Processing and saving audio?

[AudioGuru]

Hey!

I want to use one of winamps plug ins to process audio. The problem is I can't locate a button to save the audio that is processed.

How can I save a file that has been processed by winamp DSP?

[Aminifu]

Hi AudioGuru,

You can use a recording app like "Audacity" to record whatever.

[AudioGuru]

True, but then I need a software to get IO routing from Winamp to a DAW too. This sounds like a major pain. After that I still need to stream record the tracks individually instead of just exporting them.

And believe me I do much rather do the whole thing in a DAW, but for some really, really strange reason certain audio plug ins do not exist in the VSTi format.

Is there seriously no way to export the processed tracks? Winamp should add a send to (with dsp) feature.

[DrO]

there are output disk writers, though support for them to work is limited in some cases depending on the input file format being played i.e. if playing some wma files then Winamp will block the 3rd party output plug-in working (and this also applies to the out_disk plug-in which is shipped in Winamp).

-daz

[AudioGuru]

Originally Posted by DrO

there are output disk writers, though support for them to work is limited in some cases depending on the input file format being played i.e. if playing some wma files then Winamp will block the 3rd party output plug-in working (and this also applies to the out_disk plug-in which is shipped in Winamp).

-daz

Ok, so what do you recommend I do for the easiest solution?

I have flacs and mp3s.

[Aminifu]

Hi AudioGuru,

Not sure what you mean by software to get IO routing from Winamp to a DAW.

I like to hear what I'm recording so don't usually use output disk writers. What I do is set the Audacity preferences > devices > recording option to "What U Hear" (from my sound card) from my speakers. I set the playback option to my mobo's sound chip and listen with headphones. Then I can record in stereo whatever Winamp (or whatever player I'm using) is playing separately or as a group. If I do a group recording, I split out the separate tracks later.

Maybe I'm just lucky that my sound card driver supports this kind of routing. If your audio device(s) supports recording and playback at the same time, but only supports line-in and microphone for recording, you can get patch cables from Radio Shack. Then connect your right and left speaker (stereo or front) outputs or stereo headphone output to the stereo line-in or microphone inputs. Choose the best 'output to input levels' match for your system and set the player's output volume low enough to prevent over-driving the input. If needed you can increase the recorded input volume in Audacity.

If you can't or prefer not to use a disk writer, this scheme or something similar may work for you too. Do not make illegal recordings of protected material (copyrighted, etc). Obey the Fair Use law.

[AudioGuru]

Originally Posted by DrO

there are output disk writers, though support for them to work is limited in some cases depending on the input file format being played i.e. if playing some wma files then Winamp will block the 3rd party output plug-in working (and this also applies to the out_disk plug-in which is shipped in Winamp).

-daz

Originally Posted by Aminifu

Hi AudioGuru,

Not sure what you mean by software to get IO routing from Winamp to a DAW.

I like to hear what I'm recording so don't usually use output disk writers. What I do is set the Audacity preferences > devices > recording option to "What U Hear" (from my sound card) from my speakers. I set the playback option to my mobo's sound chip and listen with headphones. Then I can record in stereo whatever Winamp (or whatever player I'm using) is playing separately or as a group. If I do a group recording, I split out the separate tracks later.

Maybe I'm just lucky that my sound card driver supports this kind of routing. If your audio device(s) supports recording and playback at the same time, but only supports line-in and microphone for recording, you can get patch cables from Radio Shack. Then connect your right and left speaker (stereo or front) outputs or stereo headphone output to the stereo line-in or microphone inputs. Choose the best 'output to input levels' match for your system and set the player's output volume low enough to prevent over-driving the input. If needed you can increase the recorded input volume in Audacity.

If you can't or prefer not to use a disk writer, this scheme or something similar may work for you too. Do not make illegal recordings of protected material (copyrighted, etc). Obey the Fair Use law.

Yeah and thats stream ripping.

What I mean is you need a software to connect the output of Winamp to a digital audio workstation. Most audio cards won't do what you mentioned. Of course throwing a cable and connecting it from in to out works as well and that's what I am gonna do. But it's still a pain and introduces some noise an unnecessary AD/DA.

So it seems winamp encourages stream ripping by not having an export button. If someone wants to send their processed MP3s to an ipod they have to stream rip them. Besides that some dsp can really eat your processors.

[Aminifu]

Hi AudioGuru,

I hear you and agree that the extra DA/AD is undesirable when patching, but it's way cheaper than a sound card.

Winamp (at this point) is mostly a player and file manager with some ripping thrown in. Maybe you should add your recording desires to the wishlist for future consideration by the Winamp devs or a 3rd party plug-in dev.

[DrO]

Originally Posted by AudioGuru

So it seems winamp encourages stream ripping by not having an export button. If someone wants to send their processed MP3s to an ipod they have to stream rip them. Besides that some dsp can really eat your processors.

that's not true though i can see why you are saying that. but there are other factors which have pressed on Winamp which mean that a 'record' button just cannot be included as a default option or that the output cannot be directly re-encoded back to mp3, hence why out_disk only allows output to wav.

i'm not saying that it's not possible to knock up a plug-in (i.e. a DSP put at the end of a DSP stack) which then does what you're wanting to do, but i cannot think of anything out there which does that within the unknown confines of the other DSP plug-in(s) you might be using. since all it would need to do is take the audio, pass it to lame_enc (or another encoder) and write the output to file - not a difficult thing to do, but due to most encoding of formats needing licensing to do it 'right', it then becomes a minefield of issues even if it is for personal usage only (especially as different things apply to different countries, etc).

-daz