Mac

Windows

This ripper and encoder comes from Xing Technology – a company so good, RealNetworks recently bought it. This software is based on the number one selling encoder, XingMP3, and on AudioGrabber, the most widely used digital audio ripper.

Web link: www.xingtech.com/mp3/audiocatalyst

Sonique is a windows audio player capable of handling MP3 files, Microsoft Windows Media files, audio CDs, and more. Includes a full-featured playlist editor, controls for changing pitch, balance and amplification, as well as a 20-band equalizer. You can also download additional 'output visualizations' – aka disco lights, which you can plug in. It supports many audio formats, including MP3, MP2, WAV, MOD, XM, IT, S3M, and CD audio and all MS Windows Media audio formats. Sonique is a great alternative to Winamp and is also free.

Web link: www.sonique.com

Jet Audio looks like the ultimate home entertainment gadget for your PC. It sports an impressive interface that deals with just about every multimedia experience you're likely to get. It has players for audio CDs, MIDI files and various video formats. You also get a remote control, graphic equaliser and 3D sound effects. The audio player can hook up with Internet CD databases. Thanks to its RealPlayer G2 and MP3 engine the sound quality is crisp. Converting audio from CDs, cassettes, or voice recordings into MP3 files is a breeze.

Web link: www.cowon.com

Illuminatus is a substantial package for someone setting out in multimedia development. The program is designed for a variety of uses, but it seems best suited for producing educational and corporate publications. You can develop anything from screen savers and slide shows to interactive multimedia and Web content.

Web link: www.digitalworkshop.co.uk

* Uninstall previous version first and reboot *

HyCD is an MP3/Sound Editing/Audio CD burning program. Its comprehensive set of functions lets you copy CDs, mix and record your music CDs, copy songs from CD to hard disk, copy songs from LP and tape, filter the noise, add special effects, then record to CD and play music from MP3, WAVE, and Audio CDs. Is that enough?

This demo version allows 10 Days of unlimited MP3 encoding and CD recording. After the evaluation period, you're still left with a free CD ripper and a MP3 player.

Web link: www.HyCD.com

Real Jukebox is a popular bit of software from RealNetworks. There were one million downloads within the first 10 days of launch. As well as playing back and recording digital music, the software also lets you take tracks from your audio CDs and turn them into MP3 files.

Web link: www.real.com/realjukebox

Formed by a collaboration of music industry veterans and sound engineers, this company's player uses an open architecture that supports AC3, MP3 and Windows Media formats. It's even free. As well as the tracks you can also download liner notes and album art from this site.

Web link: www.liquidaudio.com

New version

For more details read the readme.txt file that comes with the program.

To set up the server software, copy the shoutcast folder from the CD to your hard disk, follow the instructions (see above) and get broadcasting. You will need Winamp and the DSP plug-in to deliver audio content to the server. The plug-in is in the shoutcast\plugins folder, see Winamp below to install that. (Winamp is produced by the same company.)

You may also need the 'Fraunhofer IIS MPEG Layer-3 Codec' (for audio compression). You can check under the Advanced tab of the multimedia Control Panel to see if you have it installed – if not, the latest version of the Windows Media Player will add it (it is in the software\windows\multimed\mplayer folder on the CD).

Web link: www.SHOUTcast.com

New FREE version

Winamp is a MP2, MP3, WAV, MIDI, MOD, and CD audio player. The stylish interface gives you a ten-band graphic equalizer, user-definable presets, shuffle and playlist editor. Winamp's plug-in architecture lets you choose from a varity of 'designer' interfaces. You'll need a powerful PC and a decent Internet connection to get the best streaming audio quality.

Winamp now features Windows Media Technology 4.0 input/output support, the industry standard Fraunhofer MP3 decoder, and much more. To enable MS Audio 4 support, you will need to install WMT4 – click here to install... Visit the Winamp Web site to see the wide selection of plug-ins available.

Web link: www.winamp.com

HeadCase is an audio player that's designed to add a visual enhancement to streaming sound files. It works by displaying a 3D animated head that moves its mouth in time with the music or sound. You can import additional 3D heads or use a photograph of yourself using the 'Bakehead' editor (available separately). You could use Headcase alongside your Internet Chat software (now you can see your friend talk), on your Internet Phone, or on Internet Radio (put a face to your DJ) – or simply enhance your site by embedding your talking heads within your HTML using Javahead, the Headcase ActiveX control or Java applet.

There are additional 'Face' files in the headcase\heads folder on the CD.

Web link: www.redted.mcmail.com

With Macromedia's Flash you can create interactive multimedia content that will liven up your Web pages and make navigation more pleasurable. Animations and graphics are scalable, thus providing high-quality viewing on any screen size.

Flash files are very small, which means impressively little time is spent waiting for such sophisticated pages – 'streaming' allows Flash files to play while downloading.

Web link: Macromedia

A multi-track recorder for recording and mixing WAV and MIDI files. Almost limitless number of tracks and lots of potential for effects.

Requires DirectX 6 or above (see the Utilities page...) and a recent version of the Microsoft system file comctl32.dll (v4.71 or above – you can copy the file from the software\windows\utils folder on the CD to your windows\system folder if needed – if you have Windows 98 or Internet Explorer 4.0 or above, you should have an updated file already).

