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What audio editing software do you use?


Datameister

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Hey, all. Just curious what programs you guys use for audio editing...those of you that do it, I mean. How satisfied are you with the software? What would you say its strengths and weaknesses are?

I currently use four programs for the bulk of my editing.

* Audacity 1.3.12 Beta: This is kind of my home base. I put everything together here. I've been using it for probably 5 or 6 years now, so I'm very comfortable with the interface, and it can handle most of the basic editing tasks. The latest beta has some minor flaws, but I really like being able to move multiple tracks together and so forth. Then the following three programs step in when Audacity drops the ball on specific tasks.

* MAGIX Audio Cleaning Lab: Great for noise reduction on hissy files. I also do a lot of spectral cleaning to get rid of voice echoes, bird calls, thumps, and other sound effects. The results always end up back in Audacity for final tweaking, though. I was hesitant about paying $50 for this, but it was worth it.

* Paul's Extreme Sound Stretch (Paulstretch): If I need to stretch out a sound so it lasts a really long time, this is the way to do it. This is great if the decay of a sound is cut off early, for instance, or if Freeverb2 in Audacity isn't cutting it for artificial reverb, or if I need a single note or chord to last a lot longer. Again, everything ends up in Audacity afterward.

* The Amazing Slow-Downer: This is good for less aggressive stretching, so that it still sounds like the same piece of music at a different tempo, rather than turning it into a smear of reverberating sound. Audacity can do this too, of course, but the results sound stuttery, whereas this program can produce much more natural-sounding results.

In cases where sheet music is available and I want to do a mockup of unavailable passages, I use Finale 2008. I use the Garritan libraries for the strings, piano, and a few other instruments, and VST for everything else. I usually mix all the instruments in Audacity so I can have more control over the final mix and be careful of clipping.

How about you guys?

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I've always used Sound Forge, since I began editing back in.... 1997/1998ish

I tried Audacity out since so many people use it, but I couldn't figure out how to do some simple things with it so I kinda gave up.

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Cool Edit Pro

-This is the old school version that I use for my main editing purposes. Sometimes I'll use Adobe Audition if I need to use some of the updated features.

Sony Sound Forge

-This is mostly to use for fake reverbs and if needed to some re-mastering for music.

Goldwave

-For pitch correction as well as any off set that needs to be done. I found this is the best program to do those two things.

I've never really used Audacity that much, all though I do have it on my computer. I mostly use Cool Edit Pro and Sony Sound Forge.

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I've always used Sound Forge, since I began editing back in.... 1997/1998ish

I tried Audacity out since so many people use it, but I couldn't figure out how to do some simple things with it so I kinda gave up.

Sound Forge is excellent (especially from 9 onwards), but Audacity is free. I have Audacity. :)

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Sony Vegas for the meat of the editing. The volume/panning envelopes are very useful - they give an incredible level of control. But it's quite difficult to tell if there's near-clipping and whether an entire track remains constant volume-wise.

So I use Adobe Audition (formerly Cool Edit Pro) to check the overall volume level. I also use this if I need to speed up or slow down anything.

Then finally foobar to convert to mp3, as I gather the 'mp3Pro' one used by Audition isn't the best.

My major interest is in video editing, so most of my current work involves mixing the music and source sound. Therefore, rather than reverberating or echoing, I'll find a piece that ends how I want, and edit between them.

I actually do fairly little pure audio editing because sfx-filled rips are reserved for grail unreleased cues, and there aren't many of them.

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Really? I don't know much about editing programmes, but Audacity seems to me to be supereasy for the very basic tasks.

I use Audacity. Don't forget to fix that problem if you have it, so you don't end up with hiss after editing. Datameister has posted the solution in the Audacity thread in the Other Topics forum.

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I love the Amazing Slow Downer. I know it's not really an editor, just does time stretch / pitch shift but it does a better job of it than some $400+ programs. The iPhone/iPod app is the best $15 you can spend.

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I don't edit that much but I also use Audacity with ease to do what I want, which is basically cut, loop, fade in/out and combine certain tracks. I'm not a master at it and I don't know many of its features but for what I want to do its fine.

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I primarily use Sound Forge.

I only used Audacity for two reasons. First to pitch correct Indiana Jones tracks, since Sound Forge wanted me to recalculate the values for a different tool and why reinvent the wheel. Secondly, to view and play multiple files simultaneoulsy, in order to navigate the different channels of a DVD rip.

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  • 11 years later...

