Why there is no Stereo Mix, Mono Mix or Wave Out Mix options on my Windows Vista?

Last Update: Apr 12, 2011

ACA Screen Recorder is a windows screen recording software, it supports for recording video and audio both to an AVI movie file. If you are using Windows 7 or Windows Vista, the Device list on ACA Screen Recorder shows a list of physical and logical devices on the sound card. This list is provided by the OS and audio driver. Most of the time, you should only care about the following options(Note, different audio driver may give different names):

• Microphone/Mic - The audio will be captured from the microphone port
  
• Line-in/Line In - The audio will be captured from the Line-in port
  
• Stereo Mix/Mono Mix/WAVE Out - The audio will be captured from the sound card's speakers port
  

If you want record the audio from internet or media player such as Windows Media Player, YouTube video or others, you should select Stereo Mix, Mono Mix or Wave Out Mix.

However, there is no Stereo Mix, Mono Mix or Wave Out Mix in some Windows 7 or Windows Vista computers. How to fix this problem?

Enable all recording devices in your Windows Vista

Windows 7 and Windows Vista disables some devices of the less frequently used, when you are using Windows 7 or Windows Vista, there may only show 2~3 devices. To show all recording devices on ACA Screen Recorder Device list, please follow the steps below:

1. Launch ACA Screen Recorder. If you have not installed, please click here to free download and install it.
2. Click Audio Device tab on ACA Screen Recorder, and then check Record audio option.
3. Click Volume Control button. it will open Windows Sound dialog.
4. Right click the recording device on the Recording tab, and then check Show Disabled Device and Show Disconnected Devices.
5. Right click the disabled device, and then click the Enable menu item, as it is shown in the figure:



6. Click the OK Button.
7. Close ACA Screen Recorder, and then relaunch it.

Reference:

• YouTube Video: How to enable Stereo Mix in Vista and set devices

Stereo Mix Record Functionality in Windows Vista and Windows 7

If you still can't find Stereo Mix, Mono Mix or Wave Out Mix feature with above solution, it means that your sound driver doesn't support this feature in Windows 7 or Windows Vista. You should contact the manufacturer of your sound card.

Reference:

• Dell.com: Stereo Mix Record Functionality and Dell
• CNet Forum: Windows Vista: No Stereo mix (Yes I've Checked Disabled Devices)
• Microsoft MSDN: There is no "Stereo-mix" in HD Audio on Windows Vista

See Also:

• How to record audio when ACA Screen Recorder is captureing video
• How to record streaming audio from internet or other media player with ACA Screen Recorder?
• How to make demo movie from screen and publish to Youtube?
• Which video compressor shall I select?