Good audio editing software? (preferably, but not necessarily Free) - General

Hey, I was wondering what audio editing programs you would reccomend? I use audacity if I'm recording simple, one-track things, but for multi-tracks, it doesn't quite cut it.I've been using reaper, but it's crapping out on me, and re-installing hasn't helped. :smith: Any suggestions as to alternative programs? All help is appreciated! :buddy:

Cubase is what I use. Ableton Live, Protools, FL Studio, Presonus Studio One, Logic, and Sonar are all worth checking out too. Also because someone is inevitably going to tell you that one of those is better than all the others, keep in mind that choosing a DAW is nothing more than a workflow choice. Sound quality and all that will be the same between all the big boys so that isn't part of your decision at all. Although if you're going to be recording and working directly with audio I would recommend avoiding FL studio because working directly with audio in FL is way more of a pain in the ass than it is in most other DAWs.

You can head to Ableton Live's website and download 30 days trail. [url]http://www.ableton.com/downloads[/url] [editline]4th April 2011[/editline] Thank you for appriciate the post.

[QUOTE=KmartSqrl;28979031]Although if you're going to be recording and working directly with audio I would recommend avoiding FL studio because working directly with audio in FL is way more of a pain in the ass than it is in most other DAWs.[/QUOTE] This, sadly, is true. I've been working on some stuff for school the past few weeks in FL, working mostly with audio/samples I recorded myself, and it's frustrating as fuck. I'm probably just gonna get Nuendo or something eventually.

Mixcraft is really nice because it is simplistic. When you start getting into more involved mixing you may want a DAW that can do more, but Mixcraft is a really good place to start off. I recommend downloading the demo. But like Kmart said, it's all about what workflow fits you best, so what I encourage you to do is download a bunch of demos and choose what you like most.

I use Cubase Studio 5 for recording with my band, FL Studio 9 for creating some minor drumbeats

Thanks, I'll give all of them a look.

But if you want to be a sound designer, then go ahead and buy hardware stuff. Using stuff on the computer would make it too digital.

[QUOTE=tomatmann;29007253]Using stuff on the computer would make it too digital.[/QUOTE] Not true in the least if you know what you are doing.

[QUOTE=tomatmann;29007253]But if you want to be a sound designer, then go ahead and buy hardware stuff. Using stuff on the computer would make it too digital.[/QUOTE] A good number of professional mixers and masterers who went through the analog to digital transition will tell you that there is no reason not to use digital. That you'll get the same results. A lot of the popular hardware mixers actually had quite a bit of faults, but those faults became apart of the sound, and it is a big reason as to why there are so many digital models of them. This doesn't mean digital is better or worse, it just means that you can achieve the same quality of sound in each realm. I could see the digital effect in two areas. The first being distortion. Digital distortion doesn't sound bad at all, it just doesn't sound authentic. The second is reverb, but reverb really is a non issue because our ears are so used to the fake reverb. Actually, the reverb one applies to both analog and digital. I think much of this perceived "digital sound" is more an overproduction of the song, which is far easier to do with digital.

Professional mixers and masterers are people that have been doing stuff on digital for years and they've got more experience than most. Analog have more warm sound than digital sound.

[QUOTE=tomatmann;29014911]Professional mixers and masterers are people that have been doing stuff on digital for years and they've got more experience than most. Analog have more warm sound than digital sound.[/QUOTE] Analog what? That's gear review site glossary, warm, present, soft, clean, massive, all of those words. All weasel words with no true use. Yes, some analog gear has more low end, but just eq your shit. Yes, tape has nice saturation, but that is expensive as shit and soundtoys has some EXTREMELY nice plugins for that. Granted, I prefer hardware, but that's ONLY because it's independent from the computer and because I fucking love knobs and buttons. For practical uses, in 90% of cases, didgital is better. As for you OP, if you're going to work a lot with audio, I recommend checking Ableton live out. It works pretty well. [editline]6th April 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=Pepin;29008872] I could see the digital effect in two areas. The first being distortion. Digital distortion doesn't sound bad at all, it just doesn't sound authentic. [/QUOTE] Just put too much volume on everything while recording and you will get distortion if that's what you want.

