Understanding Audio Capture Apps (1st post)

[amy.damnit]

Hi, my name is Amy and this is my 1st post here at MacRumors!

About Me:
I am a recent switcher to Mac, and an avid audiophile. I currently record somewhere between 17-20 radio shows/week on my PC's and Macs which amount to around 25-30 hours of audio!!!

Background:
I have been using Audacity, but am very frustrated with it on my MacBook and MacMini, because it constantly crashes and is very buggy on OS X!!! (This is a shame, because on my Windows XP boxees, it works nicely.) I have informally joined the Audacity team as their chief Mac-tester (read "whiner"!!) and they don't have any quick answers...

So I decided to join MacRumors to get a different perspective!

Questions:
What exactly is the difference between Audio Hijack Pro and Wiretap and Audacity??

Why would a person want to use one versus the others?

*NOTE: Saving $30-$40 is not the issue. Being able to record anything that comes through the soundcard on my Macs as a "raw" file, do basic editing, and save the edit files in a Lossy (MP3) or Lossless (WAV or FLAC) format is the end goal.

If I could get Audacity to work on my Mmacs I'd be content with it, however it is all but unusable on OS X, especially on my MacBook.

Before i shell out $40 for Audio HiJack Pro, I figure I should understand what each app does and why I would want to use one versus the other!

Any help would be welcome!!

Thanks,


Amy

 

[ChrisA]

I am a recent switcher to Mac, and an avid audiophile. I currently record somewhere between 17-20 radio shows/week on my PC's and Macs which amount to around 25-30 hours of audio!!!

Is this an analog audio signal that come out as line level from a tuner or receiver? Or is this an Internet "radio" program that comes in over the network.

If this is an analog signal then (because you say "avid audiophile") you might want to invest in some better hardware than th built-in audio interface. The sky is the limit here but $100 will go a long ways past what you have.

As for software, Quicktime Pro or Garage Band is what you need.

Now if this is data that comes in over the network, I would think that simply saving the bits would be a much better way to go. Converting to audio then re-digitizing is the long way around and incompatible with "avid audiophile".

 

[amy.damnit]

Is this an analog audio signal that come out as line level from a tuner or receiver? Or is this an Internet "radio" program that comes in over the network.

I haven't had the desire to fiddle with analog since it is such a pain on a Mac. (Windows is plug-n-play.)

Right now, I record entirely off the Internet on my Macs, so it is digital.

If this is an analog signal then (because you say "avid audiophile") you might want to invest in some better hardware than th built-in audio interface. The sky is the limit here but $100 will go a long ways past what you have.

I'll have to pick your brain on this later!

As for software, Quicktime Pro or Garage Band is what you need.

They are too rinky-dink for me - esp Garage Band.

I like Audacity except it is too unstable. And I hear Audio Hijack is maybe even better. (Thus my post.)

Now if this is data that comes in over the network, I would think that simply saving the bits would be a much better way to go. Converting to audio then re-digitizing is the long way around and incompatible with "avid audiophile".

I don't follow you on this.

I currently capture my broadcasts using SoundFlower and Audacity. How am I supposed to bypass the sound aspect, if for no other reason than I need to HEAR what I am recording...


Amy

 

[cleetusvandamm]

I had OSX issues after installing Audiohijack..
Im liking Wiretap