Recording your microphone

What it does

By default StreamTap records only what your PC plays — on a call, that's the other person, not you. Turn on Also record my microphone and StreamTap captures your microphone alongside the system audio and, unless you ask it not to, mixes both into one file.

The two sources are recorded separately during the session and combined when you press STOP: the microphone track is resampled and channel-matched to the system track, summed, and clamped so the mix doesn't distort.

How to use it

1. Tick Also record my microphone (capture both sides of a call) before pressing RECORD. The toggle locks while recording.
2. Check Mic input, which appears with the toggle. It starts on Default and lists every microphone Windows currently has switched on.
3. A second, purple Microphone meter appears under the System meter. Say something and check that it moves.
4. Record as usual. The finished file contains both sides mixed together.

Setting the level

Mic level moves your microphone up or down against the system audio, by up to 12 dB either way. If your voice comes out buried under the other side of a call, raise it; if you are the loud one, lower it.

The level is applied when the two tracks are combined, not while recording. Nothing changes about what is captured, and nothing changes in Windows — this is StreamTap's own setting, and it affects no other app. You can move it at any point before you press STOP and the recording is mixed at whatever it says when you do.

A boost raises the hiss along with the voice, so 12 dB is the limit. If you need more than that, the microphone level itself is set too low — fix it in Windows Settings → System → Sound → Input and the recording improves rather than just getting louder.

The control greys out when Keep the microphone as a separate file is ticked. There is no mix to balance in that case: each track is written exactly as captured, which is the reason for keeping them apart.

Keeping the two sides apart

Tick Keep the microphone as a separate file and StreamTap writes two files instead of one: the system audio under the usual name, and your microphone beside it with _mic on the end, in the same format.

This is what you want if you plan to edit afterwards. A mix cannot be undone — once the two are summed into one file, no amount of editing separates them again — so if you might want to raise one side, cut a cough out of your own track, or level the two independently, keep them apart now.

The setting is remembered between sessions.

Keeping the microphone on

The toggle is off by default and resets to off each time you start StreamTap, so your mic is never recorded by accident. Which microphone is selected, its level and the separate-file option are all remembered; only the toggle starts off.

If you record your microphone every time, open Settings and tick Remember whether the microphone is on. From then on the toggle stays as you left it: tick it once and StreamTap opens with your microphone on, the input you picked selected, and the purple meter showing. Untick it and it stays off. Either way, nothing is recorded until you press RECORD.

Turning the setting off again goes back to the default, and the toggle starts off at the next launch.

Troubleshooting

• Mic meter never moves → My microphone wasn't recorded
• Your voice is much louder or quieter than the other side → move the Mic level slider and record again, or tick Keep the microphone as a separate file and balance the two afterwards. If even the full 12 dB is not enough, raise the input level in Windows Settings → System → Sound → Input.
• Meter hits red on your voice → your mic input level is too high; lower it in Windows sound settings. Clipping can't be undone after the fact.

Related

• Recording
• Getting started