This is the method I used to record system audio while creating Captivate and other screencasting movies using software that doesn’t provide drivers to capture that audio. By system audio, I’m referring to any sound that isn’t external to the computer. More specifically, it could be a YouTube video I’m trying to capture, or a project from Audacity, or even the playback of a segment from Adobe Connect 8.
- purchase a patch cable (example from Radioshack)
- plug the patch cable in to connect the headphone (out) and mic (in) jacks – I have a docking station that has jacks that I use for this technique; they are visible in the far right-hand side of the image below
- temporarily set the playback or audio out settings to the headphone jack (“Speakers / Headphones” option visible below)
- set/verify that your system will capture audio via the mic jack (“Dock Mic” option visible below)
- record your desktop content
- return the audio out settings to their original output (USB headset in my case) so that you can listen to your newly recorded content
I just leave the cable installed on the dock so that I only have to adjust the output source whenever I want to capture system audio.
Audacity is a great tool for testing out a quick recording. Keep in mind that some of the names for the input/outputs may appear differently.
I did test the audio capture and I didn’t seem to have any sync issues.