Windows 10 Streaming Audio Recorder: Save Online Audio to MP3 etc.

There are many handy Windows 10 streaming audio recorders to help transmit online audio content to a computer. Be it freeware or shareware.

There have been more than 1 trillion streams online in the past year. 1/4 of the total comes from on-demand streaming audio, especially music song streaming. No matter whether you are a teen streaming audio listener or a streaming video viewer. As long as you want to record streaming audio from YouTube (Music), Vevo, Spotify, SoundCloud, etc. You may use either of the following best (free) streaming audio recorders for Windows 10 to do it easily. But you do not need to waste time wading through the numerous names online to find the right one.

Many paid (audio) streaming services do offer audio download features.

Streaming things has become a trend thanks to its simplicity and convenience. As a result, more and more people are switching their entertainment methods from traditional physical CD/cassette to modern music streaming services. Popular music streaming apps Apple Music, Spotify, Tidal, Amazon Music, and YouTube Music are typical examples. These streaming services usually provide free songs, podcasts, and radio with ads in compressed format. In order to enjoy ad-free & hi-res audio content, download, and listen offline, you’ll have to subscribe to premium plans. They can be free for a period of time. Prices range from $4.9 to $15 per month.

For unsubscribed users, it’s impossible to download or save streaming audio directly. And then, a third-party audio capture tool is a must for file ripping or extracting. Windows 10 is currently the most widely used desktop operating system. With that in mind, the best Windows 10 streaming audio recorder roundup is made for your reference. And among them, there are some free apps as well.

1. RecMaster – Easiest Windows 10 Streaming Audio and Video Recorder

RecMaster is a simple screen recorder. It’s able to record streaming audio coming from system or say sound card into MP3 and WAV. On any Windows-10-based desktop or laptop, you can easily record in clicks, without installing any sound driver at all. Also, as a multi-functional screencasting program, it supports recording speaker sound. It also offers other functions to capture Internet streaming video to MP4/AVI/FLV in high quality. Furthermore, it captures on-screen activities (gameplay included) with a webcam and narration, as well as shooting front-camera video alone.

If the stream is so long that you don’t have time to sit by the monitor to manually end it. You can take advantage of the built-in Task schedule tool. With the simple scheduler, you can set the time period when streaming audio capture will automatically start and stop.

How to record streaming audio on Windows 10 with RecMaster?

To begin with, you should know that only unprotected streaming audio can be recorded by RecMaster. Because currently, it’s incompatible with DRM-protected content due to the lack of a DRM cracking feature. If you have no idea whether the audio has copy protection, you can follow the steps below to check it. If there’s no sound or it just sounds weird, then in all probability the source streaming audio is protected.

Now that you’ve opened the audio file with the proper configuration, you are ready to get the streaming recording work started. You can download a free copy of RecMaster here. And then follow the guide below.

Step 1. Install and launch this recorder, and then select “Audio Only” mode on the main interface.

The “Audio-Only” mode keeps the streaming audio in an audio file. However, if you are willing to save the audio in video format, you can choose “Full Screen” or “Custom Area”.

Step 2. Audio Settings

When navigating to Audio-Only, you have two options to confirm whether to turn on/off the system sound and microphone. And you can adjust the volume values as well. All streaming audio actually belongs to system sound, so you should turn system audio on with a proper sound volume. If there’s no special demand like syncing Karaoke or narration, you’d better switch off the microphone to avoid environmental noises.

By selecting Advanced from the System Sound or Microphone menu, you can launch Sound Settings. In the window, you can choose audio devices and test whether they work well. You can also add mic noise reduction, system sound gain, and mic gain to it.

Step 3. Start recording or set Scheduler.

Click on the red REC button to start recording immediately. By default, there’s a 3-second countdown for you to open and play streaming audio at the same time. You will also be informed of the default shortcuts for starting, pausing & resuming, ending recording, etc. All of them are adjustable under the Settings >> Hotkeys panel.

