Roxio Toast 9 Titanium Reviews

• Worth considering for first-time users who find their Mac awkward at performing certain tasks (but don't count on the rebate)

  
  By A6FIAB28IS79 on 2008-03-30
  If Roxio Toast offers so many features not otherwise intrinsic to the supposedly user-friendly applications of Macintosh computers, why hasn't mammoth Apple simply bought out this relative small fry (now listed on the exchange as Sonic Solutions)? Is it because Roxio is too well-positioned, cutting edge, undervalued and besieged by competing offers to be easy prey for Apple (like Yahoo evading the presumptuous Microsoft)? Or is it because Roxio's technology and software don't pass the stringent requirements of the makers of the iPod and MacAir?
  
  If Toast 9 is sufficiently compelling in quality, improvements and price to be worth ditching Toast 8 (which I purchased in late 2007), then by all means make the upgrade and pay the freight. It's certainly the brightest and most colorful software program of its kind, more inviting and occasionally more user- friendly than Apple's comparable onboard programs. And maybe for TiVo fans and Blue Ray enthusiasts, it repays the investment. All I know is that for my needs Toast 8 makes certain tasks (copying a CD or DVD, burning an audio or video file), somewhat quicker and more convenient than the Apple counterpart. Still, I find it necessary to be quite selective about what I use it for. If you have any plans to edit wave patterns in Spin Doctor, for example, don't expect anything close to precision--in fact, they're unreadable (darn pretty, though), and there's no indication that Roxio has addressed this problem in Toast 9. I've had to purchase both Sound Studio and WireTap Studio to to be able to get precisely edited program material for Public Radio broadcast.
  
  Finally, if you're counting on the rebate, better photocopy and authenticate each and every step in the process, and be prepared to spend additional time afterwards calling the company about the missing rebate. I must have spent over an hour taking pains to follow the instructions to the letter because I was keenly aware of the "gotcha mentality" from previous experience, But the proof from the original carton was insufficient to convince Roxio to reimburse me the twenty dollars for upgrading from Toast 6 to Toast 8. This is definitely not a company that suits the style of a Jeff Bezos let along Stephen Jobs.
  
  

• Not Worth Buying

  
  By A3LMVHZ971QHNQ on 2008-04-16
  I just recently upgraded from Toast8 to Toast9. This new version is full of bugs. My Tivo Transfer function for instance won't work anymore. It ran 16 hours encoding a 21min clip I had from my Canon HV30 on a Mac G5 dual processor machine before it finally burned the DVD. Crashes repeatedly where my Toast8 worked fine. I would not upgrade to this version until they have more fixes.
  
  

• Toast surpasses others in media burning and converting

  
  By A11EZ61LFSF1CI on 2008-05-23
  I'm a long time Toast user who skipped a version. I bought a new Mac recently and upgraded some of my software including Toast. I don't understand how anyone can burn discs on the Mac without Toast. I love Apple, but they've pretty much ignored disc burning and copying. The first thing after install is a notice to upgrade the software (pet peeve - requires registration to download - argh). But Roxio seems to have done a couple of bug fixes already. I have not had any crashes so far. The new look is a nice improvement, but not dramatic by any means. There are a ton more formats supported. It's great to convert audio and video formats and supports all the popular formats. Perhaps not for everyone, but one of my favorite features is burning high-def video from my Canon HD camcorder on to a standard DVD and watching it in HD on my HDTV (using Sony PS3 built in HD drive). Yes on a standard DVD. (TiVo supported as well.) There are some other clever features. For example, you can pause a long video project to regain control of your Mac and resume later (if you've done a long video project you know how helpful this is.) You can stack up multiple DVDs to convert one after the other. You can recover files off damaged discs. The bundled apps are pretty decent. There's a pretty good backup app that backs up compressed files that opens with zip on Mac and PC. So it's not a closed format you need the app to use - so your not stuck if the app disappears next year. There's Streamer, which is hard to believe it actually does what it does. You can stream video files from your Mac at home to any web browser - iphone or even windows PC - over the internet. One of my favorite features is capturing any song playing on your Mac, even internet radio stations, and saving the song as an MP3 file and, the magic part, you can automatically add the song info like title, band, album name so your iPod can properly sort the songs. Toast is a must have for Mac users.
  
