I've used Sound Forge for... well, practically as long as I've been doing audio work... since long before Sony bought the software from Sonic Foundry anyway. Of course as a long-time user I'm always anxious to put the latest version through its paces! Sound Forge (SF hereafter) has been known for years as one of the leading applications for editing digital audio files on a PC. It's also known for its rock solid stability and reliability! Seriously folks, I've installed various versions of this application on multiple machines over the years, from Win 95 to Win 7 and NEVER had an issue with it! In my experience, that's huge.
The label "Audio Editor" that many associate with Sound Forge really doesn't do it justice. Don't misunderstand me, it's not a multitracking application, and it's not supposed to be, but it does much more than one might expect. I find it's a great environment for mastering stereo mixes or for getting a certain effect on an individual sound that I can't find within my multitracker. And with its video preview capabilities, a host of built in processors, and the ability to use popular third party plugins, Sound Forge is also great for doing creative sound design work and preparing sound effects files for use within a larger multitrack environment.
My layout for general audio editing. I find it convenient to dock many of the tools at the top and left edges of the window.
Sound Forge Pro 10 (SFP10) includes built in support for disc-at-once (DAO) CD burning, and also comes bundled with Sony's popular CD authoring application CD Architect 5 for more advanced options, plus Noise Reduction 2.0 audio restoration and iZotope Mastering Effects Bundle 2, the Acoustic Mirror convolver and a nice assortment of Sony plugins -- over 40 effects and processes in all. In addition, SFP10 can use both DirectX and VST plugins as well as Windows and ASIO audio card drivers.
Besides DAO CD burning, other features new to SFP10 include much-improved time-stretching, pitch shifting, dithering, and sample rate conversion algorithms. This might not be crucial to you unless you're recording custom sound effects from scratch with the exact timing, timbre, and format you need for your project. Assuming you don't have that luxury, these improvements will keep the quality of your alterations higher and will let you push the envelope further before sounding too artificial. Other nice additions include a new resonant filter plugin and an updated mastering suite from iZotope. This release also adds event-based editing, a host of workflow improvements, and interactive tutorials -- all to help you edit with blinding speed on one of the most reliable audio engines ever built.
The event-based editing feature offers non-destructive placement, fades, and crossfades that can be saved and edited at a later time. Conveniently enough, when you switch back to regular editing mode the lines and handles disappear and the waveform is displayed as though the file had been permanently altered and saved, which makes for a very uncluttered appearance as well as helps to avoid accidentally moving a fade you perfected while in event-based editing mode.
I've used Sound Forge for... well, practically as long as I've been doing audio work... since long before Sony bought the software from Sonic Foundry anyway. Of course as a long-time user I'm always anxious to put the latest version through its paces! Sound Forge (SF hereafter) has been known for years as one of the leading applications for editing digital audio files on a PC. It's also known for its rock solid stability and reliability! Seriously folks, I've installed various versions of this application on multiple machines over the years, from Win 95 to Win 7 and NEVER had an issue with it! In my experience, that's huge.
