sound editing prog for os x?

I don't know how much functionality you need, but I just started using the shareware program Cacophony, and it's fine for creating loops. Plenty of download links if you google it.

Fission is good if you have simple needs.

Peak is still around, tho. Kinda sux, however.

I think of sound editing as two basic functions, which in the old days required two different programs:

1) SoundEdit 16 or Sound Designer II: apply effects to mono or stereo sound files, tweak, edit, etc

2) Deck II or ProTools: chop up, rearrange, fade, and mix multiple tracks

Ideally I'd like both apps, or one app that does all of that. Wave Editor falls into the first camp.

I like DSP-Quattro a lot for 1--when I used to use it a bunch, it was free, then like 49.99. There are a bunch of 2's available for less than $100. Is that roughly your budget?

DSP-Quattro isn't so stable, in my experience.

Yeah that's about my budget. Camp 2 is essentially ProTools, but I can't afford ProTools.

I tried this Mackie product for awhile for 2, called "Tracktion". It was alright but had a weird, totally un-mac-like interface.

Ooh, I was thinking about that Traktion too. Hmmmmm--Ableton Live 6 LE is like $150 or so, and I think you can get Garageband for about $100. It's not bad as a multi-tracker if you can past the stigma of its marketing.

DSP Quattro hasn't crashed much in my experience, but try it and see! Also, Audacity, as someone else may have mentioned in the past, isn't so bad for Camp 1.

importing and exporting in Ableton and Garageband is pretty pathetic/limited

the rogue amoeba one linked upthread looks like a slightly nicer version of Audacity, which I can't believe nobody's mentioned yet, especially since it's free.

audacity is definitely the closest thing I've seen to SoundEdit 16

i think i haven't used it because it has a stupid name

so what's the call for Camp II if i don't want to use ProTools (too expensive), Abelton (too much of a focus on performance; weird interface), Garageband (ditto), or Tracktion (weird interface, glitches with "rendering" down a file)

basically what I want is CoolEdit for the Mac

http://www.hitsquad.com/smm/mac/AUDIO_EDITORS/

Which really shows just how crap the situation is.

basically what I want is CoolEdit for the Mac

-- Tracer Hand, Wednesday, December 19, 2007 3:33 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Link

sorry you want audacity

Audacity will do ProToolsish things too, huh?

Not that I know of--I think the reality may be that Audacity/DSP-Quattro can do the sound editing like Peak, etc., but you'd need a secondary program to do multi-track editing/fading/etc.

Live isn't that bad, really, for multi-track purposes--I'm not sure what you're trying to do, but I've found Live to be fairly easy to use. I just don't like the effects as much, but otherwise, it's pretty efficient. Just use another program for sample-accurate editing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=td06kOCHmx8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1IqWoWu8gU

I stand corrected--Audacity!

Actually, watching the second video, it doesn't look very easy to do automation--El Tomboto, is this possible?

I find Audacity to be a great supplement to Pro Tools - particularly with creating loops and extra ambient tracks to be flown in that aren't crucial to exact tempo. Audacity is really easy to reverse and inverse sound waves and shit like that.

what's wrong with Peak?

I use Audacity all the time, and I own Digital Performer 5. It's pretty quick and easy to use...and all it's key commands can be easily changed so once you tweak a few minor things to make it easy for you, it's very simple. I use it for digitizing vinyl...record into it, remove some pops and clips, fade in and out, normalize, export as mp3.

i use audacity, but on linux. jokosher is also good for linux.