What Do _You_ Use To Save Audio? (CD, Linux, sound card)

[quiet walker]

Back in the 70's, I used to save radio programs on 90 minute cassettes, using the "aux out" jacks of a receiver to the input jacks of the tape deck. I haven't thought about doing that for a long time, but now I am interested in doing so again. However, don't want to do cassettes this time - I'd rather have a digital format like mp3. Does anyone here record radio? What do you use?

I'm thinking two different scenarios, either recording from a receiver or recording from the sound card of a pc that is receiving streamed audio. Also, what is the storage size/requirement per time unit of audio.

I have found many ideas on the web but want to hear from some of your tried and true experiences. Thanks!

[Sayantsi]

It depends on the source and the OS you use, but here's a good Windows option - Streamripper - About

You can always check if the program has a free podcast available - maybe it already did the work for you.

[Bo]

I use Audacity: Free Audio Editor and Recorder.

It's available for Windows, Mac and Linux and it's free.

[thecoalman]

Originally Posted by quiet walker

Also, what is the storage size/requirement per time unit of audio.

Depends on the bitrate and length of the audio clip. Lower bitrates produce smaller file sizes but the lower you go the less audio quality you have. So you have to find that happy medium for yourself between quality and file size.

MP3 is compressed and can be many different bitrates, typically 128kbps is used and is more than suitable for most however if you have better audio system or are an audiophile you'll certainly hear the limitations. 320kbps can be used which is supposed to be about equal to CD quality but many purists claim to hear nuances even with that. Best thing to do is encode both and test them out for yourself to see what is suitable for yourself.

128kbps is roughly about 1 MB per minute of audio, 320 is about 3MB per minute.

MP3 is the preferred codec as it is the most compatible across devices, software and different platforms. There are other codecs besides MP3, if for example you wanted to make smaller files I'd suggest using WMA as it works exceptionally well at lower bitrates and will produce better quality files than MP3 at really low bitrates below the 128kbps threshold. If file size is unimportant and/or you want to record at the highest quality possible you can use something like FLAC which is lossless. WAV which is common on windows machines is also lossless but FLAC is compressed so it produces much smaller file footprint.

The trouble with either of these codecs is compatibility especially where devices are concerned.