TapeDeck 1.0 quickly, simply records audio

TapeDeck is an new audio recording application written exclusively for Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard that is designed with a quick-capture workflow. New recordings called "tapes" can be started with a single mouse click (or keystroke); the software records directly to compressed MP4-AAC audio, making it useful for a variety of applications including simple high-fidelity recordings of a band, practicing speeches, and capturing hours of lecture. The application was designed to emulate a real cassette tape recorder with a few key differences, the company explained.

"Every recording is automatically saved and organized in the searchable 'tape box'. There's no need to 'tape over' anything, because a new recording is always just a click away," the company noted. "TapeDeck also adds many welcome improvements to traditional tape recorders, such as a never-ending supply of tapes to record on, far better audio quality, lots of space to write notes, and full compatibility with iTunes and the iPod."

TapeDeck records directly to standard MP4-AAC files at one of three configurable compression settings. Users can add titles and even "liner notes" to each tape and allows full-text searches on this data (and makes it available to Spotlight, Quick Look, and iTunes). Users can also browse tapes via the Finder and Cover Flow.

The release note that the software takes extensive advantage of Leopard technologies with rich animation in TapeDeck's user interface: "Live level meters, rotating cassette spindles, live search, and UI sound effects make TapeDeck truly fun to use," the company added.

TapeDeck costs $25, and is available now. The unregistered version has approximately 2 weeks of "gradually declining battery life" and only permits short, low-quality recordings are. TapeDeck requires Mac OS X 10.5.2, and runs on any Mac that runs Leopard.