Best screen recorder for macOS?

[stefanmz]

Hey, so I am wondering, which is the best screen recorder that can record sound directly from the macOS system? So it doesn't record from the microphone, but it records the sound directly from the system, you know if you play a video and screen record it, it will record the sound as well, but it won't record microphone so if you talk over it , that won't be on the recording. So which screen recording should I use? Which is the best one that does that?

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

2 minutes ago, stefanmz said:

Hey, so I am wondering, which is the best screen recorder that can record sound directly from the macOS system? So it doesn't record from the microphone, but it records the sound directly from the system, you know if you play a video and screen record it, it will record the sound as well, but it won't record microphone so if you talk over it , that won't be on the recording. So which screen recording should I use? Which is the best one that does that?

Use QuickTime if you're on pre-Catalina or Screenshot toolbar. It's all built into the OS. 

https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT208721

[Electronics Wizardy]

OBS works well for this.

[stefanmz]

1 minute ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

OBS works well for this.

thanks! I will probably use that

[stefanmz]

3 minutes ago, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

Use QuickTime if you're on pre-Catalina or Screenshot toolbar. It's all built into the OS. 

https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT208721

I am on Monterey and QuickTime does not record system audio, only through microphone and I don't want that. And the screenshot toolbar is basically the thing that pops up when you click new screen recording in QuickTime so it's the same. I don't know what you are talking about I am on Monterey so it's probably different. Please tell me if QuickTime can record system audio but I don't think it can.

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

5 minutes ago, stefanmz said:

What's screenshot toolbar?

 

5 minutes ago, stefanmz said:

I am on Monterey and QuickTime does not record system audio, only through microphone and I don't want that. What's screenshot toolbar?

Oh what macOS doesn't have a built-in Stereo Mix... that's disappointing. You're better off just using OBS like Wizardly stated. 

 

There is a way to get audio with the Screenshot Toolbar, just involves installing a plug in to get that Stereo Mix as recording device and then adding that to the screen capture options. 

https://blogs.reed.edu/ed-tech/recording-your-macs-video-screen-with-audio/

 

[stefanmz]

11 minutes ago, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

 

Oh what macOS doesn't have a built-in Stereo Mix... that's disappointing. You're better off just using OBS like Wizardly stated. 

 

There is a way to get audio with the Screenshot Toolbar, just involves installing a plug in to get that Stereo Mix as recording device and then adding that to the screen capture options. 

https://blogs.reed.edu/ed-tech/recording-your-macs-video-screen-with-audio/

 

Ok awesome! I like loopback audio! I think I am going to use that. Because OBS is too complicated with the quality settings. I don't know how to set it. I need to record video and audio at the absolute same quality as the source, so no compression in the recording, I mean NO COMPRESSION, just lossless. Which option do you think I should use? Quick time records losslessly right? Does QuickTime with loopback audio record audio losslessly as well?

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

2 minutes ago, stefanmz said:

Ok awesome! I like loopback audio! I think I am going to use that. Because OBS is too complicated with the quality settings. I don't know how to set it. I need to record video and audio at the absolute same quality as the source, so no compression in the recording, I mean NO COMPRESSION, just lossless. Which option do you think I should use? Quick time records losslessly right? Does QuickTime with loopback audio record audio losslessly as well?

It'll record at the same resolution as your screen unless you specify an area on screen to record. Can't say if it's absolutely zero compression though.  

[stefanmz]

3 minutes ago, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

It'll record at the same resolution as your screen unless you specify an area on screen to record. Can't say if it's absolutely zero compression though.  

Well I have recorded with quick time and it seems like it or it's unnoticeable. So will the audio recorded with that extension be lossless as well? Because OBS max setting is 320kbps and I don't know what bitrate the audio from the source is, but it might be higher than that, so if it is I want to make sure to not downscale it, or ruin it. So does recording with the loopback audio extension record lossless audio without compression? Or at least you know what I mean, it won't ruin it by making it 320kbps if it's higher.

[stefanmz]

21 minutes ago, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

It'll record at the same resolution as your screen unless you specify an area on screen to record. Can't say if it's absolutely zero compression though.  

Hey, so I noticed loopback says it adds noise to audio passing through its devices after 20 minutes. Does that mean that after 20 minutes my recording will have noise? Because if so I am not using that, because I can't buy it and I want to record more than 20 minutes so if it's like that it's unusable for me. Is it like that? Does it do that?

[DrMacintosh]

1 hour ago, stefanmz said:

Hey, so I am wondering, which is the best screen recorder that can record sound directly from the macOS system?

Some people have recommended OBS, unfortunately OBS cannot record desktop audio natively and you need to use a custom sound driver like BlackHole. 

 

I used this tutorial to configure my sound devices and was able recorded a webinar for work without a problem yesterday. 

 

One bad thing about this route is that in order to control your output volume you must use the Audio Midi Setup App to control your speaker/headphone audio. However, this method is recommended by OBS themselves and it was very stable. 

[stefanmz]

12 minutes ago, DrMacintosh said:

Some people have recommended OBS, unfortunately OBS cannot record desktop audio natively and you need to use a custom sound driver like BlackHole. 

 

I used this tutorial to configure my sound devices and was able recorded a webinar for work without a problem yesterday. 

 

One bad thing about this route is that in order to control your output volume you must use the Audio Midi Setup App to control your speaker/headphone audio. However, this method is recommended by OBS themselves and it was very stable. 

nope actually I can't figure out obs settings I set them for max quality and then I see video blocky like I don't know like it's a low quality stream and when I compare to YouTube it's night and day, so no. Can you give me some option that records natively and losslessly without extra work like QuickTime? But I guess it will have to be  downloaded from somewhere. I need a program like this. Or any free way to record audio natively with QuickTime?

[DrMacintosh]

4 minutes ago, stefanmz said:

nope actually I can't figure out obs settings I set them for max quality and then I see video blocky like I don't know like it's a low quality stream

You need to increase the bitrate of your recording. Also make sure you're using the Apple Hardware Encoder settings in OBS. That video shows you what settings you need, I recommend a bitrate of 8,000kbps. 

[stefanmz]

3 hours ago, DrMacintosh said:

You need to increase the bitrate of your recording. Also make sure you're using the Apple Hardware Encoder settings in OBS. That video shows you what settings you need, I recommend a bitrate of 8,000kbps. 

oh ok

I am using the Apple Hardware encoder but the bitrate was low 

 

[stefanmz]

3 hours ago, DrMacintosh said:

You need to increase the bitrate of your recording. Also make sure you're using the Apple Hardware Encoder settings in OBS. That video shows you what settings you need, I recommend a bitrate of 8,000kbps. 

oh wait I forgot I need a custom sound driver and I don't want to install drivers now, I need another app

[DrMacintosh]

43 minutes ago, stefanmz said:

oh wait I forgot I need a custom sound driver and I don't want to install drivers now, I need another app

There’s no unpaid way to easily record system audio on macOS. That’s just not a feature built into the OS. Install BlackHole and you’ll get the functionality you want. The install process is just running a package and configuring an audio device. The tutorial shows it all. 

[stefanmz]

9 hours ago, DrMacintosh said:

There’s no unpaid way to easily record system audio on macOS. That’s just not a feature built into the OS. Install BlackHole and you’ll get the functionality you want. The install process is just running a package and configuring an audio device. The tutorial shows it all. 

yeah I got it thanks!