 | Apr 10 2009 |
FORMICA Jack OS X 0.82 is FREE, but WireTap Anywhere is $129? Isn't that greedy? My colleagues and I cannot believe that WireTap Anywhere (herein called WTA) still costs $129!! Please consider that Jack OS X 0.82 was just released 3 days ago on April 6, 2009, and it's a very high-quality but FREE open-source WTA competitor app which, like WTA, has been in development since at least 2003. Knowing that, one could conclude that Ambrosia Software (WireTap XXXX's author) is unsupportably greedy for asking $129 for WireTap Anywhere 1.0.4. Oddly enough, v. 1.0.4 inexplicably was the second version the company released today, after v. 1.0.3! I'm guessing that Ambrosia included in v. 1.0.3 some real improvements that have been in the works for some time, and then they decided they wanted to save those upgrades for a version they could release later, when they were all alone in the spotlight without any FREE competitors exposing their greed. I am quite certain that Ambrosia only released this new version of WireTap XXXX (this redacted app name is explained below) today because they wanted to limit the damage done (again) to their market share by the recent FREE release of Jack 0.82, which has really come into its own in the last few versions, and which makes their WTA asking price of $129 seem quite ridiculous to anyone who remembers that Jack OS X is also a great app, so maybe they should download and compare the two! Ambrosia is infamous for these cheesy business shenanigans, but in this case they're made even more shameful and obvious by the lame justification they offered in the "What's New In This Version" section of their VersionTracker.com posting for WTA 1.0.4, which unbelievably reads as follows: "These updates prepare our core Ambrosia productivity tools for the upcoming Mac OS X 10.5.7, as well as improve compatibility with Apple's latest hardware." Does any Mac developer ever release a new version of their software for that first BS reason? And do they ever release updates to fix a hardware incompatibility that NO ONE has complained about on any software review website since their last version was released (which, in this case, was September 2008)? Clearly they just wanted to stop the bleeding that the recent release of Jack OS X inflicted on their market share, and given their dishonorable past business practices, they had no compunction against releasing another pointless update and frivolously marketing WTA on those very same software review websites (which, as you'll see below, are key to their contemptible business plan). Gosh, Ambrosia didn't even claim to fix some of the previous version's bugs, or add one or two new capabilities to this latest version because they're waiting to do that in a future release without their potential customers constantly being reminded that there's a new version available of a FREE app that does the very same things that WTA charges $129 for! Couldn't Ambrosia hide their unscrupulousness any better than that? If you investigate the past of all FOUR VERSIONS of WireTap XXXXX, you'll discover that Ambrosia has a long history of greedy upgrade policies that piss off their existing customers, but that's how they keep adding new customers every year. And just to preempt the character assassination that I expect from Ambrosia after I write this expose, let me first explain that I have never met and I am in no way related to the makers of ANY of the apps mentioned here (other than my use of Jack instead of WTA because it's a great and FREE program), and I am NOT some disgruntled former Ambrosia employee or customer -- I have never bought any of their software because I caught on to their scummy software renaming scheme (explained in a minute) a couple of years ago when I first compared WireTap Pro against Jack and another great audio-input app called Audio Hijack (which charges $16 and $32 for the two versions of their WireTap competitor app). You see, TODAY AMBROSIA SELLS AN AUDIO RECORDING APP CALLED WireTap Studio, AND AN AUDIO-INPUT APP CALLED WireTap Anywhere, WHICH WAS PREVIOUSLY CALLED WireTap Pro, WHICH ONLY SHORTLY BEFORE WAS CALLED SIMPLY WireTap! To help you fully understand Ambrosia's distracting, dishonest and entirely shameful marketing strategy, just surf over to MacUpdate.com (a company that does not cozy up to the software industry as shamefully as VersionTracker) and look at Ambrosia's posting about its WireTap Studio app (which has customer reviews and other types of feedback going back only to 2007, and which, to be honest, was