SoundJam MP Free is the premier MP3 player and manager on the Macintosh. For 14 days and 30 encodings it also provides the full feature set of our complete MP3 player, manager and encoder, SoundJam MP Plus. Make sure to try them all before the 14 days are up and they disappear! After the 14 days you╒ll still have all the features of SoundJam MP Free.
Ñ Installing SoundJam MP Free
Installing SoundJam is extremely easy: Run the SoundJam MP Installer and restart your Macintosh. That's all there is to it. The SoundJam MP Folder on your hard drive contains everything you need to start playing and making music.
Ñ Updating a previous version of SoundJam MP Free
Since this is a maintenance release, if you were running a copy of SoundJam MP Free, your time remaining and number of encodings will not be reset.
Ñ Requirements
The minimum requirements for SoundJam MP Free are Mac OS 7.6.1 or later, and a PowerPC 603 processor running at 100 MHz or faster. A Macintosh G3/G4 system is recommended, G4 with Velocity Engine is optimal.
Ñ Documentation
David Pogue, the author of Macs for Dummies, and Tom Negrino have written an excellent built-in help section which is available from the Help menu. We also encourage you to visit <http://www.soundjam.com> for additional help.
Ñ Skins
You can download additional skins by selecting "Get Skins" from SoundJam╒s Web Menu. Keep in mind that additional skins will only work during the 14 day SoundJam MP Free trial period.
Ñ Skin Converter converts WinAmp Skins and Audion Faces
The Skin Converter application converts both WinAmp and Audion skins. Simply drop a WinAmp skin folder or an Audion Face Folder onto the Skin Converter icon and a SoundJam MP skin will automatically be created! The Skin Converter requires QuickTime 3 or later.
Some Cool Features of SoundJam MP Plus that Only Work for 14 Days
Ñ Music Conversion
Convert music quickly into high quality MP3, MP2 or AIFF from CD, Sound Input, AIFF, WAV, Sound Designer II, MOD and QuickTime.
Ñ Music Compression
Compress your music collection to a fraction of its size while maintaining near CD quality. Variable Bit Rate (VBR) is supported.
Ñ Convert Records and Tapes
Convert your records and tapes into MP3, MP2 or AIFF files. Transfer your record albums, cassettes, CDs, 8-tracks, voice, etc. directly into MP3 files using the sound input jack of your computer.
Ñ MP3 encoding is optimized for Power Mac G4 with Velocity Engine
SoundJam's MP3 encoder is lightning fast on Power Mac G4 with Velocity Engine based computers. We have seen 10x encoding speed on 500 MHz G4 computers encoding at 320kbps CBR.
Ñ MP3 encoding quality
With its proprietary algorithm for bit allocation, joint stereo encoding adaptive frequency reduction, and wide range of bit rate settings, SoundJam MP encoding quality is second to none.
Ñ (New) Create Audio CD directly from SoundJam!
Create audio CDs directly from SoundJam via Adaptec Toast v4.1 or later.
Ñ Playlist Composer
Automatically search your entire music library to create custom playlists. For instance, if you are in the mood to listen to just Jazz, SoundJam can scan playlists or folders (including your entire hard drive!) and create a new playlist consisting of only your Jazz music titles.
Ñ Connect to Portable MP3 Players
Send your favorite MP3 files to a portable player, a pocket-sized personal music player capable of playing many hours of CD-quality music. Supported players include Rio 500 and Rio 600, I-JAM, Nomad II and Nomad II MG as well as the new Nike psa[play.
Ñ Alarm Clock
Use SoundJam to lull you to sleep, or to wake you up in the morning. SoundJam doesn't even need to be running for the alarm clock to work!
Ñ Karaoke
Reduce the vocals from most of your MP3 songs and sing along! Family and friends will love it!
Ñ Transparent skins
SoundJam fully supports transparent skins. SoundJam's Skin Converter can even convert transparent Audion skins.
Ñ Per-Track Volume and Graphic Equalizer Adjustments
You can customize individual track volume and equalization levels from the get info window.
Ñ 10 Band Graphic Equalizer
Control the quality and tone of your music manually or by using one of the preset music styles.
