• SONAR
  • How good is Sound Forge ?
2013/08/01 09:54:25
jwh
Hi,
After looking at a couple of threads, how good is Sound Forge for mastering, I use T-Racks deluxe, and, as I'm 
always looking for a better finish to my songs, I was wondering just how good this is ?
 
Thanks
John
2013/08/01 11:05:52
joeb1cannoli
  I have Sound Forge 9. I am not at all a power user. It's just my personal preference to do my DIY mastering as separate process from Sonar. 
  I use Ozone for my final polish and loudness inside of Sound Forge and then trim and apply dithering. I probably don't need to use Sound Forge for this, but I like to.
 
  CD architecture that shipped with SF9 is awesome for assembling CDs .
 
 You can also use SF as a tool in Sonar for fine editing of a clip. 
2013/08/01 11:48:12
CJaysMusic
Sound Forge is a program and T-Racks are plugin effects (VST's). There is no Comparison as one is an apple and one is an orange. A more likely comparison is comparing Sound forge to WavLab, as both are programs or T-Racks to Ozone as both are plugin effects.
 
As for SoundForge (I own it),  its just like any other mastering program and its only as good as the person using it. It can put out great sounding professional masters.
 
As for T-Racks, my opinion is that I think their a bit harsh and more geared for rock and metal music. 
 
CJ
2013/08/01 12:08:57
lawp
Such a shame v11 isn't x64 :(
2013/08/01 12:14:45
garrigus
lawp
Such a shame v11 isn't x64 :(



Yeah, I was hoping for that too, but it still works fine under Win 64-bit. Maybe next version...
 
Scott

--
Scott R. Garrigus - http://garrigus.com - SONAR X2 Power! - http://garrigus.com/?SonarX2Power
* Author of the Cakewalk Sonar and Sony Sound Forge Power book series: http://garrigus.com/?PowerBooks
* Author of the Cakewalk Sonar ProAudioTutor video tutorial series: http://garrigus.com/?ProAudioTutor
* Publisher of the DigiFreq free music technology newsletter: http://digifreq.com/?DigiFreq
* Publisher of the NewTechReview free consumer technology newsletter: http://newtechreview.com/?NewTechReview
2013/08/01 13:30:56
brconflict
Soundforge has great zoom functions, and has quite an accurate editor, especially in how easy it is to select very specific passages and how you can re-adjust the selection. However, it's destructive editing. I still don't like the plug-in chain. It's very old-school and out of date.
 
With Mastering, for the money, Wavelab is the best I've used. It's specifically designed for Mastering and editing, although I use it primarily for dressing up the head and tails of a Mix and then processing in real-time. The workflow is good. Metering is a must have.
2013/08/01 13:37:29
Chregg
"I still don't like the plug-in chain." thats the thing i dont like about it either
2013/08/01 13:44:36
CoteRotie
I have SF10, just ordered my upgrade to 11.  I also don't like the plug-in chain, but it's perfectly usable.  The other great thing about Sound Forge (at least on my system) is that it has NEVER crashed.  They don't update it often, but when they do it seems very stable.  
 
They have released updates fixing bugs that could have caused a crash, but I've never seen one.  So if you need an audio editor, CD architect, and/or some nice effects and utilities I highly recommend it.
 
Regards,
 
John
2013/08/01 14:02:02
garrigus
brconflict
However, it's destructive editing. I still don't like the plug-in chain. It's very old-school and out of date.



Actually, if you use the Project File feature, you can work on audio files nondestructively in Sound Forge. A project file is created containing all your editing actions and you then render a new file keeping the original intact.
 
Scott

--
Scott R. Garrigus - http://garrigus.com - SONAR X2 Power! - http://garrigus.com/?SonarX2Power
* Author of the Cakewalk Sonar and Sony Sound Forge Power book series: http://garrigus.com/?PowerBooks
* Author of the Cakewalk Sonar ProAudioTutor video tutorial series: http://garrigus.com/?ProAudioTutor
* Publisher of the DigiFreq free music technology newsletter: http://digifreq.com/?DigiFreq
* Publisher of the NewTechReview free consumer technology newsletter: http://newtechreview.com/?NewTechReview
2013/08/01 14:21:20
Benny Bear
Long time (many versions) user of Soundforge (now 11). I like it a lot, but then once a year I have a project of very detailed editing, time stretching and pitch changing on supplied wav/mp3 files. It's ideal for it. Very stable, never crashes. Always do my top and tailing, conversion to mp3 and sometimes Ozone mastering in it. Love the way it integrates into Sonar as well. I've always used to the two together.
 
I highly recommend it - but then I've never used Wavelab or any others. Do have T-Racks - designed specifically for mastering not much for editing apart from fades.
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