Record a podcast interview on a Mac.

What echo99 is good for

You’re interviewing a guest over Zoom, Meet, or any call your Mac plays. echo99 records:

• Your microphone — mic.wav, labeled “Me”.
• Your guest — everything your Mac plays, saved separately as system.wav; diarization labels multiple guests “Them-1”, “Them-2”, …

You get two separate WAV files plus a speaker-labeled transcript with timestamps — searchable material to build show notes and pull quotes from, and a local backup of the conversation, all without a bot in the call or a cloud account.

Where a dedicated podcast tool still wins

echo99 is honest about its scope. It records the guest as one system track — the audio your Mac actually plays — not as an isolated, studio-quality “double-ender” the way Riverside, Zencastr, or a local multitrack setup captures each participant on their own device. If you need per-guest stems for heavy editing, broadcast-grade audio, or video, use a purpose-built podcast platform. echo99 is the better pick when you want a fast, private local recording and a solid transcript — or a reliable backup track running alongside your main rig.

Set it up, then record

echo99’s one-time setup — granting the two permissions and downloading the on-device models — is covered step by step, with screenshots, in getting started. After that, recording is two clicks from the menu bar: Start Recording, then Stop, and both WAV tracks plus the transcript are waiting in ~/Documents/echo99/.

Podcast tips

• Wear headphones. It keeps your voice out of the guest track and the guest out of yours — the cleanest separation echo99 can give you.
• Great as a backup track. Even if you master in another tool, a local echo99 recording is cheap insurance against a dropped cloud recording.
• Audio only. echo99 records sound and produces transcripts; it does not capture video.
• Get your guest’s consent to record — say it at the start, as you would on any published conversation.

Related guides: Transcribe interviews, Record webinar