[QUOTE=Croix;29015230]Just put too much volume on everything while recording and you will get distortion if that's what you want.[/QUOTE] Uh, I'm not saying that you can get distortion, there are plenty of of effects and amp simulators that do a really good job. What I am saying is that digital distortion has a different sound than analog distortion. The difference isn't that big at lower gain, but it becomes more obvious at really high gain.

nevermind~

I don't think people know what vintage music is.

fl studio together with audacity sounds is pretty good

[QUOTE=tomatmann;29014911]Professional mixers and masterers are people that have been doing stuff on digital for years and they've got more experience than most. Analog have more warm sound than digital sound.[/QUOTE] Anyone that still thinks digital can't sound just as warm as analogue shouldn't be producing.

[QUOTE=KmartSqrl;29018845]Anyone that still thinks digital can't sound just as warm as analogue shouldn't be producing.[/QUOTE] I said Digital music is made on computer and not recorded as they used to back in the day!! Today everyone uses computer to record and use Equlization and stuff. Also for the analog sound on songs, tweak compressors. Try to make it warm instead of a solid sound. [editline]6th April 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=KmartSqrl;29018845]Anyone that still thinks digital can't sound just as warm as analogue shouldn't be producing.[/QUOTE] Watch this and know what I mean by analog warmth [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kR7227_ndqQ[/media] [editline]6th April 2011[/editline] well i'm not a musician nor an expert in audio. Please let me know when you find a good audio program.

[QUOTE=tomatmann;29019817]I said Digital music is made on computer and not recorded as they used to back in the day!! Today everyone uses computer to record and use Equlization and stuff. [/QUOTE] Using equalization has nothing to do with whether you're working in the analogue realm or the digital realm. [QUOTE=tomatmann;29019817]Also for the analog sound on songs, tweak compressors. Try to make it warm instead of a solid sound.[/QUOTE] Use saturation and EQ to make something sound warm, not compression. (Unless you're using a compressor with a lot of character to it that isn't trying to sound transparent, in which case you're still essentially using saturation) [QUOTE=tomatmann;29019817]Watch this and know what I mean by analog warmth [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kR7227_ndqQ[/media] [/QUOTE] I knew what you meant the first time you said it. Look how old that video is, it's from 1993. That's way too old to relevant still, digital audio technology has improved leaps and bounds in the past 10 years, and it's not even hard to emulate analogue "warmth" at all anymore. (I hate that term because something being analogue doesn't automatically mean it's a warm sound either)

[QUOTE=Pepin;29017410]Uh, I'm not saying that you can get distortion, there are plenty of of effects and amp simulators that do a really good job. What I am saying is that digital distortion has a different sound than analog distortion. The difference isn't that big at lower gain, but it becomes more obvious at really high gain.[/QUOTE] Yeah I know, I was kidding really. Guitar Rig has it down pretty well though, but yeah, I prefer analog too. [editline]7th April 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=tomatmann;29019817] Watch this and know what I mean by analog warmth [URL="http://www.facepunch.com/"]View YouTUBE video[/URL] [URL]http://youtube.com/watch?v=kR7227_ndqQ[/URL] [editline]6th April 2011[/editline] well i'm not a musician nor an expert in audio. Please let me know when you find a good audio program.[/QUOTE] It's not THAT hard to get a tape saturation plugin. Yeah that guys is whining that 44.1Khz is not good enough. These days you can always go to 96khz anyway. And he says that the vinyl of smells like teen spirit is better than the cd. Could be that the CD had shitty mastering.

Someone in the video is suggesting that the sample rate means a big loss of small details. I don't see how anybody could believe that. Yes, there is a loss in detail, but it isn't at all going to be noticeable to the listener for a wide multitude of reasons. There are very scientific reasons as to why the sample rate is far sufficient. To also add, you can't really compare vinyl to CDs that well because vinyls are mixed different to cater to the medium.

[QUOTE=Pepin;29008872]The first being distortion. Digital distortion doesn't sound bad at all, it just doesn't sound authentic.[/QUOTE] what do you mean by distortion? do you mean as an effect or "clipping"? because digital distortion is like ear rape compared to analog distortion [QUOTE=KmartSqrl;29008191]Not true in the least if you know what you are doing.[/QUOTE] the thing i would like to point out is that digital takes a lot more work to get the same sound as analog if you are consistently wanting a particular character to your sound i would always suggest an outboard piece of gear that has that character also equalization is very iffy as far as emulating sounds go remember that each equalizer and equalization plugin color the sound a bit differently im not saying its not feasible, but it takes a lot more work to find (and pay for) an equalizer that does exactly what you want rather than buy a piece of gear that does that on its own

[QUOTE=yawmwen;29049041]what do you mean by distortion? do you mean as an effect or "clipping"? because digital distortion is like ear rape compared to analog distortion[/QUOTE] I mean exactly what it means. Any kind of distortion involves amplification to the clipping point.

