4 stars (Great Product) - I am using Toast 6 for Mac to convert my vinyl to digital format. After trying other products, I bought this for the CD Spin Doctor program. It is easy to use and the editing features work very well.
Vinyl conversion is a labor of love - the process is slow, but the end results with CD Spin Doctor are excellent. The program gives you the flexibility to break the recording into separate tracks and to name each one. The tracks can then be imported into iTunes and converted to MP3 (the steps are posted on the Apple website). One flaw - if you cut an album into tracks, they play in alphabetical order, not in the order they were recorded. (Commerically digitized tracks have hidden tags so the songs play in the order they were placed on the CD).
The only knock is that the program crashes on a fairly regular basis. I find, for best results, the entire computer needs to be rebooted frequently, which is VERY uncharacteristic for a Mac.
5 stars (Discus 3.0.4 upgrade Label/Jewel Case Software is Tops) - I own Toast 6 with two upgrades. (6.0.5) Using OS X 3.4 I needed a software update for my LaCie Burner.The Technical Help is quick and fast at Toast/Roxio. They told me to download it and gave me the link.Last night I Toasted some CD-ROM's for training Case Managers. I burned Six CD and Printed Labels and Jewel Case Inserts and Tray liner in a half hour.The extra $20 to upgrade to Discus 3.0.4 is well worth the Time and Money. (Newer Software and Full artwork) Real Pro looking Artwork and Label from a great Library. You can use any brand of Paper (Avery, Neato, Memorex etc.) and even nudge 0.5 mm adjustment if necessary. Memorex tray liners got an adjustment and it work for all futures use of that paper. This software lets you import for iTunes and Toast what you are Toasting for a list of software or Song Lists etc. Software so easy, I did NOT read the directions. Just do what you want to do the MAC way. I Like the Neato Jewel case booklets for Training instructions (Music Album Notes) and Memorex tray liners. I have one software and Four brand of paperYou can even print business cards on which I ton of good comments. "What a Beautiful Card."Spin Doctor takes out the starches on old LP's for converting to CD's. I was so happy with the Toast 6 package I did not take the rebate offer. I also used Toast 5 Lite that came with my LaCie.A New feature lets you Toast to a burner over the internet which are great for Training DVD's to people 15 miles away. Give the Package Bundle five stars
4 stars (A must for any Mac owner!) - When I bought my eMac, this was the first software I HAD to buy. I make a lot of CDs, so I decided that this was a must, and I've owned Easy CD Creator for the PC, so I knew that it would be easy to use and feature most of the functions I would need. It's true that it meets most of my needs and with a simple, clean interface. I can make a music CD and store files in no time and it can even create Video CDs and DVDs with menus. Of course, to many, Toast may seem redundant, as Mac OS X can handle most of your burning needs natively, but I prefer to use 3rd party software for those things, as it was created specifically for that purpose. However, the two things that Toast can do that Panther cannot are create Video CDs and burn DVDs directly from MPEG and Quicktime files without the need to demux audio. I get some Japanese TV shows from friends in Japan in MPEG format and I like to watch them on my TV, so it's nice to be able to burn them into VCD or DVD format for viewing and backup. If you do a lot of video downloading, this really can come in handy. Also, it works GREAT with EyeTV (sold separately) for the Mac, so you can record your favorite TV shows and put them on CD! My only complaint is that the DVD/VCD menu option stinks. There is only one menu interface and you cannot choose layout, music, background photo or anything. It's just a plain blue screen with a thumbnail of the video and text titles. And the thing is, it's not very nice--it's borderline gaudy and not what I'd choose for a standard menu layout. But, with that aside, this is a product I can wholeheartedly recommend for any Mac user with above-average burning needs. |
