SOUND FORGE

If there were a lifetime achievement award for audio editing software, Sound Forge would be the favored candidate. It’s probably the oldest of the professional-grade audio editors, tracing its roots all the way back to Windows 3.x. Despite a few idiosyncrasies, Sound Forge Pro is still respected for its powerful toolset và generous selection of plug-ins.

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Unfortunately, there hasn’t been a full-fledged update since 2010, when Sound Forge Pro 10 added event-based editing, customized window layouts, & floating docks. Why the long wait? It can be challenging to add anything significant after nine previous upgrade cycles. The menus are already crowded with features và options that many professionals never use. & at the other extreme, a complete overhaul of the program might scare away the loyal user base.
This latest update doesn’t represent a dramatic shift in direction, but it does offer some key improvements to the interface. There’s a new level of integration with SpectraLayers Pro (the two work almost seamlessly together now). Several additions are targeted specifically to lớn the broadcast community, though non-broadcasters may find the new -23 LUFS meter lớn be valuable for other types of mixes. And the collection of plug-ins has expanded to include new iZotope tools for vocal enhancement và audio restoration. On the downside, there’s still no 64-bit version of the program—only a 32-bit version. You won’t be able khổng lồ use your 64-bit VST plugins with Sound Forge Pro 11.
One-Touch Recording
For many veteran users, the most welcome new feature will be one-touch recording. I’ve always liked the Sound Forge interface, but I never cared for the Texas two-step you had khổng lồ perform when you clicked the Record icon. The main program would freeze, and you would be whisked away lớn a dedicated recording window. It was a distraction with no real benefit. With this latest version, you’re able to stay put on the main screen, with everything being handled within the same workspace. Sony calls it "modeless one-touch recording," though it isn’t a new concept. It’s something that should have been added (or fixed) years ago.
Along with one-touch recording, Sony has redesigned the recording workflow lớn help you better manage & monitor real-time recordings. You can record multiple takes now, though the đánh giá process is somewhat cumbersome. Select a loop, and you can hit record multiple times as the loop progresses. After you’ve finished, you step back through the undo/redo history window to lớn find the best take from that session. You can now stay armed for recording & monitor the unarmed channels while you record. Punch-and-roll recording is also supported in this latest version.
Another interface change makes it easier khổng lồ navigate through lengthy recordings. By default, the program now displays a second view of the waveform that’s scaled to show the entire file, not just the portion you’re editing. Sony has dubbed it the Waveform Overview Bar. Located just above the edit view of the waveform, it gives you a better sense of where you are in the file. And it isn’t just a passive view. You can use it to quickly shift your edit position. Aim the cursor at the overview waveform, press the left mouse button, & slide the cursor left or right to lớn navigate to any place in the file. Both views update in real time as you move the cursor.
If you like to slice & dice your audio in Sony’s Acid programs, you’ll love the improved events mode in Sound Forge Pro 11. You can split your audio into events that behave much lượt thích audio clips in Acid. You can drag và drop events along the timeline, rearrange their order, và even lock down event markers, region markers, and envelope points within individual clips. Any successive events will ripple forward in time as you edit. You could use this feature to assemble alternate takes for a project or to lớn create different audio CD layouts.