Hierarchical playlists display folders of files when viewing by Album, Artist, Genre and Kind.
Ñ Customizable Appearance
Choose from a variety of Skins - change the appearance of your SoundJam MP player. You can download additional skins by selecting "Get Skins" from SoundJam╒s Web Menu.
Ñ Visual and Audio Plug-ins
Optional plug-ins display cool visual effects while you listen to your favorite music. There are even plug-ins that improve the audio!
Ñ Upgrade Now!
Upgrade to SoundJam MP Plus now by going to SoundJam MP╒s web site at:
<http//:www.SoundJam.com/>
Other Cool Features of SoundJam MP Free
Ñ Convert ID3 Tags
ID3 Tag Conversion allows you to update the ID3 tags in your music to the latest version. It also allows you to convert text between ISO Latin-1 and ASCII.
Ñ Batch Convert CDs
The "On CD Insert" preference automatically allows rapid encoding of CDs by encoding all songs on a CD when the CD is inserted. After all the songs are encoded the CD will optionally eject allowing you to insert the next CD.
Ñ Play Streaming Audio
Listen to music radio stations and more, over the Internet without waiting for downloads. SoundJam supports streaming MP3, Icecast and QuickTime.
Ñ Easily edit ID3 Tags for Multiple Files
You can edit ID3 Tag information for multiple tracks by highlighting several files and selecting "Get Info" from the File menu.
Ñ Organize your Music
SoundJam's playlist organizes your music by artist, track, song, music style, and others. The converted tracks themselves can be automatically grouped and stored inside album and artist folders for better organization.
Ñ Customize your Playlists
Create your own customized music collections - enjoy having your favorite music at your fingertips.
What╒s new in SoundJam MP Plus v2.1.1?
Ñ Fixed jerky cursor
SoundJam 2.1 exhibited a slightly jerky cursor when playing audio, this version eliminates the lag.
Ñ Fixed sound quality problem through some USB subwoofers
SoundJam 2.1 exhibited popping and crackling when playing through some USB subwoofers, on some newer USB machines. This sound quality issue has been fixed with version 2.1.1.
What╒s new in SoundJam MP Plus v2.1?
Ñ Create Audio CD directly from SoundJam!
You can now create audio CDs directly from SoundJam via Adaptec Toast v4.1 or later.
Ñ Continuous CD playback
Adjacent tracks on a CD are now played without interruption.
Ñ Improved MP3 and MP2 encoding
Improved MP3 and MP2 encoding quality for all machines.
Ñ Supports New Rio
This version of SoundJam supports the upcoming Rio 600 from S3. See <http://www.riohome.com/> for more information.
Ñ Supports Nike psa[play Portable MP3 Player
This version of SoundJam supports the new Nike psa[play portable audio player from Nike. See <http://www.nike.com/> for more information.
Ñ Supports Nomad II and Nomad II MG
This version of SoundJam supports the new upcoming Nomad II MG as well as the Nomad II from Creative Labs. See <http://www.nomadworld.com/> for more information.
Ñ Firmware updating for Rio 500, Rio 600 and the Nike psa[play
SoundJam MP can be used to update the Rio 500, Rio 600 and the Nike psa[play firmware.
Ñ New equalizer presets
There are 9 new graphic equalizer presets.
Ñ Start Playback when playlist is opened
SoundJam can now automatically start playing when a playlist is opened.
Ñ Playlists can be re-shuffled every time they are opened.
New preference option which remembers the shuffle state when saving playlists. This allows the playlist to be re-shuffled every time it is opened.
Ñ Support for RealJukebox Music Package (RMP) files
SoundJam now supports RealJukebox Music Package (RMP) files.
Ñ Added Internet options panel to setup assistant
Added the ability to tell SoundJam what browser to configure for the files types SoundJam MP can play.
Ñ Improved Kaleidoscope compatibility
SoundJam MP supports Kaleidoscope schemes.
Ñ Support for .pls, .m3u, and .rmp files
You can now enter .pls, .m3u, and .rmp files as URLs and they will play.
Ñ Bug Fixes
Now plays last CD track when digital playback is disabled.
