Sound Forge 9

Customer Reviews

Average Customer Review




Sound Forge Is A Winner, October 10, 2008
By Alexandra Bailee (Tucson, AZ)
"Audio editing software? Who needs it?"

I've heard that comment fairly often. Usually from folks who embrace every software application under the sun. People seldom question the need for photo or video editing software but often audio editing flies under the radar.

Audio editing, if you don't have some experience or background, can seem daunting. On the other hand, if you shoot video, transfer music from old media, run a sound system for your organization, do recorded interviews, or use sound files in any way, you're going to want to be able to edit and output the best quality audio possible.

Whether you are sound-editing savvy or a newcomer, using an online or DVD tutorial is a marvelous way to review the new features and to learn and master Sound Forge 9 quickly and enjoyably.

Although there are several options, I like Sony's The Seminar Series, Professional Training for Sound Forge Software. It includes two DVDs--one with the training sessions and the second is a companion disc which contains the files used in the training sessions.

So, with the use of the Sony DVD training, what can you do with the Sound Forge Suite?
Beyond simple editing, you want to be able to manipulate, process, and add various effects. Sound Forge is part of an editing suite and working smoothly and seamlessly between CD Architect 5, Noise Reduction 2 plug-ins, and the Mastering Effects Bundle powered by iZtope is obviously the goal of the user.

Sound Forge has been around since 1991 and things have changed over the years culminating in this version released in April 2007. One of the things I like best is the multi-channel editing. Talk about being scary and amazing at the same time--I love mixing loops and effects and making my own music. I certainly wouldn't want anyone to hear my creations at this stage, but I enjoy the process. I can imagine that musicians must find the process intriguing, especially with the Spectrum Analysis tools that show the shifting frequencies in real time for all the tracks. There are new Mono Compatibility and Phase Scope Meters. Both are covered very nicely in the Sony tutorial. The files that are demonstrated on instructional DVD are available on the second DVD. You can play the tutorial on one computer and work with the corresponding file on another computer in Sound Forge 9. What an excellent way to flatten that steep learning curve.

By connecting multiple inputs, you can record individual channels. This is one of those things that can get complicated, especially with 32 channels available. You have real control over your recording with a spectacular array of options. You can easily solo or isolate any of your channels for recording or editing. You can designate how much of each channel you want to output to your final mix using the Channel Converter.

Many of the editing features are the same as the previous version while others are similar, but improved. And there are new features. There are new marker and region techniques that easier to use. The enhanced snap-to-zero-crossing is more precise and yet it's flexible. Also, you can now drag-and-drop audio from one channel to another. Something I appreciate is the similarity in the way things can be done in Sound Forge to the way they are done in various graphics programs. I'm comfortable working with graphics editing features and now I can use my editing know-how in Sound Forge. That makes me happy.

Processes and Effects have been upgraded and enhanced. Many of the features now more closely resemble the way thing work in Vegas and Acid Pro.

Playback routing is quicker and easier than ever. The extra channel capability requires several new features. Mastering this can save you from having to rewire speakers all afternoon.

As I mentioned earlier, you can handle phase incompatibility with new phase and mono-compatibility meters. This is especially significant for mono output. It's nicely explained in the Sony Sound Forge tutorial, but you can also pick up a wealth of information on the Internet and the library.

Before I wrap this review up, I have a warning for you. It has taken me forever to write this review because Sound Forge is so much fun. Every time I started a lesson, I'd have to try every button and slider and then I'd be off on a new tangent. Fortunately, many of my friends are musicians, so they were patient with me when I'd call and say, "Guess what I did with Sound Forge today." Since I'm a videographer, I already own a sound board and lots of microphones. Playing with my equipment and mastering the multi-channel capabilities of Sound Forge presents endless options. I ordered a new, little Zoom recorder. There are so many sounds to record and so little time.

In a more practical vein, I use Sound Forge to record my books on CD/DVD. I use Sound Forge to edit out all the extraneous noises and goofs. At one point, I decided that I'd try to change my voice so I'd sound like John Wayne. (The POV of the main character was masculine.) That didn't work out too well, but I laughed a lot. Nowadays, anything that makes you laugh is worthwhile.

When I finish editing a video, I export the sound track and equalize and clean it up in Sound Forge and paste it back into the video. Recently, several friends and I completed a music CD that we issued in conjunction with new book. Although the songs were professionally engineered, we used CD Architect 5.2 (it comes in the Sound Forge 9 Professional Audio Suite) to place and space the individual songs on the CD and complete the menu and information retrieval tasks.

Sound is such a large part of our lives. The more you can separate and handle it, the richer your experience will be. Sound Forge 9 is the bridge that will take you from the flat, uninteresting sound-world to a wonderfully rich, vivid place where you'll learn to hear and appreciate sound in a fascinating and joyful new way.

