Macsome Audio Editor: as a powerful audio editor freeware, it supports easily and quickly editing MP3 or AAC on Mac OS X. With Macsome AudioEditor, you can quickly cut and trim audio, as well as split files. It works with compressed MP3 and AAC formats to edit without the quality loss caused by other editors. Get perfect quality audio when editing natively in the MP3, AAC formats. You can also use it to make Ringtons for iPhone, or any other phone which support MP3 or AAC file as its ringtone. And you can also use it to remove any unwanted part or ads from audio files. You can add ID Tags for the audio file you saved to disk. ID Tags including Song Name, Artist, Album Name, etc. The most of all , it is a freeware, free to use software, free to upgrade.

DOWNLOAD NOW (1.9 MB)

(Via MacUpdate – Mac OS X.)

Soundflower is a Mac OS X (10.2 and later) system extension that allows applications to pass audio to other applications. Soundflower is easy to use, it simply presents itself as an audio device, allowing any audio application to send and receive audio with no other support needed. Soundflower is free, open-source, and runs on Mac Intel and PPC computers.

Example: To send audio from iTunes to Max/MSP, open the System Preferences and select Soundflower (2ch) as the device for sound output inside the Sound panel. Then, inside Max/MSP’s DSP Status Window, select Core Soundflower (2ch) as the input device. All output of iTunes should now be sent to Max/MSP’s adc~ object.

DOWNLOAD NOW (181 K)

(Via MacUpdate – Mac OS X.)

(Via MacUpdate – Mac OS X.)

SimpleChord is Part tool and part toy, a chord reference and composition tool for Mac OS X. It can show chords, play them, and order them into progressions, and it doesn’t end there.

• Many Musical Possibilities – From power chords to jazz, it’s all there.
• Your Composing Assistant – Arrange chord progressions right in the application to try out new sounds or use it to create accompanyment.
• Have iPod, Will Travel – Chord dictionary and saved progressions can be exported to your iPod.
• Works with MIDI keyboards – Use a MIDI keyboard peripheral to find chords that work with your melodies.
• Print and go – Print out progressions for easy learning when you’re away from the computer.
• Reverse Lookup – Punch in the keys, find out the chord.
• Right on time – Convenient metronome and tempo-finder tools built-in.

DOWNLOAD NOW (5.9′MB) More information

(Via MacUpdate – Mac OS X.)

Belkin’s milking its TuneBase product line for all it’s worth, today introducing two new wares that are just marginally different than those we’ve seen before. The new TuneBase FM and TuneBase Direct both enable iPhone users pick up a call handsfree (via the built-in speakerphone) as well as channel tunes to one’s stereo via an auxiliary input jack (that’s the ‘Direct’) or FM transmitter (and that’s the ‘FM’). The TuneBase FM is set to hit shelves next month in the US for $89.99, while the TuneBase Direct should make its way out this month for $69.99.

(Via Engadget.)

Hulu, which continues to see strong growth, has been a web-based video site since day one. As more and more premium content has made its way to the site, now with Disney even in the mix, more and more users have turned to Boxee for consuming that content in a desktop application or via an AppleTV hack.

Now Hulu seems to be throwing down the gauntlet, and today they’ve launched their own shiny new desktop application, Hulu Desktop, that brings all the joys of Hulu to your PC or Mac and works with Apple and Windows Media Center remotes. In fact, they’re even touting it as the ‘lean-back’ way to view Hulu video.

As a whole the application is top notch. You can expect a slick user interface centered around video watching. In fact, it’s hard not to notice that there are elements of Boxee’s sophisticated UI and navigation elements in the new offering. Suffice to say, though, if you’re a Hulu lover, you won’t be disappointed.

Hulu Desktop can be downloaded and used with or without an account, but if you do login you’ll get access to your video queue, subscriptions, and viewing history. You can also customize playback quality and tweak additional custom settings in the preferences menu.

Hulu’s play for your desktop is a pretty interesting and newsworthy move, especially given their contentious relationship with Boxee (who’s only fault was enabling you to engage with the same content in a similar fashion) and the recent demise of Joost’s desktop app.

