Posted By Paul Kafasis on May 29th, 2015

When we released Audio Hijack 3 back in January, we hoped people would like it. Since then, we’ve been thrilled and gratified to be inundated with positive feedback about the upgrade. People just love Audio Hijack 3, and we couldn’t be more pleased.

There’s always room for improvement though, and today we’re bringing that with version 3.1. When we redesigned Audio Hijack for version 3, we chose not to include some things which weren’t very popular, no longer fit, or just didn’t make it in time for the 3.0 update. With a goal of simplifying, things like CD burning and obscure audio effects just weren’t worth including any longer.

But we always listen to our customers’ feedback, and Audio Hijack 3.1 brings back the two most-requested features: Silence Monitoring and File Actions. Read on for more information, or just choose “Check for Update” from the Audio Hijack menu.

Silence Monitoring

First, have a look at the updated “File Limits” section of the Recorder Block. Here, you can control just how Audio Hijack reacts to silence, as well as exactly how “silence” is defined. Use these controls to remove the silence from your recording, automatically start a new file when silence occurs, or stop your recording based on silence.

We received a great many of requests for this functionality in Audio Hijack 3, so we know users will find it useful. Enjoy!

File Actions

Next up is the Actions area, which can be found in the Recordings tab of the Home window. Highlight one (or many!) recordings, then click the Actions button to manipulate with just a click. It’s very handy.

It was already possible to reveal a file in the Finder, but now you can do much more. Pass audio over to your audio editor of choice.¹ Easily add files to your iTunes library. Or use the OS’s built-in Share sheet to pass files via email, iMessage, and more. Working with your recordings is now easier than ever!

Much, Much More

While those two features are the major new items found in this free update, there’s much more to appreciate. We’ve made dozens of improvements, just some of which are detailed below:

• Higher Sample Rates – AIFF and WAV recordings can now be made in higher sample rates, with support for 88.2 kHz, 96 kHz, and 192 kHz.

• Expanded Keyboard Controls – Keyboard control is now available for quick access to all important recording controls. Turn off all Recordings in a Session with Commmand-K. Pause all Recordings with Command-B. Split all Recordings with Command-T. Nice!

• Better Handling of Missing Audio Devices – Audio Hijack is now more intelligent than ever when it comes to dealing with missing and re-appearing audio devices. In addition, when a device is not plugged in, Audio Hijack will alert you so you can adjust your settings.

• Avoiding Auto-ducking – Previously when capturing from FaceTime or Mac OS X Dictation, forced auto-ducking was performed by the OS. This then necessitated manual adjustments in order to hear audio at a useful level. Audio Hijack now works around that, so audio capture from FaceTime and Dictation works just as you’d expect.

• Working Around QuickTime Bugs – On Mac OS X 10.10 (Yosemite), QuickTime Player could sometimes refuse to auto-play audio handed to it. While we wait for Apple to fix this bug, Audio Hijack now attempts to work around the issue.

• Smarter Instant On – Audio Hijack now correctly alerts you to the need to install the Instant On extra. Previously, it could simply fail to capture audio, and that was far from ideal. We recommend that all users install Instant On, but now when it’s required, you’ll know.

• Improvements to Icons, Errors, Tooltips, and More – We’ve scoured the app to find and correct all manner of rough edges. You likely won’t notice it, but we’ve sanded things down for an ever smoother experience.

• Bug Squashing – As well, we’ve fixed a large quantity of bugs big and small. Most were small, but we’ve also fixed a few crashing issues, and now better handle system sleep when recording.

Audio Hijack 3.1 contains several distinct improvements, as well as a great many refinements. It will enable you to record and enhance audio faster and better than ever.

Get It Now

Ok, enough talk! Let’s get you updated. If you’re already running Audio Hijack 3, just choose “Check for Update” from the Audio Hijack menu to get the latest version.

If you haven’t upgraded to Audio Hijack 3 yet, or you’ve never used Audio Hijack before, you can learn more on the Audio Hijack page, or just grab the free trial now.

Footnotes:

1. We recommend our own editor Fission of course, but any audio editor can be chosen in Audio Hijack’s preferences. ↩︎