an outstanding audio recording app -- not an audio-INPUT app like WTA -- when I tested it in 2008). Then check out Ambrosia's MacUpdate posting for WireTap Anywhere, the quality of which I cannot conscionably review here because when it was "originally released" (which really means RENAMED) in 2007, I refused to fully test it because of the unethical marketplace behavior that I describe here, and because I could afford to ignore WTA because of the availability of a truly outstanding and FREE alternative in the form of Jack OS X. When you look at WireTap Anywhere's MacUpdate posting you'll see that THE FEEDBACK GOES ALL THE WAY BACK TO 2003 -- 4 years before Ambrosia's own website claims that WireTap Anywhere was first released. This is because WireTap Anywhere was not really a new product in 1997 but was just a RENAMED VERSION OF WireTap Pro, WHICH IN TURN WAS JUST A RENAMED VERSION OF WireTap. Part of Ambrosi's strategy has been that very time they changed the name of their main app Ambrosia used that new name to claim that it was "really a whole new version that was completely rewritten and has a totally new set of capabilities!" In this way they repeatedly justified CHARGING ALL THEIR OLDER (and therefore more professionally settled/rich) CUSTOMERS A SECOND SHAREWARE FEE (if the customer wanted to obtain the newest version), and it gave the company a NEW OPPORTUNITY TO MARKET THEIR "NEW" MAIN APP, and it gave them a new opportunity and (specious) justification to DUPE THE SOFTWARE UPDATE WEBSITES LIKE MacUpdate.com (which first fell for it, then didn't fall for it) AND VersionTracker.com (which originally and to this day turns a blind eye to it) INTO LETTING THEM START OVER WITH A CLEAN HISTORY OF USER FEEDBACK IN ORDER TO ERASE ALL THE OLD NEGATIVE FEEDBACK, AND TO HELP THEM GIVE POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS THE IMPRESSION THAT IT REALLY IS A NEW AND DIFFERENT APP (when all the old users but none of the new users know that, in fact, it is the same old app but with perhaps one more new capability, or maybe even just a different method of graphically organizing it). Non-critics of such disgusting business practices (like probably Ambrosia) call this "cross-grade" marketing, which is the production of several versions of one type of app that all have overlapping capabilities in order to justify a constant though confusing product upgrade cycle which enables the company to force some customers to pay repeatedly while still attracting a bevy of new customers every year. A lot of scumbag companies use this marketing "philosophy," though I'll let you decide which ones they are. Of course, for this to work, the company's apps have to be of sufficiently higher quality than their competition's apps or customers wouldn't put up with that sh!t and your company would slowly whither and die. So, now you know.
(Version 1.0.4) | |
| [ 3 Replies - Reply ] | |
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 | May 13 2009 |
ANONYMOUS [This user review is a copy/paste from another user to our product page at Versiontracker. This is the response we used over there.] Thanks for your response. The release of the update for WireTap Studio, WireTap Anywhere, and Snapz Pro X had absolutely nothing to do with "Jack OS X"'s recent release. It actually fixes a bug in all 3 products introduced by an upcoming version of MacOS X 10.5. To ensure that our products continue working for our customers, we update them to fix bugs in upcoming operating systems as best we can. If Jack OS X works for you, by all means, use it. WireTap Anywhere can do things that Jack OS X cannot, such as aggregate both hardware and software devices into one device, as well as a number of other features. For some people, that may not be worth the price -- for others, it is infinitely worth it. No one is forcing you to pay for our product; if you like Jack OS X, by all means, feel free to use it. As for being "famous for cheesey business shenanigans", I think that's a bit unfair. WireTap was initially a free product, but it was very limited. We came out with WireTap Pro that added a number of valuable features, and it became a product that we charged money for. WireTap Pro was a complete rewrite of the original free WireTap. WireTap Studio, far from being the "same product" was again a complete rewrite of WireTap Pro. WireTap Studio adds some fairly impressive capabilities not found in either of the former products: -- Lossless original recordings -- A built-in, powerful lossless audio editor -- The ability to add