Review: On the Mac, Those Blu-ray Blues Are Toast

Roxio recently released Toast 9 Titanium, its latest update to the popular CD/DVD burning application. The new version features Blu-ray disc support, backup software, and video streaming software, among other things.

Toast 9 is a bundle of various applications complementing its core CD/DVD burning capability. The bundled applications include GetBackup RE, CD Spin Doctor, Disc Cover 2 RE, DiscCatalogMaker RE, Streamer, TiVo Transfer, and Toast Video Player.

The upgrade is hefty, requiring over half a gig of space on the hard drive. Once intalled, Toast opens the familiar three-pane work area and data files are available. From this default view, files can be selected and disc burned immediately. A linear gauge at the bottom of the screen indicates how much of the data disc is being used. Mac and PC data spanning, which burns large files across multiple discs, is available directly from the "Data" panel. The project icons at the top offer a new Convert option, that can be used to convert video from one format to another, whether it's for the Palm Treo, the Web, or even videogame consoles. No need for a separate software (Roxio has Popcorn 3) for these conversion tasks.

With a separate $20 software HD/BD plugin, users can even burn hi-def content from HD camcorders to Blu-Ray disc or HD DVD. It's even possible to use a normal DVD-R to burn Blu-Ray content in the same format with some space constraints. Roxio Streamer can stream video from a Mac over a Wi-Fi connection to an iPod touch or to any PC with an Internet connection. The burning and conversion tasks can be temporarily paused to free up CPU resources, and to resume at a later time.

Roxio introduced TiVo support in Toast 8, and with Toast 9's Streamer, the possibilities have expanded. Before, once TiVo content has been copied to the Mac, users had to transfer the large video files to the mobile device or a different machine. With Streamer, all that's needed is a wi-fi connection since Streamer negotiates with the router (which must support UPnP or NAT-PMP). After creating a custom URL at Roxio's Streamer Website, that custom URL begins streaming. Point any computer or iPod Touch/iPhone to that URL. That stream is password-protected, and Toast handles the video conversion locally.

Video content can be cropped and trimmed to remove unwanted images using a built-in editor.

Video is not the only new thing in Toast 9 -- audio has some major additions as well. Toast 9 Titanium can capture streaming audio from any source for archiving. The audio stream can be enhanced, edited, and transferred to either iTunes or to disc. The CD Spin Doctor now supports audio fingerprinting to identify untagged music files. Batch DVD-Video conversion, Fit-to-DVD compression, and other sound options are also available.

Streamer is currently video-only, which is a shame.

The new backup application in Toast 9 Titanium is convenient and an appropriate addition to a digital media suite. Get Backup allows scheduling of backups and offers control over which individual files and folders to back up.

One thing to note about the Fujiwara Software's DiscCatalogMaker, bundled with Toast 9. DiscCatalogMaker catalogs whole CDs, DVDs, folders, and network volumes. The unbundled version is currently at version 4.4 but the version that comes with Toast 9 is version 4.2.3. This is intentional, since version 4.4 changed the catalog file format and can not read catalog files from older versions (whether bundled with Toast or stand-alone). The decision by Roxio to bundle an older version ensures the catalog files from older versions remain available.

The Disc Cover 2 RE labeling software is used to create disc labels, case covers, and inserts. It supports printing to paper labels, Direct to Disc CD and DVD printers, as well as LightScribe and Labelflash laser-etching technology.

There's only so much Roxio could have done to simplify CD and DVD burning -- it already is a simple point-and-click operation. Instead of adding cosmetic changes or unnecessary features, Roxio has transformed Toast 9 Titanium in to a digital media tool capable of meeting professional and consumer needs.