Last Updated on September 23, 2020 by Robert Jackson
Since QuickTime, the built-in program of macOS only supports to record the external sound from the microphone, lots of Mac users keep complaining about the fact that they cannot record the internal sound on their computers.
To record the internal sound on a Macintosh, QuickTime Player or Voice Memo is no longer helpful. You need to find yourself a perfect Mac audio recorder to record the internal sound on your Mac computer.
You have a couple of applications on your Mac that can capture Soundflower’s audio—QuickTime Player and GarageBand. To configure QuickTime Player choose File - New Audio Recording.
In this tutorial, you can find out 2 methods to record the system sound on a Mac computer. Hopefully, you can have a perfect audio file with the help of the following methods.
Soundflower is a OS X system extension that allows applications to pass audio to other applications. Soundflower is easy to use, it simply presents itself as an audio device, allowing any audio application to send and receive audio with no other support needed. Soundflower is free, open-source, and runs on Mac Intel and PPC computers. Select the Output tab and choose Soundflower (2ch). Now, any sound that would normally come out of your Mac's speakers will be channeled through Soundflower. It's important to remember this: if your Mac makes any sound — not only the audio you're trying to capture but also notifications and alerts — Soundflower will route that as well. Additionally, if you change your Mac's volume, that change will also be captured by the application that's recording Soundflower's audio.
Can I still use QuickTime Player to record the internal sound on Mac?
QuickTime Player is helpful to record the internal sound on your Mac computer with the help of Soundflower – an audio extension that is massively used in Mac computers for audio recording.
How Soundflower works?
QuickTime cannot record the internal sound due to the absence of a recordable audio output device.
With QuickTime installed, users can use it to manually create a virtual audio output device on a Mac computer for internal audio playback. Then, QuickTime can detect this new device and record the sound from it.
In this way, you can use QuickTime to record the internal sound on your Mac.
Use QuickTime Player to record internal sound on Mac with Soundflower?
Step 1 Install Soundflower on your Mac.
- You can click here to download.
Step 2 Set up for the Soundflower output device.
Soundflower For Mac Sierra
- On your Mac, search for ‘Audio MIDI setup‘.
- Then, on the window, click the “+” icon to add an ‘Aggregate Device‘.
- Check the Built-in Microphone and Soundflower (2ch) from the Audio Device tab.
- Next, click the ‘+‘ icon again and create a ‘Multi-Output Device‘.
- Tick ‘Built-in Output‘ and ‘Soundflower(2ch)‘ from the Audio Device Tab.
- Close the window.
Step 3 Record internal sound
- Open QuickTime and click the arrow next to the red Record button.
- Choose ‘Soundflower(2ch)‘ from the drop-down list.
- Click Record to start capturing the internal sound.
Should you use QuickTime along with Soundflower to record internal sound?
From my point of view, to set up Soundflower is not an easy task. You need to locate a lot of items and tick several options. If you miss one or make just one mistake, QuickTime cannot record the internal sound relatively.
Also, QuickTime has quite a few limitations.
Cons of QuickTime audio recording:
- You cannot change the format of the audio file (m4a. only) and trim the audio.
- There’s no shortcut for activating QuickTime audio recording. So when you’re about to record the sound from an online interview or meeting, it could be messed up to ask other participants to wait for a while.
- QuickTime can only record one audio source at a time. So when you’re about to record a meeting or interview, you can only choose to record your own voice or others’ voices.
Now, you might wonder how to record internal audio on Mac without Soundflower and QuickTime. You can try Aiseesoft Mac Screen Recorder.
How to record internal sound on Mac without QuickTime&Soundflower?
As the most advanced video and audio recording software on the market, Aiseesoft Mac Screen Recorder has an incredible performance in recording internal sound on Mac.
- Mac Screen Recorder can record all sounds, internal or external, separately or simultaneously.
- You can use the one-press shortcuts to activate an audio recording.
- A user-friendly interface is offered.
- The format and quality of the output files are adjustable.
- It supports desktop recording, you can use it to record your onscreen movement.
These’re what Mac Screen Recorder can do for you, wanna give it a go? Here’s how you can use it to record internal sound on your Mac.
Step 1 Download Mac Screen Recorder on your Macintosh
Step 2 Choose Audio Recorder
Launch the software, on the interface, choose Audio Recorder to record internal sound. You may go to Preferences to set up the shortcut, format (m4a, mp3, wmv, aac) and quality (low, middle, high, lossless) of output files, etc.
Step 3 Record the internal sound
On Audio Recorder, you need to turn on the System Sound option and turn off the Microphone option. In this way, the software will only capture the sound coming from the system.
Click REC, or press the default hotkey Ctrl + Cmd + S on your clipboard to start recording. A process bar will appear, you can see the time of your audio file, you can pause the recording if there is anything you don’t want to capture.
When you finish your recording, click Stop or press Ctrl + Cmd + S.
Then, you’re available to listen to the audio you just record, you can trim it too.
Soundflower Mac Alternative
Click Save, the audio file will be stored on the Mac.
You can check that out on the Recording history of Aiseesoft Mac Screen Recorder.
To warp up:
Audio Hijack
Now, you know how to record internal audio on your Mac, right? Go and try it yourself. By the way, if you want to record desktop or onscreen activities on your Mac, you can try Aiseesoft Mac Screen Recorder as well.