Best Music Streaming Software For Mac

Jul 18,2019 • Filed to: Record Audio • Proven solutions

Aug 10, 2018  Audacity – best streaming audio recording software for Mac 2018 Audacity is available free of cost and most successful open source audio editing tool for mac. Regardless of all expert features it also has multi-track editing and has impressive live recording output. Convert different files like tapes or records into CDs and digital recording. Download and install the best free apps for Music Management Software on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android from CNET Download.com, your trusted source for the top software picks. Nov 12, 2019  GarageBand for Mac is a versatile free music making software for beginners. You can use its tutorials to make your first steps into playing an instrument, record your own music (including your voice), add special effects, and produce complete tracks to upload to SoundCloud or beyond.

Nowadays, internet provides people with convenience to share music, audio, videos, live streaming and radio stations for others to access and enjoy. And there are a number of free streaming audio recorder online software that allows you to record the streaming music directly on the website. But there might be this or that limitation for these audio recorder. So how to choose the best audio recorder? Here we will share with you the top 7 best free streaming audio recorder for Mac and Windows PC. Just choose any one to start recording music for free.

Part 1. Top 3 Free Streaming Audio Recorder for Mac

iMusic

With iMusic, you will be able to record any audio played on your Mac and Windows PC. This software records audio without losing quality and saves recorded audio in MP3 and M4A format, which is widely used and supported by many kinds of portable devices. iMusic offers all the features you need to discover, download, record and even transfer music:

iMusic - Best Audio Recorder on Windows/Mac You Deserve to Own

  • Built-in music library allows you search for music by genre, artist, top lists, etc.
  • Allow users to download music from the built-in music library for totally free.
  • Support downloading music from over 3000 music sites by copying and pasting.
  • Record any song you need, if you can play the song, then you can record it.
  • Get the information for downloaded and recorded songs automatically, including album, artist, genre, and cover.
  • Transfer music between iTunes, Android phones, iPhone, iPod and iPad without any hassle.

How to Record Streaming Audio with iMusic

iMusic is compatible with macOS 10.5 or later, including macOS 10.13 High Sierra, 10.12 Sierra, 10.11 EL Capitan and 10.10 Yosemite, and Windows 10. The initial thing is to download and install this streaming audio recorder software. Then you can follow the tutorial below to finish streaming audio recording.

To begin to download music, simply download and install iMusic on your computer. Lauch it and click the 'GET MUSIC tab'. From there, clickc the third tab 'RECORD'.

Why Choose iMusic Audio Recorder

What You Will Need:

A Computer; iMusic

Time Required:

Variable depending on the file size.

Difficulty:

Easy

Steps to Record Streaming Audio by iMusic

Step 1. Start Recording Audio Stream

Download and install the program on your computer. Launch it, click 'GET MUSIC' and navigate to 'RECORD'. Click the red Record button to start recording. Navigate to the stream audio that you want to download and play it. Audio Recorder will detect the sound and begin to recording it for you.

Step 2. Check the Recorded Songs

When the recording is finished, you can click the LIBRARY tab to access the files. The program will automatically tag songs with the information the software has detected, including album, artist, and cover. Double click on the music then you can play it with the inbuilt music player.

Apowersoft Audio Recorder

This free audio recorder for Mac can record any sound your computer produces. It has both Mac and Windows version. Apowersoft Audio Recorder can also produce output files in several formats such as AAC, MP3, etc. This tool not only works as an exceptional audio recorder, but also serves the purpose of free audio editing software, CD burner/ripper and audio converter. Just get this audio recorder for free to enjoy your lovely music.

However, it limits its users to 128 kbps recordings, which is on the low end of acceptable audio quality. And it only allows its users record audio in a maximum of 3 minutes and it can only download one track at a time.

Free Sound Recorder

As the name indicates, this free computer audio recorder is a completely free to use streaming audio recorder. Without spending a dime you will be able to record music from your sound card. This software only has a Windows version and is not available for Linux and Mac. This Free Sound Recorder produces output audio files in several different formats, like OGG, MP3, etc.

Part 2. Top 4 Free Streaming Audio Recorder for Windows 10

iMusic

If you want to record audio on Windows PC, we recommend you to use iMuisc. This audio recorder is easy-to-use and allows you to record music from any sites and audio applications. It can detect the music you are playing and enables you to record the music in only 1 click. It works with a virtual sound card so you will get the audio file in 100% original quality.

