If you’re concerned about the lack of compatibilty between SoundJam and Mac OS X, there is another alternative besides Apple’s own iTunes. The folks at Panic have been working hard on the OS X version of Audion, their digital music playing and recording software, according to Cabel Sasser of Panic.
“Our recent PR3 release has made Audion the first Mac OS X program ever to support true, customizable Quartz interfaces,” Sasser said. “That means that the over 500-plus faces people have made for Audion now work natively — and effortlessly — in the Quartz graphics system under Mac OS X. All the transparency, shadows, glass, smoke, and other graphic effects people have concocted with Audion faces — they now work in real-time, just like we’d always dreamed.”
“Watching a QuickTime movie play live underneath an Audion interface such as Gizmo, is a testament to both the power of Quartz, and the power of Audion,” Sasser said. Like Apple’s free iTunes software, theUS$20 Audion software can be used both to play and encode MP3 audio files.
The software also sports visualizers and other functions similar to iTunes. But there the comparisons end — Audion features a wide range of functionality you won’t find in iTunes or many other Mac MP3 software, including support for different encoding schemes like Fraunhofer, LAME, AIFF, and OGG Vorbis; real-time DJ-style crossfading; Karaoke mode; a waveform-based editor, built-in equalizer, and much more, according to Sasser.
“We’re working on Audion 2.5 right now, which will bring even more interesting features to our Mac OS X release,” he added.
You can get more info or download PR3 release at the Audion Web site.
Note: When you purchase something after clicking links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. Read our affiliate link policy for more details.