Translucent skins work better under Mac OS 8.1.
What╒s new in SoundJam MP Plus v2.0.2?
Ñ Bug Fixes
Fixes a System Error 12 problem on certain configurations.
What╒s new in SoundJam MP Plus v2.0.1?
Ñ Improvements
Substantially reduces CPU usage during playback.
Changed the equalizer's "Auto" option to reduce overall equalization levels which eliminates distortion.
Improves performance when adding large numbers of files to playlists.
Improves reliability of CDDB lookup.
Improves support for CD's with data partitions.
Added warning dialog when dragging files to the trash.
Ñ Bug Fixes
Eliminates pops and clicks during playback on some configurations.
Corrects equalizer pre-amp sensitivity which minimizes distortion during playback.
Correctly plays MPEG-2.5 files.
Fixes transparent skin flickering.
Fixes a problem which caused tracks for files on unmounted volumes to become permanently broken. Files with broken track links will need to be deleted and re-added to the playlist.
Properly displays total time for long MP3 songs.
Correctly selects the first track when opening playlists.
For Your Information
Ñ Warning: Firmware Updating
Do not update a Rio 500, Rio 600 or Nike psa[play with an older version of the firmware. Doing so may damage the player.
Ñ Broken File Icons in the Playlist
Playlists point to actual music files which could be located on a hard drive, server or a removable media such as a Zip or Jaz disk. If a playlist can't locate a music file then the icon for that file will appear as a broken file and will not be playable. There was a bug in SoundJam MP Plus and Free v2.0 which caused tracks for files on unmounted volumes to become permanently broken. Files with broken track links will need to be deleted and re-added to the playlist.
Icons in a playlist will appear broken if the files they point to are unavailable. This could happen if you have thrown away a file, or it was located on a server or removable disk which is not currently mounted. If you mount the server or insert the removable disk and double-click on the song in the playlist, its icon will change back to a normal icon and be playable again. Icons in a playlist can change back and forth between broken and normal depending on whether SoundJam can locate them when the playlist is opened.
Ñ Realizer and Sound Distortion
Some Realizer settings can result in sound distortion. If you are experiencing distortion please check the Plug-ins preferences to see whether Realizer is enabled. If so, check to see if you have the latest version of Realizer, and whether your Realizer settings are causing the distortion. Please see the Realizer documentation for further details.
Ñ Equalizer and Pre-Amp Changes in v2.0.1
SoundJam's equalizer pre-amp control sensitivity was inadvertently doubled in SoundJam MP Plus and Free v2.0. Increasing the pre-amp in version 2.0 would result in twice the effect you would have received in version 1.x. This has been corrected in version 2.0.1. Furthermore, there was a bug in SoundJam MP v1.6 where the pre-amp and equalizer could not be used together. You would either get the effect of one or the other. This is fixed in SoundJam MP 2.0, but it could have resulted in some users inadvertently over amplifying their music.
Also, you should be aware that with all audio software equalizers on the Macintosh, increasing the levels in an equalizer can cause distortion depending on the level of the original recording. The Macintosh sound system is limited in range, and digital audio data read from CD is easily over amplified. There are two solutions to this problem. You can either reduce the overall level by lowering the pre-amp or enable the "Auto" button on SoundJam's equalizer. In SoundJam MP 2.0, the Auto button centered the equalizer band levels around zero in an attempt to minimize distortion. In SoundJam 2.0.1, the Auto button automatically reduces the overall level to completely eliminate any possibility of distortion. Not all tracks will experience distortion. It is completely dependent on the level at which the original track was recorded and how high you set your equalizer levels.
Combining third-party audio plug-ins with SoundJam╒s equalizer could also introduce distortion. We recommend that you disable SoundJam╒s equalizer when using third-party audio plug-ins.
Ñ iMac and SRS Sound
We highly recommend that you disable this option before using SoundJam MP Plus. Enabling the SRS 3D Surround Sound found in the Monitors and Sound control panel will lower the sound quality.
Ñ Playing QuickTime Files
In order to play any QuickTime files, you must have QuickTime enabled in Conflict Catcher or Extensions Manager.
