Mac Shareware

May Mac Shareware

MPEG audio layer-2 or audio layer-3 files can store a 35M track from a music CD in just over 3M of disk space with almost undetectable loss of quality. Playing your favourite music compilation from your PowerBook's hard drive is now a real possibility. This month we look at shareware utilities that can record the music, compress it, and play it back.

For an excellent summary explanation of layer-2I (MP2), layer-3 (MP3), bit rates and all the rest, see the ReadMe file accompanying MPecker Encoder (reviewed below).

Note that, in addition to the shareware mentioned here, Apple's QuickTime 3.0 can play AIFF and layer-2 files, but not layer-3. It can also import audio CD tracks directly, and convert them to movies that are about three times as large as the corresponding MPEG files, yet still only a third of the size of the originals. Since almost everyone has a QuickTime movie player, this could be an adequate solution in some circumstances.

By Steve Cooper

Section Index

Products in this section:

Windows: HomeSite 4.0, GetRight 3.3.3, ToggleMOUSE 4.4.2, TClockEx 1.3.1, Agenda 98 1.32,

OS/2: RAR 2.02, Zip Control,, ZipMe 1.3, Embellish 2.01, MainActor 1.5

Mac: RecordIt 1.3, SoundRecorder 1.0, Track Thief 1.11, MPecker Encoder 1.0b13, MacAMP 1.0b7, MacAMP Lite 1.5

Linux: ProFTPD, Leafnode, WWWThreads, gFTP, Mutt

Other Workshop Files: C++ Files

RecordIt 1.3

The quickest way to convert an audio CD track to an MPEG layer-2 (MP2) file is by using Iomega's RecordIt, designed to facilitate the recording of music files directly to a Zip drive. This feat is made possible by the compression inherent in the layer-2I specification. The layer-2 file is created in one step, and in about half the normal playing time of the track. RecordIt's one-star to four-star recording quality levels represent bit rates of between 112 and 256bps, using 44.1kHz sampling and 16-bit stereo. Line audio from a microphone or record player can also be recorded, with recording time limited only by the capacity of your Zip or hard disk.

RecordIt's layer-2 player incorporates looping, independent volume control, and a timer, as well as a highly useful slider which allows you to move freely about within a single track. There is, however, no equaliser or tone control. Playlists are supported, and it's also possible to play AIFF files, as well as layer-2 files created in other applications. I noted a few cosmetic anomalies using Mac OS 8.5.1, but nothing that interfered with its performance.

The included Decoder extension is not required on a Mac with RecordIt installed, but enables others to play RecordIt files using any QuickTime player such as Apple's Movie Player.

Download the version for your operating system here:

MacOS

Publisher:

Iomega

Price:

Free

Requirements:

Power Macintosh, System 7.5, 16M RAM, 8x CD for recording to Zip drive

Links online:

http://www.iomega.com/software/index.html?recordit

Rating:

SoundRecorder 1.0

In the absence of an integrated recorder such as RecordIt (or if you intend to produce a level-3 file), the first step in the recording process is to capture the CD track data to an AIFF file, using 44.1kHz, 16-bit, stereo sampling for best results. SoundRecorder does this and more.

SoundRecorder works in 'real time', recording sound as it is played through the Mac, either input from a microphone or record player, or played from a CD using the AppleCD Audio Player or equivalent. Recording time therefore equals normal play time, which might be a disadvantage in some circumstances.

As an offset, SoundRecorder uniquely provides input level controls, and by experimenting with these and the Mac's volume control, it is possible to record sounds at a significantly higher level than the original. This can be a lifesaver when recording from less-than-ideal sources. To complement this function, level 'meters' are provided to avoid the risk of distortion.

SoundRecorder writes the recorded data to a temporary file from which it may be replayed and evaluated before the final AIFF file is saved. It is also possible to save in QuickTime movie, uLaw and WAV formats.

Download the version for your operating system here:

Mac

Publisher:

Bernhard jenny

Price:

Free

Requirements:

System 7.x with Sound Manager 3.0; or System 7.5; QuickTime to save sounds as movies

Links offline:

http://dgrwww.epfl.ch/~jenny/

Rating:

Track Thief 1.11

For the fastest possible recording of AIFF files from audio CD tracks, nothing in shareware beats Track Thief. A three-and-a-half-minute track was recorded on my Power Mac 7300/180 in just under 10 seconds, though this rate no doubt depends on the speed of the CD-ROM player (in this case it was 12x).