The new interoperability feature lets you edit portions of your audio in SpectraLayers Pro 2 without losing your place in Sound Forge Pro 11. You can process the audio with a spectral edit and have the results inserted back into the Sound Forge timeline.
Boarding the Spectral Bus
The new interoperability with SpectraLayers Pro 2 also promises lớn up the ante for creativity. SpectraLayers Pro is a powerful tool for frequency-level editing. However, it’s extremely complicated to lớn use, especially with larger files, where you have the added difficulty of finding the exact portion of the audio you would lượt thích to edit. If you’re working on an hour-long audio file, SpectraLayers Pro can have a difficult time handling it without becoming bogged down. Sound Forge Pro 11 makes the process easier by letting you preselect a portion of the tệp tin before you send it lớn SpectraLayers Pro 2. You choose Edit in SpectraLayers Pro from the Tools pull-down menu, và any audio you’ve selected will automatically appear in SpectraLayers Pro 2. Make your changes there, and when you close SpectraLayers, the audio will be placed back into the Sound Forge timeline along your spectral edits.
Sony calls the process “seamless interoperability,” và it pretty much is, though you still need lớn be familiar with SpectraLayers Pro 2 in order khổng lồ use its tools. What’s easier now is that you can make those changes without losing your place in the workflow or your train of thought while editing. And you can pass markers & regions back and forth between the two applications, along with the selected audio. The process does have its rough edges. You have khổng lồ close SpectraLayers Pro 2 in order for the exchange of data lớn take place. Otherwise, the two programs won’t khung a return link.
So what kind of spectral editing can you perform with this interoperability? If you have vocal and instrument tracks, you could reduce (or remove) the frequency data from the instruments that matches the musical cảnh báo of the singer’s voice. The result could lift the singer above the band without your having to globally alter the track. For example, where the singer’s cảnh báo is 440 Hz (middle C), you could diminish the instruments that are also playing at 440 Hz, in order khổng lồ give the voice more presence. In addition, you can use SpectraLayers Pro 2 lớn transfer the spectral qualities from one audio source khổng lồ another. You might apply the spectral signature of the singer onto the spectral signature of the band to lớn have the instruments seem to sing the melody.
When used together, the two programs xuất hiện up new possibilities for experimentation. If you like to push the envelope when shaping your sound into a mix, you may find this khổng lồ be a highly productive combination. SpectraLayers Pro is impressive, but it isn’t intuitive. It’s almost counter-intuitive, because the concepts and toolset can be difficult to grasp. Fortunately, the documentation has significantly improved since the original SpectraLayers Pro was released in 2012. This latest version includes a free seminar series lớn help get you up lớn speed.
Redefining Loud
This latest version of Sound Forge Pro includes several enhancements targeted specifically khổng lồ broadcasters. Along with compatibility with version 2.0 BWF (Broadcast Wave Format), the application now supports loudness attributes, autofill, verification, và auto-fixing of BWF data.
Among the options for the Loudness Meters, you’ll find a new -23 LUFS scale setting. This will help you mix your audio lớn be CALM (Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act) compliant.
Of interest lớn both broadcasters and non-broadcasters will be the new -23 LUFS meters, which are CALM (Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act) compliant. Broadcasters can use the -23 LUFS meters lớn comply with the current FCC regulations that limit the dynamic range for audio during commercials. Non-broadcasters may find the meters to be relevant for other types of mixes, because the standard is more than just a peak level.
According lớn Sony Creative Software's Mike Scheibinger, the -23 LUFS meter could be very useful for avoiding the kind of severely limited and overly compressed music that we frequently hear on CDs, as well as radio. “Your broadcast-ready program should be floating around -23,” he explains. “Whereas your short-term và momentary peaks should crest well above that.”
When demonstrating Sound Forge Pro 11, Scheibinger likes to lớn run Brian Eno’s Thursday Afternoon through the -23 LUFS meters. This single-track album was first released in 1985. “The entire track holds between – 22 and -24 LUFS,” he says. “It’s uncanny. Eno’s overall integrated volume holds at a point that wouldn’t trigger any additional compression or limiting at the broadcast phase. In the meantime, if you look over at the left of the integrated meter, you can see the short-term and the momentary peaks. Và these things are just nhảy đầm away. They’re cresting louder than -23 all the time—pinging up these little ear-candy things. These are the little things that the broadcast industry are going to lớn allow through the gate.”
Using the -23 LUFS meters in Sound Forge Pro 11, you’ll be able to create a mix that’s restrained enough khổng lồ avoid limiting but mở cửa enough lớn let the music breath. The important passages will be able lớn break through, much lượt thích a real-life soundscape.
Everything But the Kitchen Sink
One of the big pluses for Sound Forge Pro has been the rich complement of extras that make it self-sufficient for many audio-editing tasks. Sound Forge Pro 10 shipped with an impressive arsenal of effects and plugins, including the iZotope Mastering Effects Bundle 2. That package consists of Mastering EQ, Mastering Reverb, Mastering Limiter, Mastering Stereo Imager, Mastering Harmonic Exciter, & Multiband Compressor. All the previous iZotope effects are included in Sound Forge Pro 11, along with four additions: Nectar Elements & three new repair-and-restoration tools.
iZotope’s Nectar Elements is a vocal treatment plugin with presets for various music styles, such as Rock, Folk, Country, & Soul. There’s also a preset for Voiceover và Dialogue. You can use it to customize your vocals for presence, drive, & grit. And you can further enhance the vocals by altering the pitch, performing a de-essing, and reducing room noise.

iZotope's Nectar Elements is included with Sound Forge Pro 11. You can use it khổng lồ customize your vocals to lớn suit various genre styles.

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The three new iZotope repair and restoration tools are Declicker, Denoiser, và Declipper. They remove pops & clicks, remove background noise, and reconstruct peaks damaged by clipping (it handles both analog- and digital-based clipping).
The iZotope plugins are fully integrated into the application and are given a high-profile position within the thực đơn system underneath the FX Favorites menu. The usual assortment of Sony effects and plugins is grouped together one màn chơi down, though you can select any of them and bring them forward khổng lồ the first-level menus.
A new floating Plug-In Chain window makes it simpler lớn manage complex chains of plug-ins. Using it, you can change the order of the plug-ins và cycle through the plug-ins’ presets much faster than you could with previous versions of Sound Forge Pro.

