Once active, Preview loops the sound until you stop it, while you tweak the various controls.
#Wavelab 6.0 windows
ProcessingĪlthough the simpler processing options such as Mute, Normalise and Reverse operate instantly, most of the rest have dedicated dialogue windows with a real-time Preview button, rather like Sound Forge.
#Wavelab 6.0 professional
When you've chosen your bit depth and sampling rate, the Recording window itself appears, complete with Record and Pause buttons, an input level meter and input level slider (although this will only work if your soundcard supports the Windows mixer, which most professional ones don't). When you want to record in a new file window, a Choose Sample Format dialogue appears first, offering various presets such as CD Quality (16-bit/44.1kHz), DAT Quality (16-bit/48kHz), and Super Audio CD Quality (24-bit/96kHz). Most budget editors 'save as they go', which can mean a long wait between each edit if you're working on CD tracks, but Acoustica 's non-destructive editing means that if, for instance, you delete a tiny portion from the beginning of a long file, you hear the results immediately, since it's only the pointers to the file that change, with the final version of the file being rendered when you save it. You can also use the standard Cut, Copy and Paste commands of the Windows clipboard. Zooming from the current region start is accomplished via the mouse wheel (if available), or using the Shift+I or Shift+O key shortcuts, while drag-and-drop editing is also available by dragging a highlighted region elsewhere. You use the mouse to select regions on one or both channels, and once a region has been selected you can also toggle the left or right channel toolbar buttons to determine which channels are to be processed. Acon Digital claim that since Ogg Vorbis is a superior compression format to either of these, they decided not to support the others, although I can see some potential users being disappointed.īasic editing is fairly self-explanatory.
However, you'll need Windows Media Player 9.0 codecs to read and write in WMA formats, and MP3 saves will be limited to 56 kbits/second unless you already have a Fraunhofer codec installed, rather than the standard Windows one. The profile-based noise reduction works very well at removing continuous unwanted background noise.Audio files can be loaded in WAV, AIFF, Ogg Vorbis, WMA (Windows Media Audio) and MPEG/MP3 formats, and saved in the same formats barring AIFF. The toolbars can be docked side-by-side instead of one below the other, but sadly this isn't remembered between sessions as a user preference at the moment. OverviewĪfter its initial launch, Acoustica displays a main work area containing an already open file for recording purposes, while there are main and navigation toolbars across the top, and full-height output level meters down the right-hand side.
#Wavelab 6.0 full
Budget versions of Sound Forge and Wavelab are available, but if you're looking for a fully functioning audio editor that's even cheaper, Acon Digital Media's Acoustica may fit the bill.Īt just $29 for a full licence, version 3.0 features a non-destructive audio engine with unlimited undo/redo functions, supports sample rates up to 192kHz and bit depths up to 32, has built-in CD audio track 'ripping', a suite of integral audio effects with presets and real-time preview functions, various audio enhancement features, and the ability to burn audio CDs, all in one neat package. However, although these heavyweights are rightly popular, they are beyond the budgets of many musicians - the latest Sound Forge 7.0 is £349, whilst Wavelab 4.0 costs £390 and Audition £246.
#Wavelab 6.0 pro
In the professional arena, three stereo audio editors have dominated the PC market: Sound Forge from Sonic Foundry (now Sony Media Software), Steinberg's Wavelab and Syntrillium's Cool Edit Pro (now Adobe Audition). If the established professional applications are out of your price league, Acon Digital Media's highly affordable stereo editor might be a real alternative. Acoustica's interface is elegant and easy to use, and offers a surprising number of high-quality audio treatments.