Free update for existing users

Mireth Technologies has updated their all-purpose audio utility program Music Man to version 4.0, adding Lion support. The program has been described as a "Swiss Army Knife" of audio utilities for the Mac, allowing users to rip from CD into a wide variety of formats -- including several not possible with iTunes -- and convert audio files from one format into another. It also offers burning and a self-contained player for audio files.

The program can work with AAC, AudioCD, M4A, M4B, MP3, WAV, WMA (unprotected only), AIFF, Apple Lossless, FLAC, MIDI, MP2, OGG, and WMA formats, and convert between them. It features a clip editor as well as an ID3 tag editor for MP3 files. It can burn files in DVD-Audio format and features a "mono mixdown" feature which puts all the music in both channels so that one-ear listeners still hear the full sound.

The software has a unique "dual rip" feature where users can optionally download a free LAME encoder designed to work with Music Man and rip files in both M4A and MP3 at the same time.

The program also features links to several legal online music stores that sell tracks in unrestricted formats such as MP3 or OGG, including Classics Online, Earbuzz, eMusic and Independent Music Online, along with the Free Music Archive. It can also degrade the quality of music tracks to shrink file sizes and fit more music onto smaller formats like CD and USB thumb drive; users can choose between "CD quality," "FM Radio quality" or "AM Radio quality" depending on their preference.

The program is sold either on CD or as a download for $35 or $25 respectively. Previous buyers can upgrade to v4 without charge. Educational and volume licensing options are available, as is a free trial version. Music Man v4 requires a Mac running OS X 10.5 or later and QuickTime 6.4 or higher. WMA support is enabled through a free download of Windows Media Components for QuickTime (formerly known as Flip4Mac WMV Player).

by MacNN Staff