AoA Audio Extractor Platinum

CNET Editors' review

by: CNET staff on June 02, 2010

AoA Media's Audio Extractor Platinum is an affordable all-in-one digital audio application that bundles the tools you're most likely to need the most often. It incorporates an audio extractor; a converter that handles not only common file types like MP3, WAV, AVI, and WMV, but also less common types like OGG and iPhone Ringtone; a sound recorder; a voice changer; and even karaoke.

AoA Audio Extractor's stylish interface is a bit different, even in the flashy world of mediaware. It's an interactive dialog like Windows Media Center, with four large buttons that call up descriptions of the primary tools when you hover the cursor: Audio Converter, Audio Extractor, Sound Recording, and Karaoke Song Recording. The latter two applications offer some fun functionality, such as the ability to change voices from female to male or adult to child, and vice versa. A full Help menu and close/minimize program buttons complete the sparse layout, but the real action takes place in each function's pop-up control dialog. These are clearly configured and make it extremely simple to select source, format, and destination as well as bit rate and other parameters. Of course we tried the voice-changing feature in the karaoke and sound-recording utilities: it's a simple slider that alters the voice track's pitch, but it's extremely entertaining and usually provokes a laugh.

AoA Audio Extractor offers no audio silver bullet--it simply collects a set of competent audio tools in one easy-to-use format, with a few fun extras that set it apart from the crowd.

Editors' note: This is a review of the full version of AoA Audio Extractor Platinum 2.2.5. The trial version was limited to 50 percent conversion and 3-minute recording.