Audio Editors?

[CoderBoy]

I currently use SUPER to convert my media files.. I am searching for a way to enhance my recorded cassette tapes. I use Audacity at the moment. Do you use any other great and free software to edit audio? Audacity's options are a bit confusing to use at times but I can record and cut out parts of the recorded audio files easily.

[Plasma Man]

In the beginning Audacity was a great project simply because it was the first cross platform free audio editor out there. For a time it was very popular in educational facilities as kind of "training wheels" for music recording. But it's development has slowed to snail pace.

A much better option is something like Reaper developed by Justin Frankel of Winamp fame.
http://reaper.fm/download.php
http://www.cockos.co...Reaper_Documentation

Reaper is a small but very powerful audio production tool. For what you want to do I think you'll find it's fast and easy to use. The forum is very helpful (if you aren't experienced with audio editing they can offer lots of good tips).

There are also tons of good free VST plugins out there that can help clean up / enhance your sound. The forum has threads dedicated to the best freebies.

Yep. it's shareware but moderately priced. You can use it for free (you'll just have to put up with the reminders)

Andre

[justice]

License

REAPER is uncrippled unexpiring shareware. Be sure to purchase a license if you use it past the evaluation period. The full license agreement will be presented to you when you run the installer.[/quoite]

[Plasma Man]

REAPER is uncrippled unexpiring shareware

It says wot it meenz. 

[Plasma Man]

If you wanted to experiment with some no-install freeware apps you could start here:

http://portablefreew....com/?c=12&sc=66

You might find something to your liking.

I recommend Reaper simply because a lot of the basic issues that plague some of these other apps (file support bugs, crashes with large files etc) were ironed out early in the beta stages. At the end of the day, if the music matters a fully functional shareware solution might be more sensible.

[CoderBoy]

Do these free software above help to remove the buzzing "zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz" sounds from my cassette tape recordings?

[Hirudin]

Do these free software above help to remove the buzzing "zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz" sounds from my cassette tape recordings?

-CoderBoy (July 04, 2007, 03:17 AM)

I thought Audacity would do that... I've barely used it though.

[Plasma Man]

Do these free software above help to remove the buzzing "zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz" sounds from my cassette tape recordings?

-CoderBoy (July 04, 2007, 03:17 AM)

You're looking for NR (noise reduction). Can't think of any freeware that has effective NR ... But search: noise reduction, VST plugin, freeware. Search here as well: http://www.kvraudio.com/

NR is often a trade off - you can reduce noise but the over-all sound can become lifeless and well .. . pretty crappy. This is why hi-end professional NR products are so expensive ($ 1000 +). The results can be almost transparent but you pay a premium.

For cheaper NR products it's best to use them in small amounts, just to take the edge of any annoying noises / buzzes / clicks. There are other editing tricks with EQ etc - but you'll find that out later.

You could try Acon - it has some in-built tools for what you want to do. [ shareware ]
http://www.acondigit...s_Acoustica_new.html

If you like the program, then check out their forum for more tips.

[Mark0]

ExactAudioCopy include a simple editor that can do noise reduction.

Bye!

[f0dder]

Once you do noise reduction, it's not exact any more though

[Mark0]

Sad but true!

[Jimdoria]

For a great article on doing noise reduction yourself, check out this link to DV magazine:
http://www.dv.com/fe...p?articleId=23902993

You may need to register (for free) to view it, but it's definitely info that's worth your time.

[Clive]

You could look here too:
Free Music and Other Audio Editing Software - Download Wave and ...
Download this free audio editing software. A music editor, sound editor, wave editor, it can convert audio to Wav or MP3 and includes Sound Effects like.
http://www.nch.com.au/wavepad/
[ Result from Google ]

[Plasma Man]

For a great article on doing noise reduction yourself, check out this link to DV magazine:
http://www.dv.com/fe...p?articleId=23902993

You may need to register (for free) to view it, but it's definitely info that's worth your time.

-Jimdoria (July 06, 2007, 09:58 AM)

The article is really aimed for video post and is a little out of date - but it's still a useful reference. As you can see Cedar - which is used a lot in audio archiving - starts at over $ 5000.

OK, it looks like a good time to time to start a survey / mini-review ...

Algorithmix (German company) make expensive hi-end products but they also have Sound Laundry:
http://www.algorithm...e/index_products.htm

Sound Laundry has been around for a few years and I don't think it's been updated recently. It works as a stand alone modular system.

You can read about their flagship products here: [ dongle & lots of Euros required ]
http://www.algorithmix.com/

While we are on the proverbial autobahn, Magix offer the MAGIX Audio Cleaning Lab 11:
http://site.magix.ne...dio-cleaning-lab-11/

From my own audio snob POV, it's basically is consumer 'toy" version of the some of the in-built NR and FX features found in their DAWs - Samplitude and Sequoia.

Voxengo Redunoise:
http://www.voxengo.c...forum/redunoise/680/

This is quite similar to the NR plugin in Sony's Sound Forge. It samples the audio and makes a "noise print" which is used as the basis for cleaning the audio.

Virtos is having a 50 % off sale:
http://www.virtos-audio.com/

I think Virtos is pretty effective in comparison to Sound Forge, Sound Soap, Voxengo etc. and is certainly great value for what you get, esp. if you went with the Noise Wizard bundle.

In NR there is something to remember. The more you remove the more you'll find. You have to know when to stop. The less the better.

[icezone]

Wave Editor http://www.wave-editor.com offer basic editing capabilities.