OK I'm trying to learn Audacity since it's free, and what everyone here uses, and because the Sound Forge copy I bought didn't really work great with Windows 10 and I doubt it will be any better on Windows 11.

 

But there's so many simple things Sound Forge did that I can't figure out where the hell they buried it in Audacity.


For example, if you have two audio files open in a project, and you slide one of them over to line up with the other one, where can you view the ORIGINAL timestamp of the one you slid, instead of only the overall project timestamp!?

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1 hour ago, Jay said:


For example, if you have two audio files open in a project, and you slide one of them over to line up with the other one, where can you view the ORIGINAL timestamp of the one you slid, instead of only the overall project timestamp!?

I think, you could highlight a selection with your mouse, and it would tell you the length of it, and you could use the end point timestamp at the bottom of the screen as the other timestamp.

 

Theme_Dark.png

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Seriously there's gotta be a way for Audacity to display the timecode of the individual files within a project regardless of where you've slid them left or right....... right!?

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On 27/09/2022 at 11:08 AM, Roll the Bones said:

I think, you could highlight a selection with your mouse, and it would tell you the length of it, and you could use the end point timestamp at the bottom of the screen as the other timestamp.

 

Theme_Dark.png

 

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An overall timestamp of the file or a timestamp within that file?

 

What are you editing, and what are you trying to do to it, That might clear things up.

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Man I thought I explained this perfectly

 

Start a new project in Audacity

 

Load in File 1

 

Load in File 2

 

Grab File 2 and slide it to the right until it lines up with a part of File 1 that is the same

 

Click anywhere inside File 2.  I want to know what timestamp of that file I have clicked on

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14 minutes ago, Jay said:

Man I thought I explained this perfectly

 

Start a new project in Audacity

 

Load in File 1

 

Load in File 2

 

Grab File 2 and slide it to the right until it lines up with a part of File 1 that is the same

 

Click anywhere inside File 2.  I want to know what timestamp of that file I have clicked on

So did I lol

 

Load Files

 

Slide file 2

 

highlight selection from beginning of file or window to point you want the timestamp from

 

Get timestamp from indicator at bottom of window.

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I don't understand how I can explain it better than I already have.  Maybe a screenshot will help

 

image.png

 

0:00-1:45 of the bottom file is the same music as 5:30-7:15 of the top file

 

In this screenshot I have clicked on the point in the bottom file where the music becomes different, IE 1:45 into that track.

 

But Audacity only tells me 7:15, the timestamp of the overall project I am at

 

I want Audacity to tell me that I've clicked on the 1:45 point of the bottom file

 

How do I get Audacity to tell me that without having to slide it back to the left again

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Have you tried changing the indicator to "length and end of selection", then highlighting from the beginning of the first file to where the second file starts?

 

The length timestamp (leftmost of the two smaller timestamp) should be what you want, since I assume you want the timestamp for an edit point.

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9 minutes ago, Roll the Bones said:

Have you tried changing the indicator to "length and end of selection", then highlighting from the beginning of the first file to where the second file starts?

 

Yes.

 

9 minutes ago, Roll the Bones said:

The length timestamp (leftmost of the two smaller timestamp) should be what you want

 

 

Nope, it sure isn't.

 

Screenshot 2022-09-28 132408.png

 

9 minutes ago, Roll the Bones said:

, since I assume you want the timestamp for an edit point.

 

I've posted 4 times now what it is that I want

 

On 27/09/2022 at 9:47 AM, Jay said:

where can you view the ORIGINAL timestamp of the one you slid, instead of only the overall project timestamp!?

 

1 hour ago, Jay said:

the timecode of the individual files within a project regardless of where you've slid them left or right

 

43 minutes ago, Jay said:

The actual timestamp of the part of the file I clicked on, instead of only showing me the overall project timestamp

 

28 minutes ago, Jay said:

timestamp of that file I have clicked on

 

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3 minutes ago, Jay said:

That IS what I did.

I mean the beginning of the file (the shorter slid one), not the beginning of the project (or longer, top file).

 

20220928_133444.jpg

 

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AHhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I see!

 

image.png

 

Yes, I was highlighting from the start of the project to the point, instead of from the start of File 2 to the point.  D'oh!

 

 

Man, what a series of hoops Audacity makes you go through for such a basic piece of information!

 

In Sound Forge you click on any part of a file and it tells you what timestamp it is

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Hopefully the new management rectifies that in an update soon, as they have been with everything else.

 

Believe it or not, the ability to "easily" slide files is a recent development!!

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