Record internal audio using Loopback on Mac

Mac has the built-in tool, the QuickTime Player, to help users record any contents on your screen with audio from microphone. You can also choose to capture and save only sound with QuickTime Player. It however lacks the ability to record the internal audio of your Mac. If you like to record both internal and external sound or need only system audio from your computer other than external microphone, you need a third-party app, such as this easy-to-use screen and audio recorder or virtual audio route apps, like Soundflower, Loopback. We have used Quicktime Player and Soundflower to record screen with system audio on Mac. Soundflower however has not been updated for long time, although still works, and many Mac users found it is difficult to use. Today, we will use Loopback to capture system audio on Mac. It is from the same company as Soundflower. Compared to Soundflower which is free but moderately difficult, Loopback is a paid app, but very powerful and easy to use at the same time. 

More about Loopback Audio

Loopback for Mac is an audio routing software for Mac which can pass audio between applications on your Mac. It helps Mac users to easily create virtual audio devices to take the sound from apps and audio input devices, then pass it to any audio processing software on your Mac.

Record internal audio using Loopback on Mac

Firstly you have to add audio source to Loopback. Launch the app, click the Sources to select the apps or sources need to be captured, such as Safari browser, Podcasts, your music player, etc. 

lookback audio routing software for mac
lookback audio routing software for mac

Then open the audio or screen recorder of your choice, notably the built-in Screenshot or QuickTime Player. Here we will use QuickTime Player in the demo. Loopback however should let you pass audio directly from one application to another, from any app to your audio recording software with almost no configuration required.

In QuickTime Player, Click File menu, select New Screen Recording or New Audio Recording from the drop-down menu list. See below screenshot.

Once the Screen Recording or Audio Recording appears, click the down arrow icon next to the record button, then switch from Internal microphone to Loopback Audio so you record the audio from your Mac system other than external sound through Microphone. Click the Record button to start the recording.

Also if you like to hear the sound during the recording process, go to Loopback, find the audio source, click Options, and disable Mute when capturing.

3 thoughts on “Record internal audio using Loopback on Mac”

  1. too confusing!
    I just wanna record YouTube to audacity…. should be as easy as when I could run a cable from the speaker to the mic……. you make it too complicated

    1. yes, it should work with a cable. when such a cable is not available, some people may not want to buy one, the software solution above can help.

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