Great little program when you need to slow down a musical passage. I don't use it too much anymore, but actually used it last night to slow down part of one of *my own* guitar solos so I could learn how to play it! lol
I have used this for some years to speedup hearbooks and other audio content. ASD was the best tool available; even at 200% the sound is easy to understand and and just slightly skewed. But very good slow-down / speed-up algorithm are nowadays available in many different video- video and audio players, like VLC, MplayerX and Vox. I have ditched ASD for VLC, which has in my opinion an even better speed-up algorithm, allows 4x speed up plus a more modern GUI; and is also free.
I use ASD, either the desktop or the iPhone version, daily to learn traditional tunes. I've tried the others that previous reviewers have suggested and I always come back to ASD. Ironically, the reasons I always come back are the same reasons that some don't like the program: The interface is not especially Mac-like, but it is perfect for ASD. Pretty much everything you need is displayed in an uncluttered, logical fashion in a single window. I find ASD very intuitive and easy to use. There aren't a lot of features like tablature, multiple markers and so on, but for someone who wants to learn tunes by ear it is perfect.
Different users have different needs, and ASD probably is not the best choice for some. It is, however, the best for me. The only way to know is to download it and try it out.
As a cellist, I think this is a terrific program and highly recommend it. I am a long-time Mac user, and find the interface very intuitive and easy to use. You drag a trac from iTunes and then simply change the playback speed by adjusting the slide position. What could be simpler for dissecting a difficult passage? A great value for $45. Also, Rolf Nilsson of Roni music immediately sent me instructions for migrating my registered copy to my new Mac, the kind of personal service I was pleasantly surprised to get from the head of the company.
I tried ASD on a friend's computer and I am not amused.
I am myself a computer expert on Mac (via PDP11 and Unix), a bass-trombonist, Jazz and Salsa arranger in my spare time.
Musicians do not waste your time with a person who is a brilliant
programmer but so so on as a developper of a users friendly interface. I am thinking to try and buy Transcribe! which is a very
good program and not so expensive. That is my two cents.
Have a nice day. Greetings from the Netherlands.
Frank Rojer
***..
MSWFUJOWDFFYC I'm impressed by the quality with which ASD is able to manipulate pitch and speed. Of all the programs I've used, the sound quality on ASD is one of the best.
From a user interface standpoint, ASD is nothing short of an attack on everything that is good and decent in the world. The UI is an unmitigated disaster. I honestly can't imagine how it could be much worse. For this, they have taken quite a bit of criticism over the years, and rightfully so. Someone at Roni must really love it though because they've had the same horrible turd of an interface now for years.
The mind reels at how much more money they would make with a decent interface, and if they'd sell ASD as an AU and/or VST plug-in.
The folks at Roni are geniuses in pitch manipulation and complete retards otherwise. Please, guys, PLEASE come into the 21st century!
I'm impressed by the quality with which ASD is able to manipulate pitch and speed. Of all the programs I've used, the sound quality on ASD is one of the best.
From a user interface standpoint, ASD is nothing short of an attack on everything that is good and decent in the world. The UI is an unmitigated disaster. I honestly can't imagine how it could be much worse. For this, they have taken quite a bit of criticism over the years, and rightfully so. Someone at Roni must really love it though because they've had the same horrible turd of an interface now for years.
The mind reels at how much more money they would make with a decent interface, and if they'd sell ASD as an AU and/or VST plug-in.
The folks at Roni are geniuses in pitch manipulation and complete retards otherwise. Please, guys, PLEASE come into the 21st century!
A very cool program, but i don't have enough use for it to buy. 8^(
Can't say much about the user interface, myself since i haven't used it to the extent that problems leap out.