The Sound Forge 9 Professional Digital Audio Production Suite includes: CD Architect 5, Noise Reduction 2 plug-ins to fix common audio problems such as camera hum, tape hiss, and all those annoying clicks, and pops; and the Mastering Effects Bundle powered by iZotope.

For the purist, Sound Forge supports full resolution 24-bit and 32-bit/64-bit float 192 kHz files for supreme audio fidelity.

There are more than forty options for processing: Normalize, EQ, Delay, Chorus, Volume, Dynamics, Noise Gate, Pitch Shift, Flange, and Vibrato.

In addition to all the supported features, Sound Forge plug-ins are available for every conceivable use.



Excellent and supports Vista 64-bit, January 20, 2008
By TF (Allentown, PA USA)
Soundforge is excellent - I use it for LP/tape restoration as well as for mastering. The only major issue I have is that v9.0c will not install on Vista 64-bit.

-Update 2/24/08-
Version v9.0e installs fine now on Vista 64-bit and it is working fine with SP1. Overall, I appreciate Sony's schedule of frequenty releasing minor updates! At least 4 stars...



Sound Forge 9.0, September 11, 2007
By S. Lindsey
I thoroughly enjoy using Sound Forge. It's intuitive and versatile, and has many applications. I don't have the experience the other reviewers have with sound editing, but I feel comfortable recommending it to someone who has reasonable computer skills. I can mix and manipulate existing sounds and music, or record my own. It's like having my own sound studio.



see above, July 20, 2007
By C. J. Loftis (Knoxville TN)
Agreed! as a long time professional musician, recordist, engineer -and now, finally- mastering engineer with a house payment i gotta give a big amen to Jon S for mentioning that with -"soundforge + waves plugins? ....full fledged mastering studio for the price of a few hundred dollars? ...incredible!"
TRUE!
i started out w/ Sonic Foundry (90) way before Sony ate them and have never (Acid-CD-Arch-DVDArch-Vegas Pro-etc) been let down, save a few times via update in the mid 90's, once.
i use Cubase for much of my recording and have at times Mastered a Disc using Pro-Tools (i dislike PTs), Logic, etc-- they are all quite nice, but for ease of use and intuitiveness, SF8 (buying 9 soon) cannot be beaten WHEN (as Jon S pointed out) paired with gold-standard plug-ins such as Waves Ltd
produces (and i use).
in the end a platform (SF9) is only as good as its Plug-Ins -- while the Sony Plugs are nice the Waves Ltd Plugs and their uber-easy interface with SF are a marriage made in heaven.

for Multitracking i often use the also wonderful, Sony Acid Pro, which, as you would expect is easily integrated with SF and Waves Ltd Plugs...

looooong story short --this is one helluva buy .. esp. in the "bang for yer buck" category!



ah-hem..., July 2, 2007
By Jon Stein (Campbellsville, Kentucky United States)
appearantly the last reviewer doesn't understand the simplicity of what a fully featured "audio editing" program is.

as of soundforge 1.0, you could mix vocals into music, ...all you do is copy it onto the clipboard, ...and highlight the area in the audio you want to mix the vocals into, ...and move it also to the cliboard, ...then choose the "mix" setting on the clipboard, ...make any required adjustments inside the dialogue box, ....and click paste.

the cursor should still be left precisley at the point you extracted the audio segment to be mixed.

this is "not" a multi-track recorder.

this is an "audio editing program", ...mainly oriented towards sound designers, ...audio engineer "mastering" specialists. ...and people who use hardware and software samplers who want to get closer, spiritually with the essence of their samplers.

you 'can' sync to video, ...but vegas might be a better option.

soundforge 9 also excepts any VST plugins, ...an insane value if you are already into music production/recording/engineering.

not to mention "noise reduction", ...how else would you get all that vynil onto your hard drive, and capture its origional sound quality?

this editing program is by far more powerful than "ANY" editing program featured in any software multitrack recording program or DAW, ...as well as "ANY" hardware sampler.

although it is meant to "edit" with the entent of dispersing its results onto other working software/hardware applications.

don't get pissed cause you bought a high quality turntable needle, but can't be a full fledged dj without two turntables and a mixer.

the only competition is Steinberg Wavelab.
i haven't used it, ...but it costs twice as much, ...and steinberg has caught up to its features with surround sound mixing, ...video audio syncing, ...vst implementation, ...noise reduction 2.0, ....as well as CD Architect, ...what a great program to create RED BOOK STANDARD commercially professional cds?

soundforge + waves plugins? ....full fledged mastering studio for the price of a few hundred dollars? ...incredible!