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The Analogue Ripper
Issue: 3.5 (May/June 2005)
Author: Toby Rush
Article Description: No description available.
Article Length (in bytes): 4,180
Starting Page Number: 10
Article Number: 3506
Related Web Link(s):
http://www.hotwork.org/TAR/MainTAR.html
Excerpt of article text...
Hotwork's digital audio recording program, The Analogue Ripper, has an icon that describes the program very well: a green, three-eyed, pug-nosed, Elvis-haired, dental-hygiene-challenged ogre holding a bloody knife in his teeth. It's the perfect icon for a program that is downright ugly, but is so fantastically powerful and intuitive that you're happy it's on your side.
The Analogue Ripper (TAR) is a standard digital audio program, allowing you to record audio coming into the computer (through the internal microphone or any available line audio inputs). As an audio program, it is set up with a specific goal in mind: to let you rip audio you have in non-digital formats like cassette or LP.
The main window contains all the pertinent settings up front, rather than hiding anything in separate windows or menus. TAR streams incoming audio directly to disk to maximize recording length, and the main window allows the user to choose the file in which the incoming recording is being stored. Recording settings, including audio sources and sample rate, are adjustable here, as well as a set of recording timers. Users can get an immediate reading on audio levels with left and right audio meters on the right hand side of the window. Standard recording controls are available, as well as a volume meter for playing the audio through the computer's speakers.
A few non-descript controls in this window, however, allow you to harness TAR's real power. First, TAR allows you to compensate for LPs played at incorrect speeds (for example, a 45 RPM record played at 78 RPM). Second, TAR allows you to set a signal level that delineates "silence," allowing you to have the recording automatically stop after a specified interval of silence. A menu item allows you to set scheduled recordings so you can record while you're away.
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