Recording audio can get pretty overwhelming these days. The market is already filled with highly complex apps that offer many features normal users don’t really need. There are apps like Audio Hijack Pro or Logic that are targeted towards the professional sound producers. But there is also the need for simple, fast and easy sound recording apps which nevertheless possess professional features — just think of QuickTime and you know what I mean. The built-in way of recording audio in Lion is way too simple, since it can’t select apps as audio inputs and beyond that it does not wow you with its design like Mac apps should.
Piezo, coded by Rogue Amoeba (who also produce Audio Hijack Pro), is a very neat and aesthetic approach to solve this problem. It combines the power of Audio Hijack and the simplicity of Quicktime in a very nice and intuitive interface. Just select your source (Microphones or apps like iTunes, Skype or the DVD Player are possible), name your recording, set a recording quality, click the record button and you are ready to go — Simple, yet very powerful. All this is packed into an antique, warm interface. The app looks like one of those old radios from the fifties and the use of colors and rounded edges is executed very well throughout the whole app and the stripped-down preferences.
You can try out Piezo for free with a recording limit of 10 minutes or purchase the app at $9.99, either from the Mac App Store or directly from Rogue Amoeba.
