audio

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

A communications freeware product made for those with a VoIP phone system or a high-speed broadband Internet connection, X-Lite supports instant messaging, traditional phone use, and video or conference calls. It has a number of very desirable features such as call recording and is a great way to cut phone expenses while still maintaining quality communications with friends, family, and business contacts.

X-Lite has a unique interface; it resembles a traditional cell phone with all 10 numbers and working buttons, such as redial and mute. The user can dial the phone just like a traditional cell phone or use the … Read more

DENVER--The Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, held in Denver, was a must-see event for audiophiles young and old. The biggest change this year was a bonanza of affordable high-end products -- mixed in with the usual crazy expensive gear -- along with a good helping of midpriced goodies.

Music Hall had a rather plain-looking little monitor speaker, the Marimba ($349 a pair), that sounded big and truly powerful. I have never heard that level of bass "slam" coming out of such a diminutive speaker; I can't wait to get it in for review.

Woo Audio's stunning new … Read more

MediaHuman Audio Converter for Mac handles the task of converting audio file formats in a simple application. Designed to provide cross-conversion capabilities for WMA, AAC, WAV, FLAC, OGG and Apple Lossless formats, MediaHuman Audio Converter for Mac is a free app that will likely become a staple if you need to convert audio files frequently.

MediaHuman Audio Converter for Mac installs cleanly. The interface is simple and attractive. Select the audio file (or use drag and drop to drop the file over the app), set the format you want to convert to, and let it run. The predefined conversion parameters … Read more

One quick (and hopefully final) note about the SiriusXM Internet Radio fiasco from a couple weeks ago: It's over. The company appears to have pulled the plug on nearly all the giveaways, even if you received a confirmation e-mail. Fortunately, you can still get Pandora, Slacker, Songza, and plenty of other music-streaming services for free. Let it go, OK?

If you're unhappy with the audio quality from your TV's built-in speakers, you may have considered the Vizio sound bar I've written about countless times in this space. It often dips below $50, a hard bargain to … Read more

YouTube hosts thousands of free songs in all genres, many posted with video montages, slideshows, and sometimes shots of a spinning turntable. While the quality is hardly the best, the quantity is staggering; YouTube is often the fastest and easiest way to hear a song. That's where DVDVideoSoft's Free YouTube to MP3 Converter steps in. Fast, simple, and free, it quickly downloads, converts, and saves audio tracks from YouTube videos as MP3s of several quality levels. It extracts audio from any YouTube video, not just songs, of course. You can save clips and play them on your audio … Read more