Windows 10: Stereo Mix won't record what's playing on my headphones (connected to front panel).

Firstly, as most people say, I am not using a USB headphone. It's 3.5 MM audio jack headphone with a separate jack for mic. If I remember correctly, then stereo mix did used to work a few weeks ago with this headphone but no more. It can easily record what's being played on my speakers, tho. Any help will be appreciated.​

:)

 

How do I enable Stereo Mix when my headphones are plugged it?


I do not use USB headphones. My headphones are plugged into the stereo audio jack in my laptop. My laptop is a Dell, and it is running Windows 10.

Usually using Stereo Mix (which appears as an entry in the "recording" tab in the Windows audio control panel), I'm able to have sound recording software monitor and record the output to the speakers. This is useful when running software that produces sound, but has no feature to save the sound to a file. Stereo Mix allows me to run separate software to record the sound, as it plays from the first piece of software, so I can save the sound to a WAV file.

Unfortunately. This seems to only work when my headphones aren't plugged in. As soon as I plug in headphones, Stereo Mix stops recording the audio signal coming out of the speakers. How does Stereo Mix work? Does it work digitally to record the data being sent to the audio hardware? Or is it actually an analog-to-digital-converter that measures the analog voltage being sent to the speakers? Is Stereo Mix simply incapable of measuring the analog signal that goes to the headphones, because headphones use different wires to carry the signal than is used by the internal speaker (thus preventing Stereo Mix from being able to even see the signal)?

If it's not a problem with diffferent wires being used in the hardware for the headphones, then it must be a problem with how the sound drivers are programmed, as if it's not a hardware defect, then it should be able to record the digital data being sent to the audio hardware (regardless of whether the final destination of the signal is the headphones or the internal speakers).

I hope somebody can solve this, and recommend a way to enable Stereo Mix to be used, even when the headphones are plugged in.

 

Windows 10 stereo mix works with analog speakers but not with Microsoft headphone

I have windows 10. I want to record speaker output . When I set up stereo mix and set it as the default device it will record if the analog speakers are the default speaker. But if my default speakers are "Microsoft LiveChat LX-3000" then nothing that
is played to the headphones go to the recording problem.

 

Windows 10 Stereo Mix

Hi Nicholas,

Thank you for posting your query in Microsoft Community.

Sorry for the inconvenience caused.

I suggest you to follow the methods below and check if it helps:

Method 1:

Try the following steps to enable the stereo mix and check if that help.



a) Right click on the audio icon in your system tray and select “Recording Devices” to open the Recording device settings in the “Sound” window.



b) In the pane, right-click on a blank area, and make sure both “View Disabled Devices” and “View Disconnected Devices” options are checked. You should be able to see the “Stereo Mix” option appearing.



c) Right-click on “Stereo Mix” and click “Enable” to be able to use it.



This should enable the “Stereo Mix” on Windows



Method 2:

If the issue persists then I suggest you to uninstall and reinstall the sounds card driver and check if it helps.

• 
  Right Click on Start, Select Device Manager.
  
• 
  Find and double-click the category of device whose driver you wish to uninstall.
  
• 
  Right-click the device, and click Uninstall.
  
• 
  Windows will prompt you to confirm the device’s removal. Click
  OK to remove the driver.
  
• 
  After the uninstallation is complete, reboot your computer as soon as possible
  

Hope the above information helps. Reply with necessary information and the result to help you further. Thank you.