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Best Audio Editing App?

~Shard~

~Shard~

macrumors P6
Original poster
Jun 4, 2003
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1123.6536.5321
I'm a switcher as of next week and was wondering which audio software package I should pick up to do what I need to do.

Basically, I need the ability to convert MP3s to WAVs, and vice versa, and edit WAV files. I currently use CoolEdit Pro and SoundForge on my PC for the editing, WinAmp for MP3->WAV, and AudioGrabber for WAV->MP3. In my WAV editing, I do some resampling, filtering, mixing, etc. (basic stuff I guess) and then either burn audio CDs from the WAV files, or convert them back to MP3 format.

So, since I'm assuming iTunes can't do this for me, should I pick up Soundtrack or Logic? I have absolutely no problems shelling out $$$ for a quality pro app, but I need to know which one is best suited for my needs! So far all I've heard for sure is that Logic and Soundtrack appear to let you track musical compositions, etc. and create your own music. Although I would like this functionality as well, my focus is on editing, remastering, etc. music as opposed to composing, tracking, etc., as I have mentioned above.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers,
Scott
 
Interesting...

Originally posted by idkew
Peak by Berkly Systems would do what you need very well.

BTW- AIFF is the "mac" version of a WAV. Both are uncompressed audio, but macs historically use AIFF as their uncompressed format of choice.
Click to expand...

Hmm, I haven't heard of Peak before - is this another Mac-exclusive app?

Also, will Logic or Soundtrack not do what I want at all? It just seems like they're pretty impressive programs, and I wouldn't have minded having one or the other...

Thanks for the tip about the AIFFs as well, that no doubt would've screwed me up my first go around, hunting all over for WAV file settings. ;) I assume then that AIFFs can be dragged and dropped directly onto a CD to burn it as an audio CD? I can burn my WAVs just fine in Windows and the CDs turn out as perfect audio CDs, so I'm just curious...

Thanks!
 
Re: Interesting...

Originally posted by ~Shard~
Hmm, I haven't heard of Peak before - is this another Mac-exclusive app?

Also, will Logic or Soundtrack not do what I want at all? It just seems like they're pretty impressive programs, and I wouldn't have minded having one or the other...

Thanks for the tip about the AIFFs as well, that no doubt would've screwed me up my first go around, hunting all over for WAV file settings. ;) I assume then that AIFFs can be dragged and dropped directly onto a CD to burn it as an audio CD? I can burn my WAVs just fine in Windows and the CDs turn out as perfect audio CDs, so I'm just curious...

Thanks!
Click to expand...

get BIAS peak, it's what you need.
logic is more expensive and soundtrack is more suited for making loops for DV projects rather than an editor.

AIFF=WAV

they are the same thing

use itunes or toast to burn songs using aiffs, wavs, macs like both.

Tyler
 
My favorite two track audio editing app is Spark made by TC works. the ME version is FREE. The best free app I've ever had, and considering the amount of audio hoo ha I do, I do plan to upgrade. It's fantastic for making playlists with your own crossfades etc.

Logic is way over the top for what you described and Soundtrack is essentially a loop sequencer similar to Acid or Ableton's Live.

http://www.tcelectronic.com/SparkME
 
if cost is no issue, you may want to consider digidesign protools. from an editing perspective, it's top-notch.
 
Wasn't he asking for Mac apps? If he's switching, buying a new machine? Oi, Sound Forge and Sonar on Windows won't do you any good.
 
Thanks...

Awesome, thanks for all the helpful replies. I'll look into Peak, and probably stay away from Logic if it is indeed overkill for what I need.
 
-Shard

Further AIFF clarification.

AIFF is known as 'Redbook' audio - the native files of CD audio tracks.

WAV files is simply MS playing with the alphabet on AIFF's.
 
I agree with others, Peak LE is the way to go. I use LE 3.5 and it works well if you have all the latest updates. Do check out SparkME though, free is good!

Note that you can get Peak LE3.5 included with Roxio Toast(v5)+Jam(v5) for $190 from Roxio direct (may be lower elsewhere). Granted this is more than $99 for Peak LE4 standalone but Toast & Jam are great programs if you do much disc burning and want more control over those processes. The 3 programs are a good combo and Jam is very good for fine tuning audio CD's. I don't think they're bundling Jam (& Peak LE) with Toast6 yet.

Not sure if Peak LE3.5 bundled this way is eligible for other Peak upgrades if you would want to go that way in the future so that might be a consideration.
 
You mentioned basic mixing. Are you handling multiple tracks? That's going to be critical, here. Also, are you recording or just editing prerecorded files? What kind of editing are we talking about? Lots of chopping, or just cleaning up transfers from vinyl?

These will all affect your needs. I will say Peak, but some of the answers to items above may change that.

Dan
 
Originally posted by alset
You mentioned basic mixing. Are you handling multiple tracks? That's going to be critical, here. Also, are you recording or just editing prerecorded files? What kind of editing are we talking about? Lots of chopping, or just cleaning up transfers from vinyl?

These will all affect your needs. I will say Peak, but some of the answers to items above may change that.

Dan
Click to expand...

Honestly. I would like to get into multiple tracks and recording more, but it's not a necessity, as I rarely do it. Having that functionality would be nice though. All I am doing right now is editing pre-recorded files, remastering them, etc. then either burning them as audio CDs or encoding them to MP3s. For instance, I'll take a 2-hour live show in MP3 format, convert it to WAV, chop it into 2 1-hour parts, edit them, then burn them onto 2 audio CDs. Or, convert them back to MP3 format in 2 parts. And I'll remaster them, try and filter out hiss, noise, etc. and things like that.

One other question I had which I'm not sure was answered - what tool do I need to convert AIFFs/WAVs to MP3s? Or will iTunes do this for me?

Thanks again for all your help everyone!
 
Originally posted by ~Shard~
Honestly. I would like to get into multiple tracks and recording more, but it's not a necessity, as I rarely do it. Having that functionality would be nice though. All I am doing right now is editing pre-recorded files, remastering them, etc. then either burning them as audio CDs or encoding them to MP3s. For instance, I'll take a 2-hour live show in MP3 format, convert it to WAV, chop it into 2 1-hour parts, edit them, then burn them onto 2 audio CDs. Or, convert them back to MP3 format in 2 parts. And I'll remaster them, try and filter out hiss, noise, etc. and things like that.

One other question I had which I'm not sure was answered - what tool do I need to convert AIFFs/WAVs to MP3s? Or will iTunes do this for me?

Thanks again for all your help everyone!
Click to expand...

I don't know much about audio apps, but I know quicktime pro will do basic editing(crop, volume...) and converting to pretty much any popular sound format. iTunes will also convert sound to AIFF,WAV,MP3,AAC. I guess it all depends on how much editing you are going to do because the other function can be found in iTunes.
 
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