How To Enable Direct Sound Recording In Windows 7

So tonight I needed to record an audio sample from a Youtube video. I realized the audio settings / drivers for Windows 7 weren’t setup for direct sound recording. I’m gonna’ tell ya how to fix it.

Download The Correct Driver

First of all, if you’ve got the audio driver for your sound card automatically from Windows update like I did (my problem), go out and get it from either your sound card manufacturer or from your motherboard / laptop manufacturer.

Enable Direct Sound Recording

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:
   
4. Now that the hidden options are visible, right click on each of them and click on enable.
   
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.
   
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.
   

And there ya go. You can now choose a ton of programs to record direct sound from your computer. If you wanna’ record from your mic or from some other audio device, go back into this tab and set another device as your default again. Hope this helps yo…

Peace, JbB