  

• Has problems that need to be addressed

  
  By A2Y1WNETD9AYHO on 2008-03-19
  First off if you use avchd (.mts) files then it is worth the upgrade with the hd plugin. Why ? Well it will actually convert your .mts files to mp4,psp,appletv, etc... straight from the raw .mts file which up to know was a total pain because you need imovieHD08 to read the avchd file then pull off the huge .mov file and then convert...
  Tost9 will see the .mts file and work with it... Also the Toast Video Player will PLAY the .mts file ! Thats a first! However there is no editing that it can do so bummer there.
  
  No the weird stuff... you are suppose to be able to take a avchd file and burn it on to a standard dvd-r for hi def playback on a bluray player... but my PS3 sees the disc as a data disc ... others have said there player sees it fine... so its not totally reliable yet... same goes for hd-dvd, I made a hi def disc on standard dvd-r and it played back wonderfully on my Toshiba A30 player but my xbox 360's hd drive hated the disc... so the same problem exists there too. If you really want to get your avchd onto dvd-r but play in hi def buy the Sony VRD-MC5 and save yourself a lot of grief.... But I hope Roxio will address these issues.
  
  Other than that the Toast9 pretty much does what it always has done for cd burning....
  
  I am excited about what Toast9 is trying to do to get avchd in motion so if you use these cameras this is the first real piece of software that can deal with these files (converting them) that I have seen for the Mac. iMovie08 just transcode the file to a different codec but Toast will read them and convert them straight from your hard drive as is... no camera hookup or card needed like imovie...
  
  If it wasn't for the hiccups of bluray to dvd-r I would give it more stars. If your using Toast8 I really would not bother with Toast9. If your using avchd then its well worth the buy.
  
  

• Made me a believer in Mac

  
  By A3NAMR7NWD2MVS on 2008-06-02
  I've been a die hard pc user but now that Apple has caught up in the processor speed department I bought a laptop. I'm still getting used to the unique Mac functions and Toast has helped me with some hurdles. I've used Roxio 9 on the pc so I bought the Mac equivalent. There are a lot of similarities so it was an easy transition. There is the auto data id system for songs which I found wasn't in previous Toast versions. I like that I can compress a dual layer disk into a regular dvd since the former is expensive. I've also gotten into tivo since it supports computer viewing. I can even edit the tivo files and discard unnecessary footage. This makes it even easier to back them up on disks and my iPod. Blu-ray is now the next generation format and Toast burns this format. It is a great program for dealing with video and music.
  
  
• video streaming, blu-ray support besides great basic digital media programs
  By A2ESUP4PV6OBOS on 2008-06-06
  Since Apple is selling the best devices I decdied to add a MAC pc instead of getting another pc cpu. Roxio's Easy Media was the program I used, and still use on PC for digital media. I tried a basic Apple burning program which was free but it was really limited. It seemed logical that I get the Mac version of Creator for Mac digital media. Add to this my iPhone and Playstation 3. I lucked out by choosing Playstation instead of Xbox 'cause it has blu-ray. It can't burn blu-ray disks though so I still have to rely on computers. I also have the option of streaming the video to anything that is wired, including my iPhone and PS. These are the extras that make Toast really good. I would still get it even w/o these features because it does the basic digital media activities really well. It burns disks easily and has many more options I made several slideshows and they did work on my pc too. I didnt' have to do any extra converting. There are enough dvd menu looks that are included, but it's just as easy to create ones using my own photos. It's a good combo of set templates and tools for customizing.
  
  
• Toast 9 Tarnishes a Great Product Line
  By A185A4LSFABHLH on 2008-05-17
  How disappointing! I've used Toast for several generations now, but Toast 9.02 is not ready for prime time.
  There are so many bugs I've run across encompassing both new features (the built-in video editor won't edit) and old features (Tivo movies won't burn to disk. The program hands instead!)
  So, until there is a Toast 9.1 that fixes these major bugs, I'm heading back to Toast 8 where it is safe.
  OK, Roxio, here's the challenge: win us back.
  
