Hey Bruce - What are the top 3 or 5 things you do in Audacity? What do you want to do that you can't do? That might be a good place to begin comparing.
One thing I've found in more advanced programs is better control over multiple files (batch filters, exporting, etc).
It's not really a question of functionality per se - Audacity has all I need.
I just find it a little "clunky" sometimes. I used to use NCH which I liked, but moved to Audacity when it fell over, as it seemed that talking to a real person was impossible when you ran into trouble.
It was much more friendly to use than Audacity, just wondering about upping the "pro-ness" of my game.
Not even sure it is needed - just playing with ideas.
I use Reaper and I love it. However, there's a lot of functionality in Reaper I'm not using. It's a digital sound processor made for music professionals. Great value for the price. This extra stuff might be seen as complexity that you just don't need.
I used to really like SoundForge for the section batching. I think Audition offers this feature. Adding a cuepoint / section marker then processing the whole thing out to individual named files was fast and easy.
I'm still using both. Audicity for quick cutups but have started slowly using Audition when a little more tweaking needed... picking up the basics isn't too much of a stretch, and of course the help files are just a click away for whatever tool/filter/effect you have open.
Most recently for example - I received audio files from a contractor for a 200+ slide project where the volume was inconsistent between batchs - it was very quick to pick one file with correct volume and then use 'Match Volume" to Batch process the entire folder of files to the same aprox volume levels..in under a minute. So it will be a time-saver.
Still learning it - but seems much easier for slicing - oh and layering & joining in the Multitrack section is nice too.
I'm liking Garage Band on the iPad as well. The new Apogee MiC I picked up has expanded opportunities for quality capture. Have been experimenting with conversation capture between practitioners. I've been testing a variety of capture utilities. I like GarageBand for direct capture but get better visual feedback and some limited processing controls using TwistedWave. Have also used Cohdoo Highlight for longer interviews where I want to mark specific sections.
There's some advantage to the simplicity offered by a tool that lets you capture, edit, and export using a single portable gizmo. "New fangled back to basics".
I'm liking Garage Band on the iPad as well. The new Apogee MiC I picked up has expanded opportunities for quality capture. Have been experimenting with conversation capture between practitioners. I've been testing a variety of capture utilities. I like GarageBand for direct capture but get better visual feedback and some limited processing controls using TwistedWave. Have also used Cohdoo Highlight for longer interviews where I want to mark specific sections.
There's some advantage to the simplicity offered by a tool that lets you capture, edit, and export using a single portable gizmo. "New fangled back to basics".
I've just been messing with an inexpensive lav mic that I have and so far its worked pretty well. My next step is to try coming out of a mixer for doing multi-mic setups.
I’m also using Soundbooth, I find it easy to use and it has all the functionality that I need. That said i am looking to upgrade to Audition in the New Year.
I use both Audacity and Soundbooth but have heard a lot of buzz about Audition - I'd be interested to learn a bit more about it - Stephen do you know what Audition offers over Soundbooth?
As a casual electro musician, I tested various DAW and all I can say is that it depends first on your needs. All the DAW are capable to do anything, but some times they can do anything except the very little special thing you were expecting it to do. Also, some times you could be looking for "a way to do it", I mean how complicated it could be to do the actions you want to do.
From my experience, for eLearning use, I would check first Audacity. Yes, the ol'good OpenSource software...
I also use another software : Ableton Live 8 Lite (an exceptionnal giveaway) and when I wanted to record with it, even if I already know how to use it properly, I got bugs on tracks that I did not have on Audacity. o.0
Don't go too fast with buying a software licence. Try Audacity first.
Many softwares out there are proposing a pletory of features which you would not use or even understand (I know it). Audacity is easier to use. Now, I only use it for recording and Ableton for sequencing and post-prod works (fade-in and out, filtering for phone effects, mixing with field captures...). Audacity is a rock solid piece of audio software.
I heard Reaper is a good one too, but I never tried it.
The ONE thing I would like to do with Audacity is to be able to customise buttons. I get VERY tired of constantly selecting Noise Reduction and then applying it via the menu, I would LOVE to have the ability to set buttons at the top of the page.
I agree, it is rock solid, however, I am always on the lookout for simpler GUIs, which NCH did (IMHO) offer.
16 Replies
Hey Bruce - What are the top 3 or 5 things you do in Audacity? What do you want to do that you can't do? That might be a good place to begin comparing.
One thing I've found in more advanced programs is better control over multiple files (batch filters, exporting, etc).