Audio Unit effects to your recordings, and tweak them on the fly -- LivePreview(tm) that lets you hear what your recorded audio sounds like in any format/compression setting before you save it -- Advanced scheduled recording features ...and a number of other substantive advances for the product. This is really no different than Adobe doing major upgrades to its product suite, and calling "the same" product CS2, CS3, CS4, etc. Yes, at their heart, the products are "the same", but they add some very powerful features an innovations, which we allow existing customers to upgrade to for a substantial discount. I don't really see how this is "shameful" or any the other charges you've leveled against us. It's very standard. Every software business under the sun works on new versions of their products, and charges for upgrades to major new versions. It's up to the user to decide whether they feel the upgrade is worth it to them or not. Your claims that WireTap Studio is just a "renamed version" of WireTap Pro which is just a renamed version of "WireTap" is just not accurate. You're welcome to download all 3 products and compare their feature set if you like... I think you will find that the differences between the products are huge (and on the back-end, they all are distinct code bases). If you have any other comments or questions, please feel free. Andrew Welch / el Presidente / Ambrosia Software, Inc.
(Version 1.0.4) | |
| Aug 5 2009 |
FORMICA Your defense is to compare your company and its products to Adobe? Wow, you really need to reevaluate your heroes, and perhaps also the expectations of Mac software consumers!
(Version 1.0.4) | |
| Nov 24 2009 |
MINDSET While I agree with you that the price of Wiretap anywhere is ridiculously high, the app itself works very well. Where as the "jack" app you mention might be free, it is an absolute nightmare to get working.
(Version 1.0.5) | |
| Apr 9 2009 |
PLASTERPYRUS ROD76 I guess the developer heard you, it just took about a year! Given that this application was featured in a very recent bundle of applications sold to the public, now let's see if there is any continuity in different version, with different names, for upgrading. Is it free upgrade or a pay for upgrading?
(Version 1.0.3) | |
| [ 1 Reply - Reply ] | |
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| May 13 2009 |
AMBROSIASW WireTap Anywhere is not a replacement or upgrade from WireTap Studio. What you are looking at is a new product added to the WireTap Family. WireTap Studio is it's own self contained application for capturing the best quality audio, offer filters, editing, saving and transferring. While there are a great many similarities between the software, WireTap Anywhere is to be thought of as not a recording application but an audio bridge between the software that the users are currently familiar with and their equipment and other applications on the Mac itself. I hope this clears up any confusion, and as always you can check the Ambrosia website for more answers to your frequently asked questions.
(Version 1.0.4) | |
 | Sep 20 2008 |
TOOL FORCE SOFTWARE Great piece of software, love it. (But it seems to damage ScreenFlow. :-/)
(Version 1.0.1) | |
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| Aug 14 2008 |
ROD76 This is bothersome to me, I assume this product is a niche tool for audio professionals (the price sort of dictates that premise). However, I believe there is some unnecessary ambiguity involving the naming or versioning of this product. My best guess would be a simple: Using the forenamed assumption would require some sort of upgrade path, which there doesn't seem to be. I'm hoping the developer will read this, comment, and hopefully clarify this product.
(Version 1.0.1) | |
| [ 1 Reply - Reply ] | |
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| Dec 22 2008 |
AMBROSIASW We are sorry for the confusion that might have happened from our naming scheme. WireTap was replaced with WireTap Pro, that was indeed it's successor, likewise WireTap Studio then replaced "Pro". Because not only was it an improvement over the original incarnations, but many of the new added features to this family of products became the foundation for what we would like to have in all our audio product. With that the WireTap Family was truly born. WireTap Studio, and WireTap Anywhere. Both of these products are now under the "WireTap Family" name, neither is a replacement or upgrade for the other. If you have any further questions please feel free to check out the Ambrosia Web boards.