The new Plug-In Chain window lets you rearrange the order of your plug-ins. You can also change the active preset for each plug-in.
While they won’t show up in the plug-in chain, Sound Forge Pro 11 benefits from two post-processing iZotope technologies introduced in Sound Forge Pro 10. The application uses iZotope 64-bit SRC (Sample Rate Conversion) when converting one sample rate lớn another. That can be critical when you’re converting studio-quality 192 kHz lớn CD-quality 44.1 kHz, where a less-than-optimal conversion can introduce ringing artifacts & aliasing noise. The other side of the conversion process is bit depth. Sound Forge Pro 11 uses iZotope MBIT+ dither khổng lồ help you achieve better results when converting from 24-bit to 16-bit. According khổng lồ iZotope, the algorithms are designed specifically for music, as opposed to test tones.
Limited đoạn clip Support
While Sound Forge Pro 11 doesn’t tư vấn the kind of clip editing that’s associated with Sony Vegas, it does let you edit audio that’s embedded in đoạn phim files. The video Preview window shows the video frame that’s associated with the play position on the audio timeline. Using the video strip, you might use Sound Forge Pro 11 to bởi frame-by-frame synchronization between the audio và video.
Though your options are limited compared to a full-fledged NLE, you can configure the status bar on the clip Preview window lớn show the type of media, preview frame size, and frame rate. You can have the clip Preview window adjust for the aspect ratio distortion that’s caused when displaying rectangular pixels on a computer monitor. Và you can send the đoạn phim output to lớn an external đoạn phim monitor.
The application ships with MPEG-2 templates for writing HDV-compliant files at both 720p & 1080i resolutions, AVI templates using the CineForm CFHD codec for 720p & 1080i intermediate renders, và WMV templates for encoding at 720p và 1080p.

If you tend to vì all our audio editing in a video-centric NLE, you may be surprised by the many specialized features, toos, và settings offered by a professional-grade audio editor such as Sound Forge Pro 11.
Conclusion
Sound Forge Pro 11 is well worth a look if you frequently work with audio files. If you tend to lớn edit only in an NLE, you might consider that there are many specialized features in Sound Forge Pro that go far beyond what would be available in a video-centric editor. For owners of previous versions of Sound Forge, the decision isn’t as straightforward. If you’re coming from Sound Forge Pro 10, the $199.95 nâng cấp price is a bit steep (roughly half the full purchase price), unless you really lượt thích the new features. On the other hand, it would be a big step up from earlier versions, given the steady accumulation of new features và interface tweaks.
You also have the option of purchasing Sound Forge Pro 11 và SpectraLayers Pro 2 in a combined Audio Master Suite. It’s $599.95 versus $399.95 for each of the programs. That’s a savings of $200 off the combined price. If you’re upgrading from a previous version of Sound Forge, the $499.95 upgrade to lớn the Audio Master Suite is less of a bargain—only a $100 savings off the combined price for both programs. Finally, Sony offers trial versions you can tải về for both Sound Forge Pro 11 và SpectraLayers Pro 2. The trial versions could help you decide for yourself whether khổng lồ buy or upgrade.

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Summary: After a three-year wait, the venerable Sound Forge Pro pushes the knobs up khổng lồ 11. It now offers one-touch recording, the ability khổng lồ record multiple takes, interoperability with SpectraLayers Peo 2, & CALM-compatible metering. It"s an excellent choice for professional-quality sound editing.

Target Applications: Audio editing, processing & mastering for a wide range of truyền thông projects, including music, video, CDs, DVDs, Blu-ray discs, online audio, advertising and corporate productions.

What’s Cool: Modeless one-touch recording; record multiple takes; interoperability with SpectraLayers Pro 2; Waveform Overview Bar; Plug-in Chain window; punch-and-roll recording; Nectar Elements from iZotope; new restore và repair tools from iZotope; sự kiện mode improvements; CALM-compatible metering; broadcast wave file format enhancements.

What’s Missing: There’s still no 64-bit version of the program, which means you won’t be able lớn install your 64-bit VST plugins. The new ability lớn record multiple takes is cumbersome, as you have khổng lồ go back through the undo/redo history khổng lồ find the take you want lớn keep. & the tăng cấp price is steep, at half the full purchase price.

What it costs you: MSRP is $399.95. It’s also available with SpectraLayers Pro 2 in the $599.95 Audio Master Suite.

Specs: Windows Vista (SP2 or later), Windows 7 or Windows 8; 1 GHz processor; 500 MB hard-disk space for program installation; 512 MB RAM; Windows-compatible sound card; DVD-ROM drive (for installation from DVD); supported CD-recordable drive (for CD burning only); Microsoft DirectX 9.0c or later; Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 (included on application disc).