An introduction to computer audio
Audacity is free, open source software for recording and editing sounds. It is available for Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, GNU/Linux, and other operating systems.
You can use Audacity to:
A free console program for determining the authenticity of musical CDs. By evaluating the character of audio data a CD contains, it can distinguish between original studio-based recordings and those that have been "reconstructed" using a lossy audio source,
Spectrogram is a freeware dual channel audio spectrum analyzer for Windows 2000/XP/Vista which can provide either a scrolling time-frequency display or a spectrum analyzer scope display in real time for any sound source connected to your sound card.
A tool by Microsoft, tells you everything about the contents of an audio file.
DPC Latency Checker is a Windows tool that analyses the capabilities of a computer system to handle real-time data streams properly. It may help to find the cause for interruptions in real-time audio and video streams, also known as drop-outs.
If all your MP3s plays fine but a single one causes problems you might try this tool.
MP3 Checker uses 3 independent methods to detect all kinds of different fake MP3s:
• MPEG Header Frames verification: corrupted MP3s
• Reads audio data using rule based checking: fake MP3s
• Cross reference for repeated mpeg audio frames: repeated or looped mp3s
RMAA suite is designed for testing quality of analog and digital paths of any audio devices, be it a sound card, an MP3 player, a consumer CD/DVD player or an acoustic set. The results are obtained by playing and recording test signals passed through the tested audio path by means of frequency analysis algorithms.
A loopback (sound card out in to sound card in) using my laptop