  
  
• Innovation is in the software, not just hte hardware
  By A39SBDY7C1YKTG on 2008-06-11
  I've always relied on Apple for innovative computers and devices but frankly I don't think they've done a lot in the software area. Sure they may have created certain video and audio formats, but they've left it up to other software makers to pick up the slack. I mention this because I think that Toast shows how much can be squeezed out of Apple hardware and its done much better than Apple itself.
  
  I immediately noticed that every aspect of disk authoring is more efficient and faster. Is anyone else surprised that the program burns blu-ray disks on a regular dvd burner? That's what I mean about software utilizing hardware capability. It may not be a true blu-ray disk in the sense that it doesn't have as much data, but the quality is there. There are 2 ways to fit large files to as few disks as possible. There is a fit to DVD feature. If the file is still too big the program will span the files over as many disks as it needs. With better video quality taking up more space I use this feature more than ever.
  
  Like many software companies you can get a rebate for upgrading. I take advantage of these offers for my security and tax programs and this is no different. It's worth sending in the paperwork and getting a discount. For those who haven't used Toast before I would say that it is an essential program, much like a wordprocessing one.
  
  
• Horribly buggy and slow
  By A2HS79XWX3AR3Y on 2008-05-07
  I'm usually a fan of Toast, but this release is very disappointing. I was looking forward to burning Blu_rays from my High-Def video cameras. Unfortunately, so far this has not been possible due to crashes every time it tries to encode video.
  
  Not only does it crash frequently, it is very slow. Not in terms of heavy-duty stuff like encoding video - but trivial things like the interface response time, and startup time.
  
  I had been using Toast 7, which is fast, convenient and reliable. It is one of the better Mac applications around. And I'm actually still using Toast 7, and will until they get the bugs out of Toast 9 and get the video encoder burning working properly.
  
  I couldn't even get Toast 9 to recognize a perfectly valid disk image. So I went back to Toast 7 and it worked perfectly. I'm seriously wondering how this one got past quality control. I feel stupid for having spent my money on this upgrade.
  
  
• Handy tools for dealing with home video
  By A196L6W48EP1P9 on 2008-06-29
  My children's school projects are now demanding more software from my Mac. I'll be getting them their own soon but until then my home Mac is the center of their school work. My son likes to make videos for boy scouts and school assignments. Clearly my my old Apple programs couldn't meet the demands. Armed with an HD camcorder the video he takes demands much more computer space. He also has to burn pc compatible disks. This brought me to Toast 9. It can burn HD video and make hybrid disks. It compresses the video files so it takes as little room as possible. Sometimes we still need more than one disk but the spanning disks feature takes care of that. The program lets us know how many disks are needed before we start the burning process. Toast will convert video to the video ipod. This allows my children to work on their video projects while commuting. After learning a lot by helping with school projects I'm better at organizing home videos. The dvd menu creator is so easy there is no reason not to take the steps to make better looking disks, even if it is just for family archives.
  
  
• Toast 9 - indispensible for digital media on the Mac
  By AG7QFOUE0OV55 on 2008-06-20
  At first glance Toast 9 looks like any other burning program. It does much more though. Before you burn there are tools to trim videos and don't worry about wasted space. If you're in a hurry like I am much of the time there is a compression option which is another way it saves room. The end results will work on multiple systems. Come on, not everyone has a Mac so I need Windows playable discs. I'm now saving everything in HD which of course takes a lot more space. I can use ordinary discs and not have to buy any special ones. I've also made more use of my Blackberry. I can export from the Mac to the phone with Toast's tools. I have made use of old tapes too with the tape to digital with the Spin Doctor assistant. Of course with all the options it needs to have a good interface. Check on that. Menu items are organized in a logical fashion. Of course there's still the old point and click for several main functions.
  