(Version 1.0.2) | |
| Aug 14 2008 |
EASER Ow! Audio Hijack Pro is like 25% the cost of this program. What makes WireTap worth the extra $$?
(Version 1.0.1) | |
| [ 1 Reply - Reply ] | |
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| Dec 22 2008 |
AMBROSIASW WireTap Anywhere isn't a product that can be compared to Audio Hijack Pro. Ambrosia's WireTap Studio is a similar product that out performs the competition, and is significantly cheaper than WireTap Anywhere. Both of our products offer a free trial, so, please take a moment to download it and test it out for yourself.
(Version 1.0.2) | |
| Jul 7 2005 |
NATE FRIEDMAN i got it to work, but i had to install wiretap pro after installing wiretap. the reason it wasn't working is because it uses a kernel extension that is incompatible with tiger. wiretap pro has an updated version. the one thing that pro (and audio hijack) have that i want (in a free product) is the ability to record both the mic and mac audio at the same time. oh well, i suppose i can record with sound studio at the same time. :)
(Version 1.0) | |
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| Dec 29 2004 |
ADRIAN B Is this removed now as Ambrosia Software offers WireTap Pro? I can't find WireTap on their freebies page (http://www.ambrosiasw.com/utilities/freebies/).
(Version 1.0) | |
| [ 1 Reply - Reply ] | |
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| Dec 29 2004 |
ADRIAN B I'm answering myself here... It seems all the free stuff is in WireTap Pro, this is what Ambrosia writes in a VT comment: "Everything that was free in the older, free WireTap continues to be free in WireTap Pro. You can use it to your heart's content to record AIFF recordings, and never pay for it."
(Version 1.0) | |
| Dec 23 2004 |
LUNDO Brilliant !! SO simple to use !
(Version 1.0) | |
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| Dec 21 2004 |
P purely brilliant.
(Version 1.0) | |
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| Oct 7 2004 |
ANONYMOUS This amazing sound ripper works flawlessly with the last version of Panter.
(Version 1.0) | |
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| Oct 3 2004 |
ANONYMOUS Thank you for this wonderful tool ... easy to install, easy to use, not victim to feature bloat, and not a glitch in the works. Much easier than my old "loop an audio cable from jack to input" method of recording, and with much better sound quality, of course. Thanks!
(Version 1.0) | |
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| Sep 25 2004 |
TUI Beautifully easy to use, worked first time.... and it's free! :))) You can convert saved files into MP3 files via iTunes, if need be..... (10.3.5)
(Version 1.0) | |
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| Sep 16 2004 |
ANNJACK nice tool for recording music and talkshow on the air. the recording quality is quite good and clear. especially it's a freeware. good tool for mac users.
(Version 1.0) | |
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| Aug 11 2004 |
BLITYPIMP a very good program, great interface, great performance. Very good if you want to convert flash movies and need to grab the audio
(Version 1.0) | |
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 | Jul 4 2004 |
ANONYMOUS I was having the same problem others mention below: clicking record emits a beep and then returns to idle. I re-downloaded the WireTap installer, re-installed, and now it works fine. The installer intalls the app as well as a file called 'AmbrosiaAudioSupport'. i suspect that this file had gone missing on my system and needed to be replaced.
(Version 1.0) | |
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| Jun 13 2004 |
ANONYMOUS Excellent program, does exactly what I need. Thanks for making it free :)
(Version 1.0) | |
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| Jun 10 2004 |
[PTX] I use it for a very long time. Has always worked in Jaguar .. and now in Panther 10.3.4 is still works great. Very useful to record streaming music .. make samples .. or mixes. Great OSX soft ..and 5 stars
(Version 1.0) | |
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| Apr 22 2004 |
CHRILLE It works great on 10.3 and 10.2.8 very simple an d useful for all recordnig.
