Nope, if you *really* want to record at low quality, you can... we provide the option, but recommend against it in most cases (yours would be an exception, of course). Hard drives are cheap.
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Exclusive Preview: Ambrosia Software's WireTap Studio
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Nope, if you *really* want to record at low quality, you can... we provide the option, but recommend against it in most cases (yours would be an exception, of course). Hard drives are cheap.
I've been an Audio Hijack Pro user for years now, but editing is a must and I find their Fission to be somewhat lacking. This app looks like it might be a "complete solution" and the Live Preview is definitely the icing on the cake. A couple of questions though:
Storing all that uncompressed audio must eat up HD space, right? I record a lot of audio -- not songs, but more like hour-long radio shows and such.
Does this app require any hacks (or "haxies") to the OS? Audio Hijack Pro can function without haxies (APE) as long as you let it launch the app for you. With APE installed it can hijack the audio from any already running app. I hate hacks to the OS that might break something (either the OS or the audio app), so I use Audio Hijack Pro without APE.
Storing all that uncompressed audio must eat up HD space, right? I record a lot of audio -- not songs, but more like hour-long radio shows and such.
Does this app require any hacks (or "haxies") to the OS? Audio Hijack Pro can function without haxies (APE) as long as you let it launch the app for you. With APE installed it can hijack the audio from any already running app. I hate hacks to the OS that might break something (either the OS or the audio app), so I use Audio Hijack Pro without APE.
It's actually not uncompressed, but it is losslessly compressed, so it doesn't use up as much hard drive space as you might think... and hard drive space is only getting cheaper and bigger. For things like radio shows (which you'd generally record via a scheduled session), you can just turn it off if you like.
No, it does not use APE or any Haxies to operate, and you can record applications that are already running without needing to launch them from application as you need to with AHP (unless you install the APE variant of it).
very impressive
Wow... when i first clicked i was hesitant and figured it'd be some ultra-professional software i'd never have a use for... but you weren't kidding at the LivePreview feature... that's one of the best things i've ever seen... you've sold me for sure... great job
Wow... when i first clicked i was hesitant and figured it'd be some ultra-professional software i'd never have a use for... but you weren't kidding at the LivePreview feature... that's one of the best things i've ever seen... you've sold me for sure... great job
How will WT Studio handle timers? Are they tied to iCal (I thought they were for WTP, but not sure)? I've used AHP and the timers are built-in, which is handy for my usage - I don't want to clutter iCal with recording-related stuff.
Also, AHP can record audio from multiple apps simultaneously while keeping the recordings distinct (i.e. no merging of audio). This is key for me, as I have timers kicking off recordings from different audio apps that occur at the same time. This review seemed to indicate that WTP had problems keeping audio from different apps separate in recordings. Is this still the case (heck, was it ever the case?)? If so, will WT Studio address this?
Thanks for the info!
Also, AHP can record audio from multiple apps simultaneously while keeping the recordings distinct (i.e. no merging of audio). This is key for me, as I have timers kicking off recordings from different audio apps that occur at the same time. This review seemed to indicate that WTP had problems keeping audio from different apps separate in recordings. Is this still the case (heck, was it ever the case?)? If so, will WT Studio address this?
Thanks for the info!
WireTap Studio doesn't depend on iCal (as WireTap Pro did), but it does allow you to export the scheduled recordings to iCal if you desire.
WireTap Studio can do exactly what you want, it can record from multiple applications simultaneously, whilst keeping the audio streams separate.
I think after you try WireTap Studio, you will be pleasantly surprised.
Absolutely fantastic piece of software. I love the use of Core Audio. All this really is is non destructive editing (read Logic, etc) for the consumer. Beautifully done. I love the live preview feature. I really think you just upped the ante for even the more expensive audio apps.Well, as a quick example, you can't do anything like this with AHP/Fission.
Notice what's going on... we're previewing audio from iTunes (this is our LivePreview technology we've filed patents on), hearing what it sounds like compressed before it's ever recorded, then changing the compression on the fly (we could even change the compressor, from AAC to mp3 if we wanted to), adding a few effects on the fly, and then recording it at a very low quality.
Then we decide "Crap, those effects sound bad, and we really need it to sound better than the quality we recorded it at." So in the editor, we just turn off the effects we recorded with, and then boost up the quality. And there it is.
Granted, we changed this immediately after recording it, but you could come back 3 months later and do the same thing. Never have to re-record audio again!
Some other things you can do in WireTap Studio (that you cannot do with the Audio Hijack/Fission combo) that might interest you: crop losslessly -- normalize in realtime -- play with the format/compressor on the fly -- losslessly delete audio -- losslessly silence audio -- and of course the LivePreview feature is pretty cool.
And yes, there's more... just a taste.
WTP has long been one of my fave and indispensable Mac programs - I must have made hundreds of recordings off MySpace (for unreleased songs) and radio broadcasts over the last two years. Now that the new studio version can record multiple streams simultaneously, I'll likely stick with it exclusively. And the LivePreview feature looks awesome, worth the upgrade $ by itself. Looking forward to the release!
Someone mentioned earlier wanting to capture video - is there *any* real Mac substitute to WMRecorder? SnapzPro's not what I'm looking for, what I want is a program that'll instantly recognize that a streaming video is playing online and start to download/capture it. It's seriously almost the only thing I use Windows for...
