Why Cinch beats URL converters, account rippers, and free editors.
vs. URL converters
Record the audio you can actually hear
Converters only handle links they recognize. Cinch captures desktop playback from apps, web players, radio sites, and browser audio, even when there is no direct URL to paste.
vs. account-based tools
No streaming login inside Cinch
Cinch records the audio already playing on your computer. You do not enter streaming passwords inside the recorder, and you keep your normal listening workflow separate from capture.
vs. raw audio editors
Records, splits, and tags the session
Free editors often leave you with a raw waveform. Cinch can split songs, write tags, fetch artwork and lyrics when available, and filter short ad fragments before files reach your library.
Works With Your Apps
Cinch records from any app that plays sound.
Streaming services, browsers, and local media players. If it plays audio on your computer, Cinch can capture it �?no plugin or virtual cable needed.
Spotify
Apple Music
Amazon Music
YouTube Music
TIDAL
Deezer
SoundCloud
Chrome
Edge
Firefox
VLC
MusicBee
AIMP
Winamp
MediaMonkey
…and any other app, web player, or system sound on Windows and Mac. No URL to paste, no account to connect �?URL converters and account-based rippers simply cannot reach this many sources.
How To Use
Four steps. No setup-heavy workflow.
Cinch is designed for the common case first: record now, let the app process the music, then collect the finished files.
01
Click the Record button
Open Cinch and press Record. For most users, the default MP3 output is already enough.
02
Play your song list
Open Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, a browser player, online radio, or any app that plays audio on your computer.
03
Let Cinch handle the rest
Cinch records from the sound card, splits tracks, detects song information when available, adds ID3 tags, cover art, and lyrics.
04
Find your music files
Open the Library or your output folder. Your recorded songs are saved as local audio files, ready to play, copy, edit, or back up.
What You Get After Recording
A finished music file, not just a raw recording.
Cinch focuses on the work users usually do by hand after recording: song names, ID3 tags, artwork, lyrics, clean files, and easy access to the output folder. This is the work free editors like Audacity leave entirely to you �?Cinch does it automatically.
One Click
Record what your computer plays
Click Record, then play music normally. Cinch listens to the system playback stream instead of using the microphone.
Default MP3 output
Works with apps and browser audio
No microphone room noise
Suitable for playlists and radio
Silent
Record even when speakers are muted
Because Cinch records from the sound card path, you can mute speaker output while the player keeps running.
Good for office or library use
Captures desktop playback directly
Avoids room noise
Keep the source player unmuted
Tags
Auto tags, artwork, and lyrics
Cinch turns a raw recording into a music file that is easier to browse in your Library and other players.
Title and artist
Album and genre fields
Cover artwork
Embedded lyrics for supported files
Edit
Built-in ID3 editor
If a song name, artist, album, year, genre, track number, or cover needs cleanup, edit it inside Cinch.
Edit one track
Batch edit multiple files
Refresh song info
Refresh cover art and lyrics
Ringtone
Turn recordings into phone ringtones
Trim a saved song into a short clip, preview it, then export a phone-ready ringtone without leaving Cinch.
Make ringtones from recorded tracks
Export MP3 or M4R-style clips
Preview the clip before saving
Send clips straight to the Ringtones folder
Schedule
Set recording to start and stop automatically
Schedule Cinch to capture live radio, streams, or shows at a set time and duration, even when you are away from the keyboard.
Schedule radio or live shows
Set start time and duration
Capture overnight programs
Runs unattended in the background
Recording Principle
It records from the sound card, not the room.
Cinch captures the audio stream your computer is playing. That is why it can record cleanly without microphone noise and still record while your speakers are muted, as long as the player keeps playing. Because Cinch listens to system playback instead of logging into a service, there is no account to compromise and no URL the source has to expose �?which is exactly what URL converters and account-based rippers cannot do.
Direct playback capture
Record music apps, web players, radio, podcasts, lessons, and other desktop audio without placing a microphone near the speakers.
Automatic song handling
When track information is available, Cinch can use it for song names and splitting. For continuous audio, it can still save the captured stream for review.
Real Ways People Use Cinch
When Cinch is useful.
People usually arrive here because they want more control than an app-only download button: ordinary audio files, editable names, visible cover art, lyrics, and a local folder they can back up or move between devices.
Streaming music
Build a portable listening folder from normal playback
For users who want local files they can name, back up, inspect, and organize outside a streaming app, Cinch focuses on recording the playback stream and finishing the result with tags, cover art, lyrics, and file naming.
Useful when you want ordinary audio files you can name, inspect, move to another device, or back up outside an app-only offline library.
