|  Have
you downloaded enough mp3s to give your G5 and iPod
goose bumps? Already import all your friends and coworker
CDs into iTunes? Do you STILL want more? Lucky for you,
there's Audio Hijack (Macintosh
OS X only).
 INTRODUCTION
The
first time you use Audio Hijack, you'll notice the icon
shows a burglar with a gigantic speaker on his back.
This is a very fitting image for what this powerful app
can do. Simply put, Audio Hijack allows you to record
and save audio from ANY application to your computer.
Sound handy? That's because it is.
Audio Hijack turns your Mac into an audio ripping recorder
du jour. Literally, any audio you hear on your computer
can be recorded with Audio Hijack. Like the theme song to
that new computer game you just bought? No problem, hijack
it. Hear some cool sound effects on a website? Then hijack
it. Get the idea?
 It
gets better. Audio Hijack can be completely automated.
WIth the help of Audio Hijack, your Macintosh can automatically
record any online streaming audio feed and transfer it
to your iPod. Audio Hijack does all the dirty work for
you. It'll record it, convert it to an mp3 or AAC
file, and even add it to your iTunes library automatically!
That's not even the best part. The timer feature allows
you to set all this up ahead of time (like a TiVo) so
you can record what you want, when you want it.
  For example,
let's say you are a huge NPR fan.
Honestly, who isn't? Wouldn't you love to have an hourly
newscast on your iPod every morning to go with your coffee
and cheese danish? All you have to do is schedule a preset
in Audio Hijack. Then in the morning you can get on the
bus, or take that morning jog and punch up the newscast
on your iPod just like you would Britney
Spears' "Toxic". The only difference between
the two is NPR delivers quality, somewhat satisfying
audible content. You can use the following procedure
in this tutorial to hijack any streaming audio file,
but as I alluded to above, I'm going to use NPR as my
example. But you can find all sorts of streaming audio
content from popular radio talk shows to music, sports,
news and more.
SET
UP
Before we begin, you should download the Audio Hijack
demo from Rogue
Amoeba's website.
NOTE: This
tutorial does not require the purchase of the Pro version
of Audio Hijack in order to complete. The free demo version
will work fine. However, with the DEMO, there is a limit
to the amount of audio you can record before it turns
to a very offensively loud static. Pay the $16 and you
get a licence to hijack forever! Small price to pay for
a lifetime's worth of ripping.
FIND
CONTENT
After
you download and install Audio Hijack, it's time to grab
that NPR newscast. But slow down there Willie
Gault, first we need to find out where the source originates
from. Let's go to NPR's
website and find the streaming link for their Hourly
Newscast. You can find this link right on their home page.
Click on the link to open it in Windows Media Player or
Real Audio (for this tutorial I'm using Windows Media Player
for Mac, but the same basic procedure can be used for any
streaming audio feed). |
 click
on image for a larger view
|
GET
THE STREAM LOCATION
After
launching the streaming audio feed, you will hear your
newscast playing. Now, let's find out where this stream
originates from. Audio Hijack needs this stream location
before it can record anything.
With
the stream playing (or at least open), and Windows Media
Player the active application, select File > Get
Info from the menu bar. Towards the bottom of the dialogue
box that opens, you will see a "Location" description.
Write this down or memorize it if you are good at that
kind of thing. Unfortunately, you cannot just select and
copy it.
Once
you have your desired stream location, hit OK and QUIT Windows
Media Player.
The
stream location for NPR is mms://216.35.221.84/newscast/newscast.wma.
If you click on this link now, your web browser will open
Windows Media Player and should start playing NPR's live
audio stream. |
SCHEDULE
A HIJACKING
Now
Open Audio Hijack or make it active if it's already
open. Unless you've already messed around with the program,
you should see an empty queue (picture right). Let's set
up a preset to record our NPR newscast.
From
the menu bar, go to File > New Preset.
You now have an Untitled Preset window with four tabs: Target,
Timer, Recording and Effects.
TARGET: Fill
in the title as "NPR News." Then under Application,
hit Select and navigate to Windows Media Player on
your computer (picture bottom left). Select Choose.
In the bottom box under "Open URL/File/Apple Script",
input the streaming audio location that you wrote down from
Windows Media Player (picture bottom right). |
 |
 |
TIMER: Now
let's set up a timer so your computer will automatically
record the audio stream while you're doing other things
(like watching "Real World 38: Bamburgers Dept. Store").
Select the Timer Tab and click the "Enable Timer"
checkbox at the top. Also make sure to select Monday -
Friday for the recording days. Next, you need to select
the time you want Audio Hijack to start recording. Since
I wake up at 6am, I have Audio Hijack start recording at
5am. This way my NPR newscast is finished before I even
get out of bed.
In
this example, I input "05:00:00" for my start
time and "06:00:00" for my end time. Make sure
the Record tab is checked and also check off the
Quit Target box as well. This option will Quit
Windows Media Player once it's done recording.
NOTE:
Audio Hijack uses military time as do most countries on
the planet so get used to it.
|
 click
on image for a larger view |
click
on image for a larger view |
RECORDING: Navigate
to the Recording tab. You need to save your raw files
somewhere. I like to save my files to the Desktop. You can
do this by choosing the Select button and then navigating
to the Desktop.
Next
I want to tell Audio Hijack to convert the NPR newscast
to an AAC file once it's done recording. Doing this will
reduce the file's size, AND add to iTunes so I can put it
on my iPod. Under the drop down menu, choose "Encode
to AAC with iTunes". |
EFFECTS:
If you're feeling awfully hijacky,
navigate to the Effects tab and either manually manipulate
the EQ settings, or choose one their presets to adjust the
quality of the audio you're recording. I chose the Spoken
Word preset. In general, you should use this EQ setting
for all audio books and other 'non music' types of audio
files.
Close
the Inspector Window and you're done. |
 |
Now you should
see this window.
TEST
YOUR HIJACKING
If you want
to test your preset, hit the "Hijack" button at the
top of the queue. Windows Media Player should open and your stream
should play. The black audio meter [Levels] in the upper right
hand corner of the queue notifies you that it is recording. If
you want to record it, hit the "Record" button. If you
are happy with the results but don't want to save it to your computer,
hit the "Release" button. An AIFF file will appear
on your desktop (if you chose to save it) and iTunes will automatically
convert it to an AAC file.
When iTunes
is done converting it, feel free to trash the AIFF file on your
Desktop. You will no longer need it and it will only take up valuable
disk space. iTunes has already created a duplicate copy in AAC
format and saved it in your iTunes Library.
TIPS:
- Audio
Hijack will not run unless it is open.
- Audio
Hijack cannot hijack audio from an application if that target
application is already open. You can set Audio Hijack to automatically
quit the target application when it is done hijacking.
- Raw AIFF
files can clog hard drive space. Remember to delete those nasty
uncompressed files.
So that's
it! You've set up a timer enabled preset and have learned how
to save any audio emitted from your computer to your hard drive.
Test it out with ANY application from your favorite game, to the
Finder. Once iTunes possesses the newly created mp3 or AAC, it's
as simple as dragging it to your iPod.
If you've
followed this tutorial and scheduled Audio Hijack to grab
NPR's newscast everyday, congratulations! Now, at work, you'll
appear to be somewhat in touch with the rest of the world.
And who do you have to thank for all this? Just a low priced
sound ripping application called Audio Hijack and little old
me. Happy
hijacking! |
Rogue
Amoeba Software is a privately held software company
based in the USA with offices around the globe. They create
powerful and innovative audio tools for Mac OS X and have
a good time doing it. 
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