How to capture computer audio on Mac in 6 easy ways
The article explains different ways to audio capture Mac. Get a proper MacOS internal audio recorder in addition to QuickTime to capture the audio inside of your computer.
Ella Garcia Updated on Feb 15, 2023 6:03 PM
- You have a few ways to capture computer audio emanating from your Mac, iMac, MacBook.
- For recording audio with QuickTime on Mac, you need to enable File > New Audio Recording and use the internal built-in microphone or other audio device.
- You can install a plugin so your Mac gets system sound to capture from computer using QuickTime Player without having to use a microphone.
- AppGeeker Screen Recorder comes with audio capture feature to record computer sound playing through inside Mac without capturing outside noises (mic, speakers.)
It becomes easier to record Mac computer audio and export the recording with high quality in your desired format.
From recording a song when hearing a sound clip from a streaming site to capturing audio off the YouTube video, Netflix movies/ shows, more and more users are growing their interest in taking audio capture Mac of internal sound. It's undeniable that recording system sounds internally from computer is important, but finding and using a safe macOS audio recorder so as to get the best out of an audio recording is also crucial.
A variety of audio recording software is accessible online along with guidelines to capture internal computer audio from Mac, and this tutorial gathers the best six apps to make your Mac record the audio that's from an application or website running on your machine, and record through Mac's built-in microphone.
Table of Contents
Please make sure that you're not recording any copyright protected materials. macOS should prevent audio that comes out of some apps from being recorded.
How to record audio with QuickTime on Mac
Apple QuickTime sets itself as one of the best audio recording apps for Mac computers in addition to screen capture, and its recording capability is basically intended to capture from the built-in mic and an external source.
Read Also: How to Record Screen with Audio using QuickTime
The audio record with QuickTime is picking up what you say into the microphone, and re-recording the sound from the built-in speakers plus everything else in the near surroundings, evidently therefore, you will get an audio recording with significantly poor sound quality.
1. Locate QuickTime and open it on your Mac.
2. Click File > New Audio Recording from the menu bar.
Starting by selecting New Audio Recording under File to get Mac to audio capture.
3. To capture audio from your microphone, press downward pointing arrow on the right side of the Record button, and then choose the Internal Microphone.
Check your microphone as the audio source to record from.
4. Hit the Record button to start recording internal audio on your Mac. As soon as the recording begins, play back the media file containing the audio you wish to record.
5. When you're done with your Mac internal audio recording, click Stop button in the menu bar.
6. Play and listen to the audio track you just recorded. When you're pleased with the sound, click File > Save at the top to save the audio file to your Mac.
How to audio capture Mac with internal sound using QuickTime with a plugin
QuickTime Player's Audio Recording route doesn't normally capture the audio from something playing on the Mac, but with Soundflower configured properly, you're able to capture an audio file with the actual computer audio and achieve good sound quality — though there's a slight inconvenience that you won't be able to hear the audio that is being recorded.
First, to allow a Mac to record its own audio output, install Soundflower or other audio drive. If Soundflower cannot be open on your machine due to the unidentified developer, see this page for a practical solution.
Then, make sure System Preferences Sound Output is set to Soundflower. Go to Apple menu, choose Preferences > Sound, then click Output tab and have Soundflower (2ch) selected.
Configure the audio output on your Mac after Soundflower is installed.
Next, open QuickTime Player and click File > New Audio Recording for capturing computer audio. Click the arrow icon next to Record button to expand the recording options, and choose Soundflower (2ch) under Microphone. Finally, press the Record button to kicks off a recording of the system audio.
You'll also need to check Soundflower in QuickTime audio recording option.
If you followed the steps correctly, QuickTime should capture the computer system audio from Mac output and bypass the internal microphone sound. That means any internal sound from a video or music being played on the Mac is captured in the recording.
Tip: The steps of recording audio with QuickTime in Mac also work when you use Shift + Command + 5 on macOS Mojave or higher. Just make sure to select Soundflower (2ch) as the audio source in the recording Options.
How to capture computer audio Mac with Screen & Audio Recorder (without a plugin)
If you would like to streamline the audio capture process and record the internal audio on a Mac without soundflower as well as create best quality possible as a .mp3, .aac, .wav or whatever, then consider AppGeeker Screen Recorder.
Despite its name suggests of video capture with computer screen and audio, the software has greater flexibility to record Mac generated audio without capturing the sounds in your environment, or get whatever (streaming) sound comes out of your Mac and external mic audio input such as a voiceover narration at the same time if users activate the appropriate options.
To audio capture Mac computer, download this macOS internal audio recorder. Once installed, you can just enable your output, then play sound from pretty much any app and record it.
- Run the program and choose Audio Recorder tab on the main screen.
- To get your Mac's audio to be recorded in your audio recording, either coming in from the video, web or other programs, enable the toggle for "System Sound."
- Before recording, click the tiny gear icon to adjust the audio capturing options.
- When you're ready, click the REC button to start recording. As soon as it begins, play the sound material and let the program captures audio from Mac system.
- Once done, click the red Stop button to end the recording, plus stop the media that was playing.
- You will then get a preview window letting you to listen to the audio recording and test out the sound. You can trim it before clicking Save button.
