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Review
The Analogue Ripper
Issue: 3.5 (May/June 2005)
Author: Toby Rush
Article Description: No description available.
Article Length (in bytes): 4,063
Starting Page Number: 10
RBD Number: 3506
Resource File(s): None
Related Link(s): None
Known Limitations: None
Full text of article...
Hotwork's digital audio recording program, The Analogue Ripper, has an icon that describes the program very well: a green, three-eyed, pug-nosed, Elvis-haired, dental-hygiene-challenged ogre holding a bloody knife in his teeth. It's the perfect icon for a program that is downright ugly, but is so fantastically powerful and intuitive that you're happy it's on your side.
The Analogue Ripper (TAR) is a standard digital audio program, allowing you to record audio coming into the computer (through the internal microphone or any available line audio inputs). As an audio program, it is set up with a specific goal in mind: to let you rip audio you have in non-digital formats like cassette or LP.
The main window contains all the pertinent settings up front, rather than hiding anything in separate windows or menus. TAR streams incoming audio directly to disk to maximize recording length, and the main window allows the user to choose the file in which the incoming recording is being stored. Recording settings, including audio sources and sample rate, are adjustable here, as well as a set of recording timers. Users can get an immediate reading on audio levels with left and right audio meters on the right hand side of the window. Standard recording controls are available, as well as a volume meter for playing the audio through the computer's speakers.
A few non-descript controls in this window, however, allow you to harness TAR's real power. First, TAR allows you to compensate for LPs played at incorrect speeds (for example, a 45 RPM record played at 78 RPM). Second, TAR allows you to set a signal level that delineates "silence," allowing you to have the recording automatically stop after a specified interval of silence. A menu item allows you to set scheduled recordings so you can record while you're away.
Once a recording is made TAR's editing window appears, displaying a graphic view of the waveforms just recorded and providing some more powerful options. In this window, the user can automatically divide the recording into tracks, each of which will be stored in separate audio files on the disk (making the resulting recordings much more iTunes friendly). Better yet, this process can be done automatically with the "Track Hunter" feature, which determines track delineation by listening for silence (as defined in the recording window) and maintaining a user-defined minimum intertrack interval and track length.
TAR's interface is extremely intuitive; the user can get to work digitizing a wax collection without so much as opening the Read Me file. Navigating the waveform in the editing window is made much easier by displaying track names and boundaries right in the window. The only thing lacking is a little interface polish: the sliders and custom controls don't match with the standard Aqua look and feel, though they are clear and easy to use. Spacing between menus and other interface elements is sporadic, but nothing is illegible or overcrowded.
The extremely minor interface roughness is hardly a reason to ignore this program: it's a must for anyone with a pre-digital record collection and a lot of hard disk space.
IN BRIEF Product The Analogue Ripper 2.0 Manufacturer Hotwork Software Price $29.95 Contact Info http://www.hotwork.org/TAR/MainTAR.html Pros Extremely intuitive, very powerful Cons Slightly unpolished interface Rating (1.0-5.0): 4.9
End of article.
Article copyrighted by REALbasic Developer magazine. All rights reserved.
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