  
• Distinguished features make it worthwhile for Macs
  By A3B5DY2NL6UOHQ on 2008-07-07
  Kids today, they think Apple makes the coolest stuff so their pc is a Mac although I still use a Dell. Creator for the pc is good so I thought that getting a roxio program for the Mac would be a good investment. I was right. It works different enough from the pc verison that sometimes I sneak time on the Mac and play around. The interface is easy, although I think that is a given for roxio programs. I have gotten frustrated with other Mac programs so I don't think an easy to figur out interface is a given. I like that it pauses in the middle of burning if you need to stop. Another thing it has over the pc version is tv streaming. I would like to see this feature in future pc versions. For now we use toast to the iPhone. Now that I know what it can do I'll be buying Apples new phones as our old ones become obsolete.
  
  
• Already prepped for new wave media
  By A186GX1WIRGO7Z on 2008-07-19
  Everything is going HD and blue-ray so I appreciate Roxio's inclusion of these formats. Like all roxio suites, I use the Windows version too, it has a massive amount of features. Standouts are the new formats. With HD tv soon to be the norm I can already start using it. Tivo HD files are an easy way to get the programs on my pc. Toast has tivo file editing options so you're not stuck with just the timed recording file. It can alter the files like most video formats. As others have noted Toast burns regular dvd disks with higher formatting like HD. It makes HD video disks and I can buy my usual dvd disks and not the harder to find and more expensive HD and bluray ones. I can also put these video files on my ipod. Since the HD files are too big it will change to a suitable format that can fit on the portable. How easy is it to just drag the file into the work area and start processing. Good choice.
  
  
• horrible website and customer support
  By A3O8QVL7KE9A7B on 2008-08-30
  roxio has one of the least user-friendly websites on the planet, and offer customer service ONLY IF YOU PAY THEM by the minute!!! the product didn't work, and dealing with their refund process was frustrating. one of the worst consumer experiences i have had online.
  
  
• Necessity for Digital Lifestyle
  By A3CB3TCJO3ELGK on 2008-07-27
  Before buying Toast 9 I had no link to my Playstation and Mac/iPod. Macs don't have blu-ray drives yet but why invest in one when I have the Playstation. TOast 9 burns blu-ray disks on a regular dvd burner. I know it doesn't have the full blu-ray storage capacity, but using compression wisely and editing some fluff I can get a movie one disk.
  There is new streaming which exceeds home networks. Ok it's convenient to have streaming from the Mac to devices at home. Even better is streaming to devices when I'm not at home. Of course I still need an internet connection to view. If I want videos and music w/o the internet, Toast has tools for that. It compresses and reformats for ipods and other devices. I may get a 3g phone now that I can see more digital viewing possibilities.
  
  
• Merges Xbox with Mac
  By A2524IO3VII6LT on 2008-08-10
  I shouldn't be surprised since Microsoft and Apple have had some coop lately and it's easier to switch between systems. My Xbox 360 is invaluable and I want to make use of it as much as possible. Right now it is my dvd player. I can burn HD dvds on my Mac and make them playable on Xbox. I'm downloading media to my Mac and storing them on dvds. Some of the video is HD. As long as I'm taking the trouble to get the larger HD versions itd be a waste to store them in an inferior format. The encodings can be time consuming, but there is a pause to quit the encoding and do something else. It then resumes from where it left off.
  
  
• Solved sticky problems
  By A2TKLK5QXKDCAH on 2008-08-11
  Before getting Toast 9 I was getting frustrated with burning dvds. It took me awhile to figure it out, but my old software didn't support dual layer and discs for dvd players. My son had a video project and needed to get it on a disk. After several tries I had to figure out what was going wrong. I guess there is something to being to laid back and letting the Mac work for you. I found out that new dvd formats necessitate the need for new programs. Several bonuses came out too. There is streaming in the box which gives an option to transferring to disk or device. Speaking of devices, I thought I was ok with my ipod conversion program. Toast is a bit faster and offers more compression choices. I'm glad I didn't have to upgrade any hardware yet so that was worth the price of the program alone.
  