[QUOTE=yawmwen;29049041]what do you mean by distortion? do you mean as an effect or "clipping"? because digital distortion is like ear rape compared to analog distortion[/QUOTE] Even if it is "bad" compared to analog distortion, it is by no means unusable. Guitar amp simulators have come a long way, and it's definitely possible to dial in good tones on all digital equipment. Not as easy as analog where you just boost the gain and go, but still.

[QUOTE=yawmwen;29049041]the thing i would like to point out is that digital takes a lot more work to get the same sound as analog[/QUOTE] It really doesn't take that much longer if you know what you're doing. It's a tradeoff between ease of use and flexibility. [QUOTE=yawmwen;29049041]also equalization is very iffy as far as emulating sounds go remember that each equalizer and equalization plugin color the sound a bit differently im not saying its not feasible, but it takes a lot more work to find (and pay for) an equalizer that does exactly what you want rather than buy a piece of gear that does that on its own[/QUOTE] How does it take more work to find and buy a plugin than it does to find and buy a piece of gear? I'm also not talking about using an EQ for the EQ plugin's character. He's talking about analogue warmth so I'm talking about using a transparent EQ to boost the mids or lows and then running that through a saturation plugin.

[QUOTE=KmartSqrl;29063341]It really doesn't take that much longer if you know what you're doing. It's a tradeoff between ease of use and flexibility. How does it take more work to find and buy a plugin than it does to find and buy a piece of gear? I'm also not talking about using an EQ for the EQ plugin's character. He's talking about analogue warmth so I'm talking about using a transparent EQ to boost the mids or lows and then running that through a saturation plugin.[/QUOTE] When you buy the analog hardware, then the warmth is already there.

[QUOTE=Z3r0747;29061920]Even if it is "bad" compared to analog distortion, it is by no means unusable. Guitar amp simulators have come a long way, and it's definitely possible to dial in good tones on all digital equipment. Not as easy as analog where you just boost the gain and go, but still.[/QUOTE] He did not say it was bad, he said it was different. [editline]9th April 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=tomatmann;29066107]When you buy the analog hardware, then the warmth is already there.[/QUOTE] Get Decapitator from SondToys. Put it on an insert. Direct the thing you want warmed to said insert. Tweak Decapitator for around 30 seconds. Result: Analog warmth. Ok actually it's more like saturation and compression, but it definitely does the trick if you want to tweak for a few minutes.

[QUOTE=tomatmann;29066107]When you buy the analog hardware, then the warmth is already there.[/QUOTE] You are obviously either not reading the discussion or not comprehending it. He started talking about finding plugins with a specific character not just finding plugins that are "warm". If you're looking for a specific character from a plugin or piece of hardware it is going to take just as much work to find and buy a plugin that fits the sound you are looking for than it is to find a piece of hardware that does (and the hardware is likely going to be more expensive) I'm sorry to be blunt, but if you really think that analogue means instant warmth, and that analogue warmth is even a specific sound at all you have no idea what you are talking about. [editline]9th April 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=Croix;29066175]Result: Analog warmth. Ok actually it's more like saturation and compression, but it definitely does the trick if you want to tweak for a few minutes.[/QUOTE] Saturation and compression is all that analogue warmth is in the first place.

[QUOTE=tomatmann;29066107]When you buy the analog hardware, then the warmth is already there.[/QUOTE] please stop :downs:

[QUOTE=KmartSqrl;29069711]You are obviously either not reading the discussion or not comprehending it. He started talking about finding plugins with a specific character not just finding plugins that are "warm". If you're looking for a specific character from a plugin or piece of hardware it is going to take just as much work to find and buy a plugin that fits the sound you are looking for than it is to find a piece of hardware that does (and the hardware is likely going to be more expensive) I'm sorry to be blunt, but if you really think that analogue means instant warmth, and that analogue warmth is even a specific sound at all you have no idea what you are talking about. [editline]9th April 2011[/editline] Saturation and compression is all that analogue warmth is in the first place.[/QUOTE] Good point. [editline]9th April 2011[/editline] [QUOTE=Yur|ko;29069749]please stop :downs:[/QUOTE] Stop what? I'm talking about hardware, not plugins or stuff like that. [editline]9th April 2011[/editline] Only sayin that hardware sound much better than software :D