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AudioEditing posts

Filed under: Audio, Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Shareware, Freeware

Audacity and Reaper provide free and cheap audio editing

WindowsMacLinuxby Brad Linder Jul 11th 2007

Audacity 1.3.3
Podcasters and pretty much anyone in need of low-cost (as in free) audio editing software have been using Audacity for years. It's not quite as full-featured as Pro Tools or Adobe Audition, but with each release, Audacity becomes a more viable alternative for music producers, podcasters, and radio journalists.

While the last stable release of the cross-platform audio editor was version 1.2.6, the developers recently pushed out Audacity 1.3.3 beta, and it's miles ahead of the stable version. Here are just a few of the latest updates:
  • Import Quicktime files in OSX (mov, aac, m4a)
  • Add metadata to OGG files
  • Improved export option selection
  • EQ and effects improvements
  • Screen capture utility
  • Improved spectrogram rendering
  • Selection bar improvements
  • New features for label tracks
  • Auto-save and crash recovery
  • Collapse and expand tracks
  • Multiple clips per track
But if you're looking for a more traditional audio editor, you might want to check out Reaper. This audio editor from Winamp creator Justin Frankel is under constant development, but it's already a full fledged program. And best of all, it's uncrippled shareware. The full license is $40, but you can use it for free for 30 days. And at the end of the trial period, you can continue to use the program, but it will nag you until you register.

Read more →

Tags: adobe audition, AdobeAudition, audacity, audio editing, AudioEditing, pro tools, ProTools, reaper

Filed under: Audio, Utilities

Snapper: a new way to access audio on a Mac

by Brad Linder Mar 14th 2007

SnapperThe folks at Audio Ease are working on a new Mac utility called Snapper. It basically makes it easier to access and manipulate sound files from Finder.

Every time you click on an audio file, a little window opens up, docked to the bottom of Finder. You can play files, or set Snapper to autoplay files when you click on them. You can also perform rough edits, like saving a selection of the audio as a new clip.

You can also convert files to mp3 with a click of the button, email a file or a selection from that file as an mp3, or import a file into Pro Tools for editing.

It's not exactly a full fledged audio editing tool on its own. If you're thinking about setting up a podcast or starting a career in radio, you'll need more than Snapper. But it looks like a really nice add-on for Pro tools. It'll be interesting to see if Audio Ease adds support for other programs like Audacity.

No word on pricing or availability yet.

Tags: audio ease, audio editing, AudioEase, AudioEditing, snapper, sound editing, SoundEditing

Filed under: Audio, Windows, Macintosh, Podcasting, Productivity, Freeware

Adjust audio volume levels with The Levelator

WindowsMacby Amber Rhea Oct 1st 2006

The Levelator is a Java-based application that automagically adjusts the volume levels in audio files. It's a combination compressor, normalizer, and limiter - all with a simple drag-and-drop interface. Just drag any WAV or AIFF file onto the Levelator's magic rectangle (as seen below), and, the web site brags, poof! Magic! Audio levels optimized! (And saved as a separate file.)

The Levelator

I admit, it sounds too good to be true. I further admit that I haven't actually used The Levelator yet, though I intend to do so with my next podcast. Jake Luddington, however, has used The Levelator, and is singing its praises. So although I'm skeptical on one level (ha!), I've also got high hopes and can't wait to take this thing for a spin.

The Levelator is freeware and is available for Mac (universal binary) and Windows (2000, XP, or Vista).

(Thanks, Jake!)

Tags: audio editing, AudioEditing, Gigavox, Gigavox Media, GigavoxMedia, Java, Leveler, The Leveler, TheLeveler, universal binary, UniversalBinary

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