Fission is the first (and currently only) OS X audio editor to support lossless editing of MP3 and AAC audio. The software has a super simple interface which provides an accurate dual-waveform view and a handful of editing commands that let you split, cut, crop, and fade audio. While still clearly a 1.0 version, it does have some slick features including audible audio scrubbing.

Fission’s streamlined interface is a joy to look at and use. Its only flaw may be that it is too stripped down for some. With a few more features, particularly support for VST and AU plug-ins, Fission could become my go-to audio editor for those times when bringing up Peak is just overkill.

Fission works with mono and stereo MP3s, AAC, Apple Lossless and AIFF audio files and is available now as a Universal Binary that runs natively on PowerPC and Intel Mac for US$32.

More details are coming in about the Apple-Intel deal. Here’s the really short version:

Incompatible with PCs: You’ll probably be able to run Windows and Intel-Linux (unsupported) on Apple’s new Macs, but Apple won’t let you run OS X on PC hardware. Big surprise: Apple wants your hardware cash. (See Apple’s Schiller to CNet.com)

Transition Ahead For Some Developers: CNet has the answer to the question I asked during the keynote. Developers who didn’t use Apple’s development tools to create their app will have to move their code to Apple’s XCode to take advantage of the Intel hardware. If they’re not ported, apps will still run, but the question is, will they take a major performance hit? (see below; readers also tell us they probably won’t work with audio)

(read more)

One of our all-time favorite audio developers, Rogue Amoeba, is weighing in on Apple’s Intel announcement, in their under the microscope feature. Basically, Rogue Amoeba’s Paul has more questions than answers. For his part, he’s actually quite upbeat — not angry OR shocked! But I agree with some of the questions he raises — the questions we’re all wondering about:

Will Apple’s hardware sales drop for 1-2 years? Apple says the coming months won’t bring many performance gains from IBM (though, of course, that’s part of the reason for the switch).

How fast will non-recompiled apps be on the new system? Jobs says “pretty fast” as Paul notes — but how fast, really?

Price comparisons could hurt Apple. Paul rightly points out this issue. I’m surprised analysts are so excited about Apple being able to slice a hundred bucks or so off their machines. If consumers can compare Mac to PC processor-to-processor, it may actually have the reverse effect: making Macs look more expensive. Anyway, we have a year to wait to find this out.

Developers are mad (but coping). Understandably, after years of touting the PPC. But despite that, Paul is cautiously upbeat, as are many other developers.

Bottom line: life goes on. Audio developers like Rogue Amoeba will press on. Some, like plasq, are already using Xcode and Cocoa; read: it won’t matter one bit. Hopefully Apple will feed its anxious users and the industry more details. And, if all goes according to plan, this will feel less like a historic moment, and more like just another day in the ongoing life of the 21 year-old Macintosh platform.

Rogue Amoeba, those virtuosos of routing audio in any Mac OS X app, have released Airfoil,
their new application for routing audio from any Mac app to Aiport
Express — not just iTunes. (The app was originally going to be called
Slipstream, as we reported here.) Finally, you can listen to BBC Radio
6 from anywhere in the house! (via our friends at samplepoolz, a must-read music site with a sample focus)

More importantly, this means you can play a gig running around with
your PowerBook! Strap that puppy to a shopping cart (or, hell, play
CATCH with it), stream from Ableton Live, and go to town! I double-dog dare you. Just don't set it on fire — this won't help with that.

Availability: Now
Cost: US$25 (US$20 in March only!)

Apple's Airport Express is about to become a must-have. Rogue Amoeba's Slipstream
Mac OS X application will let you use any Mac application with the
Airport, not just iTunes. Pick an application source, choose the
Airport you want to send to, and you've got instant audio streaming
over Wi-Fi. The application is coming in early 2005 for US$25, with an
initial price of $20. (Screenshot shown is preliminary.) The product
hasn't been announced to the press yet, but Rogue did send an
announcement yesterday to its user list.

Rogue Amoeba's Audio Hijack has a new rival for recording audio from any Mac app: Ambrosia has announced its new audio recording utility WireTap Pro
(US$19). WireTap Pro boasts a one-button interface, direct AIFF, MP3,
and AAC recording support, iCal integration for scheduled recording of
radio, and even sharing of recording scheduling packages with other
users. (That last feature could be the killer feature.) One feature
Audio Hijack has it doesn't: it doesn't look like there's effects
capabilities or by-application control. Crazy power users like me may
want both utilities, especially with the $9 crossgrade from Audio Hijack.
WireTap's simple interface, though, is very appealing.

In other (not surprising news), the original, free WireTap has been
discontinued, though I found that app didn't work well with recent OS
upgrades.

Rogue Amoeba's must-have audio tool Audio Hijack
lets you record audio from any Mac app; today's 2.2 release adds lots
of new features for automatically handling recorded audio. You can now
automatically add recorded audio to your iPod, or set a 'stop recording
after' option for easy scheduling. The release also features better
RealPlayer media handling, among other tweaks.

Compatibility: Mac
Pricing/Availability: $16 new (free upgrade), available now

UPDATED: Check out this in-depth tutorial on Audio Hijack to get started with the program!