Saving as MP3 format

If you want to save your recording in MP3 format, you must have a LAME MP3 encoder installed on your computer. (liteRecorder doesn't come with the MP3 encoder). liteRecorder recommends LAME MPEG Audio Layer III (MP3) encoder.

LAME is world’s most used open-source MP3 encoding engine and it’s freeware.

If you haven’t installed LAME, please download it from the following link:

Download 1 (Free-Codecs.com) - LAME MP3 Encoder 3.98.2

Download 2 (RareWares) - LAME 3.98.2 release

Download and open the zip file to extract the lame_enc.dll file. Copy this file into the folder where liteRecorder is installed. (C:\Program Files\innoheim\liteRecorder)

As of October 2008, LAME 3.98.2 is the most current version. If you would like to have more information about LAME, please visit The LAME Project page.

You will see that you now have MP3 option is enabled.

Welcome to liteRecorder Tutorial!

This is a quick guide to get you started. You can download the full manual.

During the installation, after you have agreed to the terms of the license agreement, enter your name and select an installation location, you will see the installation process as a graph filling up. Before the installation is complete, you will see an Audio Setting Wizard as shown below.    

This wizard will help you select and configure audio devices on your computer for sound recording. It is recommended that you run this Wizard now, but you can change the settings any time after installation. If you want to set it later, please click the Cancel button.
Please read the “Before running Wizard” section before clicking the Next button.
-Close all programs that are using an audio or video device before proceeding.
-Make sure your speakers are properly connected to your computer and that the volume is on.
Click the Next button to continue.

Next you will see the Device setting screen as shown below.    

Upon clicking the Auto Detect button, this Wizard will detect your sound card. You will hear a static sound for 5 -20 seconds.

You will see a screen pop up (shown below). This will tell you that liteRecorder has successfully detected the audio device on your computer and will be automatically configured for recording.
You may see different device names depending on your sound card. Please click OK to continue.    

If your sound device was successfully detected, click the Record&Play button to test the selected device. You will hear 5-10 seconds of music and this window will appear:    

If you click the OK button in this dialog box, you will hear the recorded sound of the previously played music. If the sound is too loud or too quiet, slide the Volume bar to adjust the volume to the desired level. After adjusting, click the Record&Play button again and repeat the procedure.

If you couldn’t hear the recorded sound or failed to detect a sound device, click the Change button to manually select and configure your sound device.  

You will see the Audio Options dialog box shown below:    

From this dialog box, you can select a device to record the sound coming from your computer such as sounds from movies, instant messaging or songs playing on your computer.
When you click the “Play” button, you will hear a sample sound. Select devices one at a time from the Devices box. When the proper device is selected you will see sound waves moving in the Show Wave box , this means that this device is the one you can use to record sound.  Adjust the Volume for the device using the volume slider and click the OK button.

Click Next to save these settings and close the Audio Setting Wizard.    

As soon as you click the Finish button from the Audio Setting Wizard, you will see this Microphone setup dialog box. It is recommended that you select the device now, but you can change the setting any time after installation by clicking the Options button from the liteRecorder main screen.


Microphone Setup    

You need to check the following before running the Microphone setup like we did in the Audio Setting Wizard.
-Close all programs that are using an audio or video device before proceeding.
-Make sure your microphone and speakers are properly connected to your computer and that the volume is on.

You can start speaking into the microphone. When the proper device is selected you will see sound waves moving in the Show Wave box , this means that this device the proper device for recording. If you have found the device, click the Change button to save the setting.

You may see waves from more than one sound device, depending on your sound card. We recommend you choose the device with the largest waves. Generally, device names starting with “Mic” or “Microphone” are the best recording devices.

If you are installing on a Windows Vista machine, you will see the following dialog box:    

You can choose devices from the list here. You won’t see the wave to help you choose the device if you are using Windows Vista. However, the recording device for microphone recording will most likely start with “Mic” or “Microphone”. Click OK to finish. You may see different device names depending on your sound card. This picture was taken on a computer using a Realtek Sound Card.

You will be able to set options for microphone recording by clicking Microphone in the left panel and clicking the Options button in the Audio Settings box at any time. Alternately, you can open this setting by selecting Microphone Options from the Tools menu.

