audio

Switch Audio Converter for Mac is a sound-file format converter that takes files in a number of formats and recodes them in formats the Mac can handle. As it's not available through the App Store at the time of review, we obtained our copy from the publisher's Web site.

To use Switch Audio Converter for Mac you can add files to the interface through browsing or by drag and drop. The Switch Audio Converter for Mac interface is straightforward. The dialog box shows a list of files to convert, their existing format and size, and any metadata associated … Read more

I love little speakers, especially when they're as fine as the Music Hall Marimbas I wrote about recently, but the best little ones can't touch the big guys for sheer power. If you've only heard little speakers at home, you have no idea what you've been missing. Big speakers sound, well, bigger, and more like live music.

That's why I'm so jazzed by the Tekton M-Lore. This 34-inch high tower sports an American-made 8-inch natural fiber woofer and a European-designed 1-inch silk dome tweeter, so the M-Lores can really belt out a big sound. … Read more

Congrats to Zsolt V. of Corpus Christi, Texas, for winning four custom canvas prints of digital photos from Printcopia in last week's giveaway. This week's prize will be music to your entertainment-seeking ears. We're giving away a sleek-looking Zooka speaker that enhances the sound from your tablet, smartphone, laptop, or media player.

The wireless Zooka from Carbon Audio sports a sturdy silicone sound bar design that slips onto the edge of your iPad, or connects via Bluetooth or audio jack to other devices. It has dual speakers and boasts a battery life of 8-plus hours for toting on the go. Did we mention it comes in a bunch of fun colors? You'll be getting one in green. … Read more

LAS VEGAS--At the 2012 SEMA Show, Pioneer announced all-new lines of CD and DVD/multimedia receivers. The changes for this new generation are sweeping, encompassing nearly every product Pioneer makes; subtle, consisting mostly of moderate upgrades; and significant.

Starting with the 6.1-inch AVH-X1500DVD ($300), MixTrax compatibility comes to Pioneer's line of DVD/multimedia receivers. MixTrax, Pioneer's automated DJ and playlist software, analyzes your music library and creates custom mixes that play back while you drive. Compatibility with those mixes and control over how they're played is now baked into every Pioneer receiver with an "X&… Read more

LAS VEGAS--Scosche has been manufacturing car stereo dashboard mounting kits, wire harnesses, and installation accessories for so many years, but it has never offered a car stereo receiver of its own...until now.

At the 2012 SEMA Show, Scosche showed off the SCDBTA60 Car Stereo Receiver. This unit features an internal four-channel amplifier that outputs a maximum of 40 watts per channel and three preamp outputs for adding external amps. It's got a CD player and an SD card slot, and can connect to your smartphone via Bluetooth (HFP and A2DP), USB, or an auxiliary input. By itself, it'… Read more

Bluetooth speakers are all the rage these days, but when you stream your music library, Pandora playlists, and the like to a Bluetooth speaker, the audio gets compressed. And that makes audiophiles angry.

Plus, why listen to a relatively small sound system when you've already got a big, honking stereo? What you need is some Bluetooth-style way to beam your tunes from your iDevice to those sweet speakers -- but without the Bluetooth-style compression.

There's one way, and it's on sale! Through November 4, Shoptronics has the Nyrius NiAA300 Digital Wireless Audio Transmitter System for $59.99 shipped … Read more

As the old adage goes, seeing is believing, which is why we've seen such an abundance of screen-capture tools. But what if you want to capture video instead of a static picture? That's where Webcam Video Capture comes in. As its name suggests, it offers users a means to capture video and save it to their computer. Sadly, however, in practice, we found it clunky to use and glitchy to the point that it crashed on us, requiring reinstallation.

Webcam Video Capture's user interface is small and seemingly straightforward at first glance. Buttons labeled New Session, Record, … Read more

There are a lot of great programs available to rip CDs to MP3, AAC, FLAC, Ogg Vorbis, etc., but most require you to re-rip your CD if you want to save the rip to a different file format. If you have a large CD collection, ripping your CDs twice could take an excruciatingly long time.

dBpoweramp for Windows (XP/Vista/7/8), is a very fast and accurate audio CD ripper that supports ripping to multiple encoders. If you want to rip your CDs to FLAC for archiving and to MP3 for use on an iPod or smartphone, dbPoweramp can … Read more

Skype Recorder is, as you would expect, an audio recording application that can record and play back any Skype call. Despite the name, Skype Recorder can also work with most other VoIP based apps such as AIM, ICQ, MSN, and so on. Skype Recorder installs without a hitch, but .NET Framework needs to be in place.

The Skype Recorder interface is pretty basic (and not very attractive). There are three buttons to record, pause and stop recording. There's a section of the interface for setting the function hot key for these capabilities, as well. Finally, you have three options … Read more