Subject:Comparing CoolEdit Pro & Sound Forge ...
Posted by: chekmarx
Date:8/9/2003 10:08:39 AM
A newbie here to the digital music realm: I have a nephew who plays rock guitar and wants to start getting into Digital Recording ... Since I work with computers professionally I'm going to build the system for him, but I also am doing some basic research on which application to buy ... He wants to use CoolEdit Pro mainly since other guys in his musical-circle are using it but I'm leaning towards Sound Forge ... If only for the fact that Adobe recently took CoolEdit over and from their website appears to be positioning it more as a video tool rather than audio ... Not knowing squat about both programs involved I was hoping someone with more experience than me (which is just everybody :-) could share some info on the pros-n-cons of using either Sound Forge or CoolEdit Pro ... Any and all help would be most appreciated ... TIA Gregory L. Marx ~ gregory.marx@verizon.net (ex-'70s Rock Guitarist who's still angry about selling his Gibson Les Paul Deluxe) |
Subject:RE: Comparing CoolEdit Pro & Sound Forge ...
Reply by: Rednroll
Date:8/10/2003 11:21:51 AM
Cool Edit Pro, might be the best choice for his needs. Cool Edit Pro, is an all-in-one application, which does multi-track recording, and also has a stereo editor within it. Sound Forge is a stereo editor. In this respect, it is much better than Cool Edit Pro's stereo editor. Sonic Foundry's software has the best UI, hands down. This is an important factor, especially for musicians who don't want to get bogged down with the learning curve of the program, and are most interested in the creative part. Let me back up for a minute. A Multi-track recorder is probably what he will mostly need for recording. In respect he can record one guitar track, play that back, then record additional guitar parts, and edit different takes together. A stereo editor, focuses in on more tools specifically for a particular wave file. Things like EQ, noise reduction, reverse, resample to different types of file formats, normalization and such. Now there is much overlap between these 2 types of programs. But he will be much more limited in going with a stereo editor for recording a band and creating music. Having said that, I would recommend Sonic Foundry's Vegas 4 Pro and get a package deal where it comes with Sound Forge 6 Studio. It is a multi-track recorder/editor and it's UI, is much better than Cool Edit Pro. Sound Forge Studio is a scaled down version of Sound Forge 6.0pro. It does most everything that Sound Forge does, except it does not allow DX support, but you probably won't need it, because Vegas 4 pro does. You might also looking for a package with Sound Forge 6.0 and Vegas 4.0 and see what meets your budget. Request a Catalog from Sonic Foundry, and you will see all the options and packages available. Red |
Subject:RE: Comparing CoolEdit Pro & Sound Forge ...
Reply by: Iacobus
Date:8/11/2003 12:41:56 PM
Definitely concur with what Red said. In addition, while it may appear that Vegas is suited for video production (it is), it can handle audio multitrack recording with aplomb. You do not have to ever deal with video if you don't want to. Their UI's for their apps are the best I've ever seen in any program. Iacobus ------- RodelWorks - Original Music for the Unafraid mD's ACIDplanet Page |
Subject:RE: Comparing CoolEdit Pro & Sound Forge ...
Reply by: chekmarx
Date:8/12/2003 7:51:39 AM
Thanks for the info. It's much appreciated !!! Being a newbie I read your comments that a combination of Sound Forge and Vegas Pro 4 would be a good, solid, killer setup ... Sort of combining the best of both worlds - ie excellent digital tools with a better UI than what Cool Edit has to offer ... Is that a fair assessment ??? The fact that Cool Edit was sold to Adobe, who's not known for any kind of audio tools concerns me a bit ... I don't want to see my nephew buy something that is basically orphaned ... Thanks again for the info ... Gregory L. Marx |
Subject:RE: Comparing CoolEdit Pro & Sound Forge ...
Reply by: Rednroll
Date:8/12/2003 1:04:12 PM
"Is that a fair assessment ???" EXACTLY!!! "The fact that Cool Edit was sold to Adobe, who's not known for any kind of audio tools concerns me a bit ... I don't want to see my nephew buy something that is basically orphaned ..." Unfortunately for the software industry that's a problem we all have to learn to deal with. Sonic Foundry was recently sold to Sony. So far us Sonic Foundry users have been unaffected on the negative side.....I can't say the same for Adobe, but I'm sure you will soon see a lot of CoolEdit's features in Adobe Premiere, which stinks for audio. Steinberg also has a Forsale sign on them. Emagic's Logic Audio was recently purchased by Apple. Opcode was purchased by Gibson guitars, and my favorite midi sequencing program got orphaned as you described. Samplitude was another audio software program bought by another company. Digidesign is owned by Avid. What can I say? Whatever choice you make today is not guaranteed to be discontinued tomorrow. |
Subject:RE: Comparing CoolEdit Pro & Sound Forge ...
Reply by: Iacobus
Date:8/12/2003 1:05:43 PM
Definitely. I imagine Adobe would fold Cool Edit into their media production line (e.g., Premiere) somehow. Still think SoFo's UI's ace theirs any day though. Iacobus ------- RodelWorks - Original Music for the Unafraid mD's ACIDplanet Page |