Award-Winning Software from NCH

The true test of a software program is how well it works for the people who install and use it. The number of people downloading and using NCH programs everyday (roughly 3 million downloads every month) suggests our focus on creating powerful, easy and intuitive software is working well for a lot of people out there. And while you have the final word on if a program is right for you, we still appreciate the feedback of reviewers recognizing the work that has gone into making our software programs both powerful and easy-to-use.

Here is a peek into our trophy case, and just a small sample of the award-winning software titles in the NCH Software collection:

WavePad Sound Editor

WavePad has long been praised by reviewers for its easy and powerful, yet lightweight interface for audio editing.

"In spite of its tiny size, WavePad packs a big audio punch."
     - CNET

"WavePad has a lot to offer to the amateur audio editor, while still providing enough tools to make it a useful program for more seasoned audio editors."
     - TopTenReviews

Switch Audio Converter

Switch is not only easy to use, it supports more audio formats than the competition, making it a clear winner.

"Switch is just as useful for professionals that need to convert many songs into multiple formats as it is for the average person who knows they want to convert an AAC file to MP3. Switch is able to handle many different audio formats and has the largest selection of output formats of any program we reviewed."
     - TopTenReviews

VideoPad Video Editor

VideoPad has quickly become a major player in video editing with upgraded features, putting even more advanced options at your disposal.

"NCH Software's VideoPad Video Editor Professional is a full-featured video-editing tool that is surprisingly easy to use... It's a rare video editor that you can just fire up and start making movies with, but that's what we did with VideoPad."
     - CNET

PhotoStage Slideshow Software

PhotoStage lets you bring your digital photos to life and make easy-to-share presentations of every memorable occasion.

"PhotoStage Slideshow Producer shows that slideshow makers don't need to be difficult to use to produce great results."
     - CNET

"PhotoStage is intuitive and savvy photo slideshow software that enables you to assemble artistic, personalized picture slideshows with total ease."
     - TopTenReviews

Zulu DJ Mixing Software

Zulu is the complete DJ software solution for both amateur and professional DJs alike.

"In an extremely competitive field of DJ software, Zulu stands just a bit taller than all of the rest. The intuitive and advanced features of this program, including a user-friendly, simple and straightforward interface, helped it rise to the top of our rankings."
     - TopTenReviews

Inventoria Inventory Management

Inventoria allows businesses of all sizes to efficiently track all their inventory processes, whether for one small retail outlet, or a chain of stores and warehouses across several locations.

"The versatility of Inventoria is an excellent reason to purchase this product. It offers numerous helpful features such as the ability to add notes and photos to each item in your inventory. In addition, you have the opportunity to allow more users to access the program, which can increase productivity and ultimately enhance your bottom line."
     - TopTenReviews

Check out the complete range of NCH Software programs for more easy-to-use and award-winning software solutions for all your software needs.

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Learn or Improve Your Typing Skills with Award Winning Typing Tutor Software

We are very grateful that the editors at CNET recently took the time to review NCH Software's KeyBlaze Typing Tutor Software. They wrote a very nice review and awarded our free learn to type software with a full 5 out of 5 stars, saying:

"KeyBlaze Free Typing Tutor from NCH Software can help you learn touch-typing or practice your skills. It offers basic lessons, drills, and speed tests suitable for typists ranging from absolute beginners to keyboard jockeys. It's easy to use and effective, too. KeyBlaze is great for beginners, and has more to offer to those who already know how to type. The lessons are easy to understand, getting progressively more difficult to master, and effective, with immediate feedback that helps users quickly overcome bad habits."

– CNET

You can read the complete review of KeyBlaze Typing Tutor on download.com, or download it now to start improving your typing skills right away.

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Free Timesheet Tracking Software

From freelancers to lawyers, keeping track of the amount of time spent on different projects can be a necessary evil for many in the working world. So if you bill by the hour an easy-to-use program like HourGuard Timesheet Software to make this chore easier could be just what the doctor ordered. Reviewers at CNET have even called HourGuard among the best time-tracking programs available.

"We liked that HourGuard Timesheet Software lets you create base tasks and subtasks, making it easy to record what you're working on in detail. The program even has an intelligent tracking feature that stops the timer when it detects that you're no longer working, ensuring that you don't waste time making corrections after realizing that you've left the meter running."

– CNET

You can read the complete review or learn more and download your free copy of HourGuard timesheet recorder software from our website today.

