Saturday, February 7, 2015

Audio Hijack 3.0 w/screen pic

Audio Hijack v3.0 is the latest version and the change is to use a graphic approach to the recording units.  This is specifically not about recording if you think of it as some guy in front of a mixing console with a million knobs on it.  This step is specifically about a raw capture of the audio signal and with no modification of any kind unless you choose to add them with this software.

So the object is to capture the data and the two blocks on the left show it will capture System Audio (i.e. any sound the computer makes and that includes beeps if someone messages you while you're doing it).  The second block is for USB Audio and this is the path from the mixer with the guitar and other instruments.

The paths from those blocks merge at the Recorder block where the data will be written to an AIFF file and this is a good choice as it is lossless and it is not compressed (i.e. it's the purest form of recorded audio ... but ... the files take 10 MB a minute so every mobile phone in the world would explode if they used this format rather than dinky MP3 files).

The Recorder can also save in MP3 format if that is your preference but I strongly caution you to capture your audio at the highest possible audio quality first.  If you want to make an MP3 copy later then all is good but you will still have your pristine AIFF master.  You can always make an MP3 from an AIFF but you can never do it the other way around as an MP3 has only 10% of the original audio material and the song it makes only sounds similar because of some very clever software.

The problem I am trying to solve is to get the recording levels reasonably close.  Right now the System Audio is much louder than the signal from the USB Audio so the guitar gets drowned out even though it is rippin' loud to hear it from the speakers.  This sort of thing is why recording can get a wee bit exasperating at times.

Audio Hijack is from Rogue Amoeba Software - I use three of their products, Nicecast, Audio Hijack, and Fission and all rate five stars for quality and performance.  There is no discount for spamming Rogue Amoeba's name; I'm simply appreciative of inexpensive high-function software and they deliver it.


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