Sony Sound Forge 9.0a Build 297
The Sound Forge 9 professional digital audio production suite includes everything you need to quickly get from raw audio to finished master. Use this suite to create and edit stereo and multichannel audio files with speed and precision. Efficiently analyze, record and edit audio, digitize and restore old recordings, model acoustic environments, design sound for multimedia, and master replication-ready CDs.'
The award-winning Sound Forge® digital audio editor includes a powerful set of audio processes, tools, and effects for manipulating audio. Sound Forge software allows you to edit, record, encode, and master nearly any form of digital audio including WAV, AIFF, MP3, and more. It includes over 40 real-time audio effects and processes with more than 200 presets and much more.
Includes Tools for Sound Design and Mastering
In addition to Sound Forge 9 software, this comprehensive audio production suite includes CD Architect 5 software for designing, mastering and burning Red Book audio CDs, Noise Reduction 2 plug-ins to fix common audio problems such as tape hiss, camera hum, clicks, and pops, and the Mastering Effects Bundle powered by iZotope™, a collection of four professional audio plug-ins.
Stereo and Multichannel Recording
Sound Forge 9 software has a complete set of tools for recording audio. Record straight into your sound card or use the Record Timer to begin and end a session at a specific time and date. Alternatively, you can start recording when a certain audio threshold is reached with Threshold Record Triggering. You can also now record and edit multichannel audio files as easily as stereo files. More About Recording and Playback
Precise Audio Editing
Edit stereo and native multichannel audio files down to the sample level in real time. Use familiar Windows commands to cut, copy, paste, mix, and crossfade audio. Drag and drop to edit between channels, and work on one file while processing others in the background. More About Editing and Workflow
Pristine Sound Quality
Sound Forge software supports full resolution 24-bit and 32-bit/64-bit float 192 kHz files for the ultimate in audio fidelity. Capture the subtle overtones and nuances of instruments, vocals, and effect changes. More General Features
Powerful Effects Processing
Apply over 40 professional studio effects and processes including Normalize, EQ, Delay, Chorus, Volume, Dynamics, Noise Gate, Pitch Shift, Flange, and Vibrato. Chain multiple effects together and apply them to selections or entire files using the Plug-in Chainer. Sound Forge 9 software also supports DirectX and VST effects, including parameter automation, to expand the number of effects you can apply to audio and increase your mastering flexibility. More About Tools and Effects
Audio-for-Video
Sound Forge 9 software supports multiple video formats including AVI, WMV, and MPEG-1 and MPEG-2. Synchronize audio and video frame by frame. Import Flash (SWF) files* to visually synchronize your audio to your project. Sound Forge 9 software includes MPEG-2 templates for writing HDV-compliant files at both 720p and 1080i resolutions. Also included are templates for encoding WMV 720p and 1080p.
Dolby Digital AC-3 export
Use Sound Forge 9 software to export multichannel files in surround AC-3 format using the included Dolby Digital AC-3 plug-in. More About Import and Export
General Features:
• Microsoft® Windows® Vista™ Compatible
Sound Forge 9 is fully compatible with the Microsoft Windows Vista platform.
• UI color customization New!
The Sound Forge 9 user interface is fully customizable. Most UI elements including waveform and envelope colors, markers, and default window heights can be customized to fit your workflow.
• Gracenote® CD Album Identification New!
Sound Forge 9 software supports the Gracenote MusicID Media Recognition Service. When extracting audio from a CD, you can view information including track title, artist, and also submit song information.
• Access to Sony Music Studios Internet Mastering (SIM) New!
Sound Forge 9 users can have their songs professionally mastered by the same engineers who work on the biggest projects in the music industry. Sound Forge 9 users can link to SIM directly from inside the Sound Forge application and easily upload songs for mastering. For a limited time, Sound Forge 9 users will receive one song mastered at no charge if they master one or more songs. To learn more, visit www.SonyMusicSIM.com.