AppGeeker Audio Recorder makes it super easy when it comes to capturing the computer audio on recordings with any Mac. With the functions of "Microphone noise cancellation" and "Microphone enhancement" built in, you'll have luck with a clean audio capture when using a microphone - sound goes out through speakers and into mac and room noises will not be included in your sound recording. Don't Miss: How to Transfer Music from Mac to iPhone
How to capture macOS system audio via Audacity
If cheaper is part of your equation, Audacity should be at your disposal when you have a need recording computer audio with Mac computers. It grants you to use a microphone or mixer to record live streaming audio and digitalize recordings from other media.
Featured with some basic editing tools, you can cut, copy or paste the recorded audio after you complete recording the audio. Unlike other Mac audio recorders, Audacity does not save your recordings to playable audio files; instead, it saves them as projects and you have to export to playable formats using the correct buttons.
Audacity is a Mac computer audio recorder app that can capture any internal audio if Soundflower is set up.
In case you have Audacity installed but it does not seem to capture any sound from the computer, check below how to configure the app for internal sounds record.
1. On your Mac, click Apple Menu > System Preferences > Sound, then choose Output and set the audio source to Soundflower (2ch.)
2. Launch Audacity, click on Audio Setup tab, choose Recording Device option and then opt for Soundflower (2ch) from the list.
Choose the actual audio drive within Audio Setup drop-down.
3. Once you click the red Record button at the recording controls, play the audio inside any app on your Mac to capture internally in the recording.
4. If finished, hit the Stop button and then save the recording back to your Mac by pressing File > Export and choosing Export as MP3 or whatever format you want your recorded audio file be in.
Export your recording as audio file at multiple formats.
How to record Mac's internal audio using OBS
OBS Studio is another capable video and audio recording app for free on your Mac by which to create a video recording. So if you tend to take an internal audio-only recording, you need to resort to an additional app to separate the audio track from the video file.
Since macOS Ventura 13, OBS has introduced macOS desktop audio capture function that makes it simple to create an audio file by recording internal audio from Mac machine without installing and configuring audio drive like Soundflower. It appears that Desktop Audio has been added to Audio Mixer pane, and with a click on Start Recording button, OBS captures your computer audio.
Update Mac to macOS Ventura 13 to allow OBS to record audio without having to install anything else.
If you're recording from the screen of Mac with earlier macOS version, head to System Preferences > Sound, and choose the sound output to Soundflower(2ch). Then in the OBS screen, choose File > Preferences and set the Desktop Audio source to Soundflower (2ch).
An audio driver is required so OBS gains ability to record macOS system audio internally or app audio.
Useful Guide: How to Capture Desktop Audio with OBS in a Windows PC
How to capture internal sound on your Mac via Easy Audio Recorder Lite
Easy Audio Recorder Lite is an easy-to-use audio recording tool available on Mac App Store. You can easily capture numerous recordings of audio on Mac machines, regardless of what audio you want to record - music, podcasts, meeting, and many more kinds of audio coming out of your computer, as well as microphone input. With an intuitive interface, recording audio off Mac is a piece of cake. Here's how.
- Set up Soundflower app in your Mac's Sound Output.
- Set up Soundflower app in Easy Audio Recorder Lite. Click the cog icon to open Settings menu where you can choose Input Device > Soundflower.
- In the same Settings menu, click the option next to "Format" and choose a format for your computer audio recording. Click OK button to apply your changes.
- To get an audio recording to start, hit the red Record button at the bottom.
- When done, click the Stop button to finalize the recording process.
FAQS: Mac Capture Audio
- 1. How can I record internal audio and external audio on Mac?
- QuickTime Player helps recording either internal audio or external audio on Mac after you choose File > New Audio Recording, followed by selecting the configured Soundflower and your microphone from the audio recording options. If you need to record internal audio and external audio on Mac at the same time, try AppGeeker Audio Recorder software, Audacity, and other smart audio recording apps for macOS.
- 2. How can I capture internal audio on Mac with QuickTime?
- To make QuickTime capture system sound/ computer audio from Mac, you need to first set up macOS sound output to Soundflower via Apple menu > System Preferences > Sound, then under Output tab choose Soundflower (2ch.) Next, go through the following steps of recording internal audio using QuickTime in any Mac machine:
- 1. In QuickTime, click File > New Audio Recording.
- 2. Click on the arrow next to Record button and then choose Soundflower (2ch.)
- 3. Hit Record button to start recording and play the media inside any app on Mac.
- 4. When you finish recording, click Stop button.
- 3. Does Mac have an audio recorder built in?
- Yes. QuickTime Player and Voice Memos are two audio recorders come preinstalled with macOS granting you to record your sound without any other additional software. That said, if you plan to record computer's audio of the screen on Mac, you need to use Soundflower app to route system audio to the QuickTime audio capture toolkit, or download some of all-in-one Mac audio recording apps to complete the task of making an audio recording with system sound.
- 4. How do I record internal audio on Mac without Soundflower?
- Soundflower needs to be set up both in your Mac and the free audio recorders like QuickTime Player while recording the computer's sound internally. If you don't want to fiddle with Soundflower setup, consider trying Mac Audio Recorder developed by AppGeeker.
- Recording audio of desktop is dead easy. Once you open software, click Audio Recorder, then activate the "System Sound" for capturing internal sound instead of using Soundflower, then hit the REC button.
- 5. Can I record computer screen and sound on Mac?
- Apple QuickTime Player has the ability to recording the screen and audio at the same time; and to get your voice or other audio to capture in a screen recording, you need to use your microphone and other audio device.
