Review: Sound Mac-hine for iPhone

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Sure, using an iPhone or Blackberry for work is great, but you need to have some fun too. And, let’s face it, deep down we’re all little kids who love laughing over a good sound effect or fart joke.

Enter an app like Sound Mac-Hine. It’s essentially an app full of sound effects, ranging from various Howard Stern show regulars to oldies but goodies like “Beetlejuice” and “The Three Stooges”. Personally, my favorite was “The Three Stooges”, though I think my fiancée and dog were less impressed when I played the same effect 15 times.

Of course, there’s more to the app than just sound effects. If you want to know more about the source of the effects, or you aren’t sure who someone is, the information button slides you right over to a Wikipedia entry with more detail. All this is handled in-app, so you can hop back over to the sound effects in no time!

The sounds are clear and sharp, and you can pause and adjust volume as they play. Some of them are a bit fast, so you might want to adjust the volume ahead of time or they are over before you blink. The list is a bit overwhelming, so as you find effects you really love, you can mark them as favorites in a separate list.

Finally, if you really want to drive someone nuts, try hitting the clock icon all the way on the right portion of a sound effect. It lets you set up sounds to repeat every 15 seconds until you cancel it. Perfect for torturing people into letting you have radio control during a long road trip!

And if you’re on said road trip and you and your friends are coming up with some awesome noises or quotes, you can record them for your personal Sound Mac-hine jukebox!

The majority of the sounds are from Howard Stern’s extensive radio career. While I am not much of a Stern listener, I found plenty of other fun sounds. And from talking to Howard Stern fans, it seems like there are tons of sounds, ranging from newer stuff to the more obscure, so there is a lot to explore and enjoy!

So I’ve actually known about this app for a few months because a friend of mine created it. I’m extra proud that not only is this app a lot of fun to play with, but his company has promised to donate a portion of proceeds to the North Shore Animal League and HelptheWackPack.com. The app looks great, is a lot of fun, and goes to a good cause!

You can download the iPhone/iPod Touch version for $1.99 and on Blackberry App World for $2.99.

What I Like: Loads of sound effects; Huge library of Howard Stern clips; Ability to “favorite” sounds; Option to record your own sounds

What Needs Improvement: No way to email or share your personally created sounds.

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About the Author

Zek
Zek has been a gadget fiend for a long time, going back to their first PDA (a Palm M100). They quickly went from researching what PDA to buy to following tech news closely and keeping up with the latest and greatest stuff. They love writing about ebooks because they combine their two favorite activities; reading anything and everything, and talking about fun new tech toys. What could be better?

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