Review: X-OOM MP3 Hit Recorder 2
Don Bradbury investigates a program for audio recording from Internet Radio
| Product | MP3 Hit Recorder 2 |
|---|---|
| Company | X-OOM |
| Web | www.x-oom.com |
| Price | £14.99 |
| We like | Configurability, multiple station list |
| We don't like | Lack of genre options and documentation |
| Rating | 7/10 |
| Requirements |
While many will be happy ripping their favourite music CDs to MP3 files for filling their MP3 players, others will want a wider selection of tracks to record. For that they may turn to streaming audio via Internet radio for their free and legal downloads.
Steaming audio is a growing area of interest for music lovers; thousands of stations now being available, some at quite high quality. So all that was needed was integrated recording software and they'd be away. Was it that easy? X-OOM think their MP3 Hit Recorder 2 (HR2) has hit the mark and, certainly, the number of stations on offer was very large.
Directly updateable from within HR2, the stations list was a very mixed bag. Many offer pop music, a few offer classical music, there are simple voice channels (many in foreign languages), and there are all sorts of other oddities to choose from. Out of this selection you can record single channels or up to 20 channels at once - though with no control over content, only the station's specialist genre.
From the post-installation launch, many of the stations on offer were unavailable, reporting an "error #74" situation. From a random start position in the list, no less than 24 were reported unavailable. On another occasion, from the top, 12 out of the first 20 stations were similarly unavailable. X-OOM advised us to update the radio list at least daily via the Internet as it was updated six times a day, no less, by themselves. In addition, X-OOM said, a Firewall or an installed Virus scanner can sometimes block the stream, though we experienced no problem with this. Things were certainly much improved using a refreshed list.
Installation
Installing the software was reasonably easy, though the printed manual was not directly applicable in all aspects. And for some users there will be the added need for an audio encoder to be installed by download. On our test PC we already had the LAME MP3 encoder available and simply had to point to it (using an automatic search of the disk) and HR2 used it.
All versions of Windows from 98SE and later were supported, with DirectX 8.0 or above, along with a 700MHz CPU and a 1.1GHz Intel or Athlon CPU. Next, you have to unlock the program with a code which is supplied - if you can read it; the on-CD dotted print made deciphering some characters quite difficult. However, one guess later and the job was done.
A full program update was immediately on offer (as well as the station list) so we downloaded that first and installed it automatically via the zip file. Operation and options setup were fairly obvious, and recording our first MP3 file soon followed.
A Start Center could be summoned from launch, and this gave access to all the main functions:
Recoding problems
Although publishers X-OOM say that a new pre-save function is built into HR2, direct recording, coupled with the station buffering time that proved necessary, lead to unacceptable delays in starting a recording and missed track recording time on the stations we tried. Pre-save was specifically aimed at eliminating this problem. It was claimed to be operational provided the track was being played from the beginning before recording was started. The pre-save function only works if the stream is in MP3 format. For that, auto-detect should be engaged for the encoder, but it didn't work on every station we tried.
Having said that, one station we found, WGBH broadcasting out of Boston, gave us a station-specific pre-save which had nothing to do with HR2 (because other recorders gave the same result), but that was to ensure capture of the station's own commercial introduction. It meant we never missed the start of the first or chosen music track, but editing was necessary to cut that bit out of every track we saved from WGBH. A simple enough task which we'll come to later.
Broadcast bit rates were very variable in the station list (not a functions of HR2 of course) from an unacceptable 24Kbits/sec to over 120Kbits/sec; that's down to the station, you take what you're offered or leave it. Anything over 80Kbits/sec should sound half decent on an MP3 player. Over 100Kbits and you'll get better quality (provided your player or other equipment is up to the job of accurate reproduction) but you face the problem of higher file sizes and consequent consumption of player capacity - which may not be desirable.
Formats
HR2 can record in MP3, WMA, and OGG-Vorbis file formats, and comes with it's own file format converter. It also comes with it's own Audio Editor and ID3 Tag Editor as well as "Music to Go" for copying or burning music files to mobile devices. There's even a PodCast Manager thrown in.
The Editor is useful, but we preferred to use the more versatile "MP3DirectCut" editor, a freebie that is downloadable from www.mpesch3.de.
We also used an alternative MP3, WMA, and WAV recording program, "AudioRecorder for FREE" from UPower Tech, downloadable from www.download.com/Audio-Recorder-for-Free/3003-2168_4-10500407.html
It's a choice which has the virtue of a shorter station buffering time and hence less risk of loss at the start of a track; with luck and some anticipation you can grab the entire track. Not perfect, "AudioRecorder for FREE" nevertheless let us grab tracks while sitting comfortably over HR2, and was considered worth a try as it's versatile enough to usefully record anything that's produced out of your PC's sound card (and other sources), as well as being configurable in several other important ways.
In conclusion
MP3 Hit Recorder 2 was versatile and had lots of configurability, options, free updates, and add-ins, but it's choice of stations will not be to everyone's taste. Further, it was lacking in certain information in some aspects of usability, such as the pre-save function. On-line help was of limited value.
We think some users could be better off accessing their own choice of Internet Radio stations, and might consider using their preferred recording software as well, with Internet Explorer in conjunction with the highly selectable Radio Station Guide available from www.windowsmedia.com/Mediaguide/Radio
thing. Especially is this so as it can simultaneously record multiple channels for bucket-loads of tracks in next to no time. There's even an automatic download manager built in so you don't exceed your monthly download limit. At this price it's worth a try.
