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Subject:Basic Audio Editing App.
Posted by: spinweb
Date:1/11/2005 8:36:56 AM

I think I need an app that can edit audio more than ACID, but I'm not sure
I want to spend $400 or whatever for Sound Forge. How is this?

http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.com/products/showproduct.asp?PID=945

I guess I want to take tracks recorded in ACID and clip peaks, etc., then
bring the files back into ACID, not work in the editor.

Thoughts?

Thx, Rick

Subject:RE: Basic Audio Editing App.
Reply by: DKeenum
Date:1/11/2005 9:04:57 AM

I used soundforge "lite" in it's various stages over several years. It does a great job. You can't save to mp3 (is that still the case?), but you can do almost everything else, including acid properties.

Subject:RE: Basic Audio Editing App.
Reply by: SonySCS
Date:1/11/2005 9:27:08 AM

You can save to mp3 with Sound Forge Music Studio. Just need to register the mp3 plugin.
With the trial SFMS you get only 20 encodes, you would need to purchase SFMS to go beyond the 20.

-Suzan

Subject:RE: Basic Audio Editing App.
Reply by: spinweb
Date:1/11/2005 10:17:13 AM

Let's see. What kind of edits am I thinking about?

1. When I take a nasty, distorted guitar solo and there's
all sorts of debris in the cut I'd like to remove.

2. When I'm playing octaves and peak out the signal.
(can you pull it down some with this app?)

3. At the end of a song when I'd like the signal to
fade, but all the hiss gets louder.

Those are just some examples.

Thanks!

Rick

Subject:RE: Basic Audio Editing App.
Reply by: Chienworks
Date:1/11/2005 10:27:29 AM

1. Distortion is almost impossible to remove. Once a signal is distorted it's pretty much permanent.

2. Once the signal has peaked it is distorted by having the peak clipped off. See point 1 above. However, this is one particular type of distortion that can be overcome, somewhat. SONY's Noise Reduction plugin has a "clipped peak restorer" which can draw back in the curved peak where it's been clipped. It works quite well in most cases. It's also $280 or so and requires an editor that supports DX plugins (which Sound Forge Studio doesn't).

3. If you are fading in post processing on the tineline then any hiss in the recorded signal should fade out with the music. If it's not, then you are getting hiss from the playback electronics and no software can help.

Subject:RE: Basic Audio Editing App.
Reply by: Iacobus
Date:1/11/2005 10:59:21 AM

In addition to what Chienworks mentioned, download and check out the trial to Sound Forge Audio Studio 7 to see if it meets your needs (which it should in a couple departments) but remember its limitations vs. its bigger brother, Sound Forge 7. (One of the biggest differences between the two is that Sound Forge Audio Studio 7 works with 16-bit/48 kHz audio max, while Sound Forge 7 works with 32-bit (and 64-bit float)/192 kHz max.)

Iacobus
-------
RodelWorks - Original Music for the Unafraid
Pre-order Instant ACID
mD at ACIDplanet
Guitars 4 Kids

Subject:RE: Basic Audio Editing App.
Reply by: spinweb
Date:1/11/2005 11:12:19 AM

<<One of the biggest differences between the two is that Sound Forge Audio Studio 7 works with 16-bit/48 kHz audio max, while Sound Forge 7 works with 32-bit (and 64-bit float)/192 kHz max.>>

OK. This brings up an important point. How much difference is the average Joe or Betty going to hear between a 16-bit and a 24-bit recording? Just generally? Is it *really* noticibly better? Or is it for geeks blasting $2,000 studio monitors that can tell?

:)

Rick

Subject:RE: Basic Audio Editing App.
Reply by: JohnnyRoy
Date:1/11/2005 1:22:37 PM

> Is it *really* noticeably better?

It’s not so much that the sound is better but that the resolution is finer for sound manipulation. As you modify the sound (which is infinite) it must be representing in the finite world of 16, 24, or 32 bits. Having more bits not only means more precise representation of the original sound, but less artifacting as conversions and calculations are done on the sound.

