Get ready for the dumbest question of all time....

[shadyJ]

Hi, I just got the Ultralite 3 Hybrid, and I am liking it so far (although I wish it had better compatibility with USB3), but I am just toying around with it. But I am trying to do something real simple to start with, but somehow I can not figure it out.. Ok, are you ready for the stupidest question of all time? *drumroll*...

How do you record audio from inside the computer? What I mean is, I want to record stuff from audiotool, and netflix, and youtube, and computer games, but I can not get recording software, in this case Reaper, Sound Forge 4.5 (yes, I know it's old), and Audacity, to see the audio from those programs. To put it another way, I can't figure out how to route the sound from windows programs into a recording program. I have looked at the manual, but it just doesn't explain something that elementary, at least in a way that I understand. Can someone help this newb out?

[BKK-OZ]

Soundflower.

[FutureLegends]

Well, almost all interfaces are meant to record external sound sources. I guess some have internal routing.
You could just send the output to an input. Or use the aforementioned Soundflower.

What is the "better USB3 compatibility" you want? What would that achieve? Is the unit not working properly when connected to an USB3 port?

[NazRat]

Soundflower.

The OP is posting in the Windows forum, so not an option. Neither is Audio Hijack which I use to capture audio.

I don't know of any audio routing devices ala Soundflower in the Windows world, but that doesn't mean there aren't any. There are a few audio/video capture apps.

Here's one: http://download.cnet.com/Windows-Audio- ... 67189.html

You can capture audio/video in MS Media Center capture to avi files, but you'd then have to further convert.

Look here: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download ... x?id=24776

You can also use loopback from the output to another input pair to record audio, but you need to be careful you don't create feedback loops.

[NazRat]

One other possibility, but don't know if it applies to the Ultralite and/or Windows is to record the return pair if offered by the device driver. Don't have the stuff in front of me right now. Any Windows guys out there.

[shadyJ]

Yeah, I hate creating a feedback loop accidently. That is horrible. I guess I will just have to use a send and return, but I would rather not because of the risk of accidently setting off a feedback loop.

As for USB3, yes, the Ultralite 3 Hybrid doesn't quite work with USB3 for me, but it works fine with USB2.

[torrentg]

For things like Youtube, I recommend that you download the target file with the use of Ant Video Downloader (Firefox add-on) or a website that uses Java to download the video: http://www.keepvid.com

Then, simply manipulate the audio from the file as you wish. A great program to open the audio of any of these downloaded files is Goldwave. Of course, there are countless others.

As for still wanting to record sound in games, as part of the MOTU driver available in Sound Forge, you can use the Mix 1 return. To get to it, you have to click "Advanced" on the Audio tab in "Preferences". (Or depending on different factors such as software version, your unit, etc...it may be available without clicking "Advanced" at all.) This assumes "MOTU Audio ASIO" is selected as the driver in SF.

And yet still, this is not even necessary. Guru3d.com offers a game capture software.

And yet another excellent option is to connect a cable to the MOTU S/PDIF in and out female connectors on the unit. Then set Windows to use S/PDIF of MOTU to be default audio device. Then set mix buses in the MOTU CUEMix. (Mix bus 1 out to S/PDIF, Mix bus 2 would then have S/PDIF ins unmuted with the mix itself set to output to main outs or 1&2 analog.) Then, just record the S/PDIF channel. This is a lossless option, since it is digital.

Lots and lots of options I've just given you. Hope it helps.

[RonaldDumsfeld]

I own an Ultralite Mk3 Hybrid which runs under all current versions of Windows.

The most straightforward and reliable method of doing what you want, using Audacity as an example, is as follows:-

1. Open Audacity and navigate to Edit > Preferences > Devices. In the Recording Device drop down list select MOTU Return 1-2.

2. Open MOTU Audio console and select the Ultralite mk3 Hybrid tab. In the Return Assign drop down list select whichever of the outputs to which you direct your current output. I.e whatever you have selected in the Main Out Assign drop down list also in the same tab.

That's it. Whatever you are listening to you can now instantly record with the press of a button.

Experiment with other options. MOTU makes it easy for you. All audio apps will always display a complete list of channels they can record from (all 10 Inputs, a Return and Reverb1). Likewise all audio apps will list all outputs you can use (again all 14 of them). Audio console allows you to assign Return to any output pair and any one of 8 mix busses.

[UltimateOutsider]

Soundflower.

The OP is posting in the Windows forum, so not an option. Neither is Audio Hijack which I use to capture audio.

Oh? I use a program called Total Recorder to do that (record streaming radio or audio from streamed video, etc). I thought Audio Hijack did the same thing?

Or are you just saying that you can't use Audio Hijack to route the audio into the interface (which is probably true).

But really, if all the OP wants to do is record PC audio, the interface isn't even necessary if you have Total Recorder or Audio Hijack, etc.

I do think the PC-audio-out-to-MOTU-in would work, too, like you said (barring feedback loops).

Isn't there also a way to make Windows use your audio interface as the primary sound device, like in the Sound control panel? Would that help in any way? (Or would you only be able to use that to send the PC audio out of the interface into another recording target?)

Wish I had an interface here to experiment with.

[racerxer]

There are many of programs out there that can handle this job well.

As for download videos off YouTube and other video-hosting sites, I always use AppGeeker video converter, it integrates one-click video download and conversion in one place, and has options to edit your videos files.

See: http://www.ilikemall.com/how-to/convert-flv-to-mov-mac.html

VirtualDub is another great video/audio capture software for 32-bit and 64-bit Windows platforms (98/ME/NT4/2000/XP/Vista/7), It is mainly geared toward processing AVI files, although it can read (not write) MPEG-1 and also handle sets of BMP images.

Download: http://www.virtualdub.org/

I have no idea if other guys link is better or worse, it is just what I use.

Hope it is helpful.

[NickesonDesigns]

I'm a noobie myself, but, just wanted to add that I had a problem with this myself. I wanted to record internet/computer sounds within windows straight to maschine (sampling).

it seems backwards to me, but to get it to work I have to set up motu audio console as:
main out to analog 3-4
return assign to main out 1-2

but I have to swap them back to get the audio back to my studio monitors.

hopefully this helps someone else, I've been searching the forums all day!!!

Dan

[tedchmura]

Hey shadyJ - thanks for posting such a "dumb" question !! It's exactly what I was going to ask.

And RonaldDumsfeld - you're solution works PERFECTLY with my UltraLite mk3 Hybrid on my Windows system. No cords to patch - no software to install. Just a recordable signal that shows up in my SONAR.

PERFECT !!

Thank you both.