As mentioned above, the Task schedule is designed for automatic and timed recording of videos and streaming audios. So if you prefer a self-activated capture, do create and enable the mission from Menu >> Auto Record >> Schedule.

Step 4. Stop recording

When the audio plays to an end, you can press the red button or Alt+2 to stop the recording. You can leave the Task Scheduler alone so that it automatically stops as you set. After that, the final recording named after a specific recording time will be loaded and listed in a “Recording list”. You can preview and rename it from the list window.

Price: Annual $19.95 for 1 PC ($5 coupon code is distributed on purchase page)

2. Wondershare Streaming Audio Recorder

It is a dedicated digital audio recorder. It can help you detect and record any streaming audio played on your Windows 10 computer for personal use. Be it YouTube Music, Spotify, Pandora, SoundCloud, iHeartRadio, Apple Music, Google Play Music, Yahoo Music, Deezer, or Skype. Or many other online music/radio/podcast/chatting services.

As a full-fledged Windows 10 streaming audio recorder, it allows you to capture online music or radio. You can record them to .mp3 (MP3) or .m4a (AAC) at your desire. You can also set the sample rate (up to 4800Hz) and bit rate (up to 256kbps). Additionally, it includes filters for ads, fixing and editing ID3 tags, and making ringtones from recorded audio. It also includes scheduling recordings and burning library audio.

On its official page, it appears that there’s been no update for a long time and the interface is outdated.

Price: $19.00 lifetime for 1 PC

3. Apowersoft Streaming Audio Recorder

Similar to Wondershare, Apowersoft Streaming Audio Recorder is likewise capable of recording high-quality streaming audio from websites. Music, video, radio, and chat platforms can all be captured to MP3, AAC, and so forth mainstream formats. The internal ID3 Tag editor will automatically recognize and keep the original file information of title, genre, artist, etc. Then again, you are also free to edit them yourself.

This Windows 10 streaming audio recorder can also act as an online music downloader to allow song searching and downloading. It also has an audio file converter to transfer recorded or downloaded files to iTunes/text/MP3 etc. And it includes an audio editor and CD burner. You can schedule missions at customized times with a fixed repeat schedule by using the Schedule Task tool.

Price: $39.95 annually for 1 PC

4. NCH SoundTap Streaming Audio Recorder

This is another top-ranked Windows 10 streaming audio capture software. The software can be used to create MP3 or WAV files from whatever music is playing on the computer. Specifically, the sound may be from online radio webcasts, streaming audio broadcasts, and (Zoom/Google Hangout) virtual meetings/webinars. In addition, it may come from web courses, Skype VoIP phone calls, or from media player apps.

It provides you with a series of codec and compression options to better control capture quality. You can directly link to NCH software suites like WavePad Sound Editor, Switch MP3 File Converter, and MixPad Audio File Mixer.

As stated clearly on its official page, SoundTap works on 64-bit Windows only and won’t record any DRM-locked streams. This means SoundTap isn’t ideal if you’re using a 32-bit system or want to document copy-protected audio files.

Price: $19.99/license

5. Audacity – Open Source Windows 10 Streaming Audio Recorder

Audacity is a household name for advanced users to record audio on Windows 10. As a powerful audio recorder and editor, many podcast and music creators use it to record footage. And they also use it to edit the footage into an excellent piece of multitrack work.

You can use it simply as a streaming audio recorder to record any online sound from YouTube, Vevo, Spotify, etc. You can leverage either of the available recording devices. Or say hosts – MME, Windows DirectShow, Windows WASAPI – record sound from the sound card smoothly with less or no latency. Earlier Windows systems may also have a Stereo Mix option here. However, due to system updates or other reasons, it’s likely to disappear in Windows 10 Audacity.

Conclusion

This is the end of the five best Windows 10 streaming audio recorder apps roundup. In most cases, they are sufficient for you to capture common audio streams on the web for personal use. We suggest paying for premium service if you encounter copy-protected audio content that cannot be recorded.