Have you ever thought of using a sound recorder to record anything that you can virtually hear on your computer? If yes, perhaps you might be interested in checking out this easy to use software called Hanso Recorder. It’s a program that lets you record any audio from pretty much anywhere.

What Is It and What Does It Do

Main Functionality

Hanso Recorder is a free sound recorder for Windows that is developed by HansoTools. Its primary function is to let you record your voice using your microphone. It also allows you to capture and record sounds any sound that you would normally hear from your speakers, aka any viable audio sources regardless if it’s from the internet or from your media player. Not only that, this program also features a text-to-speech functionality wherein it uses its naturally sounding voice to read your documents out loud.

Pros

• Neat and simple UI, easy to use
• Records basically anything – you can use this software to record your voice, your favorite streaming music, the latest radio shows, your game’s background music, etc. You can even record the songs that you have on your CD and DVD players. Anything that you would normally hear from your speakers is recordable with this program
• Has an integrated text-to-speech functionality – uses natural voices to read your text files (.txt), also converts your documents into MP3, WMA or WAV format
• Supports Hotkeys for basic software commands – record, pause, stop, resume, etc.
• Has a built-in scheduler for recording your favorite radio shows, live broadcasts, etc.
• You can easily browse and play your previously recorded files via “Archives”

Cons

• The process for installing the software is quite tricky and in some way, misleading. If you are not careful, you could end up installing a lot of bloatware – toolbars, coupondropdown, etc. Be very careful during installation.
  • VirusTotal has a 2/45 detection for Hanso Recorder and the detections are probably because of this bundled crapware. However, still, proceed at your own risk.
• The text-to-speech feature can only read .txt files – it doesn’t support files in .doc, .docx or .pdf formats. It also doesn’t read texts from blogs and webpages.
• Lacks the option for file playback – after recording, you have to play the audio file manually using your preferred music or audio player

Discussion

The Hanso Recorder has good features but you have to be very careful because you might end up installing a few other unnecessary software and adware. This includes the so-called “official online community toolbar” as well as the coupondropdown adware. Here’s a simple tip on how to avoid installing these programs – read carefully before you click “next” or “accept” or “I agree” at any window, and “uncheck” everything that’s not actually related to the sound recorder and click “cancel” whenever at a bloatware screen.

Now when it comes to the Hanso Recorder’s features, you basically get a sound recorder that could record your voice as well as the songs that you’re playing on your media player. You can also record any type of streaming music such as those that you often play on YouTube and SoundCloud. If you have a favorite radio show that you don’t want to miss, just record it. Needless to say, this software has all the essential tools that you need for sound recording. Plus, the audio output’s sound quality is good and you won’t hear a lot of annoying background noises.

What I also like about this software is that it has a user documentation guide. So if you’re not really well-versed with its controls, you can just read its help documentation. Its user guide basically tells everything that you need to know about the program and you will also learn how to properly record the sound that comes from a particular audio source.

In addition, this program also features a reliable text-to-speech tool which reads your documents aloud using its naturally sounding voice. You can also use this tool to convert your text files into audio files. The only downside to this feature is that it only reads documents in .txt format. It doesn’t support other file formats like .pdf, .docx or even .doc.

With this software, you can opt to save your audio output as MP3, WAV, WMA, OGG, VOX, AU or AIFF. You can also choose to save your output files on a specific folder. You’re also free to customize the rest of its settings. It’s just that this program doesn’t have the option to automatically play your recorded files. So if you want to hear the output of your recording, you need to go to its Archive. Anyways, the software itself is very easy to use plus it is very stable. So far, I haven’t experienced any problems with it and it’s definitely great for recording songs and live radio broadcasts.

Conclusion and Download Link

The Hanso Recorder is a simple yet very useful sound recorder that you can use on a daily basis. The biggest downside is that it comes bundled with a lot of bloatware during installation (be very careful while installing), but this is something you can live with seeing as you only need to install the program once and then never have to deal with the bloatware again. Overall, if you’re in the market for a useful sound recording tool, better try this program.

Price: Free

Version reviewed: 2.5.0

Supported OS: Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8

Download size: 12MB

VirusTotal malware scan results: 2/45

Is it portable? No

Hanso Recorder homepage