This review is about “My Website Talks!” from www.mywebsitetalks.com/ an audio package for Windows, complete with a headset and, for a limited time, also the option to record video. Here you find the advantages and disadvantages about using this software.
What does this software do for you?
You can record, playback, and publish your voice files in 3 easy steps. Just connect the provided headset (street value $15-$29), you start the software and then you talk. Your audio is recorded and you are leaded through the process step-by-step, all quite easy to follow, until you have to put the audio on your server. You then need to get the details of your hosting provider in order to upload the files on your server and those details are not easy to understand for most people. But creating the audio is easy with this software, no doubt about it.
Note: you also need basic knowledge how to add code on a web page or in an email, but that is something that goes for nearly every audio and video package.
Audio formats
My objection against this software is its limitations. For instance, Camtasia from Techsmith is capable of generating a wide variety of formats for web pages, email, iTunes, Mobiles, iPhone, TV etc … This software is only limited to compressed MP3 ( embedded in Flash? This is unclear) and therefore not very useful for further processing. Ideally, your audio will be either .WAV (Windows) or .AIFF (Mac) to start with. Why? Because they are uncompressed, so there is no deformation to start with. Therefore it would have been nice if My Website Talks! could accept at least WAV and have a capability to export your audio to WAV.
The FAQ section says:
How can I use a sound file I already have recorded?
A: Easy, if it’s an MP3 file, just import it into the software. If it’s another audio file format, you’ll need to convert it to MP3 format, then import it. MyWebsiteTalks does not convert other audio formats.
It is not clear if the imported audio in this utility will be compressed again when combined with your other audios to create a Flash movie. If so, the quality of your already existing audio will deteriorate because you never should compress an audio file twice.
Streaming?
For streaming, you need streaming software on your server. The files produced are undoubtedly optimized for streaming if the output is Flash, but they will not stream on your server if you do not have Flash Media Server 3 installed, which is relatively expensive and not very easy to install.
So, it is not right that they claim you can “stream” audio and video on your server with this software only, no way.
Conclusion
Is the software worth it’s price of $79? Value is arbitrary of course, but I would say “No” in this case. It’s too primitive and therefore they throw in a consumer headset to boost that value, but if you are serious about your business, you need a usb headset of about $100 to get good quality sound.
If you have no audio software, My Website Talks! can help you start up, but it may fall short of your demands fairly quickly. Therefore, my rating for this software is only a 2 (of 5).
Nice Site! Thanks!