(Version 1.0) | |
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| Apr 14 2004 |
KOAPS workes perfectly on my OSX 10.3.3
(Version 1.0) | |
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| Apr 10 2004 |
ANONYMOUS I use this with 10.3 and it works fine so the people below must have something wrong with their systems.
(Version 1.0) | |
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| Mar 31 2004 |
BEN i am having the same problem with 10.3; a pop then idle. it just plain doesn't work anymore. and to that, i say boo-urns.
(Version 1.0) | |
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| Mar 29 2004 |
GEOFF it doesn't work with 10.3 or else I'm doing something wrong, though I can't see what. It looks just great on the desktop but when I press record I hear a 'plop' and it returns to idle. It would be just terrific if it did what it claims to be able to do.
(Version 1.0) | |
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| Mar 29 2004 |
EUGENE Simple. Efficient. Does the job. Easy to use. I love it. I have not been this excited about such a simple/useful program since Stickies.
(Version 1.0) | |
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| Mar 18 2004 |
LTOTTOMAN Is there any thing like this for OS9?! If so i REALLY need it. SO if you know if there is for OS9 please E-mali me at Ltottoman@yahoo.com
(Version 1.0) | |
| [ 2 Replies - Reply ] | |
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| Apr 1 2004 |
GOSTCODER Run a cable from your audio out to your audio in and then use Simple Sound or an other app to record your mac's audio. You can get 1/8 inch stereo male-to-male cable for like $5 from Radio Shack or some other electronics store.
(Version 1.0) | |
 | Apr 9 2004 |
ANONYMOUS The trick of wiring the output back into the input works, but be sure to switch off play-through in the sound control panel. AFAIK the only software that allows you to record directly from the Sound Manager (OS 9) is the Mark of the Unicorn Audio System, but it only works with MOTU's products (Audio Desk & Digital Performer). Its a low-level hack which is beyond the scope of most shareware developers (that's a challenge, folks).
(Version 1.0) | |
| Feb 28 2004 |
TOM Used WireTap first time with no problems. Next time I Launched app, It won't record anymore. It just beeps every time I hit the record button. Help file does not help of state why this is happening.....What am I doing wrong?!?
(Version 1.0) | |
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| Feb 12 2004 |
COREY Downloaded, unstuffed, installed and used. NO PROBLEMS!!! Worked perfectly the first time. Thank you for this fine contribution!
(Version 1.0) | |
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| Jan 29 2004 |
JIGGA Great App! thanks to the terminal comand posted below i am now able to enjoy it. Ambrosia Software made the basic ppc program of os9 for osx! Free.
(Version 1.0) | |
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| Jan 4 2004 |
DTP Man is this great utility or what!? Thank you!
(Version 1.0) | |
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| Nov 18 2003 |
ANONYMOUS My previous comment was wrong, the problem is not with the WireTap application installer but with Stuffit Expander. In a terminal window do a chmod -R 755 WireTap.mpkg. Works great.
(Version 1.0) | |
| [ 4 Replies - Reply ] | |
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| Dec 11 2003 |
ANONYMOUS Sorry for being terminal unsavy, but I'm not exactly sure about how to implement your command from the terminal window, since it keeps telling me no such file exists. Would appreciate your help! | |
| Jan 6 2004 |
TASHA I've also had this problem with Stuffit Expander. I'm not familiar with Terminal but I've tried opening Terminal and typing "chmod -R 755 WireTap.mpkg" but I must be missing a step. Is there any way I could get a little more direction with this? Thank you so much.
(Version 1.0) | |
| Mar 28 2004 |
MADMACZED Yup, I've got this problem too. I tried typing "chmod -R 755 /WireTap.mpkg" instead while the WireTap.mpkg was on my HD, but that didn't work. Pleeeeeeease heeeeeeeeelp soooooomeone!
