How to record streaming audio on Mac - 4 easy ways

Sometimes you may want to record and save streaming audio on your Mac when enjoying it. Learn how to capture streaming audio in several simple methods.

• QuickTime Player allows you to record streaming audio on your Mac. However, if you need to record audio without background noise, you have to download a plug-in like Soundflower.
• Audacity can only record sound of the microphone by default, but you can use a loopback cable to capture system sound.
• Whether you have a Mac, an iPad, or just an iPhone, you can use Voice Memos to record streaming audio with microphone sound.
• If you're looking for an all-in-one solution, AppGeeker Screen Recorder is the one to go. It can record any streaming audio with external and internal sound simultaneously.

Have you ever wanted to record streaming audio on your Mac but found it difficult to do? Most streaming audio services don't provide the necessary features to record or save sound on your computer. To solve this problem, you need some reliable audio recording tools to help.

This article will introduce several simple and effective tools, including QuickTime Player, AppGeeker Screen Recorder, Audacity, and Voice Memos. These handy audio recorders allow Mac users to easily record streaming audio from all popular online audio and video services such as Pandora, FM, and YouTube.

Tip: Remember to record streaming audio only for your own personal use.

Table of Contents

• Record streaming audio in QuickTime on Mac
• Use a third-party tool to record streaming audio on Mac (effective and simple)
• Use Audacity to record internal sound on your Mac
• Bonus: Record streaming audio on all Apple devices - Voice Memos

Record streaming audio in QuickTime on Mac

QuickTime Player is a built-in multimedia player on Mac. Besides the function of playing movies, you can also use it to record streaming audio, like music, lectures, movie soundtrack, and so on.

Here are the detailed steps to record streaming audio on your Mac using QuickTime Player:

1. Play a streaming audio

Before starting to record, you need to open what needs recording on your Mac.

2. Open QuickTime Player

Click QuickTime Player in "Launchpad", or search it from "Launchpad" and run it.

3. Create a new recording file

Go to File > New Audio Recording from the menu bar at the top of the screen.

4. Start recording

The Audio Recording window will appear with a red circle button and a down arrow. You can click the down arrow, and choose a built-in microphone or any external microphone you're using. Then, click on the red icon to start recording the streaming audio on your Mac.

5. Stop recording

Once finished, click the grey icon to stop recording. Later, the streaming audio will show on the screen, and you can click the "Play" button to review.

6. Save the recording

To save the recording, select the "Save" option in "File," and then you can rename and check it in your selected folder.

Record internal audio via QuickTime Player

QuickTime Player can only record microphone sound by default, and it is not available to capture internal audio. If you want to record the system audio using QuickTime, you have to download and launch a plug-in called Soundflower, then set it as the output source.

1. Download Soundflower from the website soundflower.com, and follow the instructions on the screen to install it on your Mac.

2. Tap on the Apple icon in the upper-left corner of your Mac, then choose "Sound" under the "System Preferences" or "System Settings" tab. Next, select "Output" and hit "Soundflower (2ch)."

3. Later, you need to activate the extension in QuickTime before recording streaming audio. To do that, open QuickTime and head to File> New Audio Recording, then hit "Soundflower (2ch)" when picking a microphone.

Then you can follow the steps in the first part to record streaming audio via QuickTime without any noise on Mac.

Read more: How to record music from YouTube

Use a third-party tool to record streaming audio on Mac (effective and simple)

QuickTime Player may not be your ideal choice to record streaming audio on Mac due to its limited features, like it can't capture internal sound without additional tools, and record both microphone and system sound simultaneously. Compared with QuickTime Player, AppGeeker Screen Recorder is the perfect tool as a much more comprehensive solution.

Mac users can use this streaming audio recorder to capture their favorite audio and store it in various formats to enjoy them anytime, anywhere. With its intuitive interface, you'll find it easy to record streaming audio with microphone as well as system sound clearly. The software also provides advanced features such as clipping tools for personalize audio recordings.

Here are the steps for using the effective tool to record your streaming audio on Mac:

1. Download and install the software on your computer.

2. Open the program and click "Audio Recorder."

3. In the next window, you can choose whether to enable "System sound" or "Microphone" depending on what you need,

4. Open a streaming page that you would like to capture.

5. When you are ready, press the "REC" button to start recording the streaming audio.

6. To stop recording, press the red square icon.

7. You can clip it on the editing page. Later, click "Save" to save the recording file on your Mac.

Use Audacity to record internal sound on your Mac

To record streaming audio on Mac, you can also use Audacity, which captures audio by converting a signal from digital to analog. It is also a multi-track audio editor, you can quickly edit your recording after capturing the streaming audio.

Wondering how to record internal audio via Audacity? Let's see the detailed steps:

1. Prepare a loopback cable and connect it to your device.

First, you need a cable with a 1/8" plug at each end, then plug the headphone output port to the line input port.

2. Set Sound panel on Mac.

Click on the Apple logo in the upper-left corner of your computer, then select "System Settings" or "System Preferences." Next, head to the "Sound" panel.

• In the Output tab: Select "Choose a device for sound output", then click "Line Out."
• In the Input tab: Hit "Choose a device for sound input," then select "Line Input."

To better record streaming audio, you can adjust the input volume slider at the bottom of the "Sound" panel.

3. Adjust Audacity settings

Launch Audacity application, find the microphone icon in the Device Toolbar, then select "Built-in Input." And ensure "Software Playthrough" is not checked in the "Transport" menu.

Once the above steps are finished, you can start playing streaming audio and create a new track in Audacity to record it. You can also use additional audio devices like Soundflower to record system sound.

Also see: Audacity won't record from the computer

Bonus: Record streaming audio on all Apple devices - Voice Memos

Apple comes with a built-in audio recording feature called Voice Memos, which lets iPhone, iPad, and Mac users capture streaming audio via the microphone of their devices. But some streaming audio platforms may not permit you to record the sound.

To record streaming audio with Voice Memos, follow the steps below:

Step 1: Open Voice Memos app on your device.

Step 2: Tap on the red "Start Recording" circle to start recording streaming audio.

Step 3: Then play a piece of audio you like, it can be a song, in-game sound, etc.

Step 4: Back to the Voice Memos, you can see the recording process on the screen. Press the square "Stop Recording" icon to finish.