Someone mentioned earlier wanting to capture video - is there *any* real Mac substitute to WMRecorder? SnapzPro's not what I'm looking for, what I want is a program that'll instantly recognize that a streaming video is playing online and start to download/capture it. It's seriously almost the only thing I use Windows for...
I'm probably be buying this when it becomes available. I downloaded WireTap Pro to test, and used it to record audio from a recording session yesterday, and it was great. However, my one beef with it is it doesn't seem to support third party audio hardware, like the MOTU 2408mk3. Hopefully this version will--if so, sign me up.
Will there be an upgrade offer for Wire Tap Pro owners?
Yes, this was mentioned in the article itself and in the comments.
arn
Nice show
The demo movies are fancy and have interested me in the WireTap Studio (even with my licenses to WireTap Pro and Audio Hijack Pro and Fission).
In one of your clips, you show previewing from a snippet of _Deliverance_. Is this a QT movie and are the effects piped through QT player or can WTS do QT clips?
As a comment, what you are demoing with the video snippet might give Ambrosia a sense of an entirely different market. Audio editing in FCP is doable but painful. If WTS existed as a FCP plug-in for the audio layer, Ambrosia might see an entirely new market open up.
Of course, such a plug-in would easily compete at, say, a $500 (US) price tag but that would mean folks like me would buy the standalone and import into FCP.
I know this may be premature, but what do you imagine pricing will be like, including upgrade/crossgrade pricing?
Given the apparent quality of WTS, I have renewed confidence in Ambrosia.
Well, as a quick example, you can't do anything like this with AHP/Fission.
[...........]
And yes, there's more... just a taste.
The demo movies are fancy and have interested me in the WireTap Studio (even with my licenses to WireTap Pro and Audio Hijack Pro and Fission).
In one of your clips, you show previewing from a snippet of _Deliverance_. Is this a QT movie and are the effects piped through QT player or can WTS do QT clips?
As a comment, what you are demoing with the video snippet might give Ambrosia a sense of an entirely different market. Audio editing in FCP is doable but painful. If WTS existed as a FCP plug-in for the audio layer, Ambrosia might see an entirely new market open up.
Of course, such a plug-in would easily compete at, say, a $500 (US) price tag but that would mean folks like me would buy the standalone and import into FCP.
I know this may be premature, but what do you imagine pricing will be like, including upgrade/crossgrade pricing?
Given the apparent quality of WTS, I have renewed confidence in Ambrosia.
Sorry to be a bit negative as well. It would have made a better impression to announce this on your own website instead Mac Rumors. And not to readily go along with other people's comparasion to Audio Hijack. Also, both times I tried WireTap it either crashed within seconds (yesterday) or even took down the entire system (a year or so ago). So here goes:
I only see Ambrosia touting the new editing features. Great, so make an audio editor that blows Fission out the water. I don't like it anyway.
But ditch the recording part, which still relies on a kext and is therefore less user friendly than Audio Hijack.
Oh, and make the interface less grey/more standard (please don't tell me this is Leopard). It looks easy to use but real ugly. I think the last time I saw screws on screen was some DOS mod tracker...
I only see Ambrosia touting the new editing features. Great, so make an audio editor that blows Fission out the water. I don't like it anyway.
But ditch the recording part, which still relies on a kext and is therefore less user friendly than Audio Hijack.
Oh, and make the interface less grey/more standard (please don't tell me this is Leopard). It looks easy to use but real ugly. I think the last time I saw screws on screen was some DOS mod tracker...
If this is ALAC, and can't you can't set it to AIFF, I'll have to stay clear of the application. The usual container for it relies on index tables that are written on closing the file, so the whole recording will become unusable if WireTap crashes before finishing. I've been bitten by this using Nicecast and won't take that risk again.
http://justool.blogspot.com/2007/01/contain-your-losses.html
Please send me your crash logs -- I'm very surprised to hear you say that you've had WireTap Pro crash on you, we haven't seen crash reports from users in a very long time.
User-friendliness is one of the reasons why people generally seem to like our products. I'm not sure how you think using Apple-documented and sanctioned APIs is less "user friendly" than sub-launching apps with hacked CoreAudio frameworks or patching applications with APE?
You mean like all of the other audio programs out there that use standard interfaces, right?
Seriously, try WireTap Studio when it is released. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.
> Please send me your crash logs
Can't find one in CrashReporter/
>I'm not sure how you think using Apple-documented and sanctioned APIs is less "user friendly" than sub-launching apps with hacked CoreAudio frameworks or patching applications with APE?
The friendly part refers to installation and the fact that I see no reason to take into the kernel what can be done in user space. No idea how bad of a hack Audio Hijack is, though.
> You mean like all of the other audio programs out there that use standard interfaces, right?
I don't use that many. Just register a "no" vote, maybe everyone else will like it.
> Seriously, try WireTap Studio when it is released. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.
Can't wait.
Please adress my ALAC concern until then, it really ate an important recording.
Can't find one in CrashReporter/
>I'm not sure how you think using Apple-documented and sanctioned APIs is less "user friendly" than sub-launching apps with hacked CoreAudio frameworks or patching applications with APE?
The friendly part refers to installation and the fact that I see no reason to take into the kernel what can be done in user space. No idea how bad of a hack Audio Hijack is, though.
> You mean like all of the other audio programs out there that use standard interfaces, right?
I don't use that many. Just register a "no" vote, maybe everyone else will like it.
> Seriously, try WireTap Studio when it is released. I think you will be pleasantly surprised.
Can't wait.
Please adress my ALAC concern until then, it really ate an important recording.