Developer: I would like to lend my voice to previous reviewers' calls for a major interface upgrade. There should be some way to access the iTunes playlists from within the program. Secondly, the windows should be resizable; in the sense of having corners that can be dragged. Furthermore, there is no way to search within larger playlist. Overall, there is way to much clutter and it doesn't feel Mac-like whatsoever. Unfortunately, since I feel that I am constantly fighting with the interface it kills the user experience for me. Like the last reviewer, I see the program being actively updated without the UI problems being addressed. On a positive note, the program is second to none at its primary purpose of slowing the track down and changing pitch. Developer, please do something. I am trying very hard to love this program.
Request to Developer: PLEASE FIX THE TERRIBLE USER INTERFACE, OR GET SOMEONE TO DO IT FOR YOU!
The functionality is GREAT and unmatched, but the more I use this program the more I realize it's extremely user-hostile.
Look at a program like WireTap Studio for an example. How about a waveform of the track so we can visually set start and stop points?
There are so many problems, I can't begin to list them all. The playlist needs to be a separate window, resizable, sortable the same way an iTunes playlist is. USEFUL.
I need this program to work FOR me. The developer updates it regularly, and regularly IGNORES these issues.
please HELP US
Another musicians comment.
Quicktime can't do what ASD can do. It's just not as easy to loop, have presets and so on. There's no Slow down types in Quicktime. This program is meant for TRANSCRIBING. (An art that most musicians don't do alot of these days... for some reason.)
You can also practice along a section of a tune by looping a section at frame accurate resolution. This means that you can loop a section and nudge the start and end points just right so you can practice a section along with it in perfect time. As it loops back to the start point you can adjust it so it's in complete time so you don't break the flow of the pulse. If you don't know what I'm talking about pick up an instrument and try practicing a section looping in quicktime. Good Luck.
In ASD, you can speed it up bit by bit without having to render it. Or try speeding it up in quicktime. Good luck since the slider is small and jumps in huge increments.
Amadeus is NOT a TRANSCRIBING tool. Nowhere on the website does it say that Amadeus is great for transcribing. Thats because it's not. It specifically says "Amadeus Pro is a powerful multitrack audio editor...". ASD is NOT multitrack audio editor because it's not supposed to be.
In actuality I shouldn't be comparing Quicktime with Amadeus with ASD because these three apps are in three different categories. If anything you should have all three of these pieces of software.
Quicktime to pull the audio from a movie , Amadeus to edit out dialog and keep only the score, and ASD to transcribe the score easily.
ASD is a musicians tool made to do musicians things. This is NOT a tool to make cool effects or to edit out a sax solo. It's supposed to help you hear sax solo at various tempos.
Try transcribing "Koko" or "Shaw Nuff" by Charlie Parker (if you know who he is) and you'll quickly realize that Quicktime, and Amadeus don't cut it... because they weren't meant to do what ASD was meant to do.
Tried this program...Loved it.
Tried Amadeus Pro...Love it more. Bought it. You can't really go wrong with this one if all you want to in change pitch and speed. Want to do more well...Figure it out.
I like Amazing Tune Slow Downer for its simplicity. However, I wish their instructions for saving slowed down tunes to a folder were more step by step. e.g.
complete with examples. I am just learning my way around my new iMac and need all the help I can get.
another professional musician's opinion here. this program has been my constant secret-weapon in prepping for auditions. nothing matches it's power or features.
i've said this before. the interface really needs a LOT of Mac OS X modernization. i wish the developer would spend some time on it or partner with someone who would.
MOK.IN TOUCH is out of touch. This is a great program that does exactly the right things for musicians who like to transcribe fast or difficult passages. Quicktime Pro will do similar things, but is awkward and imprecise, whereas ASD allows for very precise control over speed, pitch, looping and so on. I think that most of the negative comments I have seen here are the expression of ignorance (I mean that in the nicest possible way). As a professional musician who does a lot of transcribing, I highly recommend it. I have Quicktime Pro and it doesn't cut it for this kind of thing. The new version is a great improvement.
It works fine on my G4 and my old G3.
