Using iTunes as an Audio Processor

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Derrick Story
Sep. 13, 2004 04:16 PM
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I've been working on an audio restoration project that's helped me to discover new ways to use my existing tools. The one that I simply can't live without is the Volume Logic plug-in for iTunes made by OCTiV software. Let me explain why.

I have a 23 year old reel-to-reel demo tape from a garage band I played bass guitar for in the early 1980s. Three of us were song writers and each had a couple of tunes on this tape. I thought I should digitize this work before it turned to dust.

One of the biggest challenges was finding a reel-to-reel player. Fortunately one of my coworkers had access to the mammoth Ampex ATR-700 that strains the back just to look at it. But it was in working condition, and I was in business.

My set up was simple. I plugged a Griffin PowerWave into a 1 GHz PowerBook, then connected the Ampex to the PowerWave. I used Rogue Amoeba's versatile Audio Hijack Pro to grab the audio and save it to my hard drive as AIFF files. I like Hijack for lots of reasons, but the effects plug-ins are fabulous -- from the 10-band equalizer, to VU meters, to noise filters.

And even though the Maxell (gold box) tape had withstood the test of time, between its age and that of the Ampex, I couldn't quite get the sound I wanted. Until that is, I loaded the digitized music into iTunes and ran it through the Volume Logic processor.

Volume Logic is a plug-in for iTunes that enables real time digital re-mastering. Until recently, I used it to enhance the songs I listened to on my PowerBook. With it, you can control volume, drive, and bass boost. But it also has a set of magic equalizers that are phenomenal.

I found that by using the Loud! setting along with the adjustments for drive and bass boost, I could finally achieve the sound I was yearning for. But I wanted to do more than just enjoy this music on my PowerBook. I wanted to create master CDs to share with my fellow musicians.

Then it dawned on me that I could reprocess the music by running it through Volume Logic. Since I now had AIFF files, I could hijack them again from iTunes (running Volume Logic) to create better sounding masters. What a difference!

The Volume Logic plug-in is available for both Mac and Windows. It costs $20 and is worth every penny... even if you aren't trying to salvage the music from your first rock and roll band.

Derrick Story is the digital media evangelist for O'Reilly. His experience includes more than 20 years as a photojournalist, managing editor for O'Reilly Network, and a speaker for IDG, PMA, and Santa Fe Workshops. He is the author of Digital Photography Hacks, Digital Photography Pocket Guide, 3rd Ed., and his latest, The Digital Photography Companion.

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