good audio editing software suggestions?
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Topic: good audio editing software suggestions?
Posted By: budaniel
Subject: good audio editing software suggestions?
Date Posted: 22 July 2010 at 4:27pm
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Hi all, I know everyone here discusses that they've edited songs to make 45 versions, etc. I was looking for some suggestions on good, inexpensive, simple to use editing software for MP3s and WAVs (compatible with Windows 7). I'm really looking to just create "ultimate" versions of favorite club tracks in cases where the 12" version may have omitted parts from the original version and things like that. For example, the 12" version of Gloria by Laura Branigan completely removes the swooping opening intro and begins right on the burst of the beat, so I would like to create a file in which I can smoothly ADD the intro from the album version onto the beginning of the 12" mix. Thanks in advance for any suggestions. |
Replies:
Posted By: crapfromthepast
Date Posted: 22 July 2010 at 10:45pm
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I think your first choice should probably be Audacity. It's well regarded for doing the simple multi-track things you'll be doing, and it's completely free.
I myself use an ancient copy of Cool Edit Pro, which does the same basic things as Audacity. It's just what I'm used to. |
Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 22 July 2010 at 10:46pm
| Although not inexpensive, I've used Cool Edit Pro for many, many years. There are probably some free editing programs out there, though, that will do exactly what you're wanting to do. Anyone know of a good one? |
Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 22 July 2010 at 10:48pm
| Thanks, Ron! I must have hit the Post Reply button just seconds after you did. I actually rarely use multi-tracking unless I'm going to be mixing two sounds together (overlapping, crossfading, beat matching, etc.). Mostly, I just use CEP's single wave editing screen. |
Posted By: eric_a
Date Posted: 22 July 2010 at 10:52pm
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I've also used Adobe Audition (formerly Cool Edit Pro) for many years and if money is no object, it's a great choice. You may be able to buy an older version on eBay and save.
Another outdated program was SAWPlus32. Its interface was like a primitive version of Cool Edit Pro albeit still powerful. For some projects, I found it faster/easier than Adobe Audition. This was fairly expensive in its day but you might be able to find an older version for little money somewhere. Before I got this multitrack software, I used to use GoldWave, which has (or had) a nice freeware light version. It's not multitrack but you can still do a lot with it. Finally, has anyone used ProTools at home? I've heard that the base program is free or low-cost, and you pay for the plug-ins a la carte. If this is true, is the bare-bones version enough for simple editing? |
Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 22 July 2010 at 11:10pm
| I've used Pro Tools quite extensively, and it's not really designed for audio editing in the way that Cool Edit/Audition is. Pro Tools is best suited for multi-track recording and mixing. Sure, you can use it for editing, but it's not my first choice. |
Posted By: budaniel
Date Posted: 23 July 2010 at 7:16am
| Thanks all. I'll try Audacity first. I actually was going to try out the 30-day trial of Audition, because that one definitely has the types of features I need (plus a whole lot more I'll never use). |
Posted By: KentT
Date Posted: 24 July 2010 at 8:38am
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The real Pro Tools HD uses it's own audio hardware and is mainly ran on Apple machines. And costs severely big bucks. For PC editing software, I like Adobe Audition and Sony Sound Forge best. Audacity is free but I prefer Audition since I use it professionally. ------------- I turn up the good and turn down the bad! |
Posted By: eriejwg
Date Posted: 24 July 2010 at 8:45am
| Another user of Audion 1.5 here. I've checked out newer versions, but the interface confuses me. |
Posted By: Hykker
Date Posted: 26 July 2010 at 8:27am
Yeah, we tried using Audition 3.0 at our stations, and the programming staff complained so much about it, we went back to 1.5.
One feature SAW had that I've never seen anywhere else is the ability to preview a cut. You'd mark the beginning & end of a cut you'd like to make, and it would let you preview it before you actually cut it. It would also let you tweak the beginning & end points of the cut without having to re-define the whole segment. |
eriejwg wrote:Posted By: Steve Sharp
Date Posted: 26 July 2010 at 10:18am
Ditto. 1.5 is the last version that seems related to Syntrillium's Cool Edit Pro. After that, Adobe seems to focus more on making Audition part of a media suite of products it sells. After having used Sony Vegas for videos, if I were selecting audio software now, I would probably consider Sound Forge, as well. If it works as well and intutively as Vegas does, it's a good product. |