There are two main ways to save streaming audio to your computer - you can either download the audio directly from a website or record it while it's playing. In this article, we'll look at the pros and cons of both methods.
I should mention upfront that we won't be looking at the legal side of things, as that'll depend on local legislation. Today, we'll focus on the technical aspects to help you make the right choice.
1 Direct download of audio stream
The main drawback of downloading is that you have to support a huge number of different formats and protocols. Different streaming audio services use different formats, like Flash, Shoutcast, Icecast, or Windows Media. This means you'll need to install a separate program for each site.
To intercept the audio stream program installs a special driver, which will be slightly slow down your computer. In addition, the driver reduces the security system from external attacks.
Something else to think about is whether you need a direct link to the streaming service server. This is a clear breach of the terms of use. The service can spot irregular connections and block your IP address. If you use your account, it could also get you blocked.
Those in favor of downloading often claim that this method provides the best quality. I think we can all agree on this one. The program downloads the original audio stream without changes, but this isn't really an option in practice. The main streaming services used to use a Flash player, and the original stream was in the FLV format. Unfortunately, this format isn't supported by mobile devices, so we'll have to convert FLV to MP3 or M4A. Flash technology is pretty much dead now, and the players are written in JavaScript. The basic idea is still the same, though. The stream addresses are hidden, and the streams themselves are encrypted. On top of that, the quality of the stream is reduced for preliminary listening before payment.
Another advantage of the download - a program automatically takes the ID3 tags from the website. Please note that each site used its own description of songs and player pages are constantly changing, so you must constantly update the program.
2 Recording audio stream during playback
The best thing about this method is that it's really versatile. You get what you hear. Recording of sound during playback cannot be detected remotely. For the streaming service, it looks like normal listening using the standard player.
On the downside, you'll also record system sounds. You can easily avoid this by turning them off. Also, it's a good idea to turn off the microphone so you don't record background noise. Luckily, Windows 11 lets you adjust the volume for apps and system sounds separately. That's one disadvantage we can cross off the list.
More recently, there was another downside to this method: you couldn't get info about the song. Since the program doesn't access the site, but records audio from your sound card, some of the metadata is lost. If you're recording manually, you can copy the tags from the site yourself. But if you're recording on a schedule, the program can't do that for you. The good news is that this problem is a thing of the past. The new generation of stream recorders uses music recognition algorithms, so you can extract metadata from online sources right after you finish recording. It gets the recognition pretty much right every time.
Advantages of i-Sound Recorder
- Record streaming audio from any source
- High-quality audio recording with 32-bit accuracy
- Wide range of supported audio formats
- Music recognition and auto-tagging
One of the best programs for recording streaming audio is an i-Sound Recorder. The unique ability to record digital audio from the sound card drivers without installing a virtual one guarantees high quality recording. In addition to support for all major audio formats, the program provides ample opportunities to use the built-in scheduler, sound-activated recording, and automatic gain control. As mentioned in the previous paragraph, the program uses music recognition to automatically download tags and artwork. The recording browser allows you to edit the tags of recordings, copy, rename, and delete recordings, as well as send them via email.
3 Verdict
So, which method is the best fit for you? But there's no rule saying you have to choose just one option. It's important to know what sets them apart and use them as needed. For instance, there are tons of services for downloading directly from YouTube, and it's better to record from a sound card when using Spotify.