SoundTap Is Recording Nothing (dormant, waiting for audio)

[WilliamWilliam]

Firstly, I've just installed the trial version of SoundTap on my Windows machine. I'm eagerly investigating this because it's supposed to be a Windows equivalent to Audio Hijack on the Mac.

The documentation is incredibly minimal, I must say. I know that this isn't super complex software (I don't think), but even simple diagrams would help clarify what to do.

My intention is to record from my Chrome browser. 

I've made my mp3 and target folder settings in the SoundTap Options window.

Problem #1: Although I'm told to select one, I can't find anywhere to select my audio stream (ie. Chrome rather than Zoom, for example). But at the moment, all I care about is my Chrome session.

Problem #2: TheYour First Recording docs tell me to "play a source of audio... You should receive a message in the status window indicating that audio streaming has started." Nothing shows up except "Successfully connected to driver" even though audio is currently playing.

Problem #3: I click Start Recording and I see "Recording mode switched ON. Waiting for an audio stream to record." There already IS audio pouring out of my system. How can I make SoundTap recognize this?

NOTE: I've tried starting Chrome first and then SoundTap, and vice versa. In neither case does SoundTap detect anything.

Thank you!

 

[sandraanderson]

Your information is very much appreciated which can be very useful to us. 

[elk]

In attempt to fix this issue, please try the steps below:

Uninstall SoundTap, then delete 3 folders named "SoundTap" and 1 named "Components" from these locations:
**C:\Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\NCH Software\SoundTap\
**C:\Program Files (x86)\NCH Software\SoundTap\
**C:\Program Files (x86)\NCH Software\Components
**C:\ProgramData\NCH Software\SoundTap\
**If you can't find any of the folders, just continue. 

After that, restart your computer and reinstall the program using this link: https://www.nch.com.au/soundtap/stsetup.exe

Once done, restart your system one more time and open SoundTap.

Click Options > under Devices section, make sure you have selected the correct input device > click OK to save the changes.

Try to record and confirm if it works now.

 

[WilliamWilliam]

Thank you so much, Elk!

[jamietreetalker]

I tried the solution above, but to no avail. Could the disruption be caused by McAfee software? I've tried tweaking it every which way and I tried turning off McAfee features, but nothing seems to help. It also has a wireless control center called Killer from Intel, so I'm looking at those settings as well, but haven't found anything that might interrupt the service.

I'm on a new windows 10 system (Dell XPS 15); it literally just came this month. My old Dell Inspiron (also Windows 10) works great with this software, but I don't want to have to keep it around forever just to be able to use SoundTap. It will die eventually. Also, the SountTap and RecordPad software look really different on my new computer. They don't scale well to the new computer's resolution and the start button is almost miniscule. I have an NVIDIA 1650 Ti video card and my res is 3480x2400. 

[DavidH]

I have same kind issue on a newly purchased Dell Inspiron 3891 as williamWillliam said. I  tried the solution by elk above, but no use.  I believe there is issue with Dell's sound card that does not have a input plug. It seems I have to use a different computer for this software. Hopefully the tech support can confirm with it, and fix the problem.

[WilliamWilliam]

Hi DavidH - I just got a notification about your post...

Actually, the problems continued -- these problems and NUMEROUS other ones -- so problematic that I shot a video to give these guys a tour of what their software does and doesn't do. I never heard anything back, and uninstalled the program. I was on the free trial, so the pain of this could have been much much worse.

What IS annoying is that this was the closest Windows solution that I could find to AudioHijack. And NCH has blown it. Sticking to Mac for tightly controlled audio capture situations.

I'm sorry that I didn't follow up on my original post months ago.

[DannR]

In this case, the best would be to send the information to the Technical Support Team, provided some screenshots and details about the situation, you can contact them here: https://www.nch.com.au/support/supportcontact.html?software=SoundTap&support

[WilliamWilliam]

I already did this. Christian and Emile, I believe.

[huckfinn]

I'm unable to detect audio streams at all.   I tried  different audio sources just in case it was a DRM problem.

Under options, Sound input device can only be set to "[Default Sound In]"    I don't really know what this means, it is nonsensical. 

I have many years of experience working with computers and audio applications.  I should be up to making this app work if it is functional.

I have a new Dell computer, Windows 11.    But the sound  cards are pretty generic.

Perhaps the driver that they refer to in their skeleton documentation is not being loaded.

I've used various NCH programs for many years, always solid quality.   I'm surprised that the failure of this particular program is not acknowledged.

 

 

[Fred28]

There seems to be a bug opened for this with NCH Software, you might want to contact NCH Technical Support to report you have this issue as well and so it can be raised to the developers of the program.

 

You can create a support ticket for them here:  https://www.nch.com.au/support/index.html

[huckfinn]

I tried a different, non-Dell computer.  The app is connecting to the loaded driver but again just sits waiting for an audio stream.

I appreciate your response, Fred28, but this is not a "bug."   The program is dramatically broken and the developers surely are aware of that fact.
NCH should clarify situation for all customers.

If I had to guess, it could be an incompatibility with Windows 11, which is common to my machines.    

[fredzebu]

Have soundtap v5.05 working great on my Asus Win7 notebook.

Bought a new HP desktop with Win11, then bought a new v7.22  soundtap licence yesterday, and have this same problem: "Waiting for an audio stream to record".

Soundtap options: Sound input device is set to Default Sound In (this is the only available option).

I have a Samsung HDMI Monitor as the display for the Win11 computer. Win11 playback device is set to LU28R55 which is the Samsung HDMI monitor and I have the 3.5 mm audio out jack from the monitor connected to an external Kenwood amp and speakers. Playing Youtube and the sound is great, but Soundtap says "Waiting for an audio stream to record".

Question to Developers: How do I fix this? Why is Soundtap not picking up the audio stream? Is this an incompatibility with Soundtap/ Win10/11 and HDMI sound out?

Not happy Jan!

START EDIT: OK. Just did some more reading and tried bluetooth. Paired and connected my Sony MDR ZX770 bluetooth headphones, sound diverted to the headphones and Bingo! Soundtap which had been sitting waiting for the audio stream suddenly started recording!

Developers please fix so that connecting to bluetooth is not necessary.

Edited January 20, 2022 by fredzebu
more info

[huckfinn]

Good detective work, Right Said Fred.

It does sound like a Windows 11 problem.   I think I already experimented with bluetooth on/off.   But I'll try this and more combinations.  Perhaps I will rub my belly and pat my head while listening to audio.

[huckfinn]

I did get it working by connecting to a BlueTooth device.   Sort of an odd work-around, but I'm satisfied to use program this way.  It is doing a good job of capturing streaming CD-quality audio.

Another little fix:  when I try and record a particular song, I can't press START RECORDING until an active stream is detected.  Well, obviously you miss the start of the song.   I found that you can restart the song while recording and that brief pause is not enough for the stream to die.  Easy to edit out the false start later.

 

[NYPaul3480@aol.com]

 As I see it, it seems there is a problem with a few sound cards.  I did not have any issues with Soundtap with windows 10. 

 My friend did. One soluation was to use an " Audio Interface"  the program seemed to work. Sadly no sound from the built in speakers.

 But the program showed it was recording.

 So I told my friend to set up external speakers. He  didn't want to. Could not be bothered with a work around.

 So the bottom line is this: if you have an audio interface and external speakers, you may find a soultion. The sound card via the interface is different from the one installed on a computer. Let me know if that works for you