After releasing version 2.5 of SparkLE and the new SparkLE Plus last week, TC Works, a company that develops and markets professional audio software, has announced an update to SparkME, their free audio editor for Mac OS X.
SparkME is a free version of SPARK, TC Works’ real-time audio editing and processing application. Spark technology offers unlimited undo, an integrated database, a play list section and such processing features as VST Plug-In support. And all of these features are included in SparkME.
The application can be used to record, edit, process and master audio including the preparation of projects for CD burning in SparkME’s Play List, complete with real-time crossfades and iTunes and Roxio Toast support. The QuickTime movie feature enables sound editing for movies with accurate and stutter-free movie playback, according to Ralf Schluenzen, CEO of TC Works. Version 2.5 improves the editing features and speeds up file navigation (projects with multiple audio files now open up to 10 times faster), he added.
Most major audio file formats are supported, from AIFF to WAV and SDII and all available QuickTime codecs. SparkME offers sample rates of up to 192kHz with bit depths up to 32bit. The real-time sample rate conversion enables audio playback and editing of such high resolution files without requiring optional professional audio hardware, Schluenzen said. Plus, SparkME for Mac OS X takes advantage of a lot of the new technologies introduced with the operating system, like Apple’s CoreAudio, he added.
CoreAudio code produces measurably less latency than other operating systems when running multiple applications. Long latency can result in a delay from the time a musician plays a note until they hear it on the computer — particularly annoying to musicians who are trying to record live performances.
You can download SparkME for X at the TC Works Web site. SparkME users can upgrade to SparkLE and SparkLE Plus for Mac OS X at any time. SparkLE, which costs US$19.95 provides more QuickTime features and audio processors as well as real-time VST support; SparkLE PLUS, which has a price tag of $49.95, adds MP3 encoding and a Reverb Plug-In.
SparkME requires a Power Mac G3 or G4 PowerMac running Mac OS X (10.1 or higher, 9.1 needs to be present for installation). SparkLE and SparkLE Plus also support Mac OS 9.x.
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