Subject:Differences????

Posted by: Elroc0

Date:11/15/2002 2:14:29 PM

What are the differences between Acid Pro and Sound Forge? other than looping capabilities.

Subject:RE: Differences????

Reply by: vanblah

Date:11/15/2002 2:55:02 PM

Acid has the ability to mix multiple tracks (not record multiple tracks). Sound Forge is limited to two tracks (stereo). The two applications aren't really very similar at all other than the fact that they both deal with sound.

Subject:RE: Differences????

Reply by: Iacobus

Date:11/15/2002 3:06:41 PM

ACID Pro is a loop-based music creation tool. Sound Forge is a digital audio editor (stereo and mono audio).

The only similarities between them is that you can create ACIDized loops in Sound Forge for use with ACID. You can, of course, do the same thing in ACID; you just can't optimize a file's quality (like EQ, compression, etc.) as easily in ACID as you can in Sound Forge.

HTH,
Iacobus

Subject:RE: Differences????

Reply by: BryanF

Date:11/16/2002 4:31:29 PM

Perfect timing for my question...

If Acid can extract from CD, trim and create an ACIDized loop, does Sound Forge do it any better? In other words, why would I want to use Sound Forge when ACID can basically create new loops of audio CD's?

I'm not knocking Sound Forge, just asking how it might make the loop creation process better/easier.

Subject:RE: Differences????

Reply by: Iacobus

Date:11/16/2002 9:04:31 PM

While you can, indeed, create an ACIDized loop from CD audio right in ACID, there might be times when you want to get creative with the file or just want to tweak it a bit more.

One of the best things that Sound Forge has is an indespensible tool for loop creators—the Loop Tuner, which is only in the full version of Sound Forge, not Sound Forge Studio. Using this tool, you can easily create files that don't glitch or pop as they loop over and over. I personally just can't live without this tool.

One thing I should also mention is that when creating loops, be sure to also use ACID Pro's stretch marker ability to the hilt. (Stretch markers are located under the Stretch tab of the track's properties.) Setting your own custom markers on a custom loop will make the loop sound much better when it's stretched to a different tempo. Basically, you'd want to add a marker on a pronounced beat. ACID is pretty good at doing most of it, but sometimes misses a beat here and there, which is why it's good to go through your own custom loops to make sure.

Iacobus

Subject:RE: Differences????

Reply by: BryanF

Date:11/17/2002 7:03:05 PM

Thanks for the excellent information. Dunno if I can afford the full Sound Forge though.

Concerning custom markers in the Stretch tab, how do you know where to put the markers? A loop's feel comes of the relative placement of hits, so you can't just put markers right on the main beats.

Which comes to my next point: is there any way to shift an audio event so you can line up the peak of the first hit right on the bar line? Sort of like the anchor point in Logic.

BF

Subject:RE: Differences????

Reply by: Iacobus

Date:11/18/2002 2:16:35 PM

You can put the markers anywhere you'd like. (Use F8 to turn snapping off if you want to mouse click on a specific area.) Use the left or right arrow keys to incrementally move the cursor.

You'd place markers basically anywhere there's a strong accent within a beat. (Make sure markers are not too close together, which can cause clicking, yet not too far apart, which can cause artifacting like echoes.) You can usually tell where such accents are by the amplitude of the waveform. If the waveform looks uniform, place markers where you'd like to specify the accent to be.

With the Pencil Tool active, you can use ALT+drag to slip an event, ALT+drag the edge of an event to slip-trim the event, or CTRL+ALT+drag the event to slide the event. Try them all to see what works best for you.

HTH,
Iacobus

Subject:RE: Differences????

Reply by: BryanF

Date:11/18/2002 5:34:08 PM

Ah, I got it now. The Stretch Marks (?) aren't quantizing or placing the beat at those points, they can be placed anywhere. They are hints to help the stretching sound as good as possible.

Slipping to get the peak of the attack right on a beat is not quite the same thing as I was after, but I appreciate your point. At least I will be able to see if there is any audible difference in lining up the peak with the beat.

Thanks for your advice!

Subject:RE: Differences????

Reply by: anon

Date:11/18/2002 5:58:30 PM

Stretch Marks, hehe.

Subject:RE: Differences????

Reply by: Iacobus

Date:11/18/2002 9:14:21 PM

You're welcome!

Iacobus