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Podcast - Mac Geek Gab #101: Printing, Prefs, Routers, and Rips (and Surround Sound!)

by , 10:05 PM EDT, April 30th, 2007

Show notes for TMO To Go: Mac Geek Gab For Monday, April 30, 2007

Direct Links: MP3 Version or AAC Enhanced Version (courtesy of ).

Lots of listener feedback answered after the week off, including Printing Defaults, Surround Sound, Ripping DVDs, and mail servers. Don't miss it!

Sponsor: Audio Engine: Audioengine 5 -- Real speakers designed for portable audio players that deliver astonishing sound (and don't cost a fortune). You can't get better sound for your iPod or iTunes!

Sponsor: PDFpen: Effortlessly edit your PDFs. Add text, images and signatures, combine and split PDFs, reorder and remove PDF pages, and fill out and save PDF forms. Visit http://www.smileonmymac.com/geek for a special discount!

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Podcast Marketplace Sponsors: Audio Engine, Bare Bones, SmileOnMyMac and Audible.

Podcast-related sites to visit (and vote for us!):

(even an audio comment, if you please!), post in the comments below, Skype your message to "macgeekgab", or call and leave a voice-mail at 206-666-GEEK!

This podcast is recorded on a Mac using Audio Hijack Pro. As for equipment, John is using a Behringer C-1 microphone going through a Behringer Eurorack UB1222FX-PRO mixer, monitored with Etymotic ER-6i Isolator earphones, then straight in to his Mac. On Dave's end, a Heil PR-40 microphone is used, and the whole show is mixed "live" through a Mackie Onyx 1220 FireWire-enabled mixer before being pumped back into the Mac (via FireWire, of course), and is monitored with Ultimate Ears UE-7 Ambient earphones. Each microphone is run through a channel on a Behringer Autocom Pro-XL MDX1600 compressor, a touch of reverb is added with an ART FX-1 processor, and the whole thing is then compressed in software on the Mac. The show is recorded to AIFF, and then converted and uploaded with an Automator script. Michael, aka Computernap, then goes through and enhances the show to provide you with the AAC version. You can hear more details of the setup and how it's mixed on Episode #32.

Theme Music: "The Answer", written by Jeff Steblea and Brian Ayles, as performed by Go Figure. "Made On A Mac" bumper by Mark Fleser

Find more editions at the TMO To Go: Mac Geek Gab index.

Observer Comments

Show: Subjects Only | Full Comments
Close Name:Guest
Subject:

On a desktop Mac, option-(sound up or sound down) will bring up the Sound Preferences. I've forgotten where I learned this, perhaps MacWorld or MacAddict, a couple of years ago.

Close Name:Dave -   TMO Staff Posts: 227 Joined: 11 Jun 2001
Subject:

Quote
Guest wrote:
On a desktop Mac, option-(sound up or sound down) will bring up the Sound Preferences. I've forgotten where I learned this, perhaps MacWorld or MacAddict, a couple of years ago.


Thanks for the heads-up!

Close Name:Guest
Subject: For accurate DVD to DV I think this is better.

Love your show. I am new to the Macworld since October 2006. No turning back. However I use the following for my DVD camcorder:


1. DVDxDV.

This software program converts my video from The DVD to give the correct frame rate and to an accurate .DV file. The problem with using programs like ffmpeg and Quicken is that sometimes you will not get the sound channel and you will have only video but no sound. Additionally, Quicken has this nasty problem of interlacing the video, so that contrasting images of dark and light will have fine horizontal lines going across. These carry over to the DV file and eventually to the DVD that you are creating.

I was going to buy another camera until I found this program. Incidentally, this is the same program used by PBS FRONTLINE in their documentary series, "The Storm" about Hurricane Katrina.

Well worth the $25 for the basic program. $80 if you want to do fancy stuff with audio. There is a 30 day trial of the program also available.

http://www.dvdxdv.com/

Love your show and thanks for all of the information that you provide.


CA.

Close Name:Guest
Subject: errata...correction.

...obviously not Quicken....it should be Quicktime.....



Quote
Guest wrote:
Love your show. I am new to the Macworld since October 2006. No turning back. However I use the following for my DVD camcorder:


1. DVDxDV.

This software program converts my video from The DVD to give the correct frame rate and to an accurate .DV file. The problem with using programs like ffmpeg and Quicken is that sometimes you will not get the sound channel and you will have only video but no sound. Additionally, Quicken has this nasty problem of interlacing the video, so that contrasting images of dark and light will have fine horizontal lines going across. These carry over to the DV file and eventually to the DVD that you are creating.

I was going to buy another camera until I found this program. Incidentally, this is the same program used by PBS FRONTLINE in their documentary series, "The Storm" about Hurricane Katrina.

Well worth the $25 for the basic program. $80 if you want to do fancy stuff with audio. There is a 30 day trial of the program also available.

http://www.dvdxdv.com/

Love your show and thanks for all of the information that you provide.


CA.

Close Name:u2mr2os2 Posts: 6 Joined: 26 Apr 2003
Subject: Option shortcuts to prefs

The shortcuts are option+ feature, where 'feature' is volume (up, down or mute) or brightness. On a laptop, you press the function key labeled with that function (F1 through F5), and on a desktop (or keyboard attached to a laptop), you press option + the dedicated sound keys for sound preferences. For display preferences, press option + F14 or option + F15 (same as brightness keys on a laptop - not sure why these aren't labeled with the brightness icons).

Close Name:Guest
Subject: Alt-F3 on Desktop

Alt-(keys alongtop of keypad) does this for desktop. Note there is no keypad on a laptop.

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