Adam Curry
Tue Feb 1 15:47:22 2005

Quentin,

I'd love to talk to you about this. I definitely have ideas for AHP, I'm a user.

AC

Elana
Tue Feb 1 16:12:17 2005

I don't use Pro, but if you made an all-in-one I'd totally buy it.  I'm just Joan Q. Public, okay, maybe a little geekier.  But, come on.  People want this.  I know tons of friends who, if it was one simple download and then an upload, would be podcasting like crazy.  Adam knows how to get in touch with me, if you want to talk...

drew domkus
Tue Feb 1 16:54:03 2005

please save me from garageband hell.
pretty please...

- drew
dawnanddrew.com

Jason Ruby
Tue Feb 1 17:15:14 2005

I use AHP for a lot of my recording (www.deltaparkproject.com) but then have to goto Garageband to put the other elements in post.  I was using SoundFlower but it was too much to keep track of; monitoring levels etc..

I don't know what you can do to make it better.. ADAM DOES, but I know you guys could come up with something great just by tweaking what you already have.

Jason
Delta Park Project

Mike M
Tue Feb 1 18:10:11 2005

I think this would be a huge step for Rogue Amoeba.  Building an app like that could quickly move it to the defacto standard for podcasting.  Do it.  Every current (and potential) podcaster will buy it and hype it.

- Mike
www.marusin.com

Brian
Tue Feb 1 22:18:59 2005

Hey - If you want to help the podcasters - need an all in one. So that you can do one continuous record ffrom multiple apps - Really record all the audio that's on your computer - like a tape recorder would -  So we can talk and play music ( sound effects) while commenting on it - All with out having to edit in post -

Other than that - pretty great

BKLA
http://bkla.blogspot.com

David Berlind
Tue Feb 1 23:13:53 2005

Quentin:

I'm just now doing a writeup on building a podcasting studio. Like AC uses (or used), I have an M-Audio 410.  I also use AHP (just paid the $32) to hijack the audio output from the 410, Skype, and iTunes.  My #1 request that would just make AHP killer is include the necessary CoreAudio support to see the virtual ins/outs of a multichannel firewire mixer. For example, when hijacking iTunes, I want to  be able to pipe its audio into one set of the 410's software-based inputs while piping Skype audio into another.  Also, being able to see any virtual outs from a Firewire mixer (for example main mix and AUX).  Thanks for opening the suggestion box.

David Berlind
Executive Editor
ZDNet
david.berlind@cnet.com

Aron
Tue Feb 1 23:19:14 2005

I'm a AH Pro user and am using it for podcasting. With a few tweeks and a coupla new features, it could be well on its way as a serious podcast keystone. The ability to configure effects modules is great as is its original Hijack nature. Perhaps a preset config for newbies to record podcasts, play soundclips and edit and finalize podcast files before upstreaming... With Line In and Detour, it's a good little package. The trick was finding someone else who had done the congfig before! I'd love to see an all-in-one and would use it.

Aron M.
Parking In Bitterman Circle

Hugo Schotman
Wed Feb 2 04:33:16 2005

Hi Quentin, I've done some pretty detailed stresstests recently. (So recent that not all results are up on my site yet ;) I'd be happy to share some ideas with you. Among other things I recorded with an external video camera the signal going into the setup and the signal coming out. That way I was able to measure the latency of the setup and observe under which circumstances the 'jump' in latency occurs. When this happens, the podcaster has to 'reset' the Hijack of the microphone by switching it off and on again. (Otherwise you hear your own voice with a 24 ms delay instead of a 4-6 ms delay.)
See:
http://log.hugoschotman.com/hugo/2005/02/low_latency_pod.html

On the video I've also recorded the system activity application so you can see what processes are running and what the CPU load is during the recording.

Cheers,
Hugo
podcasting@mac.com

Cole Camplese
Wed Feb 2 09:38:29 2005

I use AHP and really love it ... but to get it to work correctly my setup is way too big.  Mixers, multiple macs, multiple mics ... all for a simple podcast.  I've tried to do it so many other ways, but using your product and the board yields the best results.  If you just want to do a very simple cast, then a laptop and a decent mic is all you need (I've used my iSight), but to get quality you really need way too much gear.  In higher education, all sorts of faculty and students would be doing this, if there was a simple way to route an external mic, iTunes, iChat/Skype into a single record channel ... give us the ability to see it all in software and switch channels on and off as need be.  If you have an intro segment in iTunes, just move the virtual slider up and the mic slider down ... when its over, do the opposite ... want to bring someone in over iChat, slide that one up ...  You know how killer it would be to have a $50.00 app that I could show off that would run on my 12" PowerBook?  every student in our college would have a podcast.

Otherwise, great product!  If you guys could just combine some of the functions of some other apps -- namely routing different sources into the hijack we'd have something close to perfect.

