Author Topic: Sound Recorder freeware - anyone? (Read 29,950 times)

Carol Haynes · « **on:** January 08, 2009, 10:57 AM »

A friends in the languages department of a local school has asked me if I know of any audio recording software as kids are now submitting oral exercises and tests by MP3 on CD and it would be nice to be able to offer them some software to download to make the process easier and more effective.

Anyone got any ideas for a freeware audio recording package?

I know windows comes with a basic utility and many sound cards include some basic stuff.

Anyone know anything a bit better that will allow recording from a mic and perhaps allow some drop-in editing and ideally output MP3 format (and if possible burn recordings to CD).

It doesn't have to be a soundforge (but something like a simplified version of that would be nice ;-)).

PhilB66 · « **Reply #1 on:** January 08, 2009, 11:17 AM »

Streamosaur Maybe and Wavosaur for editing.

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PhilB66 · « **Reply #2 on:** January 08, 2009, 11:45 AM »

Software to record in MP3 format

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #3 on:** January 08, 2009, 12:06 PM »

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Streamosaur Maybe and Wavosaur for editing.

They both look nice - and have the advantage of being completely portable

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Software to record in MP3 format

Thanks - I new I had seen this somewhere.

Having said that I like the fact you can record direct to Wav in Wavosaur - though I am sure some of the other options will do that too.

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #4 on:** January 08, 2009, 12:28 PM »

Given that Wavosaur doesn't have a CD burner - any suggestions for a simple freeware Audio CD Burner - preferably portable.

I have downloaded CDBurnerXP and that works fine but it is a bit complicated and needs to be installed.

tomos · « **Reply #5 on:** January 08, 2009, 12:43 PM »

Quote from: Hirudin on December 04, 2008, 09:01 AM

Also, J River Media Center (god I hate that name) and it's free counterpart, Media Jukebox, (much better name) has really grown on me lately, and since it burns CDs I have a feeling that if I were to ever burn a music CD (as audio or as files) I'd probably just use Media Center. Media Center (not Jukebox) has a "portable install" option, but it hasn't worked for me after multiple tries .

I think Media Jukebox is the perfect "give to mom" program for audio, in fact I just gave it to my mom over thanksgiving weekend...

I used Media Jukebox to make a audio CD compilation lately (dying art that !)
That it was the first time I ever used/worked with mp3's (I mean I've done absolutely nothing to do with music on pc) , I can say it was *easy* to use

re portability see quote

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #6 on:** January 08, 2009, 12:49 PM »

Thanks Tomos - for a media centre approach it is probably just as easy to use Windows Media Player isn't it?

PhilB66 · « **Reply #7 on:** January 08, 2009, 01:35 PM »

Burrrn (to run it portable, install then copy all files but uninstall.exe to any new folder. Uninstall the program)

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Carol Haynes · « **Reply #8 on:** January 08, 2009, 02:07 PM »

Burrrn looks nice and simple but does need installing.

I am looking at InfraRecord Portable - which looks useful.

I was tempted by ImgBurn in potable mode but it is a bit on the geeky side ... though it does give some control on gaps between tracks and CD Text etc.!

40hz · « **Reply #9 on:** January 08, 2009, 02:20 PM »

I'm a fan of Totally Free Burner. It's simple and works extremely well. It can also burn ISOs.

http://dandans.com/TotallyFreeBurner.htm

Here's how to make it portable:

http://www.pendriveapps.com/totally-free-burner-portable-cd-dvd-iso-burner/

It's a tiny bit of a hassle, but once you've done the extraction step, the resulting application folder can just be copied and redistributed. It's only 2.5 mbytes.

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #10 on:** January 08, 2009, 02:33 PM »

TFB and IR look quite similar in what they do.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions - I am discovering all sorts of new freebies today

PhilB66 · « **Reply #11 on:** January 08, 2009, 02:38 PM »

AmoK CD/DVD Burning - Small, portable, feature-rich and supports drag&drop.

40hz · « **Reply #12 on:** January 08, 2009, 02:44 PM »

Quote from: PhilB66 on January 08, 2009, 02:38 PM

AmoK CD/DVD Burning - Small, portable, feature-rich and supports drag&drop.

Wow! Nice find!

Carol Haynes · « **Reply #13 on:** January 08, 2009, 04:31 PM »

Sorry being dense - how do you set what type of disc to write in AmoK - I can't seem to see how you make and AudioCD - it just seems to create a CD-ROM ??

f0dder · « **Reply #14 on:** January 08, 2009, 07:26 PM »

ImgBurn handles all my needs pretty well - and it's not really that geeky, you don't need to mess with options you don't use

Audacity is another freeware (and opensores) wave editing program, iirc it works portably. I'm not a super big fan of it and it seems somewhat slow and clunky, but it gets the job done and is free.

