[Arlen Holder]

Tutorial using Audacity 2.4.2 to record web browser streaming audio to MP3

As always, please improve so all benefit from every action.
Note: Use whatever filespecs you prefer - below are simply filespecs I used.

Note: Tested only on Windows 10 version 2004 (OS Build 19041.572).
o My computer has no microphone but has realtek drivers for "stereo mix".

1. Download & install Audacity 2.4.2 to your Windows 10 computer:
https://sourceforge.net/projects/audacity/
https://www.audacityteam.org/
https://www.audacityteam.org/download/
https://www.audacityteam.org/download/windows/
https://www.fosshub.com/Audacity.html
https://download.fosshub.com/gibberish/audacity-2.4.2.zip
Save to X:\archive\editor\audio\audacity\audacity-2.4.2.zip
Name: audacity-2.4.2.zip
Size: 11713880 bytes (11 MiB)
SHA256: 0C14F7C6850C93B9DACC14FE66876B8DC3397D92DBD8498987 83A21BAD1FFF55
Extract to c:\app\editor\audio\audacity\.
Name: audacity.exe
Size: 12676096 bytes (12 MiB)
SHA256: 02239A8C897496BA9F03AC967AF2CA5A03221BE83D8E733909 7EDBFFC2B96E37
Compare hash with that on the web site:
https://www.audacityteam.org/download/online-safety-when-downloading/#validate
Create a Taskbar-toolbar menu shortcut:
FILESPEC c:\menu\editor\audio\audacity.lnk
TARGET C:\app\editor\audio\audacity\audacity.exe
STARTIN %appdata%\0 (which doesn't exist)
COMMENT Audacity
Test the taskbar toolbar menu:
Taskbar menu editor audio audacity
(That should bring up Audacity.)

2. Check that "microphone" access to your apps and desktop apps is set correctly:
Win+R ms-settingsrivacy-microphone
Allow apps to access your microphone = On
Allow desktop apps to access your microphone = On
Note: Make sure Audacity is in the list below that second setting above.
Note: I don't even have a microphone; but you need to have this access.
Otherwise you may get this Audacity error (which I got myself):
Error opening recording device.
Error code: -9999 Unanticipated host error.

Note: Some articles claim Microsoft recently added this "feature", and
at the same time Microsoft set the default to "Off"; so check it yourself.

3. Check your current audio driver version:
Win+R devmgmt.msc
Sound video & game controllers (find your audio driver)
Mine is pretty common: "Realtek High Definition Audio"
Doubleclick it and select the "Driver" tab & note the version.
Mine was Driver Version 6.0.8978.1, dated 6/23/2020 but yours may differ.

Note: You may have to use either a newer or older audio driver in order
to find one that allows "Stereo Mix", which is defined as follows:
"Stereo Mix allows you to record exactly what was being output to your
speakers, without going through any analog/digital conversion."
https://mediarealm.com.au/articles/stereo-mix-setup-windows-10/

Bearing in mind some Windows audio drivers have removed this feature, see also:
Tutorial: How to update a driver that Windows just doesn't want to update
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/alt.comp.microsoft.windows/a23fY9CM6rY

4. Enable "Stereo Mix" in that Windows 10 audio driver:
Win+R mmsys.cpl Recording (right click in blank space)
Choose "Show Disabled Devices" if necessary.
Enable "Stereo Mix" if not already enabled.

Note: If "Stereo Mix" is not an option, you may need newer or older drivers.
https://www.realtek.com/en/component/zoo/category/pc-audio-codecs-high-definition-audio-codecs-software

See also:
Tutorial: How to update a driver that Windows just doesn't want to update
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/alt.comp.microsoft.windows/a23fY9CM6rY

See also:
How to Record the Sound Coming From Your PC (Even Without Stereo Mix)
https://www.howtogeek.com/217348/how-to-record-the-sound-coming-from-your-pc-even-without-stereo-mix/

Note: This article says some onboard sounds cards don't have "Stereo Mix" support.
https://mediarealm.com.au/articles/stereo-mix-setup-windows-10/
If anyone knows a command to _test_ that to be the case, please post that test here!
Note: That article claims "WASAPI" may replace the lack of "Stereo Mix" in those cases.
o MME === Microsoft Multimedia Environment
o WASAPI === Windows Audio Session API
o WDM === Windows Driver Model
o ASIO === Audio Streaming Input / Output
o DirectSound === Direct Sound

