Music editing software Sony Sound Forge

[Brandon Jenko]

Hi my name is Brandon Jenko (28) lancaster Pa, has anybody used Sony Sound Forge to record or track music? Is it worth purchasing?

[Steve Conner]

Sound Forge is not meant for multitrack recording. It's more for post-processing, editing and mastering of 2-channel audio files. For tracking, your money would be better spent on Pro Tools, Logic or Reaper.

I currently use Reaper for tracking, and Sound Forge/CD Architect for chopping up samples, mastering and so on.

[Steve A.]

Sound Forge is not meant for multitrack recording. It's more for post-processing, editing and mastering of 2-channel audio files.

That was certainly true back in the old days before Sony bought them out. Sound Forge is now the name for the Sony family of recording and editing software. (They also have the ACID family which is mainly for recording and editing loops but can also be used for multitrack recording.)

Sound Forge Product Family Overview

There is a free demo version of their low-end product ($64.95 MSRP) Sound Forge Audio Studio 10. With DAW software the programs with the most features often tend to have the steepest learning curve. Like Logic (MAC only these days)- that is what came with the Roland Studio Package and Studio Package Pro, and it was a real bear learning how to use it.

I use Adobe Audition 3.0 for editing and Sonar for recording- both programs have a very accessible user interface. If you can wrap your head around it Reaper is very powerful and very inexpensive ($60 for a home user license.)

Steve Ahola

[DrGonz78]

Yeah I record in Cubase 5 and then master in Sony Sound Forge 8. I also have Wavelab by Steinberg, but they are both older versions. Personally I could not imagine mastering in any other way than using these types of programs. I have mastered in other ways (DAW type programs) but I am not in total control when not using a Wavelab or Soundforge. I hope this guy responds or he might be more spam??? God save the Queen!!

[Steve A.]

Yeah I record in Cubase 5 and then master in Sony Sound Forge 8.

Is that the Pro version or the Audio Studio? I have a few unopened boxes of earlier versions of Audio Studio that I got when they were free or almost free after sending in for the rebates. (If anybody wants one mail me a few bucks for postage and it is yours!) I guess I got them figuring that they might have some plug-ins that I would want to use with Adobe Audition (which started out life as Cool Edit Pro which is what I cut my teeth on in 2000.) I haven't seen any other program with its ability to select regions and zoom in or out with different buttons- I wish other programs would copy that interface!

[DrGonz78]

Sorry Steve lost track of this posting here... Yeah I have Soundforge 8.0 the professional version. I use an Emu 1820M sound card which has the same mastering grade converters as most any Protools setup. The thing about it is that I want to upgrade to the newer versions but just cant do it for the sake of paying even more money. I just don't record that much lately and tend to spend so much more time working on amps these days. Which actually is really a new passion for me so now complaints there...!

The pro version of Soundforge 8.0 is really good actually and you can zoom in to look at waveforms very easily. Not sure really about the Audio Studio version, but you get what you pay for in many cases.

[Steve A.]

The thing about it is that I want to upgrade to the newer versions but just cant do it for the sake of paying even more money.

Remember when upgrades used to be strictly optional and you could stay with older versions as long as you wanted? These days with the constant flow of updates and upgrades to the operation system (Windows!) a lot of the older versions no longer work.

I have my own theory about a digital audio workstations (DAW)- I look at it as single purpose appliance rather than a multi-function personal computer: once you have the hardware and software working flawlessly (or close to it) do not screw around with updates and upgrades unless you absolutely need the new features. Look at your DAW as you would look at a DVD player which has an embedded CPU which allows it to perform one specific function. (For this to work safely you really need to keep your DAW off the internet- which is not possible with some of the newer programs which insist on "phoning home" before they will run. You do not want to be running an antivirus program when you are recording.)

BTW such stringent measures are not necessary for post-production edits and mastering since they do not need to run in real time with better than split-second accuracy.