(Version 1.0) | |
| Mar 28 2004 |
MADMACZED Hang on a second... Try using OS9's Stuffit Expander. It worked for me! | |
| Nov 17 2003 |
ANONYMOUS Downloaded the file and extracted with Stuffit Expander. When I try to install it I get the following message: "The Installer Package "WireTap" cannot be opened. The postinstall script was either not executable or not readable." Must not be compatible with dual processors or Mac OS 10.2.8 or the distribution is corrupt.
(Version 1.0) | |
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| Jul 22 2004 |
ANONYMOUS Running 10.2.8 got same response from install. Tried downloading program from varied sources. No luck.
(Version 1.0) | |
| Nov 17 2003 |
GORDYMAC Truly a lifesaving app. I now don't have to go through QuickTime to extract audio. I can just play it and have WireTap record.
(Version 1.0) | |
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| Aug 18 2003 |
JTMAN Great app......using this to make available streaming audio teachings to blind/hearing impaired persons. Prior had to use tape out of sound jack, this is MUCH easier! And no one can argue with the price!
(Version 1.0) | |
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| Jul 26 2003 |
ANONYMOUS Archie - AppleScript your timer. A sample timer AppleScript is included with the download.
(Version 1.0) | |
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| Jul 21 2003 |
ARCHIE GRANOT Thanks for a excellent little program. And for free. A timer would be appreciated.
(Version 1.0) | |
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| Jul 12 2003 |
DIGGI this is by far the best tool i have found to record audio played on my Mac to include purchased utilities! hint: very easy way to record and convert "protected" audio files.
(Version 1.0) | |
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| Jul 10 2003 |
DAN010484 Absolutely brilliant! Couldn't be easier to use, and the results are completely flawless. One of the best applications I've used for a while. It'd be nice if it did include built-in MP3 and AAC support, but I can't see most Mac users having problems with this. AND IT'S FREE!
(Version 1.0) | |
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| Jul 10 2003 |
JACQUES Simply encode the AIFF file with iTunes, to convert to ACC or MP3.
(Version 1.0) | |
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| Jul 9 2003 |
ANONYMOUS KARMA Just a note - the description of WireTap is a little confusing; you can't use it to record just one program, which means that any other sounds will get recorded along with whatever music / DVD / whatever you're trying to save. This is the other big advantage to Audio Hijack / Audio Hijack Pro, which I use frequently. If you want to save just one program, I'd recommend you check them out.
(Version 1.0) | |
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| Jul 9 2003 |
ANDREW WELCH Mark -- glad you like WireTap. You can do timed recording with WireTap using the included AppleScripts. It is true that WireTap doesn't include support for sound-altering plugins, but we didn't think most people wanted such a thing; they merely wanted to capture the audio that was playing. The .mp3 encoding issue was explained in the online help; mp3 encoding is not free, and the minimum possible license is $15,000 a year, which obviously makes little sense for a free product. :) We might enhance WireTap further, adding such things as .mp3/AAC encoding, etc., but we'd have to charge for it.
(Version 1.0) | |
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| Jul 8 2003 |
MRANDRE Awesome. Nothing fancy, but it works stupidly easy, and it's free. And it works. I had been looking for a recording of a performance I had heard on NPR some months ago. So tonight, I pulled up the Real stream, hit record, and there it is, in iTunes. DIY joy. Awesome.
(Version 1.0) | |
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| Jul 8 2003 |
ANONYMOUS It's great. Does what it says and it's free! The file size isn't as bad as I thought it'd be either: 55mins at 145MB aiff file.
(Version 1.0) | |
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| Jul 8 2003 |
MARK Where Audio Hijack and Audio Hijack Pro include a host of features like MP3 encoding, built-in timed recordings, VST and AudioUnit effects plug-ins and application-specific recording, WireTap does not. WireTap has its price going for it, and applescript support, but not much else. Hats off to Ambrosia anyhow.
(Version 1.0) | |
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