What's more, you can customize the output audio and set the format as MP3 or M4A. You can also make ringtones with the recorded music. The recorded music will be saved to iTunes library, letting you transfer them to your iPhone, iPad, iPod, Android phones, creating car playlists and burning to CDs, etc.

Audacity by the Audacity Developers Inc sits on the top echelon of audio recorders. A position it has earned itself over the years as a result of the multi-featured, easy-to-use interface that it spots. Being one of the most responsive software available today, Audacity has the capability of recording from directly from your laptop's microphone, line input or even via a USB/firewire. The developer also made it sensitive enough to be able to pick up sound from the general computer playback.

Even better, you could edit, enhance and convert clips recorded using this software to various other formats such MP3, WAV, FLAC etc.

Pros:

  • One of the most feature-rich audio-recorder programs available today.
  • Has a built in easy to use, simplified platform.

Cons:

  • Doesn't support VST plugins. However, you can always download them separately.
  • Some users have reported experiencing difficulty in installing the program on their machines especially after the latest Windows 8 update by Microsoft.

At just 283.3KB, Wavosaur is perhaps one of the most easily portable Windows streaming audio recorder software today. In spite of its small size, the program still manages to trump other mainstream application in terms of overall quality delivery. The platform is additionally easy to use, especially if you have some prior background in media recording. The feature-set might not be as rich as Audacity's, but you will still have everything you might expect from any decent audio recorder program.

Pros:

  • Very portable and easy to download or install.
  • Reasonably feature-rich given its size and relatively easy user-interface.

Cons:

  • Don't expect premium applications' level of functionality here, but this is expected considering that it's a freeware.
  • The developer is not known for being timely in releasing new updates for this program. You could be stuck with one dashboard for months.

If you need a decent multi-track recorder, mixer, and audio sequencer, then this free streaming audio recorder for Windows could easily fit your bill. Unlike the above two applications, Kristal Audio is designed as a modular system. The developer, however, has done a remarkable job in packing it with the majority of essential features such as VST effects, metronome control, and a performance meter.

Pros:

  • The mixer window has 16 'wavers' meaning it has the capacity to recording 16 tracks and manipulating them at-a-go.

Cons:

  • Being a modular system, some users have complained in it being comparatively difficult to use.
  • Does not support saving of the recordings to traditional or popular formats such as MP3.

If you are an audiophile and need some free and open source Linux music server software to create your own self-hosted live streaming audio server for your massive collection of music files then you are at right place.

Best streaming software for mac

We already coveredbest open source Linux based media server software to build your own media server using old home PC. The media server tools, we have listed in that article are can also be used as music servers such as Plex, Kodi and Emby media servers. Apart from these server software, we are also going to list few dedicated open source and free DIY audiophile music server software here in this listicle, have a look maybe they somehow help you…

But before diving into the article let me tell, who need such kind music server software?

A person, who has a large collection of music or just want to create his own Spotify like a server to stream music locally or remotely anywhere both on Desktop PC (like Windows, MAcOS, and Linux) and mobile platforms like Android, iOS, and Windows-based smartphones.

The purpose os a music server is to deliver a music track which stored on the server storage when requested by the client. These Music HTTP servers should be capable of providing music files over the local area network and to other computer connected to the internet.

The Open source software category has a wide range of multimedia server software; capable enough to turn your computer into a Jukebox. It does not end here, even there is a dedicate Linux music server distro called VortexBox which comes in the form of bootable ISO file and can directly convert you old bare metal PC into a full-fledged music server.

Note: If you are using these software to stream music over the internet (commercially) then be sure that you have copyright ownership of those tracks if they come under the copyright. However, for personal or music under free licenses can be stream without any issue.

List of Best Free Linux Music Server Software

Build your own audiophile music server using free and opens source softwareLogitech hd 720p free webcam software for mac pro 2.

  1. Plex
  2. Emby Server
  3. Subsonic
  4. Ampache – Music Streaming Server
  5. Madsonic
  6. Airsonic
  7. Serviio
  8. Daphile- Dedicated Headless Music Server
  9. VortexBox music server distro
  10. Icecast
  11. Mopidy
  12. Sockso
  13. Jinzora
  14. Music Player Daemon

Plex – Media Server

Yes, we know that the Plex is the media server but it is all rounder player. Means it can use to stream music and video both including images. The reason it is on the top list because of its client application availability. The Plex is almost available for every device such as Android, iOS, Smart TV, Windows phone, Apple Tv, XBox one, Plays station and more. It uses a client-server architecture to work as a home theatre PC. You can install the Plex server on Windows, MacOS. Linux like Ubuntu, FreeBSD and on other NAS server platform and Docker. That’s why it is one of the best music server software available for free. See: How to install Plex media server on Ubuntu

