03-09-2004, 04:00 PM
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Contributing Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 8,228
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Total Recorder Allows You To Take Internet Streams With You
http://www.highcriteria.com
This software doesn't go on your Pocket PC but it does increase the usefulness of your Pocket PC. A few months ago I started recording some streaming broadcasts and saving them as MP3 files. I then used the free Plus! MP3 Audio Converter LE in the Windows Media Player Bonus Pack to convert them to slightly smaller WMA files. The initial .WAV file for a 2 hour program is about 1.2GB. The MP3 file at "CD Quality" was around 35-40MB and the 64KB WMA file was around 26-30MB. Sound quality isn't an issue as this is streamed content anyway. Honestly though I couldn't tell the difference between the WAV file and the final WMA.
Total Recorder 4.4, the latest version, can convert directly to WMA now. It still must save the initial file as a WAV file. It can also convert to the WMA 9 voice output. I tried this with several files and while they were reduced to 16-18MB files and the voice quality was still perfectly acceptable, WMP9 on the Pocket PC couldn't play the file if you manually moved the slider, something you are going to do a lot with long files you may play in a few sittings. I don't know if this is a Pocket PC Windows Media problem or a problem with Total Recorder's output, so I've been leaving it at the 64kpbs WMA output.
It also will record from the mic, line in, CD's and DVD's. It supports the WMA 9 lossless codec as well for perfect quality as well as Ogg Vorbis. All formats have a number of settings you can tweak to get a balance of size and quality.
The Standard Edition is $11.95. The Professional Edition, which adds basic sound editing capabilities, scheduled broadcast captures and a few other goodies is $35.95. There is also a $99.95 Developer Edition. It works on just about all versions of Windows. The install puts a fake sound driver in that intercepts your sound before passing it on to the speakers and it always disables your Windows sounds so your recording isn't interrupted by beeps and whirs you have assigned to system events. I've been using it for a few months and have never had a problem. This is another one of those apps that really enhances the usefulness of your Pocket PC.
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03-09-2004, 04:11 PM
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Neophyte
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 8
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Just what I have been looking for thanks for pointing this one out!
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03-09-2004, 05:04 PM
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Thinker
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 357
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What kind of streaming audio does it record? Real Media? Windows Media? Quicktime? All of the above? The website doesn't seem to be clear on this either.
Does it simply record the audio output going to the speakers?
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03-09-2004, 05:11 PM
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Neophyte
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 8
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Haven't had chance to try it out fully yet, but I have just installed it and it seems to record any audio output going to the speakers
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03-09-2004, 05:17 PM
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Contributing Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 8,228
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Adamz
What kind of streaming audio does it record? Real Media? Windows Media? Quicktime? All of the above? The website doesn't seem to be clear on this either.
Does it simply record the audio output going to the speakers?
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Any audio. It intercepts whatever is headed to your speakers. That is why it has to temporarily disable all system sounds.
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03-09-2004, 05:30 PM
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Neophyte
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 9
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In addition to recording what comes out of your speakers (they call it "Sound board" capture), TotalRecorder can do a "software" capture to download the bitstream instead of the audiostream. The advantage of "software" capture is that you can accelerate the download. I've used it succesfully to with Microsoft and RealMedia. I never tried it for Quicktime.
I have some other issues with Quicktime/iTunes. I'd be interested to know if anyone gets it to work with Quicktime/iTunes.
It is a great program.
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03-09-2004, 05:38 PM
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Neophyte
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 8
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I've recently been playing with Replay Radio (available at Handango) to capture audio streams. It has somewhat less sophisticated output controls than Total Recorder appears to have, but it is aimed more at recording scheduled streams at a particular time. I use it to record two or three programs a week to MP3 for listening on my PPC or iPod. They also offer a PPC player with a "commercial skip" feature, although I've not tried it.
- Chuck
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03-09-2004, 05:54 PM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 113
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great app
Great app. I've used it to record company wide online webcasts when i'm not able to listen/view during the live broadcasts periods.
Also great for recording those microsoft developer webcasts.
Although I use Sync N Go app in the windows xp digital plus edition. It works great for taking your online radio talk shows with you on your ppc. But its limited to content provided by microsoft media partners.
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03-09-2004, 06:43 PM
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Pupil
Join Date: May 2002
Posts: 27
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For capturing windows media streams, try asfrecorder. It doesn't let you change bitrate, but most streams are low bitrate anyway. It'll even grab video as well as audio. Best of all - it's free.
http://sourceforge.net/projects/asfrecorder/
Ian G
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03-09-2004, 09:44 PM
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Philosopher
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 541
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Yea, this program I've found isn't the one that you leave alone and do it's thing, you'll want ReplayRadio or something like that. TR has come in handy many occasions though, especially with gaming.
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Linear Mode