Track Thief has no options that affect quality, though leading and trailing silence can be stripped. It can save multiple tracks as a single file or separately, but doesn't have a facility to record from line input. It's simple, but it's fast!

Download the version for your operating system here:

Mac OS

Publisher:

Bo Lindbergh

Price:

Free

Requirements:

System 7.x with Sound Manager 3.0; or System 7.5

Links online:

http://www.student.nada.kth.se/~d88-bli/misc/

Rating:

MPecker Encoder 1.0b13

Having saved your CD track as an AIFF file, you now need to encode it to produce the MPEG audio layer-3 file. This is the process that also compresses it by a factor of about 10.

MPecker runs on any Mac OS PowerPC machine, and will encode AIFF files as well as Sound Designer II files and 44.1kHz PCM files. Supported sampling frequencies are 44.1, 48, 32, 24, 22.05 and 16kHz. Bit-rates from 32 to 256 are available, and MPecker can encode mono as well as stereo and Joint Stereo audio files. A very good place to find explanations of all these terms, and the relative merits of the various options, is in the MPecker ReadMe file.

Encoding is reasonably quick; about 1.6 times track playing time on a Power Mac 7300/180.

Download the version for your operating system here:

Mac OS

Publisher:

Rafael Luebbert

Price:

Free

Requirements:

Power Macintosh

Links offline:

http://www.anime.net/~go/mpeckers.html

Rating:

MacAMP 1.0b7

Having recorded a sound input and encoded a layer-2 or layer-3 MPEG file, you need a suitable player. At the time of writing, the best shareware player available is MacAMP, though this is likely to go commercial once out of beta. As it moves through beta stages, MacAMP's features continue to vary. One important caveat of 1.0b7 is that you will need to drag and drop externally created MPEG files onto the MacAMP icon, as the application's Open dialog does not offer an 'all files' option. This was not the case with 1.0b6, so the situation will hopefully be remedied in future releases. (An alternative is to convert the creator and type of your layer-2 and layer-3 files to mAmp and MPG2 or MPG3 respectively.)

Apart from the existence of this temporary glitch, MacAMP is a superb MPEG player, having a full range of controls including volume and balance, looping and random play, and a slider for moving around within a single track. The display also shows the track name and elapsed/remaining time, as well as sampling and bit rates.

A separate window shows the play list, which can be reordered and saved together with individual track playback settings. A third window contains an eight-band graphic equaliser, which is quite functional within the limitations of the format. Plug-ins may provide additional windows such as level meters and spectrum analysers.

A very appealing feature is the availability of dozens of 'skins'; the equivalent of Kaleidoscope 'themes' for the Finder. Each 'skin' provides a unique appearance for the three principal windows, and often special plug-ins as well.

It is also interesting that MacAMP can play AIFF files, individual audio CD tracks or entire CDs directly, and incorporate such items into its playlists. In fact, the full list of supported sound formats is quite impressive.

My informal testing showed that while there is little audible difference between various implementations of the MPEG standards, the combination of SoundRecorder, MPecker, and MacAMP seemed to give the best result by some small and indefinable margin. Your ears may provide a different results!

Download the version for your operating system here:

Mac OS

Publisher:

@soft

Price:

Free while in beta

Requirements:

Power Macintosh 603 or faster for MPEG playback.

Links offline:

http://www.macamp.com

Rating:

MacAMP Lite 1.5

MacAMP Lite is the small brother of MacAMP, lacking the fancy interface and the equaliser. It is a simple drag-and-drop player that can handle Layer II and III MPEG files, AIFF files, and CD tracks directly. It does support play lists, which can include any of the above file types, as well as a long list of other formats. There is an independent volume control, but none of the fancier touches.

After a trial period, a user is encouraged to register for $US5, which removes a restriction on playlist length, and gives access to a set of five 'skins'. This might be a worthwhile investment since MacAMP (not Lite) is almost certain to cost considerably more once out of beta, given its very considerable sophistication. The decoder/player engine is the same in both products.

Download the version for your operating system here:

Mac OS

Publisher:

@soft

Price:

$US5

Requirements:

Power Macintosh 603 or faster for MPEG playback.

Links offline:

http://www.macamp.com

Rating: