SuperMegaUltraGroovy has released a new version of TapeDeck for Mac OS X. Designed with a quick-capture workflow in mind, TapeDeck is a simple, but useful, audio recorder that leverages Core Animation. According to the people at SuperMegaUltraGroovy, high-quality recordings are now made using the Apple Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC) format.

TapeDeck's quick-capture workflow records “tapes” that can be started or stopped at any time with a single mouse click or keystroke. The program is very similar to old, analog tape recorders. However, a virtual such recorder presents the user with some advantages.

Full-text searches are available, with recordings being accessible through Spotlight, Quick Look, and iTunes. Finder and Cover Flow can also be used to browse recordings saved in TapeDeck. TapeDeck requires at least Mac OS X version 10.5 (Leopard). A demo version is available and a one-user license costs $25.

“Many of you will be happy to know that TapeDeck 1.3 is out today,” an update on the SuperMegaUltraGroovy blog reads. “It’s an exciting release, because it adds the much-requested ability to record lossless audio. Now you pro audio folks can record audio in the highest quality, and drag your tapes straight from TapeDeck into GarageBand with no loss in fidelity. And, if you’re really nutty about your audio quality (and have the hardware to back it up), you can unlock TapeDeck’s recording quality in the preferences so you can record beyond 44.1kHz!” the team of developers says.

While ALAC recordings may be exported to popular uncompressed formats with no loss of the original recording’s fidelity, medium-quality ones are still made at 128kbps in AAC, according to SuperMegaUltraGroovy.

“TapeDeck [...] adds many welcome improvements to traditional tape recorders, such as a never-ending supply of tapes to record on, far better audio quality, lots of space to write notes, and full compatibility with iTunes and the iPod,” SuperMegaUltraGroovy shares. “Live level meters, rotating cassette spindles, live search, and UI sound effects make TapeDeck truly fun to use,” the developer adds.

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