Let’s use a very simple example: If you had a calculator that could only process whole numbers (1, 2, 3 but not 1.5, 2.5, 3.5, etc.) Let’s say I asked you to add 1.5 + 1.5 + 1.5. Since you can only use whole numbers, you would truncate 1.5 to 1 ard return 1 + 1 + 1 = 3. Now lets say that even though you could only answer me in whole numbers, you now had a calculator whose internal representation is decimal. Now you would take 1.5 + 1.5 + 1.5 an internally get 4.5 but since it can only answer in whole numbers it would return 4. Which answer was more accurate 3 or 4? Obviously 4 is closer to 4.5 than 3. This is similar to what happens with you process all your digital sound at 16 bit, instead of processing at 24 or 32 bit and dithering to 16 bit for 16 bit devices like CD’s. Does that analogy make sense?

In the end you may not hear the difference of unprocessed sound, but since you are using the editor to process the sound, you may hear the difference in the processed sound not being as accurate as the original.

~jr

Subject:RE: Basic Audio Editing App.
Reply by: Rednroll
Date:1/11/2005 2:30:34 PM

In my opinion, the bit resolution isn't the major feature factor between SF7 and SF Audio Studio. I would have to say the DX support and FX automation are one of the bigger differences. This might not be all that important to you since you have Acid, and can use Acid for DX FX's.

Check out the comparison chart on this website in the link below.

http://mediasoftware.sonypictures.com/Products/showproduct.asp?PID=668&FeatureID=7496&FeatureTL=5797

Subject:RE: Basic Audio Editing App.
Reply by: Iacobus
Date:1/12/2005 11:01:44 AM

To add to what everyone's said, you'll most likely benefit from a higher resolution (like 24-bit) when recording acoustic material such as vocals, acoustic guitar, etc. You won't benefit as much from electric material but you can use the extra acoustical headroom in 24-bit for post-effects like reverb and such.

Using a higher sample rate is one of debate's greatest legends. :)

Seriously, think of using a higher sample rate as more closely matching a digital waveform's analog counterpart. There's the whole Nyquist frequency thing too, where double the sample rate must be used to accurately reproduce a certain frequency range.

For example, using 44.1 kHz accurately reproduces around 22 kHz, which is a little bit above the range of average human hearing. So using anything higher than that might be a moot point.

Iacobus
-------
RodelWorks - Original Music for the Unafraid
Pre-order Instant ACID
mD at ACIDplanet
Guitars 4 Kids

Subject:RE: Basic Audio Editing App.
Reply by: spinweb
Date:1/13/2005 8:16:23 AM

Thanks everyone for your input.

If we use a digital image analogy. I don't need to take pictures on
my digital camera at 400 dots per inch, only to render the file at the
72 dpi which is standard on the web.

How does this hold with music? I'm still a novice, so when you talk
about headroom for reverb, I'm only partially with you.

When I spend the money for a 24-bit editor, and I mix down to a
WAVE file, will I hear a difference? How about with an MP3?
With graphics it is not usually worth it, perhaps it is with music.

Rick


Subject:RE: Basic Audio Editing App.
Reply by: spinweb
Date:1/13/2005 8:19:13 AM

<<Let's see. What kind of edits am I thinking about?

1. When I take a nasty, distorted guitar solo and there's
all sorts of debris in the cut I'd like to remove.>>

Let me clarify here. I'm not talking about noise within
the phrasing, but rather crap IN BETWEEN the phrases.

Anyone who plays loud electric guitar knows what I
mean. It's so cranked, that just touching the strings
causes mayhem. IOW, if I play a lick and try to move
somewhere else to play the next, I'm likely to get all
sorts of #@%^$# in between. That's what I'd like to nix.

:)

Rick


Subject:RE: Basic Audio Editing App.
Reply by: johnp352
Date:1/13/2005 8:27:21 AM

Adobe audition 1.5 A bit more than SF, @ $150..but well worth it. do a search, you'll find it at that price from a reseller who parts out Adobe.. normally it's about $250 I think

I have used SF, Peak (on a Mac) and Audigy, this one (which used to be Cool Edit Pro) works great. Lots of things included, and a fairly short learning curve. You can also use it as a sequencer/acid like thing, but I prefer Acid and live for that. Also has a really nice cd creator

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