Dell M6500 record streaming audio

Hello. If you are asking if it can record audio that you don't have the right to, we aren't supposed to answer that kind of question, so please clarify.

Recording streaming audio off podcasts etc anything thats streamed over the internet, played back thru a video player from a file etc  This is a hardware software question and not about piracy bootlegging etc Its been a known issue among Dell units for years and a really pain in that a soundcard needed to be purchased to rectify it. No other manufacturer does this.

So specifically to my OP re: M6500 does this model have that restriction ?

I'm not trying to be judgemental here -- if you want to record content without permission I understand. But the forum has its rules.

Its been a known issue among Dell units for years

There were some models that for a time couldn't record internally for a while after Vista came out. It was a decision on the part of the hardware vendor, not Dell, as far as I have been able to ascertain. Probably never get all the facts on it, though.

This goes back to even Dell E520 desktops with XP so its not a Vista thing alone. ANd it seems to be continuing over the years

I am looking at a 2009 Dell M6500 laptop but want to make sure I wont run into this problem because I use Audacity and Wavelab to record from various  internet streaming music ( and again the music I listen to is not the popular *** that everybody gets uptight about per piracy etc) and none of which one can buy commercially.

You're right. This hasn't come up in a long time and my memory has faded. Now that I've thought about it some more, here is how I remember it which might not be very accurate.

When I got my first Dell laptop in 2003, all of the then current models had the Intel mandated AC97 type audio on the motherboards. At that time, Sigmatel was Dell's main vendor of AC97 audio chips, and XP was the current Windows operating system. To the best of my knowledge, all Dell laptops with that combination of chips & OS had the ability to internally record the output of the chip. Sigmatel called it stereo mix, which was the same thing that SoundBlaster had called whatuhear.

Around 2006 or so Dell switched over to HD audio chips. HD was and still is Intel's newer audio protocol. Most or all the new laptops with HD chips lacked stereo mix. Someone at notebookforums.com developed a popular hack to unlock stereo mix from the Sigmatel R122161  driver. It wasn't until 2007 when Sigmatel released the R171789 driver that stereo mix was widely available again without the hack.

The issue was mostly under control until Vista became the current OS. Again, most or all of the Dell laptops with Sigmatel drivers and Vista lacked stereo mix. At that time Dell put out the story that Sigmatel claimed that because of the Vista architecture, it was very difficult to implement stereo mix. It's true that Vista handled audio differently from XP, but we soon discovered that by using compatibility mode and installing the R171789 (XP) driver into Vista, that there was stereo mix again. So installing that driver became a popular workaround, but the driver wasn't compatible with all of the newer models. We had other workarounds, including hacks and using Sigmatel drivers from LG laptops. I remember the stereo mix issue as being worst under Vista.

Eventually, Win7 became the current OS, and Sigmatel was bought out by IDT which became Dell's main vendor, until it eventually went out of the consumer audio business and Dell started using Realtek. Dell also had other vendors, such as Cirrus Logic and Conexant, for a few of the laptop models. The problems with stereo mix were mostly, or entirely confined to Sigmatel + HD audio chips, and the smaller vendors. Most or all of the Dell laptops with IDT and Realtek have been able to record internally. Realtek calls it stereo mix, like Sigmatel did, and IDT called it Rec.Playback (record the playback of the chip).

IDT left the consumer audio business before Win10. Win10 is not supported on the Precision M6500, so if you use it you will have to install its Win7 IDT driver using compatibility. You might avoid problems in other areas by sticking with Win7 on that model. All drivers that Dell has released for the M6500 are here. Only way to know with 100% certainty that the IDT driver has Rec.Playback is to install it and look at the Recording tab of the Windows Sound panel. The earliest IDT chips and drivers were just re-branded Sigmatels, but I think by the time of the M6500 it was pure IDT.

everybody gets uptight about per piracy

Most everyone I know has the attitude that everything digital is up for grabs, so if you put something online you should know its going to be stolen. The only other person I know who cares is my brother-in-law. Like me, he produces both music and articles. Our music isn't popular by any stretch of the imagination, but we sure wouldn't want these children of our minds to be stolen. We have pride of authorship.

I don't think anyone would actually care to steal my music but I have seen stuff I have written scattered around the internet without attribution. Doesn't bother me except when someone posts it under their own name.

I have a friend who writes a popular blog and every week he uploads songs from his music collection to be shared, and that does bother me. When you create content you only have 2 things of value, the authorship and the right to copy your own creation. Although authorship of some songs has changed hands for money, there isn't much of a market for it because in most cases the real author will become known in time, making the buyer look like a fraud.

Usually the only monetary value is in the right to copy. When a person uploads content and "shares" it with everyone on the internet, he is stealing the entire value of the right to copy, which could be from pennies to millions. That is the real piracy, yet my friend is a product of our times and has no qualms about doing it.