Can't take any software that is over priced and also doesn't work. I thought this newer version was going to be better. No, it isn't. It doesn't work in my G4 anyway. Other than TimeStreach, if you have QuickTime Pro, you can go to menu bar/window/AV control, then you can do everything exactly as this software can do. You can pause the music and slide the control back to find your note instantly. If you have paid for QuickTime Pro already, why bother to pay for something else again to do the same thing you already have paid.
That's the way I see it!!!
BTW, Amadeus doesn't do the same thing.
I've tried to use this. It looks great, features are great...but it just keep on stopping and telling me to lower the setting under 'General Setting'. How low can it go? It just keeps on doing the same thing over and over again. What a turn off.
If I have to pay that price, I'd prefer to buy 'TimeStreach' 3 times. TimeScreatch has only a 'PAUSE' button less than I want. It does everything just fine for me for 1/3 of the price.
This software goes to trash for me.
I just noticed that Apple has once again stolen a third party idea and built it in to the OS. QuickTime Player can now do the same "Time-Stretch" without changing the pitch. No EQ feature except bass and treble, but just thought I'd point it out. It is kind of annoying for developers I'm sure, that they take all these shareware things and build them in.
QuickTime has this "slowdown" functionality built-in, for free, just open your files in QuickTIme Player and open the A/V window to change the playback speed, it's been a feature of QT for a while they just put an interface on it recently.
That being said, ASD's slowdowner is of a much higher quality than QuickTime's, just wish they'd clean the interface up, it's a cluttered mess. Not very MacOS X savvy interface design.
The core functionality is great however. Works as advertised.
This is a great little app unless you buy your music on itunes. It won't play back anything that was bought legitimately through itunes. I know there is a way around it but I don't want to go through the trouble.
This is really funny to read this forum. All these posts about now the program is useless because it only plays a song for a little while then stops or crashes. DUH! That's what the demo version of the software is supposed to do. When you buy it and install the unlock patch, the software works flawlessly. I should know. I own and operate a professional recording studio and use this software at least on a weekly basis with no problems. These folks who claim the software is useless are idiots. They neither read the instructions, nor do they care about legally buying the software. Apparently they are too involved in trying to crack it to make it work. Well, if that's what you're trying to do, then yes, it won't work... give me e break!
The one thing that QT7 doesn't do that ASD *does* is change the pitch without affecting the tempo.
I have mixed feelings about the fact that ASD 2.7.6 won't be able to finagle iTunes songs as before. On the one hand, I'll miss the ability to tweak my songs within the application. But saving them as, say, a QT file, yields audibly choppy results.
Maybe I can do without, then.
I hope there was gonna be some headway made towards fine-tuning ASD's ability to handle mp4 files. Unfortunately, Apples apparent decision to protect their iTunes/iPod audio formatting pretty well guarantees this not happening.
One thing I think is missing is a 'SizzlingKeys' like feature to be used when transcribing music or voice into text or music-notation in another application. This feature would permit the user to play, pause, stop, etc., the sound file in ASD with a nunber of keyboard combinations without having to leave the active 'scribing' application.
If you want a full-featured audio editor, go elsewhere. If you really need the functionality this app provides, it's worth every penny.
I wish it had a waveform view for precise selection of start- and end-points. Perhaps more buttons and less reliance on obscure hotkeys.
I use this software for a living for 4 years now and i assure you, I'ts the best app of its kind on the market. I don't mind paying $40 bucks for it; the time and money it saves me, because of its great user interface and overall effeciency is well worth the price.
Thank you, Roni music
Just a note to the developer on pricing. With respect to all the issues that most of us who've been around this business understand only too well (cost of support, upgrades, etc), this software still needs to be priced at about $25, not $40. I personally own perhaps 200 applications (no kidding!), but I tend to buy things because of need but based on price. Not cheap, but an idealist. I do tend to boycott overpriced packages when I can afford to. This is (sadly) one of those I do. Bt then, I am olny a part-time musician, and not having this does not mean my mussical life comes to an abrupt end.
