Review: Audio Hijack - Record Audio from Anywhere

Audio Hijack Pro
Review by: Katie
http://rogueamoeba.com/audiohijackpro/
Price: $32 with upgrade pricing available.

Rogue Amoeba makes some of the best audio tools for the Mac today, I particularly enjoy their free SoundSource tool which allows you to switch your audio input and output sources from your Macs menu bar. But today I am reviewing their Audio Hijack Pro software.

In a nutshell, Audio Hijack (and it's big-brother the Pro version) will allow you to "hijack" audio from any source, and redirect it to another source and record and mix audio sources. If you can get the audio into your Mac, you can record or redirect it with Audio Hijack Pro. Here are a few examples, you could record conversations over your favorite voice-enabled instant messaging client. You could (with the proper hardware) record any audio you can get in your Mac from an analog source, this would include your old LPs, and cassettes. You can record streaming radio off the internet for playback at a later time.

Audio Hijack Pro also has a number of features to help you automate the process of getting audio into your Mac through scheduling features. Once configured properly, you can use Audio Hijack Pro and your Mac to become the TiVo of audio sources, allowing you to capture audio as it happens, save it to your computer and replay it at your convenience.

Corey and I use Audio Hijack Pro every week when we record our Podcast. In one of its most simplest of uses, it allows Corey and I to record and mix together our audio (and anyone else who may be joining us on that particular week) using Skype or another voice-capable instant messaging application. Quite simply, without this program there would be no podcast as it would simply be impossible for Corey and I to setup a recording studio and be at that studio at the same time every week. Using Audio Hijack Pro, we can talk to each other and record our podcast each from the comfort of our own homes.

If you don't need all the advanced features of Audio Hijack Pro, you can also try their standard Audio Hijack application that will simply and easily let you redirect and record audio only without some of the more advanced mixing features. Audio Hijack costs $16 and there is an upgrade path if you decide you later need the more powerful functionality of the Pro version.

Audio Hijack Pro has become one of the most used tools in my Application folder and I've used it in ways I've never thought I would. I bought Audio Hijack Pro to use it simply as a Podcasting tool, but more than once this utility has saved me when I needed to record obscure audio for a presentation.