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High Performance Document Conversion Software

It is always nice to get compliments, and we love hearing from both customers and reviewers alike about what they think about our software programs. The editors at CNET recently gave us another compliment to add to our tally in a recent review of Doxillion document converter, saying, "We've tried many of NCH's tools and always found them to be good performers." Talking more specifically about Doxillion they went on to say:

"Doxillion is very easy to use, with a big green plus sign for adding files to the main list view. Highlighting entries in this list displayed their properties in the right-hand sidebar. We browsed to an output folder in the entry field beneath the main view, and then selected an output format and encoder options. All that was left to do was press Convert. Doxillion quickly processed our batch and saved the output to our selected directory."

– CNET

You can read the complete review of Doxillion document converter from CNET on download.com. The next time you need to convert type of file, whether a document, audio, video, or image file, be prepared with our suite of converting software, and make file incompatibility a thing of the past.

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Archival-quality Audio from Vinyl with Golden Records

Golden Records Vinyl to CD Converter is one of our more popular software programs, offering an easy step-by-step process for converting vinyl LP records and analog audio cassettes to CD or mp3 files. It seems the people at CNET agree, having recently given it high marks, saying, "We've tried many such tools, yet we've often gone back to [Golden Records], which also converts tapes and other analog audio sources." The reviewers went on to say:

"We transcribed several LP records ranging from audiophile quality to barely playable with Golden Records, achieving excellent, archival-quality results each time. The auto track splitter worked fine on scratchy old platters, though recording tracks in the highest possible quality and then splitting and converting them manually using a WAV editor proved the best method for better-quality discs. The sound files produced by Golden Records Vinyl to CD Converter sounded great, whatever the source."

– CNET

You can read the complete review of Golden Records Analog to CD/MP3 Converter from CNET on download.com. Or, download today to take advantage of the free 14-day trial and easy wizard based process to start digitizing your vinyl record collection.

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Acclaim for VideoPad Video Editing Software

We are very grateful that the editors at CNet recently took the time to review NCH's VideoPad Video Editor. They wrote a very nice review and awarded it with 5 out of 5 stars, highlighting how easy VideoPad is in their comments, "It's a rare video editor that you can just fire up and start making movies with, but that's what we did with VideoPad." They went on to say:

"With smartphones, video sharing sites, and Webcams everywhere, there's no lack of raw video resources, just a need for a powerful, easy-to-use tool like VideoPad Video Editor Professional to put your projects together, polish them up, and present them in the format of your choice. More than just fast and competent, we also found it fun to use."

– CNet

You can read the complete review of VideoPad video editor on download.com, but the best way to really get a feel for how user-friendly and fun video editing can be, download VideoPad and try it out for yourself.

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Streaming Audio Recorder Saves Time for Radio Producers

Izi Mann has been a radio personality and producer for decades, including work on the NPR show Voice of Israel, he now also produces Internet radio shows.

Using a variety of audio files from different websites is key for an Internet radio show to offer a digest of varied, newsworthy content. When Mann found SoundTap streaming audio recorder, it saved him so much time he was able to do more shows than before while offering much better content.

Mann estimates that he spends at least 30% less time recording audio files with SoundTap than with other comparable programs he has tried. "I use SoundTap to 'catch' audio files from different websites. The software does this so cleanly and smoothly, and without the numerous time consuming requirements that appear in some other programs I have tried. Just one click!"

The challenge Izi Mann faced before finding NCH Software's SoundTap was that many software applications were time consuming and demanding. He was searching for an efficient audio recorder but many of the other programs he tried did not actually work, or asked so many questions before recording the audio he found them impractical for what he wanted to do. "When you have a show to produce, it is important that it’s done perfectly, but also immediately,” Mann said. “Actually, who does have time to waste?"

When his search was coming up dry, he suddenly remembered a colleague from the BBC had introduced him to NCH Software’s Switch Audio Converter software, and how smoothly it converted CD music files to wav files. So he went to NCH looking for an equally capable solution for his audio recording problems. He found that solution in SoundTap Streaming Audio Recorder.

SoundTap saves Internet radio producers like Izi Mann time, creating high quality audio files at the click of a button, and this is just one example of the many uses for this versatile streaming audio recorder. Download SoundTap to capture any audio playing through your computer and convert that audio to mp3 or wav files. You may well find that like Izi Mann, after you have used SoundTap, you'll be willing to recommend it to anyone.

