How to Record TV Audio to a PC

By Robert Ceville

RCA-to-1/8-inch cables can be used to connect your TV to your computer to record TV audio.
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It is possible to record audio coming from your television into your computer with an RCA-to-1/8-inch cable. By connecting the RCA ends of the cable to your TV's audio output jacks, then plugging the 1/8- inch plug into your computer's "Line In" jack on its soundcard, you can capture the audio using Microsoft's Sound Recorder software. You can make the connections between your television and your computer in less than two minutes.

Plug the RCA ends of the RCA-to-1/8-inch audio cable to your television's "Audio Output" jacks. Plug the red RCA cable into the red "Right Output" jack on the back of the television and the white RCA cable into the "Left Output" jack.

Plug the 1/8-inch end of the RCA-to-1/8-inch cable into the "Line In" jack on your computer's soundcard. The "Line In" jack on many computers is identifiable by its blue coloring. Refer to your particular computer model's manual for locating the "Line In" on your internal soundcard.

Launch Sound Recorder by clicking on "Start," typing "Sound Recorder" into the search field, then selecting it from the search results with your mouse. The Sound Recorder user interface appears on your computer screen.

Click the "Start Recording" button to begin recording the television audio being played. When you are finished recording, click "Stop Recording."

Click "File Name," and enter the name you want to give to the recorded audio file. The audio file is stored on your computer's hard drive for later use.

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