Also interesting to note is that Hulu seems to have designed the desktop app not to play well with the Boxee app. If you have Boxee running, you might even see the ‘conflict’ message above (though if Boxee’s not running, everything should work smoothly).

For more on Hulu Desktop, watch this video:

(Via Mashable!.)

TuneRanger connects iTunes-running computers over a network, allowing music, video, and playlists to be copied from one iTunes library to another seamlessly. TuneRanger even works across platforms letting iTunes on Windows communicate and synchronize with iTunes on Mac or any combination. TuneRanger offers true synchronization. It compares songs and videos on all computers and only moves what has changed. It even does this for playlists.

More information

(Via MacUpdate – Mac OS X.)

Social music site Blip.fm added YouTube videos to its music feed today, allowing users to turn its ‘Twitter for music’ service into a social video playlisting site. The free service, which allows users to listen to songs and share them in playlists that resemble Twitter’s interface, now includes a window for watching videos as the songs play. It’s a sort of on-demand, social MTV — at least one that’s reminiscent of the era when MTV actually played music videos.

The move also beefs up Blip.fm’s audio content offering for U.S. users, although recent changes to its content library have left some international users with fewer songs from which to choose. Blip.fm recently began sourcing songs via Imeem but eliminated content from MP3 search engine Skreemr, which scraped the web for songs wherever they were lying around. While that’s generally a boon to U.S. users, many international listeners have reported that their full songs have been replaced by frustrating 30-second clips.

CEO Jeff Yasuda discussed the first round of changes, but not the YouTube additions, in this blog post last Thursday. The post doesn’t say why Blip.fm effected the changes, but it does mention lawyers. The streaming of songs lying around on the web falls into a legal gray area, but Imeem and YouTube content is fully licensed.

While providing a visual component to go alongside Blip.fm’s audio stream, the YouTube deal also provides some insurance against the potential eventual loss of Imeem content, although Imeem appears to be staying afloat with a new round of funding. YouTube, meanwhile, still suffers from its loss of Warner Music Group songs last year, but features music from the other three major labels as well as countless indies.

Originally a service from Fuzz.com, a now-defunct social network for musicians, Blip.fm reorganized last fall with new funding from insider investors. Stats from Compete.com show steady growth in recent months, pegging its April 2009 U.S. audience at about 500,000 users, while Quantcast data suggests that more than half of its 1.2 million global users are in the U.S. Blip.fm takes in modest revenue from referrals to online music stores and ticket agencies, as well as advertising.

(Via GigaOM.)

This post is part of Mashable’s Spark of Genius series, which highlights a unique feature of startups. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here. The series is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark.

Name: AudioBoo

Quick Pitch: AudioBoo is social audio. An iPhone app & platform that effortlessly records audio to the cloud.

Genius Idea: AudioBoo is a platform that I’ve been waiting to review ever since I discovered it several months ago. It’s essentially a way to create and share podcasts and audio clips, but with a simplicity that has attracted some big names like UK actor Stephen Fry and The Guardian newspaper as users.

First, the iPhone app: it’s very simple to use. The most important feature of the app is that you can record audio and upload it to the AudioBoo server and your account. This makes it very simple to create, publish, and broadcast your most recent podcast (also known as a boo). The second feature is the ability to listen to the most recent boos from other users.

Yes, the iPhone app is very simple, but that’s the goal: to make podcasting really easy. Audioboo definitely succeeds in that regard. With very little fuss you can be up and running with your own podcast that can be distributed via social media – you can have AudioBoo automatically update your Facebook and Twitter with new Boos – and even iTunes.

The website itself is also pretty basic. You can only listen and subscribe to boos (although you can sort boos by popularity and time). But once again, this is the point: it’s the Twitter of podcasts – simple to use, easy to distribute. Its focus on simple audio is superb and perfect for anyone who wants to try podcasting without all of the fuss.

Since I’m talking about an audio app, I can’t finish this post up without making my own Boo. So listen to my review and subscribe to my Boos for my future Boocasts.

(Via Mashable!.)

Keni Lee Burgess plays Muddy Water’s “Baby Please Don’t Go” on his cigar box guitar.

Check out CigarBoxGuitars.com