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Webcam Without Software? No Problem

There are a lot of people out there who have webcams and have either lost the software that came with them, or their webcams didn't even come with any software. Fortunately even if you don't have a cd of resources to go with your webcam that doesn't mean that you chave to run out and buy a new one, or be limited to only its most basic features. Check out our webcam software, which can really help you take full advantage of your webcam. Our webcam software includes Debut video capture software which you can use to record and save videos from your webcam for video editing projects, or save them for yourself or optimize to share online. So if you have a webcam that is getting little use take a look at some of the fun things things you can do with our software for webcams.

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An Audio Swiss Army Knife

Once again I find myself taking inspiration from Twitter. Similar to the "Twitter Principle of Software," I recently saw another tweet that stood out to me as really great quote. This time about our Switch audio converter software:

@MountainDan: Switch from NCH Software is an amazing audio swiss army knife for Mac

I really like this metaphor. A pocket knife is compact but doubly handy because, despite its size, it has a tool for everything. We pride ourselves in the number of audio file formats that Switch can handle. It really can fit the job and convert the file no matter what audio file format you find yourself coming across or in need of. And, like a Swiss Army knife, it is all neatly packaged together in a light-weight, less than 500k application download that installs fast and is easy to use.

In fact, I'd like to think that our whole range of file converters and software are like the various tools of a Swiss Army knife. Need to convert a video file? We have Prism video converter for that. Need to remove background noise from an audio recording? We have Wavepad Audio Editor for that. Need to record what you are seeing on your screen? We have Debut Video Capture Software for video screen recording to solve that one. We have so many simple software solutions it's like having a full tool belt at your disposal, and we hope you remember that and turn to NCH Software when you are looking for solutions, whatever the problem at hand might be.

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Do You Know What Open-Source Software Is?

At the end of July, WavePad Sound Editor was highlighted as the Download of the Day by the good people over at Think Digit. We are always thrilled when WavePad gets recognized, and they did a great job of highlighting the amazing features in their review while recommending you download and try the audio editor. But one of the things they said made me pause. The intro says, "There are a few very good reasons why we love WavePad – it’s simple, it's free, it's fast and it’s open-source." This is an absolutely wonderful quote except for one thing: WavePad isn't open-source. There is a lite version of WavePad that is available for free for non-commercial use in addition to the Master's edition, and I can't help but wonder if people equate free software with open-source, especially when there are technology writers out there who are falling into this trap?

What is Open-Source?

The most basic definition of open-source is that the source code of an application is made freely available. This allows outside computer developers to make improvements or customizations to that source code and create new versions of the software. There are additional requirements for software to truly be open-source, and if you are interested in the topic a good place to learn more would be at the Open Source Initiative. So you can see that because NCH Software doesn't make any of the underlying code of our programs available, even though we have several free software applications, we don't meet the criteria of being open-source software.

So while it is true that we aren't open-source, we are still very proud of our WavePad audio editing software and we are open to suggestions if you have any ideas you want share with our development team. And in the mean time maybe today is a good day to download WavePad and find some of your own reasons to love this wonderful little audio editor.

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Software Buying Trends

Earlier this year, LifeHacker posted a wonderful info graphic depicting data from the US Census Bureau comparing how many sales are being made online versus in retail stores across a number of categories.


I found the results of What People Buy Online vs. in Stores fascinating. I'd love to see something that showed trending over time, so I'll have to keep my eyes open for results in years to come. As the world becomes increasingly more connected online, I imagine these numbers will continue to shift in favor of making purchases online.

I did find the software results a little surprising. There is nearly a 50/50 split between computer hardware and software purchased online and at retail stores. I would have expected a larger percentage of purchases in this category to be made online, similar to what is seen with other electronics.

I imagine consumers perceive software products as more legitimate or reliable when seen inside retail stores because they fear online products come from fly-by-night businesses that will be gone tomorrow, or maybe consumers don’t feel comfortable buying something so intangible. On the other hand, consumers who do buy online recognize the ease and immediacy of being able to download an application and have a solution instantly. For example, the software utilities we provide at NCH Software download and install, in most cases, in under a minute. That means you can install a program like Prism Video Converter to convert a troublesome movie file that won’t play on your computer before you could so much as make it out your driveway to go to the store in search of a solution.

