ASD vs. Transcribe!

[jam10]

I did a search and found quite a bit of information on Amazing Slow Downer and Transcribe! The opinions of which people on this forum like better are pretty equal. I am torn between the two. I read on the Transcribe! website that if you have never played a song by ear than Transcribe! is not for you. Well I have not learned a complete song by ear yet and I really want to focus a lot of my guitar playing on ear training and learn whole songs by ear. I am looking for something as simple as popping in a CD into my computer, slowing the song down and looping parts without changing pitch. I'm sure Transcribe! has many more features but I don't think I will use them much. I'm looking for something simple but also of great quality. Would ASD be the one for me?
For those you have ASD can you transfer the program from a PC desk top to a Mac laptop or are they different programs?

Thanks

[sanders4617]

I have used Transcribe a ton.. and I find it very easy and would work fine for you. Don't make this such a hard decision.

In Transcribe, I just drag the mp3 (or sound file) into the program and hit play. I have another window that allows me to slow down the file and it doesn't change the pitch. There is also a thing built in where you pick the start and end point and it will loop it continuously.

Also, there is a thing where you can select like 1 second or maybe 1-3 seconds of sound.. and it will analyze the notes in that sound clip.. that can help too maybe, but I haven't tried that much. I mostly use it for fast lead parts where I can't seem to grasp what is going on.

[yebdox]

I've been using ASD for several years and can't live without it... I just bought the Video version, as well, called "ultimate DVD player" from the same outfit (roni music). I had a lesson today with Henry Johnson ( great jazz guitarist from Chicago) who recommended Transcribe! over ASD, because the video play is included. I've downloaded the trial version and immediately noticed that the interface is not particularly intuitive, as opposed to ASD, but that may be from the original programmer bias (ASD began on a Mac, I believe, and while I don't know about Transcribe, it looks very PC - like.) Other than that, the video slow down quality is not nearly as smooth as that in Ultimate DVD, but I have just barely scratched the surface, so I can't compare. They both feature pitch and time correction, loop features, EQ, etc. Transcribe appears to be able to roughly analyze chords for components and suggest chord types, (I think... read that somewhere, but haven't tried it yet.)

I'm used to ASD and that will probably keep me on board, but I thought I should check it out. Also, there's a FAQ on the transcribe website that suggests that you can't drag and drop tunes from iTunes, protected or unprotected. This is NOT an issue with ASD, and Rolf at Roni seems to work hard at keeping the software current as Apple makes changes in function with updates.

[Samsun19]

ASD has a video version now? Nice, I have to check that right now.

As a full time music teacher, I can't say enough good things about the ASD. And have posted it's virtues before.

I have all my students using it. And it only takes a few minutes to get them up and running on it...... It's that easy. Highly reccomended.

[yebdox]

I just wrote Rolf at Roni Music (ASD) - he has no plans to work with video, other than DVD-video (he’s very precise about what his software will and will not do.) The one nice thing about Transcribe! Is that the video feature is included and you can import an MP4 (like you might get off the net) and watch someone play in slow motion to figure out fingering on complex solos - just used it with a Benson video and one on Guthrie Govan, and it’s helpful to see how they put things together.

But, ASD is much simpler to use, visually much easier on my eyes and more logical. BTW, Rolf is a fantastic fusion style guitarist, with a strong Scofield influence, who unfortunately had to quit playing d/t tinnitus... sad, he’s really gifted, writes great stuff as well. I think he’s probably finding programming more lucrative, though. He has several of his tunes on the website for download, free, and he plays on a great album by Swedish bassist, Goran Schelin, forgot the name, but great post-bop stuff, nicely written and played. I can’t imagine having to give up playing!