  
• You may not get past the registration process on this one!
  By A3L4VDD090ICXV on 2008-05-22
  Having recently succumbed to representations that graphics might be handled more efficiently on a Mac, I succumbed. Streamed audio downloads are important to me, something that Roxio represents "Toast" can do. What was toast was me and my temper. The product installed, but the registration process was an exercise in futility. There is obviously a glitch in the process that loops one back into an eternal "Error in the Registration Process" or words to that effect. Calls to the "customer service department" availed neither. One was rudely lectured that critical statements would result in the termination of the call. Calls for help are looped back to online services. Don't ask to change your email address either. That will result in a terse message that you will have to start a new account for that.
  
  Maybe Roxio has gotten too big for its own good -- or maybe the deepening recession has impacted quality control. Sad to spend that much money for a product only to be treated as a second class or below citizen as a penalty for its purchase. In fact, when you call about the product, the recorded message tells you to take it back to the vendor where you purchased it.
  
  Anybody try returning opened software lately? Dream on!
  
  
• Poor
  By ALTIUC0WBA937 on 2008-06-29
  I have a number of problems with Toast 9. You get NO help from the support at the website. Would not tell anyone to buy this product or any from the company!!!
  
  
• Hi-Def options; up-to-date streaming
  By AF9810BFEUD0S on 2008-08-02
  I'm used to Windows but since the hubby likes Macs, he's set up everything at home with Apple hardware and software. I still use Easy Media on my laptop but for the desktops with large lcd screens I've become a better Mac user.
  By now Hi-def video should be the norm, but the hardware is still priced way above standard recorders and burners. If you have a real bluray or HD burner, good for you. I like the solution that Toast offers for users of good old standard DVD burners, which I know is must of us. With tivo handling HD now I've found a way to keep the shows for longer periods of time. HD takes a lot of space on the dvr and I always seem to catch up on shows in spurts. Of course using a regular dvd has the trade-off of not fitting as much on the disc as the real thing. However the quality of the video remains and sometimes I will use the spanning option. Streaming is another good option for catching up on shows. I'm hoping that the pc version will have this soon.
  
  
• Saves on disks
  By A2Q7ENYA04X3H on 2008-08-16
  I gotta say that I like using the cheaper dvds for HD video. Many times I have to span the disks but its still better than buying HD dvds. Toast makes this possible. I compress as much as possible and use the director's cut tools to shorten the clips. Not to mention it has been reliable enough so that every disk has burned properly. Imagine if I got HD dvds and some of them were wasted. That is much worse than ruining regular dvds. Until the costs come down for high end dvds I'm making a boatful of dvds.
  
  
• comprehensive feature set in a solid package
  By A2P1SY1VKKSYJ7 on 2008-09-01
  This is a nice update to version 5 that I had been using. I found it very useful at allowing me to access and convert my TiVo content. It does not compress as well as some other software but has good video quality and is no slower then other products. If you only got Toast it would be a good deal, but it comes with 6 apps making this a very good bargin. I had trouble getting streamer to work with my firewall and router, but it is still nice to know there is real value with your purchace. Other apps that are a real nice bonus are the disc cover and discCatalongMaker (addressing a real gap for me when I back up documents and want to print an easy index of the contents).
  
  
• Awful...
  By AR16U39JITR3Q on 2008-07-18
  I bought this mostly for some of the peripheral features--the TiVo Transfer and the ability to record streaming audio from the internet. I find that the DVD burning capability of OSX works for most of my needs, though it's nice to occasionally span disks.
  
  After two days of trying, I managed to finally get the update to load and give me Toast 9.02 (I'm using OSX10.5.) And so I was (finally) ready to go.
  
  TiVo Transfer will load programming to your HD and I successfully burned a half hour show to DVD, but when trying to anything longer, I get an OS error. So basically it doesn't work.
  
  The streaming audio feature also doesn't work--it doesn't recognize that there's any sound. This isn't rocket science, both WireTap Studio and Audio Hijack do a great job of this.
  
