Sound Forge Audio Studio 9

Customer Reviews

Average Customer Review




Like it!, September 6, 2009
By Craig A. Bradley (Cleveland, Texas United States)
I like the software. Does what it advertise it would do. I have not had any problems.



The Gold Standard in Affordable Audio Editing, July 17, 2009
By DJ Exquiz (NJ, USA)
For years I've used different audio editors from Steinberg's Wavelab, to Cool Edit Pro (now owned by Adobe), to Soundforge's current only real rival Audacity (which is free), which I still currently have on PC. I still choose Soundforge (like Willie Hutch sang), and here's why: There is no other affordable audio editing program that has the ease and workflow of Sound Forge.

There are the high end programs and plug ins like TDM Waves, but unless you are running a multi-plantinum artist recording studio you most likely don't need a program like this, and wouldn't get any mileage out of it if you did have it. Soundforge is a good place to hone your audio editing skills. Alot of people always think they have to use the most full blown and expensive versions of audio, music, and video programs, but a good program won't make up for a lack of skills.

That said I currently use Sound Forge Studio with a suite of Sony plug-ins, and some Focusrite Saffire audio plug-ins (which are very good). It should be noted also that Sound Forge Studio 9 has more features than many of the older versions of Sound Forge Pro (which are probably floating around the internet, not recommended). The Vinyl Recording (once you tweek the settings) feature is great, it can use VST and Direct X plug-ins, and it works hand in hand with the other suite of Sony Creative programs (Vegas Studio 9 Sony Vegas Movie Studio 9 Platinum Pro Pack, Acid MusicACID Music Studio 7) which I own.

I've had no problems with installation on both a laptop and desktop, and have mixed and edited my own recordings, converted non-copy protected songs I purchased to MP3s with my own mix settings, and have converted a small part of my vinyl catalog to digital. If someone is having installation problems they should make sure they uninstall all older versions of Sound Forge, especially the old Sonic Foundry versions, that may help...

Sound Forge vs. Audacity

Audacity is a great program and if money is an issue this a good place to start using auditor software, being that its free. There are alot of third party plug-ins available for Audacity, however, for me Audacity does not have the speed and workflow of Sound Forge, and there are many tasks in Sound Forge that are done in one mouse click, that would take multiple clicks in Audacity, it also does not natively support as many file formats as Sound Forge, such as windows media audio, which is a downside for me.

Overall, people may have their pro and cons, and yes the Sony registration can be a bit annoying, but in terms of ease of use and reliability Sound Forge studio has been great.

As a last point, it does take some audio know how to get the most out of SF hence the four stars, you may have to select either Microsoft Sound Mapper (if you don't have a high end soundcard), or use the ASIO drivers (at least under Windows XP) under preferences to get the most out your sound playback. Enjoy.....

Also recommended Steinberg Cubase Essential 4 - Personal Music Production - Windows Macintosh, Ableton Live 7 LE - Windows and Macintosh, Focusrite Saffire LE 6 In/8 Out Version 2 Firewire Audio Interface



What a disappointment!, June 2, 2009
By Dan Church
Sound Forge Audio Studio 9 Compared to other Sony audio editing products this seems a bargain. But once again the old adage applies.
Free shareware Audacity offers more features, particularly automatic parsing of recordings into individual tracks. Sound Forge suggests users create multiple files, one for each track. Lame.
What is most disappointing, however, is Sony's technical support. There is NONE. ZIP. ZERO. Two simple questions posted properly have gone unanswered for weeks. No reason to believe that third time would be a charm.



Excellent Wave Editor, May 11, 2009
By Brendan Buschi (Dover, DE USA)
I am not very experiened in wave editing. I want to record my old vinyl lps to use on both my cd player and my iPod. After exploring several programs, I chose Sound Forge Audio Studio 9. This is a very solid program.
I have a bit to learn, but that is reasonable. When embarking on a totally new course, I expect to have to learn new things and master new skills.
What I have also learned about what I am doing is that if you really want to do it right, you need to make sure the hardware you are using is working right and installed correctly. I had to rebuild my old BIC 980 turntable. That included getting a new stylus, replacing the platter ballbearings, replacing the belt and lubricating the turntable. It also required properly mounting and aligning my cartridge.
Finally, I had to work through the various issues in terms of connecting it to my computer. There are many ways to do that. I have finally chosen to go directly from my stereo to my computer and that required learning about and dealing with ground loop issues. It also required getting a new audio board to replace the on-board audio that came with my motherboard.
The waves I am recording now are about as pure as I could hope for. They require no filtering.



Sony Music Forge is ok..., May 3, 2009
By Jerry Honk
This product is good for maybe the advanced music producer who is familiar with sound waves and sound altering etc. I would not recommend it to one who is interested in making their own beats. But it is good for song altering.