Jump to content

Playback Software for MAC


RPSharman

Recommended Posts

Sound Byte is the closest thing to what you describe. It works well but it is not perfect --- it does do what it says it does which is replicate the cart machines used in broadcast and for theatrical productions. If what you are looking for is really just a 2-track app where you can set markers, Sound Studio 3.0 is very good.

from the website - http://www.blackcatsystems.com/software/soundbyte.html  (starting at $39.00)

Sound Byte is perfect for:

Radio, podcast and TV productions - have ads, announcements, songs and sound effects at your fingertips

Theater Productions - play any sound effect on cue

Sports Events - jazz up the commentary for your home team with sound effects each time they score

Ham radio operators - generate CQ calls for contesting and more

Music Lovers - organize YOUR collection YOUR way

Sound Byte is the digital automation software for a variety of recorded sounds. It handles all audio formats supported by Quicktime, including:

MP3

WAV

AU

AIFF

AAC/m4a

Available for both Mac and PC, you'll enjoy features not found in more expensive software. For example, you can:

Select up to 75 recordings per rack (screen) and assign a button to each

Assign Hot Keys to access individual sound effects at the touch of a button

Play multiple recordings simultaneously

Organize playlists in an order YOU control

Master the Timed Playlist feature for perfect timing every time

Ex Cues is another - http://www.excues.co.uk/

red Curtain - http://nobusiness-soft.com/?topic=products&sub=redcurtain

Note: you can search for all of these things on versiontracker.com  (great source for both Mac and PC software)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I use SoundByte to do live on-air playback of sound bites. Works great. I've never had trouble with it. It has a 'wall of carts' kind of thing that allows you to color-code and hot-key each file. It will also play files on top of each other.

An alternative to Sound Studio 3 (which for some reason crashes on my Macbook) for cued playback is Wave Editor. Allows very intricate file mark-up and cueing with an endless variety of keyboard hot-key customization.

It's not as intuitive as Sound Studio - but much faster to use (more keys, less mouse) once you get accustomed to the interface and tune up the keyboard to your liking.

Eric Leonard

KFI-AM

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Who can get by with only two tracks of playback these days.  Let's see, mono track, mix- vocals, time-code, click-track to key a thumper?  That's five already<g>.  I believe Reaper is in the middle of a Mac version of this superb software.  I have no affiliation; it is "just dandy."

D.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi there,

this is slightly off of the original topic: I use my PB G4 1,67GHz for Playback on Set (with audacity as software).

Here is the problem: when running the Powerbook from the internal accu/battery I get a delay (0.5sec) when press "Play" (space-bar). That happens if I have 30sec or more between Playback - Stop - Playback again. So the only workaround for me is to be in play mode just before the cue, then press stop and play again.

As you can imagine that is not really an option. Specially when I need to be in time with a cue or something.

If I do the same with the Powerbook hooked up with mains power everything is fine. Playback will start instantly.

I have checked the Power-Options in the Powerbook and changed it, so it should work. But it doesn`t. Any ideas?

Cheers, Matthias

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One of your settings for when you are on the internal battery is allowing the computer to rest (power saving) and possibly even the hard drive spinning down. With the power adapter (AC) plugged in, these settings will be, by default, different and things will work properly. On the battery when you hit the space bar, this is waking the computer up and THEN it can be used to start playback from programs that use the spacebar to PLAY. In System preferences look for the setting "Put the hard disk to sleep when possible" --- this could be the problem.

Regards,  Jeff Wexler

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have changed all the battery options in the preferences to: don`t go into sleep, don`t shut down the harddrive, don`t change the brightness.

I have heard that previous versions of MacOSX had a CPU option (fast, slow, automatic) as well. But apparently that was gone with one of the updates - so I was told.

Matthias

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have changed all the battery options in the preferences to: don`t go into sleep, don`t shut down the harddrive, don`t change the brightness.

I have heard that previous versions of MacOSX had a CPU option (fast, slow, automatic) as well. But apparently that was gone with one of the updates - so I was told. Matthias

Hi Matthias!

That CPU-menu is in your energy saver pref. if your settings are: Battery and your Optimization is set to: custom.

click on options. (Mac OS 10.4.10 for ppc )

But it doesn`t help unfortunately.

A workaround could be to have a process running in the background which keeps the HD busy, like say iTunes playing songs from the library (muted :-) ).

Or you could try this: http://www.sticksoftware.com/software/Jiggler.html

Christian

Link to comment
Share on other sites

no succsess with jiggler. I have read the very same thread on macwelt as well. But apparantly the playback issue has nothing to do with the cpu slow or max as you can check the cpu activity and playback doesn`t need much cpu.

I was told that ardour software should work. I will try and keep you updated. Thanks for your help Jeff and Christian.

Matthias

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Could this possibly be an Audacity software problem? If you have access to any of the other programs that use the spacebar as the PLAY button, see if they exhibit the same difficulty. For what it's worth, I stopped using Audacity because it had somewhat erratic behavior and I didn't feel I could rely on it.

Regards,  Jeff Wexler

Link to comment
Share on other sites

its the same with QT player or itunes. But as Christian pointed out: if I do run itunes in the background (muted) then audacity is doing the playback straight away even on internal battery. So obviously there must be some kind of shut down that isn`t accessable for the user.

Cheers, Matthias.

It is the internal HD. :-)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've been doing a lot of playback lately w/ Audacity and a G4 1.2G laptop, all on the AC supply--no delays that I could see.  I was doing a lot of stop-start playback (pausing, and starting again on cue), and the Audacity pause function worked well.  The point made earlier about needing more than 2 tracks for really complex musical numbers is well taken.

Philip Perkins

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

I don't know the solution to the playback-delay-when-on-battery problem, but I think it might have something to do with the internal sound card itself. When I use a Traveler as the playback interface, it doesn't seem to happen (I have the same 1.67 G4). Of course, now you're running down the battery twice as fast. If anyone does find a solution, I'd love to hear about it. Thanks. --John

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...