We take your feature requests and user feedback very seriously. We are working hard to make MachineHead the best alternative player for Mac OS X, and any ideas you'd like to see added in the future will be looked at very closely.
Thanks!
If the software had the ability to play more than one song at a time it would be perfect for my needs.
I think many people would like to DJ straight from their itunes collections.
Also, it would be very nice if you created an effects bus structure.
To clarify- A "send" mixer architecture that allows you to send specific percentages of a certain effect to your tracks.
Much more useful than "insert" effects.
I have a million other ideas on how to improve the software. But I think I should at least try it before I say anymore.
Thanks for what you've already created!
ehdyn
I'd like to see on MachineHead:
1) Shuffle play so I can replace iTunes with it
2) The option to show the current BPM instead of the Time in "times" (like 0.82x)
3) A BPM counter (the ones you tap to the beat of the song and the app calculates the BPM)
4) Get internal mac sound instead of microphone's for the visualizations - I use headphones!
5) Space bar as a shortcut to Play/Pause
We are actively working on how best to implement the multi-track interface. The signal processing chain already includes two fileplayer units, however the GUI to control the second player isn't yet complete, and there are some other issues to do with CPU usage that need to be addressed if more than one AUTimePitch is in use.
Re a 'send' architecture, this is another architecture we are investigating; it's a lot cooler, especially in a multi-track environment, but it is considerably more involved to engineer than the current 'insert' FxChain.
Both of these features will probably fall under the umbrella of a 'Pro' version, as they will require taking the GUI in a fairly different direction, and make the app more complicated than many current users would likely desire or need.
Anyway, thanks for the suggestions, at the end of the day they are both functionalities that we hope to make available in the near-ish future in a 'Pro' version.
Mark Hill
MachineCodex Software
Hi fernandolins,
Some of these items are already in-place in the
current version of AudioCodex, v0.91b; there is a BPM counter in the 'Loop' details on the Audio Inspector, with a BPM tapper button, and the Spacebar is again shortcut to Play/Pause.
Re Shuffle play, this is high on our list of priorities for improvements to playlist management.
Re showing BPM rather than speed in main GUI, we will add a preference to allow just this.
Re getting at the internal Mac sound for visualisations, that is also something we are working to implement. AudioCodex already monitors the audio streams RMS output both pre& post mixer, it is however a rather trickier feat to analyse the frequency distribution spectrum in real time. This ability is however fairly key to some our future plans, and we are working to have it implemented in the not-too-distant future.
Cheers, & thanks for the suggestions.
Mark Hill
MachineCodex Software
I think the trick with any good program whether it is pro or not, is how intelligently the CPU handles the tasks. Is a BYPASS really a true bypass?
How "tight" do those visuals have to quickly respond to the changes in amplitude to the incoming realtime signal?
How fussy is the user, and how deep do those visuals have to be?
I use and handful of VJ software packages as well, and with bucketloads of visual effects at my fingers (keyboard actually) trying to get THAT STUFF to line up with what the DJ is doing is nothing short of a friggin' NIGHTMARE, even IF the MIDI clock or sync of ANY kind enabled. Once again, dependant on how much I push the CPU, and how well its resources are utilized, sometimes I can go from blatant latency to "live-able."
(Sure, if I'm using SMPTE its a different story, right?)
Incorporating DJ Style Mixing:
There is a great little program I am testing that enables DJ-Style mixing. Its LOADS of fun, and something I think ANYONE of can at least try and experiment with.
It got me thinking about this program, and whether it was appropriate to even MENTION the idea!
Adding DJ'ing functionality in AudioCOdex increase the "cool!!" quotient, but it also cacks the crap out of the CPU from what I've seen demonstrated by just about ANY program that attempts to do this!
In the above (not-so)mentioned software, my CPU sits around 50% usually, and spikes all over the place. For what its doing, I'm wondering: where is all the work?
It has to be done efficiently, or not at all. Cross fader curves. Solo'ing through your soundcard's headphone output. It ups the ante tenfold, and if all I want is an iTunes replacement, I really don't WANT my music program to be eating my CPU resources while I am working with the Blur tool in Photoshop!
So unless it can be done with a "true" bypass, I've got other programs I use for that stuff already, thanks.
Once again, my 100 cents worth...
Johnny R3tarD
Hi,
I'm enjoying the beta version of machine codex. I use it because it allows me to use my high-quality parametric EQ from Izotope's Ozone 3 package as a room mode correction. This is very useful in my home studio to get the bass response of the room under control. Needless to say, Ozone's EQ is miles ahead of iTUnes. So thank you for incorporating this functionality into Audiocodex.
Now for my requests: please consider changing the track listing main screen's background from grey to white. Or at least make it customizable. I'd much rather look at a high-contrast white background while trying to read all those tiny track titles.
Second, when I try to play music I purchased from the iTunes store, even the DRM-free stuff from iTunes plus, it gives an error about not being able to find the file. I'd really like to be able to use Audiocodex with tracks that I've purchased from itunes plus.
Finally, consider making the search function more robust. I don't like having to change from 'name' to 'artist' just to search for a song. It should be able to handle different types of inputs without me specifying what I'm searching for.
Hi Sandrojazz,
We are aiming to add some more interface-appearance controls to the app in the near future, and one of the things you'll be able to do is specify the color of the list-view backgrounds.
Re the search function, it is admittedly fairly rudimentary ATM, however it too is due for a spruce up in the next point release or two.
Regarding the app not playing iTUnes tracks, while I haven't tried iTunes plus tracks specifically, they should in theory work. AudioCodex can definitely play standard 'protected' iTunes-store-bought aac files; the error message you are seeing most likely indicates that there is something about the filepath to the track that AudioCodex doesn't 'understand'.
In the current release, things should work perfectly if AudioCodex, iTunes & the iTunes library are all on the same Mac, but we have received reports of problems for some users who are using multiple iTunes libraries, or who are using iTunes libraries stored on Network volumes.
I am currently working over all of the iTunes-library related code, with the aim of making the app work better with a wider range of iTunes library configurations, and so hopefully the errors you are seeing should be eliminated in the next point-release, which should be available for download sometime within the next 5 days.
In the meantime, if you want to check that AudioCodex can play your protected files, try the following: in iTunes, select a protected audio file in the Library or a playlist and drag the list item to the desktop & iTunes will make a copy of the file in the Desktop folder. Then drag that file from the desktop into AudioCodex and drop it on either a playlist in the AudioCodex source-list, or into the list-view of one the AudioCodex playlists... by default there is always at least one AudioCodex playlist named 'Loops'... this list would be fine.
If protected audio files still can't be played under those conditions then please let us know and we'll act as swiftly as possible to locate and rectify the error.
Thanks again for your post.
Cheers,
Mark Hill
MachineCodex Software
It would be great if in the preferences of MachineCodex I could choose which audio output to use - for me I want iTunes to go out the Digital Output of my Mac Pro, but I would like MachineCodex to use my MOTU Traveler. This way I would not have to change my system output all the time.
Regards
Steve...
If you could make MachineCodex act as an iTunes plugin that would be great! Ideally I would like to access all of the AU and VST plugins I have in iTunes directly so that I can use the better EQ's I have from BIAS.
Regards
Steve...