• Regions List and Playlist Windows
The Regions List and Playlist windows in Sound Forge 9 have features for fast in-place editing and sorting. Quickly edit regions by typing new values in the Name, Start, End, or Length fields.
• 24-Bit, 32-Bit/64-Bit Float/192 kHz Support
Sound Forge software supports full resolution 24-bit/32-bit 192 kHz files for the ultimate in audio fidelity. Capture the subtle overtones and nuances of instruments, vocals, and effect changes that 24-bit audio provides. With Sound Forge audio software you can import, save, and even record to this resolution if your hardware supports it.
• Media Explorer with Automatic File Previewing
Quickly and easily find, preview, and open media files using the Media Explorer window. Drag files and regions from the Explorer into the workspace or onto another open file for easy pasting, mixing, or crossfading. Explore audio files on a CD-ROM and extract automatically by dragging from the Explorer into the Sound Forge workspace.
• ACID Loop Creation Tools
Create your own music loops for use in ACID software. Create one-shots, loops, and Beatmapped tracks. Using the ACID Loop Creation Toolbar you can display and edit ACID .wav file properties including tempo and root note, finely edit audio clips and shift selections to get the sound you want. When you create a loop, the information you set is embedded in the file, so your loops will change tempo and pitch-shift along with your ACID project.
Wave Surfing
Sound Forge 9 supports a wide range of multichannel file formats, including Multichannel Microsoft Wave (.wav), Multichannel Video for Windows (.avi), Dolby AC-3 (.ac3), Material Exchange Format (.mxf), Multichannel ATRAC (.oma) and Multichannel Windows Media (.wma and .wmv). It can also edit XDCAM audio, which isn’t surprising as Sony manufactures both XDCAM and XDCAM HD camcorders. You can even record your multichannel audio directly into the program. MIDI support is still weak compared with audio editors, such as Cakewalk’s SONAR or Steinberg’s CUBASE, but it’s more than adequate for generating MIDI time code, synching to external MIDI devices and responding to MIDI commands.
As before, video support is limited. If you want to edit multiple video tracks along with your multichannel audio tracks, Vegas would be a better choice. On the other hand, if you want to edit multichannel audio along with an already edited video track, Sound Forge 9 may be all you’ll need. It will let you attach your video to an audio file, remove pull down when opening 24p DV video, preview your video with an external monitor and interpolate video frames when rendering to a higher frame rate.
If $399.95 seems steep, consider that Sound Forge is highly regarded among audio producers for its easy-to-use edit tools and powerful real-time feedback. This latest version includes an arsenal of essential plug-in effects, such as the Mastering Effects Bundle powered by iZotope, Acoustic Mirror and Noise Reduction 2.0. You also receive a free Dolby Digital AC-3 Studio plug-in (unfortunately, you can’t alter its parameters) and Sony’s CD Architect 5.2.
Sound Forge 9 is a substantial upgrade to an already impressive application. Now that it supports multichannel audio (finally!), it should be on the short list of programs for anyone doing professional-quality sound editing. ■
What's new in version 9.0:
- Multichannel audio editing and recording.
- Updated Channel Converter for multichannel files.
- Updated Spectrum Analysis for multichannel files.
- Drag-and-drop mixing and pasting between channels.
- Hardware Meters window for monitoring hardware outputs and adjusting preview levels.
- Phase scope and mono-compatibility meter.
- You can now cut, paste, and delete data from individual channels of multichannel files.
- You can now update the cursor position and selection by double-clicking and editing the selection status boxes in data windows.
- Improved process and effects dialogs with selection, wet/dry mix, fade-in/out controls.
- Adjust data window selections/crossfades when process and effects dialogs are visible.
- Enhanced snapping.
- Enhanced color customization via Display Preferences.
- Enhanced keyboard customization.
- Updated marker and region ruler with selection snapping.
- Access to Sony Music Studios Internet Mastering (Help > Sony Music Studios Internet Mastering).
- Gracenote® MusicID™ technology for extracted audio from CDs.
