Podcasters, perk up and listen. If you aren’t already using Audio Hijack Pro, you should be. This tool lets you record audio from any input on your Mac, and even from any application that produces sound. What’s better, the sound that is captured by Audio Hijack Pro is captured digitally and without loss (so it’s also a great way to remove digital rights management/DRM restrictions from those iTunes tracks you’ve been wanting to copy).

Audio Hijack Pro is truly a useful app–compared to Soundflower, it’s a lot easier to deal with, and, despite its $32 shareware price tag, is really worth every buck and then some. You can even use effects plug-ins to add realtime effects to your captured recordings, perfect for quick’n'dirty podcast audio processing. Here’s a rundown of the new features, in version 2.6:

• Schedule Helper for more reliable timed recordings
• Bookmarkable MP3s
• Adjustable MP3 Sample Rate
• Updated Voiceover Plugin
• Now supports Unsanity’s Smart Crash Reporting

And if all you really need is a simple audio capture tool for copying from iTunes or saving recordings of Internet radio stations, then check out the simpler, cheaper, and slightly more stripped-down Audio Hijack.

Oh, one more more thing. Both of these packages are Mac-only.