Hi Dave,
It's not really a question of functionality per se - Audacity has all I need.
I just find it a little "clunky" sometimes. I used to use NCH which I liked, but moved to Audacity when it fell over, as it seemed that talking to a real person was impossible when you ran into trouble.
It was much more friendly to use than Audacity, just wondering about upping the "pro-ness" of my game.
Not even sure it is needed - just playing with ideas.
Bruce
I use Audition for editing audio, seems to do some batch conversions. It really is not too bad not much of an improvement on Soundbooth
I use Reaper and I love it. However, there's a lot of functionality in Reaper I'm not using. It's a digital sound processor made for music professionals. Great value for the price. This extra stuff might be seen as complexity that you just don't need.
I used to really like SoundForge for the section batching. I think Audition offers this feature. Adding a cuepoint / section marker then processing the whole thing out to individual named files was fast and easy.
Was using Audacity and have moved to Audition as its part of the creative cloud which I use.
Much slicker than Audacity and easy to get a hang of the basics, but I am still scratching the surface of the programs capabilities.
All in all I am very pleased with it.
I'm still using both. Audicity for quick cutups but have started slowly using Audition when a little more tweaking needed... picking up the basics isn't too much of a stretch, and of course the help files are just a click away for whatever tool/filter/effect you have open.
Most recently for example - I received audio files from a contractor for a 200+ slide project where the volume was inconsistent between batchs - it was very quick to pick one file with correct volume and then use 'Match Volume" to Batch process the entire folder of files to the same aprox volume levels..in under a minute. So it will be a time-saver.
Still learning it - but seems much easier for slicing - oh and layering & joining in the Multitrack section is nice too.
I've been using Adobe Soundbooth CS5. I really like it. Can anyone tell me how it compares to Audition?
I've also just started messing with Garage Band on the iPad.
I'm liking Garage Band on the iPad as well. The new Apogee MiC I picked up has expanded opportunities for quality capture. Have been experimenting with conversation capture between practitioners. I've been testing a variety of capture utilities. I like GarageBand for direct capture but get better visual feedback and some limited processing controls using TwistedWave. Have also used Cohdoo Highlight for longer interviews where I want to mark specific sections.
There's some advantage to the simplicity offered by a tool that lets you capture, edit, and export using a single portable gizmo. "New fangled back to basics".
I've just been messing with an inexpensive lav mic that I have and so far its worked pretty well. My next step is to try coming out of a mixer for doing multi-mic setups.
I’m also using Soundbooth, I find it easy to use and it has all the functionality that I need. That said i am looking to upgrade to Audition in the New Year.
I use both Audacity and Soundbooth but have heard a lot of buzz about Audition - I'd be interested to learn a bit more about it - Stephen do you know what Audition offers over Soundbooth?
Hi Hannah,
It's a good question and I could go on about this for some time, however i think this video will help:
http://tv.adobe.com/watch/ask-the-adobe-ones/42-adobe-audition-vs-soundbooth-and-the-leaning-tower-of-pisa/
Thanks
Great - thanks for sharing Stephen
As a casual electro musician, I tested various DAW and all I can say is that it depends first on your needs. All the DAW are capable to do anything, but some times they can do anything except the very little special thing you were expecting it to do. Also, some times you could be looking for "a way to do it", I mean how complicated it could be to do the actions you want to do.
From my experience, for eLearning use, I would check first Audacity. Yes, the ol'good OpenSource software...
I also use another software : Ableton Live 8 Lite (an exceptionnal giveaway) and when I wanted to record with it, even if I already know how to use it properly, I got bugs on tracks that I did not have on Audacity. o.0
Don't go too fast with buying a software licence. Try Audacity first.
Many softwares out there are proposing a pletory of features which you would not use or even understand (I know it). Audacity is easier to use. Now, I only use it for recording and Ableton for sequencing and post-prod works (fade-in and out, filtering for phone effects, mixing with field captures...). Audacity is a rock solid piece of audio software.
I heard Reaper is a good one too, but I never tried it.
Yet.
Thanks Adrien/everyone for replies.
The ONE thing I would like to do with Audacity is to be able to customise buttons. I get VERY tired of constantly selecting Noise Reduction and then applying it via the menu, I would LOVE to have the ability to set buttons at the top of the page.
I agree, it is rock solid, however, I am always on the lookout for simpler GUIs, which NCH did (IMHO) offer.
Bruce
I know what you mean, Bruce!
I can understand that.
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