Reviewed by: Michael Flaminio
Review Date: 8.20.99
Developer: Casady & Green
MSRP: $49.95
If anyone doubts to popularity of MP3, they likely missed out on the Interactive
Music Expo last week in New York City. MP3 was the name of the game and one
familiar face at the show was Casady & Green, who was showing off their new SoundJam package for the Mac OS.
SoundJam is unique because it isn't just another MP3 player. SoundJam is a complete
audio and MP3 package. Not only does it play MP3s, and virtually every other audio
format, it also easily converts between MP3s, CDs and AIFF files. For Mac users,
this brings all these features into a single application.
Conversions
Aside from
basic
functionality, SoundJam quickly converts files between formats. When testing, I took
a 4 minute audio file from CD. (As far as we know, SoundJam is the only Mac app that
can convert files directly from a CD.) On our B/W G3, I converted the file to MP3
format in about one minute. SoundJam can also rip CD files into AIFF format, which
took about 30 seconds. Continuing, I took our first MP3 file and converted it back
to an AIFF file, which took a sparse 15 seconds.
Bells and Whistles
Another feature I enjoy is the CD Look Up option using CDDB,
a MP3 file can contain extra data, such as song/sound title, author and track information.
SoundJam will automatically find and fill in this information
when creating MP3s from a CD. So for example, after you come back from the Springsteen
concert, you may want to MP3 your Greatest Hits CD. Instead of manually entering
in the CD information, SoundJam will go onto the Internet, find the album information
and then make it available for MP3 encoding.
As with MacAMP, SoundJam has the ability to change its appearance. Through skins
and plug-ins, users can customize the look of their players. For those whom the music
isn't enough entertainment, SoundJam ships with eye candy that pulses
to the music. While nice, personally I wasn't much impressed with the available
additions. The skins were not very functional and some just look ridiculous. Plug-ins
and skins are intended to extend the functionality of the program, and as time goes
on, more will be available. Personally though, I'm perfectly happy with the default
player.
Pepsi Challenge
When I take an
audio file and apply a 10:1 compression to it, I would expect to hear
a difference. MP3 has been criticized for its sound quality, and here is where Arboretum
enters. Also at the Interactive Music Expo, Arboretum's
Realizer is a plug-in for SoundJam. Realizer is designed to make MP3s sound
closer to its original quality. The plug-in lets a user hear better bass, improve
the stereo image and lets users customize their Internet music listening experience.
Realizer attempts to recreate missing frequencies in real time, as the music plays.
While sophisticated, Realizer's controls are actually very simple. The plug-in has
a number of preset music styles such as rock, techno, and jazz. Realizer adjusts
its controls to best suit the music, or the user can tweak the individual settings
him or herself. The result is a sound that raises the bar for accuracy and quality.
As a test, we fired up our Acoustimass speakers and attempted to tell the difference
between CD audio and MP3 audio. The results were down the middle, meaning we had
trouble hearing the difference between the original track and the MP3 version.
Bottom Line
SoundJam is a great feature-pack program. No matter what, I recommend everyone stop
by Casady & Greene's web site to check
out the free demo. Mac users will likely see more of SoundJam in the near future.
Companies selling portable MP3 hardware seem to have found something special in this
program. Look for lite versions of SoundJam to ship with some spiffy new hardware
in the near future.
For the desktop users, SoundJam is available for $50, or $40 electronically. For
$40-$50, you have to ask yourself how much you use MP3 files. For the occasional
user, MacAMP or QuickTime 4.0 will likely serve you well for much less. I suspect
light users will not see a big difference between SoundJam and MacAMP. SoundJam however
appears to be significantly more stable than MacAMP. For people who use MP3 files
often or do file conversions, SoundJam's nice interface and built in features will
surely make a good buy.
Pros: Encoding/Decoding functionality, Realizer plug-in adds nice touch, CD
Look Up feature very convenient.
Cons: $50 may be more than basic users are willing to pay. Bundled skins and
plug-ins could use some work.
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