C

Mr. X of If Then Software
Wed Feb 2 21:22:25 2005

Honestly, Hijack is clearly the best solution out there for Podcasting, hands down. I used Garageband in the beginning and it is truly AWFUL. I switched to Hijack based on comments from Adam Curry and I have hit the ground running ever since. To be fair, the initial setup is VERY confusing, especially when you have to deal with "Line-in" and "Soundflower." Once I got it working (after reading tutorials and listening to Adam's clues), it works PERFECTLY! I have NEVER had any of the following: 1.) Skipped audio 2.) Dropouts 3.) Crashes. Seriously, it JUST WORKS. I took screenshots of the setup in each of the components and refer to them before each show is recorded. The one downside (a small downside) is the latencey after while--I get used to it, but it can be annoying when you are trying to monitor the show through the headphones. Other than that, trying to make an all-in-one Podcast solution would be great, but I wouldn't be able to suggest anything to add that isn't there right now. If you set the other components correctly (soundflower) you can jack in other system sounds, especially from iTunes, the finder, etc. I do that now and it works flawlessly. Again, the biggest hurdle is the setup--if there was a site devoted to JUST getting it all setup correctly, that would be the best! I had to spend hours futzing with it and listening to how Adam did it to get it to work. Now, it works and I would be more than happy to share my screenshots and explain why and how it has to be to get it to work. If you need that help, visit my blog at http://ifthensoftware.blogspot.com and leave me a post somewhere--I even posted pictures of my Podcast attic "studio" today--all of that simply runs into the iBook and then into Hijack without problem.

Shelly Brisbin
Wed Feb 2 23:28:12 2005

Like other posters, I'm an AHP user and fan. The convoluted initial setup (Soundflower to Line In to AHP) is a pain. I finally have it memorized, and when Tiger comes out, I'll just Automator it. But anything that could be done to simplify the process (making it possible to record both music and voice streams) would be welcome. I would also love to see a more intuitive means of generating podcast sessions and files. Something along the lines of creating a new document (podcast) using existing audio settings, and options for filling in the tags during the creation of the document. Right now, it's a little too easy to click out of a recording you're currently working on, and too easy to forget to update tags for the current show. Also, while I'm askin', how about an area atthe bottom of the session dialog that summarized all of the settings and effects that apply to that session?

OK, one more, if you really want to make AHP into a podcasting console; an XML item tag generator based on the tags and server information that could be stored in Preferences. I realize that this is not an audio feature per se, but it would be a great help to podcasters seeking a one-stop shop for building their shows and automating the process of delivering them to the server.

-shelly Brisbin
shellyspodcasts at gmail dot com

Aaron Drake
Sat Feb 5 09:43:41 2005

Ok I have 2 ways of looking at this.  Either improving AHJP or making a new product.

On Improving AHJP, the things that are really needed are multiple simultaneous imputs and seperate levels for them.  And Maybe a soundcheck like feature that will level all the audio out to a similiar level. 

ON a new product, It would also need multiple simultaneous inputs, but I think a cooler simpler way of doing it would be to open up a bunch of mp3 (or other formats) files that we can set off with key strokes, that would be great for playing music files or for playing any mp3's sentin for shows.

On the simplest level what needs to be done is I need to be able to talk into my mic, and set off music files.  A great stop gap measure would be to make the voice over plug in work with nothing playing under it.

Thanks,
Aaron Drake

aaron@duckwurks.com
http://www.celticmusicnews.com

Mud's Tests
Sun Feb 6 19:50:42 2005

Question: how can we improve what currently exists (AHPro) to be more suited toward podcasting

Response: Here are some thoughts on improving RSS and podcasting: What could be possible and how to improve things. Make AHPro do this:
http://mudtesting.blogspot.com/2005/02/xml-concepts-podcasting-support-ver-20.html

Scott Prock
Thu Feb 10 18:25:40 2005

I've been testing AH pro and would be happy with a couple of options.

An easy way to record Skype would be to add a way to click a one button record on any pending Highjacked audio.

As an example, if I set up a session to record the Skype app, and another to record the USB mic I have two sessions but I want one button to activate the record feature for both of them at the same time. (can this be done through applescript?)

OR I think it would be GREAT to be able to select a different audio source for each channel, like when accessing the advanced settings with an option click on the highjack button. I thought I would be able to do this but it doesn't.

Example would be to route Skype to left channel, and USB mic to the right channel.

Please let me know if these things can be done already and I'm totally missing it ;-)

Something I thought was interesting was using the voiceover effect, it appears this could work for a quick solution to recording Skype, but noticed the audio latency creep up and couldn't quite put my finger on why it would come and go.

Thanks . . . Scott
-------------------
The Powerseller Report
http://www.tprweb.com

Terry Greene
Mon Aug 15 14:10:19 2005

I am a newbie to podcasting just bought a firewire410 and have been using ahp for awile
i would also like to see a program preferably ahp
that can route traditional non surround stero software ins that go to the defaulted 1/2 software ins of the 410 and be able to run them them to the other software ins before they even hit the 410
that would be cool

Terry Greene
Mon Aug 15 16:22:11 2005

I am a newbie to podcasting just bought a firewire410 and have been using ahp for awile
i would also like to see a program preferably ahp
that can route traditional non surround stero software ins that go to the defaulted 1/2 software ins of the 410 and be able to run them them to the other software ins before they even hit the 410
that would be cool