Until late last year, 100% of NCH Software sales were made online. We are still new to the retail market and our retail presence is still actively growing, so I am curious to see where the split will be in our overall software sales once we are more firmly established in retail stores. Shoppers in the U.S. can currently find Golden Records, Express Invoice as well as software suites of our audio, video and burning software utilities in stores, with additional products including dictation/transcription software, Inventoria, WavePad, VideoPad, and FlexiServer also being added to the mix. Will we eventually see half our sales being made through retail stores, or will retail sales settle at a lower percentage as more customers migrate to online purchasing? I guess only time will tell.

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The Twitter Principle for Software

Not long ago I saw a tweet about our software that really hit on one of the standards we try to achieve with our software products. It was phrased in such a way that I really just loved and it has stuck with me:

@debreuil I'm still amazed WavePad is 500kb. The Twitter principle for software, if you can't say it in less than a meg...

Keeping our products small is very closely related to some of the usability issues we have talked about before, especially our goal to have customers actually using our software in three minutes or less. We strive for a fast download, simple program, and simple interface as much as possible. We want our software to be a quick, easy and intuitive solution, and the program’s file size plays a major part in reaching those goals.

We have set the bar high in this arena and there is always room for improvement. When preparing new releases of applications, programmers are warned if the file has grown by a significant amount, it's a flag that maybe a feature hasn't been streamlined as much as it could be. We are very cognizant that, in this internet age, people have been conditioned to expect results quickly, and by keeping the executable size of our programs we are catering to the user's desire to use a program as quickly as possible after downloading.

It is nice to see that someone has recognized some of this underling effort. With Twitter, it can sometimes be a challenge to condense what you want to say in the very limited space of 140 characters. You want to keep only the things that matter. We try to do that with our software too. We try to get to the heart of what people will want to do with the application and make sure we not only do that well but that it is as easy for the user to do it as possible. I think that focus is what makes the “Twitter principle for software” phrase fit us so well.

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Convert Any Media File to any Audio File with Switch Audio Converter

Our Switch Audio File Converter is one of our more popular applications, allowing you to convert audio files between a wide range of audio file formats including: mp3, wav, wma, acc, dvf, midi and more. If you have audio files on your computer that you want to put on your mp3 player that aren't mp3s you need an application like Switch for mp3 conversion first. With the batch audio converter feature you can convert thousands of files from multiple formats all in one go.



As proof of its popularity, Switch Audio Converter was rated number one from Top Ten Reviews. Read their review or watch the video spotlight.
Have a Mac? Read the Mac Review from BrightHub.

Did you know that you can extract audio from video too?
With Switch, not only can you convert audio files, but you can use it for extracting audio files and sound bites from DVDs and other video file formats as well. It is as easy as adding the video file to your list of files to convert, pick your format and destination and click convert. The process is the same if you are converting wma to mp3 or mov to wav.

Best of all, Switch is free. We make the standard version of Switch free because we know you will love it so much you will want to upgrade to Switch Plus which supports additional encode-to formats for serious audio professionals. Whichever one you decide to use, we hope that you will agree that if you need to convert and audio file, Switch Audio Converter from NCH Software is the best choice.

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Do we use our own software?

In one word... yes. 

NCH Software has two office locations, one in Denver Colorado and the other in Canberra, Australia. Both locations are set up with the Axon Virtual PBx and the IVM Call Attendant. In some cases employees have extensions on both PBx systems. This allows us to call between the offices on IP Phones for no cost at all. 

Someone in the Australian office can just pick up their phone and dial and extension allocated to me in the Denver office, the same if we were only located on different floors of the same building. 

If I need to make a call to another business in Australia I can pick up my phone, press my Australian extension and dial a number in Australia and the call we be charged at local call rates instead of international call rates.

FastFox Text Expander is an application that nearly all staff have installed on their PCs and Macs. Our support and marketing teams use it for common responses, signitures, URLs, phone numbers and addresses. 

FlexiStation is installed on all computers and we can track our work hours, log leave requests and generally see how our time is spent at work.

Our finance department works with Express Accounts to keep track of incoming and outgoing cash flow for the companies and our sales department uses Express Invoice to create quotes and invoices.

I personally use Debut Video Capture to record webcasts and KeyBlaze Typing Tutor typing tutor because sometimes two fingers for a keyboard just dosn't quite cut it. In one way or another we all use some of the software at home and in the office. Even though we have a testing department sometimes the best way to find a hidden problem, or the best suggestion, when it comes to software is to use it on a day to day level.

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