MacOS Tip: Record your screen with mic + system output whilst being able to hear what you’re recording through headphones
Recording the mic and system audio should be mega easy, especially on a Mac, but it turns out it’s a bit of a ballache. Windows users get to simply open Sound Recorder and hit record — easy! But of course using Windows means they don’t get all the unix flavoured delicious features of a Mac. Swings and roundabouts I suppose.
Anyway, I wanted to do this and couldn’t find any working instructions on how to do this properly, so I guess this shall form my first blog post!
Update 4 March 2022: Soundflower isn’t officially supported anymore, but apparently still works. Thanks to @timo_ernst.
1. Download, install, and run the latest version of Soundflower
Open Terminal on your mac (Press CMD + Spacebar, then type ‘Terminal’) and then type the following:
brew install --cask soundflower soundflowerbedIf you don’t have Homebrew installed, get it here (you won’t regret it!).
Once installed, run Soundflower.
2. Click the Soundflower icon top right and go to ‘Audio setup’
Also in the drop-down menu, ensure both Soundflower (2ch) and Soundflower (64ch) are set to ‘None (OFF)’ as displayed below.
3. Next we’re going to add a virtual device for you to be able to monitor the recording output
Once the dialog comes up, click the + icon bottom left and click ‘Create Multi-Output Device’
4. Then we set-up the output device
Select the Multi-Output device in the device listings.
On the right, click the checkboxes under the ‘Use’ column for ‘Built-in Output’ and ‘Soundflower (2ch)’. Set the Master Device to ‘Soundflower (2ch)’.
Optionally rename the device to something more descriptive by clicking the device name.
Right click the device you just renamed (in this case ‘Mic + System Out’) and select ‘Use This Device For Sound Output’. Right click it again and then select ‘Play Alerts and Sound Effects Through This Device’.
5. Now it’s time to set up a virtual device for the input recording. Woo!
Click the + icon bottom left and click ‘Create Aggregate Device’
6. Next, we set-up our input device
Select the Aggregate Device in the left devices menu.
This time, under the ‘Use’ column, check ‘Built-in Output’, ‘Build-in Microphone’ and ‘Soundflower (2ch)’. Make sure ‘Built-in Microphone’ is selected as the Clock Source.
Right click the ‘Aggregate Device’ and select ‘Use This Device For Sound Input’.
Click the device name to optionally rename it to something more descriptive.
6. Now the juicy bit.
Open Quicktime and go to File -> ‘New Audio Recording’ or ‘New Screen Recording’.
Now for either audio recording or screen recording, click the arrow next to the record button, and select the input device you just created.
Play something on YouTube or Spotify whilst shouting into your mic (make sure it’s not muted!), and you should see the bars move. And you’re ready to record!
7. That’s it.
Of course now you have the right settings, you can fiddle and e.g. have your headset as the input instead of the ‘Built-in Microphone’ — just check the box of the recording device you want within your input device.
Blog form is somewhat ironic given the nature of the article, but I figured it would be quicker. But if you had to do this and you’re finding the article/screenshots format a bit crap, just let me know and I’ll see if I can whip up a quick video tutorial.
Ciao for now.
Note: The mac sound system is a bit ropey, and sometimes the steps above won’t appear to work. Tips for when this happens:
- Ensure soundflower is running — it likes to crash, sometimes silently
- Try going to sound preferences and selecting a different device, then back to the preferred device again.
- Quicktime needs restarting when you fiddle with devices
- Failing this, try restarting your mac
