Ashampoo Music Studio 4: An All-in-One Audio Manager with Modern Interface: Review & Giveaway

Today everyone has some music collection and that often needs editing, conversion, maintenance etc. A number of softwares are available that cover up different aspects of audio management but Ashampoo Music Studio is such a tool that has everything under the same roof. The latest version 4 brings some more feature: a completely redesigned, uncluttered, modern interface, extraction of audio from video, audio mixing and better launch and conversion speed. The software is pretty easy to use and is properly engineered to target basic home users. According to the developer,

You like music? You own a computer? Then you definitely need Ashampoo Music Studio 4. This latest edition has everything required to create, edit, design and produce your music while providing a simple, straightforward user interface. If you know how to operate a CD player you will know how to operate Ashampoo Music Studio 4.

Features

The software has a number of components. in the following screenshot you will find the use of each one.

Download & Installation

• The software can be downloaded from the following link

https://www.ashampoo.com/en/usd/dld/0530/Ashampoo-Music-Studio-4/

• Its a 36.8 Mb installer, digitally signed by Ashampoo GmbH & Co. KG.
• Current version of the installer [Version 4.0.1] is clean of malware and has the following hash.

CRC-32: a0e08a3f
MD4: c25421dca6166d552397f94e6103d831
MD5: 09628a3b8dea591223271e74d86b94d8
SHA-1: 8d9bc530dc54eb5f84cf62351dd53d95b1e87519

• The software installation requires administrative rights.
• Installation is fast but you need to be careful for skipping the MyAshampoo toolbar installation. Please follow the custom installation instruction for this purpose.
• The default trial period is for 10 days but that can be extended 20 more days after registration using an online form.

System Requirements

Specification

• The software installation and interface is multilingual; supports 24 languages.
• The software allows multiple instance.
• The software may be maximized to a full screen view.
• The software offers an wizard type interface to perform each operation.
• Currently only mp3, wma, ogg, flac, wav audio formats are supported in the software.
• Supported video formats are almost everything for Video to Audio conversion.
• For saving purpose the software allows you to specify it by your own after adjusting the Sample rate & Bitrate. Also presets are available: Medium, Good CD & High Quality (See Screenshot).
• There are four predefined and one customizable naming schemes available in the software (See screenshot)
• Editing meta data is easy. Left-click the desired columns to enter new information and hit Enter to confirm your changes.
• The software offers to record multiple audios at one place. You may later listen that and remove if necessary.
• For all operation, you may listen the audio any time.
• For creating Audio CD covers, the software offers a number of templates.
• The software uses moderately low resources for all the operations.
• There is an well documented offline help file for further convenience in using the software.

Screenshots

Main GUI

Burn Components

Modify Components

File Save GUI: Presets & Settings

Changing Metadata

Organizer: Renaming Audios

Editing Audio: Set Fade Volume

Recording Audio

Making Audio CD Cover

Extracting Audio from Video: Progress

Video to Audio Extraction Finished

My Verdict

Although I haven't got time to individually test all the components in detail, the software indeed have decent things to deliver. I have told already in the introduction and I will tell that again, this software is properly designed to give basic users the Pro power. If you are a power user, you won't get too much control or customization from this software. Still, getting all features in one place is a gift for everyone.

Drag & Drop support is unfortunately absent in the present version. I would like to request the developer to add this feature for more usability of the software.

The GUI is totally of a different kind and has been designed for ease of use. But most users accustomed with normal software GUI may find it rather hard to use initially.

Giveaway

Angela from Ashampoo has arranged 10 licenses of the software each worth $30. If you want to have a copy please follow the rules:

1. Do any of the Following:

Subscribe to our Newsletter

or,

Like Facebook Fan Page of Insights in Technology

or,

Join Insights in Technology Forum

2. Comment below

Using the Email Address used to subscribe Newsletter or Join the Forum. Type the email address in the proper form, don't make it public. If you have liked the Facebook Fan Page, in the comment mention your Facebook Profile Link.

This contest will run until 2nd September, 2012; GMT 23:59 Hrs.

Giveaway Ended !!