Emby Server

It is open source media server which let you handle the home videos, music, and photos both locally and remotely. It is available as a client for both Desktop PC and smartphones. Emby apps are available for Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, Roku, Xbox, Home Theater Computers, and more. The parental control and dlna services are also there. The interface of this media cum music sever is really beautiful and I am using it for my personal usage. Their server application is available for Windows, MacOS, Linux, FreeBSD, NAS, and Docker. You may want to know: How to install Emby server on Ubuntu to create your own music server.

Subsonic

The is another well known free music server software to stream your favorite music on the go. It supports MP3, OGG, AAC and any other audio or video format that streams over HTTP. The transcoding engine of the Subsonic allows you to stream lossy and lossless formats by converting to MP3 on-the-fly.

It can work with any network media player such as VLC, Windows media player, iTunes Winamp, and XMMS including embedded Flash player. The tag parsing and editing of MP3, AAC, OGG, FLAC, WMA and APE files are also possible using the Jaudiotagger library.

Also the Subsonic provide a wide range of language support which is up to 28 along 30 different user themes to suit your personality. The user can also set his own personal avatar. Now come to the availability of the Subsonic server, it can be installed on Windows, MAcOS, Linux, Red Hat / Fedora, Synology NAS and also available as a Stand-alone version (all platforms), and WAR version (all platforms).

The Subsonic client app is available for Android, iPhone, Windows Phone, Mac, Sonos, Chrome and more. It means, if you go for Subsonic then you will not going to get compatible issues. The videos streaming in the Subsonic is paid. However, if you need a server application just for streaming the Music then you can go for it. You can also listen what you’re playing on the Last.FM using automatically register, via the built-in Audioscrobbling support.

Play music directly on the server’s audio hardware using the jukebox mode and also it is very easy to install on Raspberry Pi and Odroid C2 boards.

Madsonic

Madsonic is a web-based media library and media streamer with jukebox functionality. Based on Java technology, Madsonic music server software can run on most of the platforms, including Windows, MacOS, OSX, Linux and Unix variants. Apart from a personal streaming media server, it can also be used a jukebox locally. To stream and play music from Madsonic sever either you can use different clients those support the Madsonic or Subsonic REST API or web browser via an intuitive web interface.

It is a completely open source and free Media streaming software and a fork of closed source Subsonic Server. So, if you don’t want to pay for Subsonic then you can use the MediaSonic. Some key features of it are Easy to use interface,
Flexible and adaptable, Supports most media formats, Customizable user experience, Integrates web services and Mobile Apps.

Ampache – Music Streaming Server

Ampache is another popular free and open source music streaming server software. It is web-based audio/video streaming application and file manager. The Ampache allows to stream music directly into the browser using the HTMl5 player on almost any internet enabled device. To get the lyrics of songs you can also connect the Ampache to ChatLyrics and Lyrics Wiki to import Metadata from MusicBrainz. It provides Subsonic API backend which allows the user to use Subsonic clients. Ampache supports multiple network music players to play songs such as VLC, WinAMP, Foobar2000, Windows media player and almost any player that has the HTTP stream capability. Furthermore, it can also work with Plex, DAAP clients, UPnP/DLNA and XML-API clients.

Best Music Software For Mac

Airsonic

Airsonic can be said as an open source alternative to closed source Subsonic media server but with all capabilities because it is a fork of Subsonic. It is free and web-based media streamer designed to handle the very larger collection of music files stored on your local disk. However, it mainly optimized for Mp3 streaming but can support any audio or video streaming over HTTP like from OGG and AAC to WMA, FLAC, and APE.

With help of transcoder plug-ins, Airsonic can convert any audio format, including WMA, FLAC, APE, Musepack, WavPack and Shorten. It can also work as a local jukebox.

Airsonic comes with an integrated Podcast receiver and as based on Java technology it can run almost all platforms, including Windows, Mac, Linux and Unix variants.

Mopidy

Mopidy is also open source and free MPD and HTTP music server written in Python that runs in a terminal or in the background on Linux computers or MacOS with some network connectivity. Google wifi app on my mac.

For controlling the Mopidy from frontend you can install some extensions. Also, it can be easily run on the Raspberry P either using Raspbian or Arch Linux to create an affordable Jukebox.