Recording

If you have finished the recording settings in the previous chapter, we will record in this chapter. Recording is very straightforward.

There are three different recording modes in liteRecorder, they are: Computer Sound Recording, Microphone Recording and Custom Recording. In this chapter, we will record sound from a movie playing on your computer.


As you can see, there are three recording modes in the left panel. We will not change any settings since Computer Sound is selected as default.

Next thing we want to do is set 「Audio Setting」 and 「File Types」

「Audio Setting」determines the quality of the recorded sound. We recommend that the default be (Stereo, 16 bits and 44KHz) but you can change it to Mono if you do not require stereo sound. We recommend 44 KHz or higher for recording sound from music or movies, but you can use 22KHz if you are recording online lectures or any other audio which does not require high quality audio.

There are four different「File Types」supported in liteRecorder.

- WAV file : This is the main format used in Windows System for raw audio -Wikipedia- This format has superior sound quality when compared to MP3 or WMA, but file sizes can be 10 times larger than MP3 and WMA formats.

- MP3 file : It uses a lossy compression algorithm that is designed to greatly reduce the amount of data required to represent the audio recording, yet still sounds like a faithful reproduction of the original uncompressed audio to most listeners -Wikipedia - This is the most common file format for music. It can be directly played on most portable digital music players.

- WMA file : It is an audio data compression technology developed by Microsoft. The name can be used to refer to its audio file format or its audio codecs. It is a proprietary technology which forms part of the Windows Media framework -Wikipedia- Can be directly played on some portable digital music players.

- OGG file : Ogg is an open standard for a free container format for digital multimedia, unrestricted by software patents and designed for efficient streaming and manipulation. Ogg is maintained by the Xiph.Org Foundation.-Wikipedia- This format has competitive sound quality as MP3 and WMA. Since this format is not popular yet, you will need a separate audio player to play this file.

You can choose file formats of your choice. In this lesson, we will record and save as an MP3 format. If you haven’t installed an MP3 encoder, you won’t be able to select MP3 files in the File Types menu. An MP3 encoder does not come with liteRecorder, and you can find out more about the encoder from the innoheim website. Please visit www.innoheim.com

If you have selected 「Audio Setting」and 「File Types」, you can open a media player or web browser which you want to record audio from. We are going to use the Youtube website as an example.

As soon as the video starts, click the Pause button so you do not lose the first few seconds of the audio. Go back to the liteRecorder screen and click the Record button at the bottom of the liteRecorder window. You can also click the Record button on Toolbar.

You will see this Save As window where you can enter the name of the recorded file:

Once you have entered the name of the file, click the Open button. You will see the following dialog box appear (see below). The recording starts when you click the OK button. You can click the OK button and play the YouTube video.

Click the Stop button on liteRecorder when you want to stop the recording. You can also click the stop button from the Toolbar.
You will see this dialog box indicating the recording is completed.

If you click the Play button on liteRecorder, the recorded file will be played on the media player which you have set as a default application to play the recorded file format. This picture below shows the recorded file is being played with Windows Media Player.
OGG files will not play on Windows Media Player, and you will need to install a media player which can play the OGG format.
Timer Recording

If you are recording a long movie and you don’t want to wait, you can use the Timer Recording option. This Timer Recording option will allow you set a timer which automatically stops recording when the timer expires.
Check “Timer Recording” box to enable the timer recording option.

You will see this Timer recording dialog box:

Click OK to close this dialog box and choose one of the two timer recording options. “Set by Start / Stop time” or “Set by Stop timer only”. If you have selected the first option “Set by Start / Stop time”, enter the time in minutes. You will also need to enter the stop time. If you want the recording to be begin at 2:30 and stop after 5 minutes of recording, enter 2:30 in Start time box and 2:35 in Stop time box. If you have selected “Set by Stop timer only”, you can enter the minutes you want to record for. Your system will also be turned off after recording if the “Shut down after recording” option is selected. Available timer values are between 1 (minute) and up to 240 (4 hours). Timer recording will be cancelled if you enter 0.

Once you have set the timer recording, click the Record button. After entering the file name, you will see a dialog box indicating the time you have left to start the recording.

Thank you very much.

If you have any questions, please contact the innoheim Support Team