Treat your ears

Hear unlocks how you listen to music on your computer. You will be surprised at the range of different sound you can push from the same audio file with and without Hear managing the sound. You can drop annoying tones in poorly recorded or mastered videos on sites such as YouTube, eliminate audio anomalies, and protect your ears from harsh sounds. Listening to audio on other computers falls flat now that I am accustomed to the control I have with Hear.

Hearing Hear

During my tests, I used a wide range of music genres with headphones and a 2.1 basic sound system. The standard presets were quite flexible. I played thumping electronic music and simplified a frequency response curve so that listening to old dirty recordings of early blues was enjoyable. In most cases, Hear increases the audio in parts of music that you might have not noticed previously. Hear accentuated the crash of a cymbal, which increased the complexity of the sound and enriched the performance without compromising the sound from other instruments. After using Hear, I am more adept at isolating and recognizing instruments, plus I’ve learned what kind of equalization I prefer.


Equalizer Pane - Wave View
I enjoy using my $40 headphones much more and no longer want to purchase a more expensive pair. Even after tinkering with Hear for a month, I have merely scratched the surface of the sound quality that this software delivers.

Almost Perfect

The one drawback in Hear is that you can’t save settings into individual songs in iTunes. So, it’s best to apply settings to whole genres of music and set up playlists in genres, instead of a wide variety of music. For those of you who want to be able to assign presets to genres of music, Ilene spoke to JoeSoft General Manager, Gordon Bell, who said, We are working on “Hear being able to auto select presets based on the genre playing in iTunes.” So, be patient while they work on an update to Hear.

Hear contains an electronic user's guide that explains its tools and features well, but if you’re new to sound concepts, there may not be enough detail. The Hear manual could use a glossary to explain concepts in more depth.

Hear is a very attractive offer for audiophiles and general consumers alike, at an affordable price. If you seek a reasonably priced gift for a music fan in your family, look no further than Hear.