Playlist sampling and discovery sessions
Keeping a reference folder for DJ prep or private listening notes
Creating MP3/M4A copies for devices that expect ordinary audio files
Browser audio
Capture music videos, live sets, and web players
Cinch can listen to Chrome, Edge, Firefox, YouTube Music, and other browser-style sources. Try SMTC first for track-based players, then switch to Traditional mode when the stream behaves more like a continuous show.
Best results come from pages that share title or artist details with browser media controls; silence splitting helps when a page only outputs audio.
YouTube music videos and live performances
Bandcamp or label preview pages
Browser-based lessons, interviews, and audio clips
Online radio
Record long programs without treating every minute as a song
For live radio, talk shows, ambient streams, or niche stations, use Traditional mode, a longer silence duration, and Library review. The goal is to keep useful segments and remove dead air or short fragments afterward.
Radio and live streams are usually less predictable than albums or playlists, so a little split tuning and Library review matters more than automatic song naming.
Overnight radio sessions
Special broadcasts and interviews
Ambient or study streams with few clean track changes
Podcasts
Keep useful episodes, clips, and reference segments
When a user needs a local clip, research reference, or a cleaned personal archive from a podcast app or web player, Cinch can capture the playback and then use metadata editing, merge, and file naming to keep the result tidy.
Useful when an episode, interview, lesson, or replay is worth keeping in a personal folder with a clear file name and editable tags.
Research clips for later review
Language-learning listening folders
Long episode archives with consistent file names
Webinars and classes
Save spoken sessions with less setup friction
For online lessons, training sessions, product demos, or conference replays, the practical need is stability: choose the correct playback device, prevent sleep if needed, record the full session, then export to a compatible format.
Helpful for sessions where you mainly need a clean local reference file, not automatic song artwork or lyric matching.
Internal training playback
Language courses and pronunciation samples
Conference sessions that need later note-taking
Library cleanup
Repair the files after recording, not in a separate utility
Real recordings are rarely perfect on the first pass. Use the Library when metadata is missing, a cover is wrong, lyrics are absent, or a buffered stream split one track into fragments.
The Library includes right-click tools for metadata editing, batch fixes, song info refresh, cover refresh, lyric refresh, merging, ringtones, and file cleanup.
Batch-fixing artist and album fields
Refreshing lyrics for recognized songs
Merging fragments after a buffered stream
Output Detail
Choose the format that fits how you listen.
MP3 is the default for everyday listening. Advanced users can switch formats when they need smaller files, lossless archives, or ringtone clips.
Keep a converted listening file and a WAV copy. WAV copies can stay beside the main file or be organized into a WAV subfolder.
Volume control
MP3, M4A, AAC, OGG, WMA, OPUS
Optional loudness normalization targets -16 LUFS and True Peak -1.0 dB for supported formats.
Ringtone workflow
MP3, M4R, AAC, M4A, WMA, OGG, OPUS, WAV, FLAC
Create a shorter ringtone-style export from an existing Library track.
Tech Specification
System requirements, inputs, outputs, and downloads.
Everything Cinch Audio Recorder needs to run on your computer, every audio source it can capture, every output format it can save, and the official download links.
Windows
Win 10 64-bit and above
Operating System
Windows 10 (64-bit) and above
Processor
> 750 MHz Intel or AMD CPU
Free Hard Disk Space
100 MB or above
RAM
256 MB or above
macOS
macOS 13.5 and above
Operating System
macOS 13.5 and above
Processor
Native Apple Silicon support and Intel support
Free Hard Disk Space
100 MB or above
RAM
512 MB or above
Input Support
All streaming audio and every sound your computer plays.
Cinch records from the system playback stream, so anything that produces sound on your computer can be captured. No URL to paste, no driver or virtual cable to install.
Any streaming service that plays audio on your computer (Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, YouTube Music, TIDAL, Deezer, SoundCloud)
Web players in Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari, and other browsers
Online radio stations, live broadcasts, and audio podcasts
Local media players (VLC, MusicBee, AIMP, Winamp, MediaMonkey, iTunes, Music.app)
System sounds, video playback, webinars, online lessons, and conference replays
Any application, browser tab, or system audio that produces sound through the sound card
Output Formats
Every format Cinch can save.
MP3 is the default. Switch to lossless, ringtone, or audiobook container when you need a different output.
Spotify 
Apple Music 
Amazon Music 
YouTube Music 
TIDAL 
Deezer 
SoundCloud 
Chrome 
Edge 
Firefox 
VLC 
MusicBee 
AIMP 
Winamp 
MediaMonkey 