Moreover, has the capability to play music from your local disk and from cloud services like Spotify, SoundCloud, and Google Play Music via an extension on phone, tablet, desktops or web clients.

Basically, you can say it a headless music server software that can be controlled by installing extensions and plays music via a browser or MPD client. With Mopidy’s extension support, backends for new music sources can be easily added. IF you are looking for hackable private music streaming server or personal music server then it is for you.

Serviio

Serviio is a free media server that can work as your private streaming server. It supports streaming of music, video or images on your connected home network. Apart from the free edition, it also has a pro edition with enhanced sharing possibilities. Serviio can work with Smart TVs, PPlayStation3, XBox 360, smartphones, tablets and more. For different devices, it uses a particular profile in order to tune the maximum potential of that device’s potential or minimize lack of media format playback support (via transcoding).

Xsplit For Mac

As it based on Java technology which allows this music server to run on most platforms such Windows, Mac and Linux including NAS like embedded systems.

Dedicated Music server operating system

VortexBox -Dedicated Linux Music Server Distro

VortexBox is a Fedora-based Music Sever Linux distribution that can easily turn your computer into a music server or Jukebox. It can automatically rip CDs to FLAC and MP3 files, ID3-tag the files, and download the cover art.

To play music files served by the VortexBox you can use any network-based player like VLC; it means you can use it to stream songs on Windows, MacOS, Linux, Android and iOS devices.

Daphile- Dedicated Headless Music Server

Daphile stands for Digital Music Convenience for Audiophiles which is a music server and player operating system meant to run as dedicated headless music server PC. It is based on open source Squeezebox Server, Squeezelite, and Linux.

The Daphile being a headless server which means not graphical user interface but that doesn’t mean it is complicated. After installing the Daphile you will get an IP address just open it in the browser and you totally control your music library from anywhere locally or over Internet remotely.

The Daphile Headless music server OS features Bitperfect and gapless playback, Extensive audio format support, Native DSD playback up to DSD512, PCM resolutions up to 384kHz/24bit, High quality audio resampling including PCM to DSD conversion, Convolution filtering for DRC and equalizer, “Play from RAM” to minimize CPU load and disk activity during playback, Automatic audio device configuration with multiplayer support, CD ripping with AccurateRip verification, automatic metadata tagging and cover art, Supports external file servers as music source, Easy configuration and installation through the web interface, WiFi hotspot support (if compatible hardware exists), Software update via web interface, Network-attached storage (NAS) service and last but not least Whole system included in just about 200MB ISO-file

Few other dedicated free music/ media server software and worth to try if you are a Windows/Linux user:

Icecast 2

Icecast is an audio/video streaming media server that right now supports Ogg (Vorbis and Theora), Opus, WebM and MP3 streams. It can be used to create an Internet radio station or a privately running jukebox and many things in between.The Icecast support number clients for Windows, macOS and Linux/Unix some of them are liquidsoap
RoarAudio, butt (broadcast using this tool), Mixxx, Music Player Daemon (MPD), Traktor DJ Studio, Ices, DarkIce, DeeFuzzer, FreeJ, IceGenerator, Muse, Ezstream, Ladiocast macOS, Edcast reborn Windows, StreamS Live Encoder Windows, Cool Mic Android, KoalaSAN iOS, iCast iOS, ShoutVST and more…

Sockso – Personal Music Server

Sockso is a free, open-source, personal music host server which is really easy to setup to everyone. It available for Windows, MacOs, and Linux. If you do not want a high-end production music server and just basic need of streaming music or listen with your friends then Sockso can be used. IT is very simple to install just download and double-click on it. It supports MP3, OGG Vorbis, Flac, and WMA. Features GUI interface, Online flash music player, playlists, search, Download single tracks, or entire albums/artists or playlists and more capabilities.

Jinzora

Jinzora music server software allows streaming digital media through an internet connected computer, home stereo set or a hardware jukebox device.

Music Player Daemon

Best Music Streaming Software For Pc

Music Player Daemon (MPD) is a server-side application for playing a variety of sound files through plugins and libraries and can be controlled by its network protocol.

So, these are some best available open source free audio streaming software those will definitely help you to create your own self-hosted music streaming server. However, its all depend on one’s requirement but the Plex, Emby and Subsonic/Madsonic are few ultimate solutions to create the whole package of entertainment. I didn’t try the dedicated music server Daphile but you can do because of it really an interesting one…

If you have any question or want any installation guide on music server software, let us know, the comment box is all your!!

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