Steve Ahola

[DrGonz78]

Exactly Steve!! When I say upgrade my system that entails New: computer system(OS and Box), sound card, software etc etc etc... I have a decent system running now and have no plans of ripping it apart ever and will use it till something dies. Also, I only run about 12 processes on the beast and yes it needed to be connected to the Net once to register BFD 2.0. Yes, a system is just that and needs to be set up once in a stable environment and adding those unnecessary updates can have horrible effects on the file system/library. When I added BFD 2.0 it was connected to the Internet for about 2 minutes and then back to services to turn off Internet connection and IP/DNS services. My hardware is obsolete and I need to build new BEAST to increase RAM/processing etc etc etc.

I always giggle when I go to friends studios and they are always connected to the Internet on their studio computer. Why spend all that money to just create a computer that is now being used as a personal/studio computer. There really needs to be a difference in this main focus of what is a "Recording Studio" computer.

[Steve Conner]

Never had a problem with that kind of stuff since I changed to a Mac. I just have one laptop that I use for everything and it seems to handle it fine.

I do miss Sound Forge though. I recently set up an XP virtual machine using VirtualBox, and I've been running Sound Forge 9 on that without any issues so far. Though I bet the audio gets resampled somewhere between MacOS and Windows, so I wouldn't use it for critical recording tasks.

[Steve A.]

Dr G: So what OS are you using and what are the 12 processes you run? (There seem to be a million services since XP and I never know what I can turn off safely.)

Steve

P.S. Whenever you do upgrade your DAW you could give the old one to a friend who doesn't need the faster CPU and other features of your new one. With the stipulation that it is to be used ONLY for recording and editing (I would hate to see it turned into just another all purpose box.)

[Steve A.]

I recently set up an XP virtual machine using VirtualBox, and I've been running Sound Forge 9 on that without any issues so far. Though I bet the audio gets resampled somewhere between MacOS and Windows, so I wouldn't use it for critical recording tasks.

You might try this test: export a small sample audio file to Windows and then have Windows export that file back to your Mac. Compare the waveforms and various specs and note the differences if any. "The audio data in a standard AIFF file is uncompressed pulse-code modulation (PCM)" as is the audio data in a WAV file. I am sure that the metadata not supported by WAV files is dropped during the conversion but I'll bet you a nickel that the audio data would remain the same as long as you are not changing the sampling speed and bit depth.

Steve

EDIT I just ran across a thread on that topic:

AIFF and WAV are both lossless formats, in Pulse Code Modulation (also referred as Linear Pulse Code Modulation or LPCM due to the quantization processing involved), but one is based on Big endian (AIFF uncompressed) and WAV on little endian, changing the order of the bit stream so that it will start from the most or least significant bit, respectively.

file formats - Sample-accurate AIFF to WAV conversion on Mac OSX - Audio-Video Production Beta - Stack Exchange

[DrGonz78]

Dr G: So what OS are you using and what are the 12 processes you run? (There seem to be a million services since XP and I never know what I can turn off safely.)

Steve

P.S. Whenever you do upgrade your DAW you could give the old one to a friend who doesn't need the faster CPU and other features of your new one. With the stipulation that it is to be used ONLY for recording and editing (I would hate to see it turned into just another all purpose box.)

Oh Steve I am really sorry to have never answered this question way back when it was asked>>> better late than never. I actually really am running about 19 processes by looking at the screen shot below it says 20, but disregard the one that say taskmanager.exe. It is like 15 processes run for windows/graphics/hardware and a few extra for the studio here...


There are many processes that you don't need and I usually use spybot program for my startup system info settings. For starters I don't even install a firewall or antivirus on a studio computer, or at least never run it until you go online for some particular reason.

BTW still have not upgraded my old studio computer yet, but when I do I will keep this one too. I have so many sessions recorded and is all set to work on this machine. Plus I like mastering on my old computer best...

P.S. I have yet to configure a Windows 7 computer for studio work but later when I get my new computer... I will update services used here on this thread.