Free and simple MP3 recorder?

[Terencek]

Can anyone recommend a free and very simple MP3 recorder for a novice who only wants to record streaming audio straight to MP3 for later listening?

I use the brilliant (and free) Audacity, but it really has far too many options and settings for a novice. I've tried downloading a couple of freebies I googled for him, but one had spyware and the other insisted on installing its own toolbar.

Would really appreciate personal recommendations, thanks!

 

[Random717]

http://people.umass.edu/jvight/SimpleRipper/

 

[Terencek]

Thanks, tried it out but my novice user is never going to manage this: he would have to download and install three separate applications (SimpleRipper, .NET framework and StreamRipper) and then there seems to be no straight way to simply record an audio stream of your choice (not a preselected one) such as those coming off the BBC iPlayer, which is what he wants it for.

Thanks anyhow. All I need for my novice user is a very easy MP3 recorder where you can simply hit the record button once you've got your own audio playing through your soundcard, and it will record it in real time, producing an MP3 file when you say Stop!

All suggestions highly welcome, thanks!

 

[Jabberwocky]

http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-streaming-media-recorder.htm

My personal freeware favorite for on-screen capture is CamStudio V2, because the output is in the more widely used .AVI and .FLV formats. It too has issues with video and sound cards, so you had better read the Krut tutorial for guidance on this issue. The same solutions suggested for Krut are also applicable to CamStudio.

Just as you can record streaming videos playing on your PC, you can also record audio streams playing through your PC speakers. In fact, there are several free and shareware programs designed specifically for this task but my favorite way of doing this is to use the record option which is available in the Audacity Audio Editor. By using Audacity you not only can record streaming audio but edit it as well.

All these solutions bypass the format problems and DRM protection issues. They don't, however, bypass the legal issues. I am not going to preach to you on this matter; instead I trust in your good judgement.

Krut
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=129468

Audacity
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/windows

Haven't tried any of them, but the freeware I find on techsupportalert is usually of very high quality

 

[Random717]

http://download.cnet.com/SoundCapture/3000-2168_4-10117490.html
looks ghastly, but does what you want

 

[Terencek]

Thanks for all the tips, highly appreciated. I ended up going for MP3myMP3 although reading the EULA on installing, it's another piece of software which comes with its own tracker application; I'll have to see how intrusive it turns out to be. SoundCapture was good but I doubt that anyone could live with that emetic design! And as I said right at the beginning, yes, I'm also a huge Audacity fan and it's what I use -- but it simply requires too much intervention from the novice I'm trying to help.