Mac software for creating quality CD mixes?

November 9, 2005 10:59 AM

On the PC, I used Easy CD Creator 5 to create CD mixes. I loved the ability to create custom transitions between tracks: cross-fades, fade-ins, gaps, etc. What is the best CD mix-making software for Macintosh? (iTunes is sadly lacking in these sorts of features.) A downloadable shareware app would be great, but I'm willing to consider something like Toast, even though it costs $80. (Is Toast a good product? Will it let me do cross-fades? The reviews make me wary.) I suppose the best option would be some sort of iTunes add-on to let me do cross-fades, etc. Does such a beast exist?
posted by jdroth to computers & internet (6 comments total)

BTW: I realize that to an extent, this is a google-able question, and I'm in the midst of such a search, but the reviews I'm reading are unhelpful at best. Also, I want personal experiences. I want to find the best Mac software for my purposes. Right now when I want to make a decent CD mix, I burn an iTunes playlist to disc and go to a PC to use Easy CD Creator. This is not a good solution.
posted by jdroth at 11:03 AM on November 9, 2005

Toast does not let you do crossfades. Toast with Jam, however, does give you this option. I've used this product and it works.
posted by Rothko at 11:19 AM on November 9, 2005

Toast does not do cross-fades. For that you need Jam, which is a dedicated audio CD burner. If you buy Toast and Jam together you get a discount, but they don't have a bundle with Toast 7 (the latest version) yet. In any case it's $170 for the pair.

It's good software, albeit quite pricey.
posted by kindall at 11:22 AM on November 9, 2005

Toast with Jam is exactly what you want. Both are essential mac audio tools.

You may also need Peak (LE version should be fine) to bump levels of the component tracks up to max and make edits. (Open-source app Audacity can do this also, I believe.)
posted by omnidrew at 11:22 AM on November 9, 2005

Ask the DJ is a one-trick pony that does exactly what you want.

And it features dancing girls!
posted by adamrice at 2:09 PM on November 9, 2005

Ask the DJ isn't quite the thing, I don't think, but it's probably worth playing with. I seem to recall that it'll export your whole mix to one big file. And it can degrade the sound sometimes.
posted by kindall at 12:04 AM on November 10, 2005