The new Toast/Jam?

[Releaux]

I wanted to get some opinions on the current version of Jam. Roxio's site is about as horrible as it gets when presenting information in a clear manner (am I eligible to upgrade? I have no clue).

In any case, I've been extremely disappointed in Jam since Roxio took it over. The last version that I felt comfortable with was Adaptec Jam on OS9. The reliance of later versions on Toast Titanium for burning was really irritating to me.

So... having gotten that mini-rant out... is Jam still the best way to do things, or is there a better program out now? Is Jam a standalone product again (as it should be) or do I also have to buy Toast with it? If I have to buy a bundle, does Jam at least handle burning on its own now without needing to create a disk image first?

What's the scoop?

[studiodog]

I'm still using Jam5 and it does the disc image thing then sends it to Toast. A nuisance but it works and I'm not about to send the Roxio dicks another $100 to get Vers. 6 of Jam.

However, Jam 6 does burn directly without having to send an image to Toast, or so I've been told by some of the fine folks on this board.

[shepherdgary]

Yeah Jam 6 is better - I've also now got the hang of the crossfades and think they are better than Jam 2 (it took me a while).

[lwilliam]

I upgraded from OS 9 and Jam 3.5/Toast 4 to the Jam 6/Toast combo. So far, I think Jam is a little easier, but for most of my needs, it's pretty much just a cosmetic change that costs you $199. I wasn't able to get any credit for my older versions - they were too old to qualify for any upgrade price reductions.

Well, you DO get Peak LE with it and a few other utilities. I've only had the new package about a week, so I have yet to use it for anything really serious.

I don't think there are any other full Red Book mastering applications for Macs, are there?

[Terra303]

If you can, get on Roxio's mailing list... Every once in a while, they have the download version of Toast with Jam 6 for $99... They've done it twice since the week before Christmas, but its usually a 48 hour deal...

[Releaux]

Great tip! Thanks very much, Terra.