How to Record System Audio and a Microphone Together with Stereo Mix

Stereo Mix is a recording input that some Windows audio drivers provide. It captures whatever plays through its matching output device. On its own it does not include your microphone. To get system audio and your voice in one recording, you can route the microphone into the playback stream, or you can use an app that records two capture sources at once. This guide covers both methods on Windows 10 and Windows 11.

Before you start

• A Windows PC whose audio driver exposes Stereo Mix. This is a driver feature, commonly found on onboard Realtek audio. Many USB headsets, Bluetooth devices and some laptops do not offer it.
• Speakers or headphones connected to the same audio device that provides Stereo Mix. Stereo Mix only captures the output device it belongs to, so audio sent to a separate USB or Bluetooth headset will not appear in it.
• A recording app that lets you choose the input device, such as Sound Recorder, Audacity or OBS Studio.
• Headphones if possible, so the microphone does not pick up sound from the speakers.

The audio routing happens locally. Stereo Mix and the Windows sound settings work inside your PC and do not need an online service. Your recording app decides where the file is saved and whether anything is uploaded, so check its own settings. Windows treats Stereo Mix as a recording device, so the microphone privacy setting applies to it. Make sure that setting allows your app: on Windows 11 it is under Settings > Privacy & security > Microphone, and on Windows 10 it is under Settings > Privacy > Microphone. If you record a call or other people, get their consent and follow the rules that apply where you live.

Step-by-step instructions

Enable Stereo Mix

• Open the classic Sound control panel. On Windows 11, go to Settings > System > Sound > More sound settings. On Windows 10, go to Settings > System > Sound and choose Sound Control Panel. On either version you can also press Win+R, type mmsys.cpl and press Enter.
• On the Playback tab, check that the speakers or headphones you will listen through are set as the Default Device.
• Switch to the Recording tab. If Stereo Mix is not listed, right-click an empty area and select Show Disabled Devices.
• Right-click Stereo Mix and choose Enable.

Option A: route the microphone into Stereo Mix

Use this method when your recording app accepts only one input device. Windows plays your microphone back through the output device, and Stereo Mix captures it together with the rest of the system audio.

• On the Recording tab, right-click your microphone and choose Properties.
• Open the Listen tab and tick Listen to this device. Under Playback through this device, pick the output that Stereo Mix belongs to.
• Click Apply. You will now hear your own voice in your headphones or speakers.
• In your recording app, select Stereo Mix as the input device and start recording.

The trade-off is that you hear yourself with a slight delay. With speakers, the microphone can also pick up its own playback and cause echo or feedback. To undo the change, untick Listen to this device.

Option B: record Stereo Mix and the microphone as separate sources

Some apps can mix several capture sources, OBS Studio for example. In these apps, add Stereo Mix and the microphone as two separate inputs and set each level in the app's mixer. Leave Listen to this device turned off, or your voice will be recorded twice. If the app has its own desktop audio capture, use either that or Stereo Mix, not both, or the system audio will be doubled. This method avoids the monitoring delay and lets you balance voice and system audio separately.

Adjust levels and sample rate

Open Stereo Mix Properties, go to the Levels tab and choose a level that leaves some headroom. Do the same for the microphone. On some drivers the Windows volume also changes how loud system audio is in the recording, so keep it fixed while you record. The Advanced tab of each device shows its default sample rate and bit depth. Setting the microphone, Stereo Mix and the output device to the same sample rate, and matching your app's project rate to it, can prevent resampling problems.

Check the output

• Record a short test while playing some audio and speaking at the same time.
• Play the file back and confirm that both your voice and the system audio are present.
• Check the balance. Your voice should be clearly audible over the system sound. If it is not, adjust the input level of the microphone or Stereo Mix, or use the app's mixer.
• Listen for a doubled voice, echo, clipping, crackles, or drift between your voice and the system audio.
• If you are recording video, check that the audio stays in sync across the whole clip, not just the first few seconds.

Stereo Mix captures the mixed output at the format set in its Advanced tab, so the recording cannot exceed that quality. Every system sound ends up in the file, including notifications, so silence them before recording. You choose the recording format, encoding and bitrate in your recording app. A lossless format such as WAV keeps the capture unchanged, while compressed formats such as MP3 or AAC reduce file size at some cost to quality. Option A puts voice and system audio on one track, so you cannot rebalance them later. With Option B, some apps can save the sources as separate tracks, depending on their settings.

Common problems and next steps

Stereo Mix is missing

First, make sure Show Disabled Devices is turned on in the Recording tab. If Stereo Mix still does not appear, your current driver does not provide it. The manufacturer's audio driver sometimes includes it where the generic Windows driver does not, but this is not guaranteed. If you cannot get Stereo Mix, use an app with Windows loopback capture instead, such as the loopback devices under Audacity's Windows WASAPI host or the desktop audio source in OBS Studio. A virtual audio cable driver is another option.

The recording is silent or has no system audio

Check that the default output device is the one Stereo Mix belongs to and that the app playing the sound uses that output. Make sure Stereo Mix is enabled and its level is not muted or at zero. Also confirm that the Windows microphone privacy setting allows your recording app.

Your voice is missing from the recording

With Option A, check that Listen to this device is ticked and that playback is set to the same output Stereo Mix captures. With Option B, check that the microphone source is added in the app and not muted.

Echo, doubled voice or feedback

Use headphones so the microphone cannot hear the speakers. Do not combine Listen to this device with a separate microphone source in the same app. If your voice sounds delayed against itself, switch to Option B.

Background noise, a quiet voice or distortion

If your voice is too quiet, lower the Stereo Mix level before raising the microphone, and move the microphone closer instead of adding a lot of boost. Boost and Listen to this device also amplify background noise, so use noise suppression in your driver or recording app if it offers it. For crackling or harsh distortion, lower the input levels to avoid clipping, check that the sample rates match, and try turning off audio enhancements on the device if they are available.