How can I use DirectWIRE to record content from YouTube?

Have you ever thought about recording audio content from YouTube directly into your audio software? DirectWIRE is a powerful set of functions that are provided with most ESI audio interfaces and among many other things, it allows you to do just that!

Please note that YouTube content often is copyrighted and you need to make sure that you only record data when it is legally OK to do so. We suggest to verify this.

In his tutorial, we use the audio editor Audacity to record audio and the browser to playback audio from YouTube. Obviously you could use other audio recording software as well and the same principle also works with other audio signals from your web browser.

At the end of this page, you can watch this tutorial also as a video, using our MAYA44 eX. This also works with any other ESI audio interface that supports DirectWIRE.

Windows Sound settings

First go to the Windows Sound control panel (which you can open via File > Windows Audio Settings in the control panel of your ESI audio interface) to the Playback tab, to change the standard device:

In this dialog, you need to select the default playback device. Your web browser with YouTube will use the default device that has been selected here. Ideally you would select playback channel 1 / 2 here. Click on the approriate entry and then on Set Default. A green marker will be added.

Audacity settings

Now start Audacity. Under the transport buttons, you can change the audio device for recording - highlighted in the following picture with a box:

Select the driver model to MME and then select the input channel 1/2 of your ESI hardware. Normally the recording should be set to Stereo.

DirectWIRE settings

Now we need to make the matching connections in the DirectWIRE panel, which you can open from the control panel of your ESI audio interface:

As your browser that is playing the audio uses output channel 1 / 2 with the MME interface from Windows and as Audacity is using input channel 1 /2, you need to connect MME OUT 1 with MME IN 1 and MME OUT 2 with MME IN 2.

Additional information

If you want to use an ASIO compatible audio software (i.e. a DAW like Bitwig or Cubase), then you would make connections to ASIO IN 1 and ASIO IN 2 instead.

Once all the above listed settings have veen made, you can start recording in Audacity (or your other audio software) and then start playback in YouTube.

Tutorial video

The following video shows you the whole process with playback in YouTube and recording in Audacity: