Review By Jason Kessel

Being a music-addict all my life, naturally, I like to listen to music while I work. Most of the time, I play my music via iTunes, but sometimes I listen to various streaming music from sources such as Pandora.com. I prefer using speakers, but sometimes I have to use headphones so that I don't disturb co-workers. I also review a lot of different speakers and headphones for our publications. I've tried various sound enhancement software. Usually in the form of an iTunes plug-in such as SRS iWow. Basically it's a software DSP (digital signal processor) similar to what is found in a lot of home stereo receivers. They allow you to add effects to your audio making music sound like a concert hall or a theater, for example. While those plug-ins usually work pretty good, they tend to add more distortion or make the music sound like it's being playing inside a tin can on certain settings. When JoeSoft announced their "Hear" software for Mac, while excited, I was also a bit skeptical.

Now Hear This
After installing Hear, any skepticism I had was gone within the first few minutes. In fact, I'm really impressed with how well it works. Especially compared to the other plug-ins I've tried. What makes Hear even better? It's not even a plug-in! In fact, the beauty of Hear is it enhances the audio of your entire Mac, across all applications. One cool feature of this aspect is the "mixer". It allows you to control the volume of each application individually. This is great because now when listening to music from iTunes, you no longer get blasted by your email application when you get a new message... or you wont get startled by some obnoxious talking banner while surfing the web. The mixer alone is worth the $50 price tag.

Settings Galore
The Hear application is one single window with tabs for each module. There's tabs for General settings, EQ, Mixer, 3D, Ambience, FX, Maximizer, BW (brain waves), Limiter, Space, Fidelity, Speaker and Sub. Each module has multiple adjustments and the ability to turn them on/off. Hear also has several pre-made settings to pick from that will adjust each module accordingly. They even have pre-settings for headphones or speakers. It's not just for music either. There are even settings for movies, games, and speech. Of course you can make manual adjustments to each module and make your own favorite pre-settings. Whether you use one of the pre-settings or create your own, the possibilities are endless. In fact, one might even say there are too many settings. That being said, it's easy to make your Mac sound terrible depending on what speakers or headphones you are using. Personally, I prefer to pick a pre-setting and only make small adjustments. A little bit goes a long way.

How does it sound?
As I mentioned before, within minutes of installing Hear, I was blown away. I have a 5.1 system in my office at home. Hear added depth and dimension to the audio that sounded better than the built-in effects that my receiver had. It truly enhances the audio without adding the "tin can effect". It even made a cheap pair of $10 computer speakers sound more like a $50 pair of speakers. When we tested it with various headphones, the sound is simply amazing. It can literally make you feel like you are in a large concert hall... even while listening to a audio stream from a web browser. Just for kicks, I tried it on the cheesy little speaker that's built-in on the Mac Pro tower that I use. It actually helped... but only a little. That speaker is pointless. I still recommend some good speakers or headphones. Hear even made the tiny speakers on a laptop sound better. Basically, Hear made every mac we tested it on sound good.

The Bottom Line
I think for $50, Hear is money well spent for all that it does. It enhances the audio of your entire Mac, bringing the sound of your music, games or movies to a whole new dimension. Being able to adjust the volume of all your open applications independently via the mixer is extremely useful. Although, I wish Hear was a preference pane instead of another application sitting in your dock. The infinite adjustments and effects, while a little overwhelming, can make just about any set of speakers or headphones sound great. Now JoeSoft needs make a Hear application that runs directly from the iPod! To order Hear ($49.95) or for more information, visit http://www.joesoft.com