With an absolute ton of free software like Limewire and websites like Keepvid nowadays, I’ve gotta be blunt: the only reason I can see people turning to Videoraptor — basically one-third of RS Audials’ triangle of software — is its no-spyware guarantee.  It’s up to you whether that’s worth the price.  However, let’s have a closer look at Tunebite and Radiotracker, RS Audials One talk for DRM-Protection breaker and Internet Radio recorder, respectively.

The GUI is a very interesting one: there is a different colour scheme for every piece of software.  There is a uniquely shaped window, and three tabs on the side for Radiotracker, Videoraptor, and Tunebite.  The tabs are links to the program, which then opens up on the main side of the screen.  An interesting, unique layout — although it does take a while to load.

Tunebite was impressive.  I was a bit skeptical about how well it would work initially: although it wasn’t able to convert SpiralFrog’s .wma files, it was able to crack one of iTunes’ .m4p files into a 256kbps .mp3 file.  Unfortunately, Tunebite’s video converting function didn’t work as smoothly as its audio conversion: I tried converting a .m4v video I purchased off iTunes, and although it captured audio perfectly, only a few random frames of the video were caught — although I will mention that this could likely be due to the fact that I didn’t pay much attention to the configuration it told me to change in iTunes.  In my defense, that dialog box never popped back up, so I wasn’t able to discover what needed to be fixed or altered.

Arguably, the most interesting part of RS Audials One has to be Radiotracker.  Radiotracker basically allows you to input an artist, album, or song that you want to record from Internet radio streams.  Radiotracker will then scan over a couple of thousand of radio stations (my average use had around 3,400).  This is perfectly legal: however, it does take a good while longer to find the tracks that you want.  Radiotracker was generally every accurate about when to start and stop recording — on occasion, it would have ended too late or cut off too early, but those are just minor mishaps that can be easily fixed.

For $69.99, I’ll admit RS Audials One is a bit of a stretch.  For a less illegal version of Limewire, an arguably mediocre DRM-breaker, and an impressive radio-recording piece of software, I think RS Audials One can be skipped and you could consider Radiotracker on its own for $39.90 (still a bit expensive, no?).  As for the RS Audials website, I know it looks a bit sketchy, but it’s quite helpful in regards to sales information.

Last.FM has been around for a long time – ever since I was still relatively new to this whole “social networking” business, I thought that Last.FM was going to revolutionize the world. It’s just that after the five years or so it’s been around, it’s gotten a bit stale. Besides, I’ve usually used Last.FM to discover new music, not new people. I’d much rather have Pandora – which is dedicated to finding new music (somewhat a personalized “internet radio”). When I first heard of Jango, I don’t know why, but it felt exceptionally refreshing. I’d also like to say that Jango is somewhat like Pandora and Last.FM combined together, to give us the best of both worlds. Just what is it that Jango does so darn well?

Jango plays music.

First and foremost, Jango plays music without needing users to register prior to such a service. Just enter the name of your favourite artist, and be prepared to discover music just like it. On occasion a little box might pop up asking you to register, but it’s optional and you can simply close the box and continue listening. I’ve found the music to be great – I’ve heard some great tunes along the way, including Def Leppard (whom I have only heard of before).

Jango learns what you like.

Jango gives three options when rating songs: Don’t Like it, Like it, and Love it – in the form of three emoticons. Clicking the Don’t Like it emoticon will ensure that you never hear the song again. Clicking the Like it button will stir up the number of times you hear the song, and the Love it’s grinning face will etch the fact that you love the song into Jango’s memory. Mostly songs you Love or Like will appear in your Song History, which moves us on to the next point…

Jango plays what you like.

Combining the information from the first two statements will result in this third one, and you are able to play certain songs that are on other users’ radio stations at the current moment. This ability is limited purposely, as it would be violating the Digital Media Copyright Act otherwise (no “music on demand” allowed). I found this feature much more fulfilling than Pandora’s and Last.FM’s abilities. Not to mention you can skip as many songs as you want per hour (take that, Pandora).

Besides those three, I’ve still got a bit to say, but I’ll spare your eyesight and just have a nice little list.

• It looks great.
• It incorporates album art well.
• It integrates social networking arguably as well as Last.FM, if not better.
• It requires no downloading!
• It’s a much more “custom-tailored” experience than Pandora or Last.FM.

The only thing I’m worried for Jango is its ability to continue playing in Canada. Pandora was forced to relinquish its “airwaves” from Canada, and I’m definitely a bit frightened that the same thing will happen to Jango as its popularity continues to increase. However, I’m willing to milk what I’ve got for now and listen to it as much as I can. Remember Jango, if you ever need an advocate, I’m here for you.

Visit: http://jango.com