If you can't get "Stereo Mix" to work on your PC, see also the "Jack" freeware workaround:
o JACK https://jackaudio.org/downloads/
https://jackaudio.org/faq/
https://jackaudio.org/faq/jack_on_windows.html

5. Set Audacity 2.4.2 preferences to use "Stereo Mix"
Taskbar menu editor audio audacity
Audacity:Edit Preferences Devices Recording == Stereo Mix

Note: Other options may vary depending on your specific system.
Mine we
Host: [MME]
Recording: [Stereo Mix (Realtek High Definiti...)]
Channels: [2 (Stereo)]

6. You may need a physical 1/8th-inch male plug in your green line-out:

Note: Some motherboards may not have an onboard line out jack; mine does.
Note: In my case, the other end of that connection can go nowhere
(i.e., all I need is a physical plug and nothing else in that jack,
although it's more usable if the other end goes to headphones or to
powered speakers so that I can hear the results at the same times as
I record them).

7. Stream audio, capture it, and save it to an MP3 file.
All you need is for audio to be streaming through your browser.
How or what you stream doesn't matter, where these are simply options.
https://hypem.com/latest == I suggest this as it requires no login

Other choices for test music might be, for example:
https://music.cliggo.com/
https://www.accuradio.com/
https://www.jango.com/
https://streamsquid.com/
https://www.soundzabound.com/
Based on this one review:
The 8 Best Free Online Music Streaming Services With No Limitations
https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/7-online-music-streaming-services-restrictions

To begin recording the streaming audio that is currently playing:
Audacity:Transport Recording Record
Note: If you don't immediately see blue waveforms corresponding to the
audio that you can hear, then there's likely a problem with setup.

To pause recording:
Audacity:Transport Recording Pause

To save that recording:
Audacity:File Export Export as MP3 fname.mp3

Note: Audacity no longer needs you to download LAME or FFMPEG separately.
(The conversion to MP3 is already part of the latest Audacity download.)

Note you can stream using YouTube but if you want YouTube audio,
it's likely far better to simply use the youtube-dl.exe Windows binary,
although it's a bit of a pita to set up properly, IMHO:
For example, to save a YouTube audio as an M4A file, you run:
youtube-dl.exe -f 140 https://youtu.be/HotLmqYFKKg

See also:
Tutorial for how to watch any Youtube video without ever seeing an advertisement
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/alt.comp.freeware/HPpxopbOrUY

8. Test the resulting MP3 recording:

Doubleclick on the MP3 file you created to play it.
If you need an audio player, lots of people on Windows use VLC or MPC-BE.

VLC https://www.videolan.org/vlc/index.html
https://get.videolan.org/vlc/3.0.11/win64/vlc-3.0.11-win64.exe
MPC-BE https://sourceforge.net/projects/mpcbe/files/latest/download
https://netactuate.dl.sourceforge.net/project/mpcbe/MPC-BE/Release%20builds/1.5.5/MPC-BE.1.5.5.5433.x64-installer.zip

As always, please improve as this was tested only once on only one system.
Particularly test this on newer Windows versions & with other audio hardware.
Specifically, my RealTek drivers are reported by Dumo freeware as:
o Realtek High Definition Audio Realtek 6.0.8978.1, available 6.0.9018.1
o Realtek PCIe GbE Family Controller, Realtek 10.43.723.2020, available 10.45.928.2020
o Realtek USB 2.0 Card Reader, Realtek, 10.0.19041.31262, available 10.0.19041.31263

As shown in this Dumo freeware screenshot taken just now:
o https://i.postimg.cc/Y00X4TFS/audacity02.jpg

REFERENCES:
https://manual.audacityteam.org/man/tutorial_recording_computer_playback_on_windows.ht ml
https://audacityguide.com/audacity-records-computer-audio
https://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch001137.htm
https://www.aimersoft.com/record-music/audacity-youtube.html
https://www.labnol.org/software/record-streaming-audio/5000/
https://davescomputertips.com/how-to-record-internet-audio-with-audacity/
https://mediarealm.com.au/articles/stereo-mix-setup-windows-10/
https://winbuzzer.com/2020/04/25/how-to-record-windows-system-audio-with-stereo-mix-xcxwbt/
https://www.howtogeek.com/howto/39532/how-to-enable-stereo-mix-in-windows-7-to-record-audio/
--
See also:
o Typical first pass tutorial process on Windows 10 where NONE of the extent how to articles actually tell you what you really need to do!
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/alt.comp.microsoft.windows/fXrtth_A1xg