If your package was perhaps $25, you'd likely increase sales by 2-3 times. Additionally, it's likely that a price reduction would put an end to people passing around SNs and hacking you, providing additional revenue. As has been mentioned, the entire iLife suite is only $80 now. People tend to judge prices based on current paradigms.
It's been said before, but that doesn't mean it doesn't need to be said yet again. : )
A very useful product, and it works. I'll be waiting with my plastic in hand! Keep up that Mac development...we love ya!
I am very pleased with Amazing Slow Downer it accomplishes all it promises. It downloaded and installed on my Mac without any trouble.
Thank You
Ronald Brunette
This is the only application that does what I need for my GarageBand songs (pitch shift), but $40 is just too much-GarageBand and the rest of iLife 04 together are only $50!
As an update to the previous post: I think my initial problems were due to upgrading from such an ancient version. I believe the error 138 is Roni's way of limiting usability for unregistered copies. The new version didn't recognize my antique DLL registration files, and caused all of my versions to revert to an unregistered state somehow. Once I got an updated registration package (thanks a lot for the quick save Roni!) and wiped out the old versions/plist files/etc., everything ran perfectly.
Keeping in mind that I switched up from a much earlier copy (2.0.1), I must state right off that the speed and pitch algorithms are far cleaner and smoother than previously. I've been using Amazing X for 2 1/2 years in my private lesson studio for teaching students transcription and ear training skills. I can alter speeds to suit each individual student's needs, change tuning or completely alter the key signature as needed, and even loop segments. The Karaoke mode is vastly improved as well: I can wipe out all but the slightest hints of the original soloist to create background tracks for practicing, and I can save tracks for them to use at home. I've even convinced some of my students to purchase the program for their own use (the app is available for both Mac and Windows platforms), and they're always floored by how easy it is. I just wish I'd had this tool in university; transcriptions would have gone so much faster!
Still some minor stability issues. As I mentioned, I had to wipe out all evidence of previous versions in order to get this one to work. When old code was still floating around on my harddrive, the program installed and ran, but it couldn't retain preferences; every time I started it up it acted like it was the first time, resetting to default settings and presenting the read-me file. I had run into problems with preference settings previously as well, along with issues reading from CD, but the latest install is flawless, leading me to think it was all related to the fossilized copy I had been using. Those performing a first-time installation or upgrading regularly shouldn't have the problems I did.
In closing: if you need a tool for altering speed, pitch, or eliminating leads/vocals from recordings, this is an excellent solution. I highly recommend registering for full functionality. The price is very reasonable, and remember: Roni offers lifetime upgrading (a feature I should have takien advantage of a LONG time ago). And to think that once upon a time I was going to buy Thompson Vocal Eliminator and a speed/pitch adjustable CD system. Roni saved me thousands! Keep up the great work!
I've been using Amazing X since v2.0.1b. The latest version works really well - for the first minute. After 1:02:20 it crashes and spits out an error 138, claiming a "problem reading the file or not enough time to process the audio data" and instructing me to "lower the settings in the General Settings dialog". Trouble is, they can't go any lower. If this baby runs out of processor time and memory on a G4 800 with 1Gb there's a problem... Keep working on it!
All .pkg installer packages should be stored in a disk image (.dmg), not just stuffed. There are all sorts of issues (permissions, corruptions, emptying trash, etc) that can lead to problems when a .pkg installer is placed on a hard drive. Please image the folder, not stuff.
Two of the text files (Welcome.txt and License.txt) always download locked and are always a royal pain to throw away. They're not being locked in the normal way, nor in any of the other usual non-Finder ways (such as name lock), and getting rid of them takes a long time that could better be spent doing something more productive. There is absolutely no need for it, so please stop locking these files!
I play professionally and find this software indispensable for figuring out the most complicated guitar riffs and chord progressions. The price is a bargain for what it does!
