14 DAY TRIAL // When it comes to audio files and MP3s and whatnot, there are two kinds of people in this world: those who can tell the difference and those who can't. I'm talking about the quality of the compressed file, and I must admit that to my ear there isn't that much difference between 128 and 320. Yes the difference is there, but it's just not worth the extra disk space. Audio Hijack is an audio enhancing application who made itself felt to my ear.
Not all sound apps are created equally If you have ever needed to go outside of iTunes and use Windows Media Player or some other sad, sordid programs you will notice that they are a little lacking. Not only is the audio playback less than ideal, but most of those applications offer no means of adjusting it.
Say goodbye to all that, because Audio Hijack will do exactly what its name implies and hijack the audio from those applications and put it in your hands for tweaking into the ideal quality and clarity. After you have Audio Hijack on your computer just launch it and, if the program you are trying to take over is not in the list add it. In the Pro version, applications can be hijacked while they are running but in the standard edition, the application needs to be restarted if it is already on. Not a big deal really.
Once Audio Hijack is positioned between the application and the system you can tweak and adjust using the effects panel. It looks remarkably like the iTunes equalizer with the addition of a volume knob that can go from 0 to 200%, bass and treble and an 'Excitifier'. Also present is a all to familiar preset drop down so you can use that favorite preset of yours in any application.
Best part is all this takes place in real time, and there is minimal performance loss. And I mean minimal, it eats up less resources than a minimized and hidden Firefox. For each application, you can have separate settings and it can hijack any number of applications at the same time.
This is not limited to audio output, but also applies to audio input. Basically, any application that makes a sound can be taken over and made to sound the way you want.
Save some for later Enhancing audio in real time is only one of the things this program can do, the other is record it. Yes, any application, if it makes a sound, you can record it. This means you can record Internet streams, even those Real ones that are particularly hard to grab.
Is this legal? Exactly in the same way that it is perfectly legal to use a VCR to record a TV show for later viewing, recording a live Internet stream for later listening is simply another case of "time shifting". Like with all things it could potentially be abused but that is not the fault of the program, but that of the user.
Since the reason for recording live transmissions is usually because you are not at home to see them, it stands to reason that you will probably not be around to start Audio Hijack up and set it to record either. Fortunately the program offers a Schedule function that allows you automate every aspect of the recording process. You can record from several sources at the same time and you can mute the output so that the computer is silent.
Anything else? Although Audio Hijack is particularly useful when it comes to music, its real time audio enhancing capabilities can be used for many other things. Turn up the bass on you favorite game to really give you that rumbling sensation. Movies can also benefit from a little sound tweaking and since it's so easy to do, why not do it.
The program can run Apple Scripts both when launching an application and when finishing a recording. This makes it a snap to automate things like re-compressing to save space or having a program open up a certain live broadcast over the Internet so you can record it.
If you find this program useful, you should really take a look at its older brother, the Pro Version.
The Good Allows for real-time tweaking of the audio output, and recording from any program that can make a sound, complete with automation features.
The Bad The enhancing features of the non-pro version are not all that, and are only really useful if you use a lot of sub-par programs.
The Truth This program is fair enough as an audio enhancer, mainly because it does it real time with next to no impact on performance. It's main strength however is its ability to capture in real time from sources that are otherwise impenetrable and unaccessible.
Here are some pics of Audio Hijack in action, click to enlarge:
