Modern audio editors are truly impressive, because processing the sound is no easier than restoring the picture. But although the task is complex, simple tools have been developed to solve it. However, if most users prefer Photoshop to process photos, and there is no doubt in the leader, then choosing a sound editor is much more difficult. In this segment, the range of competing products is much wider. The article provides an overview of the best to date.
Sound forge
Sony Corporation, developing the presented product, has implemented a very powerful, but at the same time simple tool that is suitable for both a professional and a beginner. After learning the basics of mixing and mastering with Sound Forge, you can edit the audio so that it cannot be distinguished from studio recording.
Like many other editors, the program for processing music displays the track on which work is being carried out, like a frequency diagram. Having gained experience, you can not even listen to the track in order to understand where there are mistakes and mistakes.
Trump Card Sound Forge
Sound Forge offers very powerful sound restoration tools. The restoration of frequency characteristics is possible using various built-in equalizers. The program has, in its arsenal, probably the most powerful plugins for removing noise from a recording. Depending on the nature of the noise, the application does not just drown it out, but interpolates. The technology scans adjacent sections and other channels of the audio fragment, after which it tries to restore the original sound of the recording.
If the interpolation did not bring the desired result, the music processing program includes the Noise Reduction plugin. Four algorithms were originally built in to clean the fragment from noise. The nature of the noise is determined empirically. That is, the user indicates the place where only noise is heard. The plugin listens to it and calculates the average frequency response.
Audition
Adobe's Audition was formerly called Cool Edit. Starting versions of the program immediately attracted the attention of sound directors because of the high quality of the product. When the development was sold to the Adobe media giant, the fabulous sum of the deal, $ 16 million, was announced in the news.
The tools included in the Audition package are so perfect, and their interface is convenient that developers rarely decide to make drastic changes, over and over again making minor changes to the software code.
The program for recording and processing music has a powerful means of cleaning the recording from interference. However, basically it is suitable if the fragment of the audio is corrupted by cyclic noise (interference). Highlighting the place where the interference is most clearly audible will allow the algorithms to get started. They will automatically calculate the frequency response and suggest the best solution to the problem. I must say that sometimes Audition does not cope with the goal. To simplify the task for the user, the program has the ability to connect third-party VST-plugins.
Interface
The biggest advantage that the presented sound editor has over its competitors is its interface with flexible settings. In addition, the type and position of windows automatically change for a specific task. For example, if you want to mix multiple records, the application will enable multi-track display. If you connect a second monitor to the computer, the program will move part of the functions and diagrams to it for greater convenience. Audition can draw on the display at once a lot of charts and graphs defined by the settings.
It should be noted that this music processing program is capable of downloading an unlimited number of tracks at the same time. It is for this reason that this editor is used by DJs and professional musicians.
Audacity
The main, but not the only difference between Audacity and other programs is cross-platform. In addition, the application is absolutely free. Moreover, some professionals prefer this particular program. It doesn’t matter which platform you want to edit the recording on, the application will launch on Mac, Linux, and Windows. In Audacity, you can even out the sound of an audio recording, add a smooth fade out or appear anywhere on the track, trim the silence automatically, remove vocals from a song, and much more.
The application supports audio materials with a resolution of up to 24-bit and a sampling frequency of up to 96 kHz. The program for processing music in Russian can record sound from any external device. And it is not necessary to press the Rec button, Audacity will automatically detect the increase in signal level and enable the necessary function.
Often, when you need to use files from different repositories in your work, it is easy to get confused in them or lose some of the necessary audio information. To exclude such a scenario, the editor can be configured so that it loads all the project files into one directory.
Connoisseurs of formats without compression (ALAC, APE, FLAC, OGG) will be interested in such a tool as the frequency response generator. After reviewing the diagram, it will not be difficult to understand the real quality of the source of the audio fragment.
Audacity after the first launch tests PC performance. After completing a short analysis, it will show how many tracks can be loaded at the same time so that delays are minimal during processing.
The program for processing the quality of music can be improved by installing third-party add-ons. Such a solution is suitable for those to whom the standard set of functionality seemed meager. The only negative is that third-party plugins are often developed by commercial companies, which means that you have to pay for many add-ons.
The programmers did a great job optimizing the code. The program works stably and crashes very rarely even on weak computers. After each application termination, it scans the system for garbage for a while to remove all temporary files that are not required by the user or the software.
Conclusion
Choosing a program is the simplest in mastering, mixing, recording and restoring audio material. To do this professionally, you need a long and painstaking training. Without knowledge, no software can help create a masterpiece. In the hands of the master, any, even the simplest, instrument will be able to show all its power.