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There was a time when Macintosh owners had all the cool software. Not a fun
time for PC owners. But all that has changed, and now Mac audio addicts envy those
who live in the Windows world thanks to an incredible suite of products from a
company called Sonic Foundry. Keep in mind that
we’re going to be covering a lot of products here,
so we can’t even begin to list all their features. Your
best bet, as always, is to contact your Sweetwater
Sales Engineer for more detailed information.
The software that started it all, Sound Forge,
is now at Version 4.5 ($499 list). Sound Forge is
high end sound editing software for Windows that
includes an extensive set of audio processes, tools,
and effects for manipulating audio to your heart’s
content. You can combine Sound Forge with any
Windows-compatible sound
card to create, record, edit, and
refine audio files. Its clean,
friendly interface and familiar Windows
environment make editing fast and easy.
Version 4.5 includes Sonic Foundry's Batch Converter and
Spectrum Analysis Plug-ins. Batch Converter saves time and al-
leviates the monotony (and splitting headaches) of converting and
processing numerous audio files. Thousands of files can be pro-
cessed in a single batch. Any process, effect or tool in Sound Forge,
or any DirectX plug-in, can be batch processed. Spectrum Analysis
performs precise FFT analysis and displays the resulting data in
two graphical formats. If you’re into Multimedia and Internet De-
velopment, Sound Forge supports a wide range of cross platform
files and audio/video compression formats including Internet en-
coders: NetShow 3.0, RealAudio/Video 5.0 and JAVA AU files. It also
allows the user to edit sound to image with frame accuracy by sup-
porting Video for Window (AVI) files.
Recording and editing music? Sound Forge is loaded with sys-
tem-defined presets and will also allow you to create and save your
own. All processes and effects dialogs give you the ability to pre-
view changes, as well as a bypass option for before and after com-
parisons. The Undo/Redo History can quickly restore your files to
any previously edited stage (this can be a real sanity saver!). In
Sound Forge you can create and give unique names to markers,
loops, and regions. Drag any region to a playlist for non-destruc-
tive editing and arrangement within a sound file. Create, edit, or change sustain and
release loops for samples in the realtime loop-tuning window. Transfer samples to an
internal or external sampler via SCSI/SMDI or MIDI Sample Dump.
ACID ($399 list) is a break-
through loop-based music production
tool from Sonic Foundry. With loop-ar-
ranging and editing, ACID gives musi-
cians unprecedented creative flexibility.
Just imagine working with hundreds of
cutting-edge loops or bringing in your
own audio samples to create custom
music in minutes. ACID allows you to
preview any loop before adding it to
your mix, automatically matching the
tempo and key in real time (this pro-
gram is actually smarter than we are!).
Click-and-drag to easily add or de-
lete loops. ACID allows realtime changes
to pitch and tempo to unlimited tracks
(based on system RAM). Control the vol-
ume, pan, and effect envelopes for each
track to create a perfect mix between loops.
To add the finishing touches, you can apply multiple real-time ef-
fects with DirectX Audio Plug-Ins. To further edit loops, ACID provides quick access
to Sound Forge or even other audio editors. Processed audio can be directly output
as .WAV files or exported as digital audio tracks. ACID is also compatible with Sonic
Foundry's CD Architect and direct-to-digital audio CD programs. Finally, ACID in-
Sweet Notes Early Fall 1998 Page 6
cludes a library with hundreds of loops in many different musical styles: Techno,
Rock, Rave, Break Beat, Funk, Country, Hip-hop, Disco, Alternative, House, Indus-
trial, Guitar, Ambient and more. ACID rated thumbs up from our own Dave Schmid
(Sweetwater’s ace Webmaster), so you know this is very cool software.
Loops for ACID ($59.95 list) are high quality sound files that have been spe-
cially prepared for use with Sonic Foundry's ACID. The loops store special data that
optimizes ACID's time stretching/compressing and
pitch change features. Of course, Loops for ACID
are standard .WAV or .AIF sound files with just a
little extra data tacked on, so they can be used for
all your audio content needs. Very potent mate-
rial here that you are gonna want!
What I want is the Acoustics Modeler Plug-
In ($249 list), which is a digital signal-process-
ing tool that adds the acoustic
coloration of real environ-
ments and sound altering de-
vices to existing recordings.
Unlike some artificial-sounding
reverb units, Acoustics Mod-
eler actually incorporates the
acoustical responses of a specific environment into a sound file:
from large concert halls and live rooms, even to the vintage sound
of old tube microphones. Besides achieving ultra realistic imag-
ing, the impulses can also be used to generate entirely new and
unique effects which you have to hear to appreciate. The Acoustics
Modeler includes an extensive library of high-quality acoustics sig-
natures and impulse responses.
If you’re like me, you probably have some wonderful old
recordings laying around that you wish you could clean up. So
here’s great news: the Sonic Foundry Noise Reduction DirectX
Plug-In ($349 list) analyzes and reduces low-level background
noise such as tape hiss, electrical hum, and machinery rumble
from recordings, all with minimal unwanted effects and nasty digi-
tal artifacts. To do this, audio is separated into its frequency com-
ponents to distinguish distracting noise from the desired signal.
The Noise Reduction DirectX Plug-In also includes Click Re-
moval and Vinyl Restoration Tools. Click Removal, as you’d expect
from the name, enables click and pop removal automatically or
manually. The Vinyl Restoration Tool reduces clicks and pops along
with surface noise in a single pass. Noise Reduction Plug-In will run on any DirectX
compatible host application in real time!
Also available from Sonic Foundry are three sets of DirectX plug-ins collectively
dubbed XFX ($149 list each). XFX 1 includes 6 discrete plug-ins: Reverb (19 types),
Time Compress/Expand, Multi-Tap Delay, Chorus, Pitch Shift, and Simple Delay/Echo.
XFX 2 includes Noise Gate, Graphic Dynamics,
Multi-Band Dynamics, Paragraphic EQ, Paramet-
ric EQ, and Graphic EQ. XFX 3 includes Ampli-
tude Modulation, Gapper/Snipper, Flange/Wah-
wah, Vibrato, Distortion, and Smooth/Enhance.
XFX plug-ins work in any program that fully sup-
ports DirectX Audio plug-ins.
When you’re finally ready to take all the great
material you’ve created with your Sonic Foundry
software and burn professional audio CDs to Red
Book specs, you’ll want Sonic Foundry’s new CD
Architect ($395 list). Tracks in the PQ List can
be assembled with regions from single or mul-
tiple sound files. Full PQ code editing allows even
the most sophisticated mixes and crossfades be-
tween tracks. The software can be used as either a stand-alone editor or as a Sound
Forge 4.5 plug-in. CD Architect is ideal for building audio CDs on Windows and
Windows systems, and it now also supports IDE/ATAPI CD-R drives.
My only question at this point is why you’re still reading this? Go pick up that
phone and talk to your Sweetwater Sales Engineer about all these remarkable tools
from Sonic Foundry. It’s advice you’ll want to thank me for, but hey, I’m just doing my
job. Call ‘em now! — Michael Rief