Web link: www.fasoft.com

Audiograbber allows you to copy music from a CD-ROM drive digitally, rather than through the sound card, so you get higher-quality copies of the original music. Audiograbber can automatically normalize the music, delete silence from the start and/or end of tracks, encode straight to MP3 format, or send the extracted WAV file to an external MP3 encoder. Audiograbber also supports the downloading of CD track listings via CDDB. The shareware version limits the number of tracks you can record from a CD.

Web link: www.audiograbber.com-us.net

New trial version

MP3 Strip_It! is an all-in-one solution for MP3 creation. It features a CD ripper with CDDB support, MP3 encoder, and ID3 tag editor in a single package. MP3 Strip_It! samples CD audio in real time through Windows' MCI layer, encodes it via the BladeEnc encoder (included), and deletes the intermediary WAV file when finished. It supports MP3 encoding at bit rates as high as 320 kbps.

This update has many new features: a built-in digital ripper, one button conversion of your CDs to MP3 format, a completely rewritten underlying code, a more user-friendly interface, compression using Fraunhofer's ACM Codec, and more. In this 30-day trial version, extraction is limited to six tracks per CD.

Sonic Foundry's Stream Anywhere is a tool for producing streaming multimedia content over the Internet. The process of creating a movie will appeal to novice and professional users alike. Stream Anywhere captures your media from an external source such as TV, CD, Camcorder, AVI, MOV or MP3 and then synchronises the video and audio source. There are tools for modifying the movie file size and frame-rate as well as controls for audio quality and equalisation. You can insert captions, URL links and fades at points in the movie. Stream Anywhere then exports a streaming file in RealMedia, RealSystem G2 or MS Windows Media format. It even creates the HTML code for you.

Web link: www.sonicfoundry.com

Play back and manage your audio and video files. Juke enables you to move files and directories and create searchable play lists with a drag-and-drop interface. You can manage files easily with access to all playback controls in one interface. Juke now features native MP3 (MPEG Layer 3) support and built-in support for several MOD file types (MOD, S3M, XM, etc.). This update offers support for both French and Spanish languages.

ShockwaveFlash Player
(W3.x)

Macromedia's free ShockwaveFlash plug-in now plays Director and Flash media in your Web browser (for pre-v4.5 Netscape and pre-v4 Internet Explorer – Flash is included in these as well as Windows 98).

Note that the new W9x version here is the installer file only – you will need to close down your browser, run the installer, then go online to complete the software download and installation.

RealPlayer 5
(W3.x)

Upgrade to RealPlayer G2, the latest incarnation of the well-known 'real-time' live audio and video player for the Web.

Go to the RealNetworks Web site to download an appropriate version of their Basic Server 5 software if you need to enable your system to serve Real Audio.

Apple QuickTime
(Win3.x)

QuickTime multimedia software, including browser plug-in for viewing QuickTime content on Web pages. Upgrading to the commercial 'Pro' version gives you more powerful tools for content creation.

Quicktime v4 is now available, but you must go online to download and install it. Go to the Apple Web site if you want to try it.

Mac OS

NOTE: The Mac programs on this CD are mostly in archived 'HQX' (BinHex) files – they can be extracted with several applications, including Stuffit Expander (which is on the CD...). Clicking on the links below should set the process in motion. You may receive a message that the file cannot be loaded into Simple Text — if so, start Stuffit and then open the HQX file you want from within Stuffit.

New free version

SoundApp is a utility that can play and convert a wide range of sound files, including MP3, AIFF, WAV, MOD, MIDI and many other formats.

Web link: Norman Franke

Create effective multimedia Web pages with Macromedia's great Flash authoring application. Use a timeline to synchronise various media and events as you create interactive pages that will deliver your message in style. You can even use Flash to create simple games – let your imagination loose...

Animations and graphics are scalable, thus providing high-quality viewing on any screen size. Flash files are very small, which means impressively little time is spent waiting for such sophisticated pages – 'streaming' allows Flash files to play while downloading.

Web link: Macromedia

ShockWave Flash Plugin
(68k)

Shockwave Flash uses a very compact vector-based format to deliver interactive buttons, drawings, and animations on the Web. This latest version of the free plug-in allows Netscape users to view Director and Flash media.

Note that the PPC version here is the installer file only – you will need to close down your browser, run the installer, then go online to complete the software download and installation.

Upgrade to the latest Real media streamer, Real G2 – it's better.

There are plenty of Web animation applications around now — why not give them all a try until you decide which suits you best. VSE Animation Maker is a shareware GIF animation tool that has many features for creating animations for Internet sites. It supports GIF, AM Set, PICS, and PICT files and it has direct support for Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer colour palettes. Version 3.2 supports the new Mac OS 8.5 Open and Save dialogs, offers new animation frame editing tools and fixes various bugs.

MacAmp is an MPEG Layer 3 (MP3) and audio CD player. MP3 audio compression makes it possible to compress large audio files to just ten percent of their original size, with no significant loss of quality. It is even possible to download a CD-quality stereo sound file over an ISDN line and listen to it simultaneously. When you select the Interrupt mode, MacAmp will run in the background so that audio is constantly played no matter what you're working on. It is recommended that you read the included documentation files before using this program. Version 1.0b7 fixes bugs, adds support for the XAudio MPEG playback engine, enhances CD track naming capabilities and improves the overall stability of the program.

Web link: www.macamp.com

QuickTime multimedia software, including browser plug-ins. Upgrading to the commercial 'Pro' version will give you more powerful creation tools.

There is a beta version available of Quicktime v4, but you must go online to download and install it. Go to the Apple Web site if you want to try it.