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Enhancing all audio output via Audio Hijack Apps
This is kind of a followup to this previous hint regarding an iTunes equalizer setting.

Something I do as a matter of course is configure Audio Hijack Pro to enhance the sound that iTunes (and DVD Player, Real Player, you name it) produce from my laptop's speakers. Rather than getting a tinny and, well, laptop-like sound, I get something that is pretty listenable even in environments with a lot of background noice.

The key to my configuration is the use of a double-gain setting which cranks up the volume to a useful level. After the double gain, Apple's AUMultibandCompressor pulls down the level of the sound so that clipping does not arise. Rather than describe the precise configuration of AudioHijack Pro, here is a screen grab of my configuration.
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Enhancing all audio output via Audio Hijack | 7 comments | Create New Account
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Enhancing all audio output via Audio Hijack
Authored by: gourls on Sep 03, '04 01:50:48PM
That sounds awesome! I have noticed how weird music sounds on laptops. I don't normally use a laptop now, but for awhile, I did. Yesterday I did that "perfect" equalizer thing and that enhanced my sound on my iMac. Try that on your laptop, too.

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Figuring it out

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Enhancing all audio output via Audio Hijack
Authored by: kalinka on Sep 04, '04 05:48:57PM
You might want to try turning the threshold up a bit on compressor 1 (say to around -60), if your screen grab which shows 10db of reduction is anything to go by (10db is quite a lot for any digital compressor to try and make sound good). Of course just go with whatever sounds best to you though.

I think you can use any AU plugin in Audio Hijack. Blockfish is a really nice free compressor: http://www.digitalfishphones.com/main.php?item=2&subItem=5

You might not be able to get it to go as loud at the output as the apple plugin, but it sounds better IMO (and many other peoples'). Set it to stereo and adjust the settings as you see fit - slowish response, opto mode and two or three lights on the compression knob would be a good starting point.

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Enhancing all audio output via Audio Hijack
Authored by: denty on Sep 06, '04 02:39:12PM

Hi kalinka,

Thanks - that looks really interesting. I'm gonna have a play this weekend.

I must admit to not really understanding very much about real analogue audio - and I class all these funky plugins as analogue! So any hints are very welcome.

d.



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Confused
Authored by: jpkelly on Sep 04, '04 07:44:54PM

I am unclear on how to get Audio Hijack to output to the speakers.
I thought Audio Hijack outputs to a file.
How do we route the output to the speakers?



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Confused
Authored by: Welles Goodrich on Sep 06, '04 12:18:23PM

LineIn

http://rogueamoeba.com/freebies/



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Confused
Authored by: denty on Sep 06, '04 02:35:42PM

Audio Hijack does do that, but the Pro version, http://www.rogueamoeba.com/audiohijackpro/, will allow you to alter the sound 'in flight', as it were.



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Enhancing all audio output via Audio Hijack
Authored by: denty on Dec 13, '04 05:45:11PM

For those of you that noticed I had accidently deleted the screengrab, I'm sorry. I've replaced it now and also attached a "patch" that you can simply import into Audio HiJack Pro, rather than copy-typing from the screen. The patch is downloadable here. (And I'll try not to delete it this time!)

Sorry for the inconvenience.

denty.



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