 as you suggested but I still can't record internet radio. K-Lite Codec Pack now shows in the Start Menu. Do I have to do anything else after installing them in order to use them? I didn't select the Media Player Classic to play audio as I would prefer to use WMP.

I don't know if you saw my previous post in which I asked a few more questions.

[fink]

No, you don't have to do anything else with the codec pack. The codecs are all installed automatically although you can use the programs that the pack installs to change many video and a few audio parameters and options none of which I believe would solve your problem.

As an experiment just try playing back one of the audio files using the newly installed WMP player. Right click the wav file and select "open with" then choose the secondary player from the list of programs (or browse to it if it isn't listed).
Don't check "always open with" although if you do accidentally it's easy to change back.

You could also just drag the wav file to an open instance of that player or invoke yet another player that's already on the PC by going to start>run and typing mplayer2.exe [ok] and using that.

This will tell us if the problem might be with the media player itself or elsewhere.

Out of curiosity have you tried taking one of the newly recorded audio files to another PC and playing it? Or have you tried playing an audio file you made on the other computer and playing it back on the laptop?

[broadley]

I tried playing one of the new files, recorded on the new PC, using WMP, RealPlayer, Media Player Classic & GSpot Codec (on the K-Lite Codec pack) with no success. Also tried mplayer2.exe from Start\Run, but no go.

I then tried this same recording (created on the new PC) on the old PC... but no go. I then played an mp3 file that was recorded on the old PC on the new PC. This played without a problem. I couldn't try a wav file made on the old PC as it's too big to transfer with my USB stick, but I guess it would also play if the mp3 did.

Does this info help?

I'm using the same settings on Audiograbber that I had set on that programme on the old PC.

On the Windows Volume Control\Options\Properties\Recording box (on the new PC), Line-In and Microphone are shown. Line-In is ticked. I notice that on my old PC this box shows Stereo Mix, CD Player, Line-In and Microphone. Stereo Mix is ticked. Is there any significance in this?

[fink]

I notice that on my old PC this box shows Stereo Mix, CD Player, Line-In and Microphone. Stereo Mix is ticked. Is there any significance in this?

No, it would not have any effect on the problem.

It seems like audio grabber is the problem in this case since your new computer plays mp3s and presuemably wav files created elsewhere.

Have a go with one of these streaming recorders..

http://radio.about.com/library/blstreamingchart.htm

Most of them have a trial version you can test out. Total Recorder gets high marks from users. Also have a look at Audiograbbers website and make sure you have the latest version... if not uninstall it and then reinstall the newer one.

[broadley]

I have the latest version of Audiograbber. I installed Freecorder but although an mp3 file is created I can't get any sound on replay. It seems that no matter what audio recorder I use the same problem exists.

[fink]

So, to summarize, streaming audio files (both mp3 and wav) made/captured on the new laptop do not play back on either PC but files made on the old PC play back on both.

And you've used more than one program to create the audio files and you've installed the Klite codec pack and used numerous players to try and play them without success.

Although, as I said, it shouldn't make any difference try opening
Windows Volume Control\Options\Properties\Recording again but also click otions properties and add stereo mix or equivalent (and set it up the same as the other PC).... just to have the identical setup in both PCs to eliminate every possible reason it's not working.

Otherwise I'm at a loss at the moment to think of anything else. Others can chime in if they have any ideas

[broadley]

Yes, your summary is correct. Unfortunately the only options in Volume Control are Line-In and Microphone. Thanks for your input anyway. I'm going to email Dell, just in case it's a hardware related problem, but any other comments from others will be appreciated.

[broadley]

I've cracked it! I emailed Dell with zero response which is to say the least, unsatisfactory!

I then thought I'd try recording something thru the microphone and wondered if I simply plugged a cable in to the microphone input from the headphone output and try recording. It worked! Sometimes the simple method works better than the technical! (The reason I have a new Dell is that I could only defeat BSODs on the old PC was to heat up the inside of the box with a hairdryer! Anyway, I hope my experience may help someone else.

One further question: how do I report this as resolved? I can't see any obvious way on the website.

Thanks for your suggestions on fixing my problem.

[fink]

Click "thread tools" at the top of the thread and then mark as resolved.

Glad you found a workaround. Unusual to have to do that but if it works it works

Hairdryer? LOL