When installed and running, it sits in the system tray and when recording is set to ON, will automatically record any Skype call made. You can set the destination folder for the MP3 recordings, as well as the stereo settings and the recording bitrate (the sound quality). Skype will ask you for authorization to use the application.

The quality of the recordings is great - in normal stereo mode, one voice is in each channel, making conversations really easy to listen to.

There are a number of problems with Skype Call Recorder. Firstly, the interface is very basic, and the program's default setting will have it running at startup which is probably not what most users want. Also, the play button doesn't work and there is nothing to indicate the application is recording. There is no progress bar, and no log of recorded conversations.

Despite its problems, Skype Call Recorder makes great recordings with absolutely no fuss.

Download Skype Call Recorder 0.7.2.1 in Softonic

This Songsmith trial version gives you six hours to play with, which is actually quite a long time, as it only counts actual recording time in the program. It works a bit like an old Casio Keyboard. You start off by choosing a preset style, from techno to hip hop, bluegrass to salsa, then pick a tempo, and think up some words.

Once you have your lyrics, simply press record and sing them into your microphone in time with the beat. Don't worry about being in tune, as once you've finished, Songsmith will fit music around the tune you sang - however wonderful or awful it was! Songsmith really is incredibly easy to use, with a clear and simple interface, and the results are surprisingly good. Even if everything you do sounds like a cheap karaoke song, Songsmith is adept at picking up the tone you are making and tuning itself to what you're doing.

When your project is finished - you can mix your song a little too - you can save it or export it as a WMA, WAV or MIDI file and use it as you wish, from impressing girlfriends to amusing your friends. As well as using it for singing, you can use any melodic input, for example, play a violin through a microphone with Songsmith and it will still create a backing track to your tune.

With the popularity of Karaoke, and the Singstar and Rock Band games, Microsoft have tried to tap into the same enthusiasm. It feels like reverse karaoke, and although it's easy, you still need to be able to write words and think up a tune. I can attest to it not being as easy as I thought. However, the speed with which you can make music makes it a really fun application which could easily become a party game of sorts.

Songsmith is currently a Microsoft research project, and we have had some installation problems and instances of crashing, but these were rare.

For budding pop stars, Songsmith is an incredibly easy way to create and record your songs.

Download Songsmith 1.02 in Softonic

Wondershare Streaming Audio Recorder can record any sound that comes through your PC, no matter if it’s played online or from your hard drive.

While Wondershare Streaming Audio Recorder is quite easy to use, the settings can be a little tricky. You need to make sure you select the proper input and output devices, or the program won’t record a thing. Also, Wondershare Streaming Audio Recorder should be started before you launch the program whose sound you want to record.

Once everything’s set up, simply play the music and Wondershare Streaming Audio Recorder will record it as it sounds, in real time – including online music streaming services . The program can record to a variety of formats, including MP3, AAC, WMA, WAV and OGG. Also, each one of the formats has its own customization settings for sample rate, encoder, audio channel and bitrate.

When the recording is done, Wondershare Streaming Audio Recorder lets you play the file right away with a simple built-in player, or split it into several parts.

With Wondershare Streaming Audio Recorder you can easily record your favorite music from online music streaming services – and from your own computer as well.

Download Wondershare Streaming Audio Recorder 2.1.0 in Softonic

Despite the new version, Speak A Message's interface is still a little old-fashioned. Even so, it does the job well and has plenty of configuration options, allowing you to change the appearance of the tool, choose from web or POP-based email, send photos with voice commentary and even add a small range of special effects to your messages. It also comes with comprehensive help.

Version 5 of Speak A Message isn't noticeably different to previous versions. The Vista version (available to download from the website) has a speech to text function, and there seems to be improved support for adding comments to photos, slideshows and presentations, but other than that no huge improvements are obvious. This is disappointing, especially with regard to the appearance of Speak A Message, but even so, it remains a sweet program that is especially suitable for the elderly or those with reduced mobility.

Speak A Message won't rock your world, but is a useful program for those with problems typing.

Download Speak A Message 9.0.1 in Softonic

Easy Hi-Q Recorder is not a modern-looking program - in fact, it's really old-fashioned. Even so, it's easy to use - just press the red record button and hit stop when you're done. The Options button hides lots of configuration options, and has far more features than what you'd expect from the main interface.

Easy Hi-Q Recorder lets you record to different formats, set a recording schedule, auto-activate and deactivate recording based on sound levels and even split recordings automatically to make them easier to manage. It goes without saying that Easy Hi-Q Recorder lets you record all kinds of sound, from CDs and voice recordings to streamed and online media.

Easy Hi-Q Recorder claims that to start recording, you just have to press record. Even so, I had a few problems that could only be fixed by changing the settings through trial and error. Once it began to record, it worked perfectly, but just bear in mind that troubleshooting Easy Hi-Q Recorder isn't an easy job.

Easy Hi-Q Recorder provides instant and simple recording on your computer.

Download Easy Hi-Q Recorder 2.4 in Softonic