Proteron offered a glimpse of things to come last week when cofounder Mathew Caughron walked me through N2MP3 Pro.
N2MP3 Pro, which is G4-savvy and will be MP-enabled in the near future, features several different MP3 encoders to choose from. In addition to the Fraunhofer MP3 codec, users can also encode using the MPegger codec, the open-source LAME encoder, and MPEG-2 audio. Support for the new Ogg Vorbis format is also planned.
To make your encoding options easier, N2MP3 builds in common settings presets that use different encoders at different bit rates for optimal sound, size, and other specifications.
Another feature of N2MP3 is its ability to do real-time encoding of live audio. Although there were problems in the demo with the beta version Caughron showed, the final product will allow for MP3 encoding from any live audio source such as a microphone, DAT, or MiniDisc.
N2MP3 Pro will be available in November for between $35 and $50. Upgrading from a previous version will be $14.95.