  Forget support--there basically is none. Also, be aware that if you buy software from a marketplace seller, you can't return it. Not sure of the policy if you buy directly from Amazon.
  
  Beware any software company that doesn't offer a free trial on its website. There's a reason for it.
  
  So, I'm out fifty bucks, but I suppose I'm a bit wiser for it. And I assume (though I am by no means certain) that it will span disks on a burn. So that's something.
  
  
  
  
• nifty software
  By A12BT14JMPCSKY on 2008-08-21
  Does just what it is supposed to do, and does it wonderfully. I would have given it 5 stars but it was lacking a feature that is important to me which is dvd menu editing. the dvd menus on toast are pretty lame. i guess for that i'll stick to using iDVD.
  
  
• roxio toast 9 is AAA+++
  By A1AOXGEUNNPJ1E on 2008-08-23
  i love it to burn music cd's and it is great to download tv recordings from my tivo to my mac computer.
  
  
• Toast With Marmalade
  By A39WT90K0MDJD9 on 2008-08-24
  Toast 9 was an Amazon Gold Box deal when I purchased it. Great price, so I purchased it on a whim. Having used it now, I would have gladly paid full price for it. It has functioned flawlessly writing DVDs, copying discs and creating CDs. There are lots of bells and whistles I haven't tried yet.
  I've read reviews mentioning issues some have with version 9, but it has performed perfectly on my Intel based Macbook .
  
  
• CD Spin Doctor in Roxio Toast 9
  By AGVKEER2Z42M2 on 2008-08-24
  Now that I have converted from PC to Mac, I purchased Toast 9 for the Spin Doctor application. I have a Kenwood turntable with a pre-amp that I use to convert my vinyl albums to digital. Spin Doctor works great for this purpose and has many improved features when compared to previous versions of Roxio for the PC. One of the best features is the ability to export directly into iTunes. I've played around with some of the DVD capabilities in Toast 9, but I cannot attest to any of those functions.
  
  
• Takes advantage of what a Mac does good
  By A1NK1R3X8TJ2W3 on 2008-08-18
  At last I can stream video and not burn disks all the time. Take away the time consuming process of having to burn disks just for the purpose of viewing video on other computers, inlcuding my windows pc and touch ipod. I watch news clips while cooking in the kitchen. I can't see putting a full function computer in this place and have to room anyway. Of course it takes care of all my disk making needs. My external dual layer dvd burner can now burn on the mac. It used to work only on my pc with Easy Media, but I'm not confined to using my pc just for burning. As usual the menu system is highly intuitive. I can't see how anyone would go off track. The steps keep you going in the right direction so the disks ar burned cleanly. Nice product and an essential addition to the Mac world.
  
  
• Qualified approval
  By A3TT45AT1RQU8X on 2008-05-18
  Although Toast 9 has a lot to offer I have been unable to get CD Spin Doctor and iTunes to communicate. I had an older edition of Spin Dr. which worked well in converting my old vinyl to MP3 but after one of the upgrades to iTunes they no longer communicate. With lots of help from many sources including the Genius Bar for 3 hours, I have been unable to get the program to work.
  
  
• Don't Waste Your Money, Your Burnable Media, or Your Time
  By AOKPHLSXTOFYC on 2008-08-31
  Toast, while offering a number of potentially useful features, simply does not play nice with the internal superdrives most Macs come with. From the very start, Toast would not burn any DVD without generating errors resulting in failed sessions. These are not limited to any one category, either-data is just as plagued as video-or any one type of media (DVD-R, +R, DL, RW are all equally affected). A failure in the encoding phase is just as likely as in the burning phase. Further, Roxio's mediocre attempt at web-based support offers the following solutions 1.) download new firmware updates, 2.) buy a different type of media, 3.) buy a new drive. Even a cursory search on Google will turn up many more individuals with similar problems regardless of which version of Toast and/or Mac OS. Only with considerable patience and an endless supply of media will Toast encode and burn a DVD; unfortunately, most people don't spend $100 on software that only works 25% of the time, if that. Save your money and devote your time to finding a more reliable authoring program. This one is a waste.
  
  

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