PhilB66 · « **Reply #15 on:** January 08, 2009, 11:35 PM »

Quote from: Carol Haynes on January 08, 2009, 04:31 PM

Sorry being dense - how do you set what type of disc to write in AmoK - I can't seem to see how you make and AudioCD - it just seems to create a CD-ROM ??

There are several plugins on the download page (scroll down for the audio one).

BTW, Dirk Paehl is the author of this software. You can find more burning software on his Website

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Carol Haynes · « **Reply #16 on:** January 09, 2009, 12:38 AM »

Yes I added the two audio plugins to the plugin directory but there still didn't seem to be any way in the main app to create an Audio CD. The only option seemed to be drag and drop and when you did it just created a stanard CD-ROM with whatever files you put there. The website says it should convert MP3 and produce standard Audio CDs but I couldn't see any way to acheive this.

Re. ImgBurn ... I use it all the time for most things but producing an Audio CD is somewhat geeky. First you have to go to the website to find the tutorial how to do it. Then you have to:

Create a CUE file with the music files you want on the CD and set the inter track gaps that you want
Then you burn the CUE file to a CD

This isn't terribly difficult to do but it isn't exactly obvious and trying to explain to someone who wants burning software just to produce Audio CDs seems a bit counterintuitive. Add to that I wanted a standalone and I don't see ImgBurn as an easy option for school kids from a teacher who doesn't know how to run ImgBurn from a command line with command line switches.

PhilB66 · « **Reply #17 on:** January 09, 2009, 03:43 AM »

Here's how

1. Click on "Plugins" button on main interface and then on "AudioBurning"

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PhilB66 · « **Reply #18 on:** January 09, 2009, 06:24 AM »

OK, SilentNight MicroBurner is an easy to use, portable CD burner. It saves settings in the application folder. The program's home page is gone, but you could download the last freeware version from the Portable Freeware Collection Website (http://www.portablefreeware.com/?id=106)

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greivsy · « **Reply #19 on:** January 29, 2009, 11:32 AM »

I have started using Reaper lately & although it's not freeware it's more in the style of what students will be using in the real world. It handles all sound multitrack recording, Midi, VST & more if needed. It has loads of plugins available & Will install on a key drive easily...in fact it has a Start Menu item to automate this for you. The installed Reaper folder on the key drive comes in at 138Mb with 114Mb being tutorial video's...so your students can study at their own pace.
There are options to render the audio from the program which again is very much like a pro set-up (Cuebase, Logic etc) at which point they select the output file as "Audio CD Image" & Reaper will also ask if you want the file burnt straight to CD. Very handy.
Reaper has an evaluation period of 30days after which time they like you to buy a license...but the amazing thing is if you don't buy a license you will keep ALL the functionality of the paid version but only have to read a 6 second reminder every time you boot up. That is VERY reasonable of them. There is a great big PDF as a manual for free download & also a barebones online Wilk.
http://www.reaper.fm/
If you work in a schools the your head Council Tech Guy will have some ideas of programs & they may even have some licensed already or be prepared to buy something. I was witness to a computer teacher go from "knowledgeless" to having a fully operational school radio station in about 3-4 months which the help of someone at her local council (to deal with network issues etc).
I use CD Burner XP as I burn lots of file formats & it's drag & drop & I have set the program so my kid (11) can just click burn & put a Cd in it'll do the rest.
All the best.

ssoundman · « **Reply #20 on:** January 29, 2009, 09:34 PM »

I use Audacity to make pre-recorded radio shows; it meets my needs nicely.

It's available here: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/windows

iphigenie · « **Reply #21 on:** January 29, 2009, 10:07 PM »

I have used both audacity and wavosaur to make myself some simple ringtunes (cut and modify until it loops gracefully) and also once to transfer a tape to mp3. They're not pretty and audacity is a bit on the cryptic side with its menus, but they work

wavosaur is simpler and install free, so it is the one I keep around

ssoundman · « **Reply #22 on:** January 30, 2009, 01:00 AM »

I find Audacity pretty easy to use. Granted, I don't use all the menu options, but I find it easy to find what I need.

I forgot to mention that it also can save as MP3.

The version still in Beta handles MP3 tags better, though.

Tinman57 · « **Reply #23 on:** January 30, 2009, 01:33 AM »

I use iCool player. Not only does it play just about any format, but also converts to other formats, rips & burns cd's. The main reason I got it is because it supports .ogg.
And of course it's completely free, not disabled in any way, and no ads.

cmpm · « **Reply #24 on:** January 30, 2009, 03:13 AM »

these are not portable
but at least they are simple, imo
(especially the mp3 sound recorder)
and all on one web site

http://www.nbxsoft.com/index.php