Ñ DrawSprocketLib is Required to Expand Visual Plug-ins to Fill the Entire Screen
Many visual plug-ins are able to fill your entire screen. This feature works only if you drag the DrawSprocketLib file to your System Folder (it will automatically be placed in the appropriate location). You should restart your Macintosh after installing this file. You can find the DrawSprocketLib file in a folder titled DrawSprocketLib ─ which is located in the Extras folder.
Ñ Playing Visual Plug-ins at Full Screen
If you expand a visual plug-in so that the window fills your entire screen (by typing command-F), other visual plug-ins which may be running in the background will show through. This is a problem with Apple's DrawSprocketLib file which happens only with Mac OS 8.6 and earlier.
Ñ Using SoundJam MP without G3/G4 Computers
Although SoundJam MP will easily play and convert files, it might not be able to support some of the optional plug-in files or equalizers on machines with non G3/G4 processors.
Ñ Streaming QuickTime Files
QuickTime 4.x is required for QuickTime Streaming.
Ñ Using SoundJam MP on 300 MHz G3 Series PowerBooks
The following information is from Apple's Tech Info Library article #24985
Apple has identified an issue with certain digital audio software applications including QuickTime Player, SoundJam MP, and MacAmp on some PowerBook G3 Series models. The issue occurs only when one application reads data asynchronously from an audio CD while another reads or writes a file to the hard drive at the same time. This in turn may cause the resulting file to be corrupted.
This issue affects only PowerBook G3 Series models with IBM 8 GB drives. To check for this drive, open Apple System Profiler, select the Devices and Volumes tab, and look at the device at Internal ATA 0. The affected drive has these characteristics:
Vendor: IBM-DYLA-28100 Unformatted Size: 7.63 GB
This issue does not affect the most recent PowerBook G3 Series (Bronze keyboard) model or use of the AppleCD Audio Player. Apple is currently in the process of developing a solution. In the meantime, the issue may be avoided by not using these applications to read audio CDs on PowerBook models with this particular hard drive."
C&G recommends that you contact Apple support for a solution to this problem.
Miscellaneous
Ñ Register Over the Internet
Register SoundJam MP Free over the internet by selecting "Register Online..." from the Apple menu while SoundJam MP Free is open.
Ñ Comments for the development team
If you have any comments/suggestions for the SoundJam development team please post them on the Casady & Greene message board <http://casadyg.com/support/msgboard/default.html>.
C&G Information
Ñ Main Address
Casady & Greene, Inc.
22734 Portola Drive
Salinas, CA 93908-1119
(831) 484-9228
(831) 484-9218 (FAX)
Internet email: C&G@casadyg.com
<http://www.casadyg.com>
Ñ Technical Support
We encourage you to use our internet based FAQs and message board located at: <http://www.casadyg.com/support/>
(831) 484-9228
Ñ Sales
(800) 359-4920 (US and Canada Only)
(831) 484-9228 (International and US)
(831) 484-9218 (FAX)
8am - 5pm PST Monday-Friday
<http://www.casadyg.com/stores/>
Internet email: sales@casadyg.com
For all the latest information and software updates for Casady & Greene, visit our World Wide Web site homepage at: <http://www.casadyg.com>
(c)1998-2000 SoundStep, Inc. All rights reserved.
SoundJam MP utilizes MikMod Library, a portion of the GNU Library pursuant to the terms of the GNU LESSER GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE, Version 2.1, February 1999, (c)1991, 1999 Free Software Foundation, Inc., (The GNU Library is distributed for free public use by the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA (617) 542-5942).
MikMod Library is a sound library that can play various MOD module formats.
(c) 1989 Paul Mikkers, Jake Stine and Miodrag Vallat
A copy of the lesser general public license for the module used as well as the modified source code for the library portion used is available on our web site at: <http://www.soundjam.com/sp/scripts.html> or we will send you a CD with a copy of the modified source code for the library used if you send your name and address, a request for the MikMod CD, and $10.00 to cover shipping and handling to: MikMod Source Code CD, Casady & Greene, Inc., 22734 Portola Drive, Salinas, CA 93908-1119, USA.
