If you're an old-timer on the Mac, you might remember Norman Franke's excellent SoundApp for the old Mac OS 7-9. It played sound, plain and simple. No fuss. No skinning, no plugin architecture, no fancy G-Force visualization something thingimajig. Just playing sounds.Now, there's iTunes and QuickTime Player, and people are pretty happy with that even though sometimes it's just that much overkill. Say you want to preview twenty wave files. Just give them a quick listen. You'll probably use iTunes, which means creating an iTunes playlist, adding the files, playing them, and when you're done, hunting down the multiple copies of the files that iTunes has now spawned on your harddrive, removing the original files, removing the iTunes duplicates, removing the playlist, searching through your Library to remove the songs from there, ... You get the point.It's in moments like those that you dream yourself back to the good ol' days, when an app did what it did best and nothing else. The simple days!Well, guess what. Simplicity is back.
Latest SoundApp disappointing compared to OS 9 version.
solowell
Pros
Absolutely nothing. All it does is play a song, which, btw, you can't 'Open' from File Menu because it won't recognize .aif, .wav or .mp3 files. AND, you can't stop the tune from playing, except by quitting the app!
Cons
Control panel only offers 'Play' and 'Play All'. No 'Rewind', 'Pause' or, even 'Stop!' No volume control. A typical .aiff sound file is labeled as Unknown; the Convert options are grayed out. There is no Help or Read Me included with this version.
Summary
I downloaded this app because I used SoundAppPPC extensively w/OS 9. It was a handy way to ident/change sample rates, convert to mp3, etc., as well as quickly audition a tune. On that basis, I thought SoundApp Reborn would at least perform those basic functions under OS X (I use OS X 10.4.11). Instead, I can't effectively perform anything w/Reborn, so I've trashed it twice now. Unfortunately, Reborn is 'Stillborn' as far as I'm concerned. If I'm doing something incorrectly, I'll never know: the lack of a 'Help' file or documentation makes proper guidance impossible. (The only way to play a tune is to drag/drop the file, THEN select it, THEN hit Play. And, as said earlier, there seems to be no way to stop it.) I will continue to use 'Audacity' - another free app - to not only convert sound files, but utilize its basic/dependable sound editing features.
Brings back memories
Michele Bugliaro
Pros
Cons
Summary
This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />Thanks for bringing back this app. OK, my comments below:
1. it should be possible to just open one file - without going through a playlist
2. It should be able to convert sounds
3. It misses basic controls (play, stop, etc.)
4. For more sounds, tabs may be used.
Good to see
rafirafrafster
Pros
Cons
Summary
This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />I was hoping someone would pick up Norman Franke's torch, eventually. I wonder if Franke even knows that this has happened. <grin>
Looks good so far, except I'm sorely missing the old Controls window. Doesn't really feel like SoundApp without it to me, as it was the only window for the program I really ever kept open in the old days. It's grayed out as an option in the Windows menu, so I assume it's forthcoming, though.
As for the icon, here's my vote to keep it. It's about nostalgia, and EVERYONE recognizes that icon. Don't change it. ;-)
Yea For SoundApp!
Sophya
Pros
Cons
Summary
This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />Like others here, even though I am now using Tiger 10.4.8 on my G4, I have continued to use the old venerable SoundApp 2.7.3 PPC on occasions, either to quickly listen to a short list of sounds/songs, or to do a quick conversion. I agree that to have to launch bulky iTunes every time is a slight annoyance.
I am happy to see that the new app has retained the old familiar SoundApp icon. So maybe it isn't a photo-realistic icon; but hey, nostalgia has its merits!
One question: I noticed that some of the buttons are grayed out, such as the "Convert" button...even if I have a file selected in the playlist. Do you anticipate adding the convert function, similar to the "Convert" menu found in the original SoundApp?
Thanks for bringing this old app to the Tiger world.
Makes me an old-timer!
Mike Fleischner
Pros
Cons
Summary
This review was originally posted on VersionTracker.com.<br />I *still* have the original for the rare times. Now I don't have to launch Classic anymore. Thanks!