So that little discussion that got started about wave editors reminded me I have to fix some clipping problems on vocal tracks of an old live off the floor recording I have that I need to fix. There is no way to get this retracked so I have to deal with the clips.
 
I do have an ANCIENT version of Wavelab on my ANCIENT PC system but I do not like firing that bugger up unless I absolutely have to (and no... I cannot transfer or update it to my good DAW).
 
I have to admit I was a little confused as to what exactly a wave editor is but I've got it now. What I think would be most useful for this specific project is the simple ability to "draw" out the clips using a "pencil tool" type scheme. I've been eyballing Izotope RX for years and really would like to own that program for other reasons but for this specific set of files I think simply being able to "draw" out the clips on the vox (and there is some clipping on the bass as well I'd like to deal with as well) would be totally fine. The clipping is VERY minimal and they are otherwise totally useable tracks (even the clipping is so slight that it has served well as a demo for years but I want to turn this into a proper release).
 
So... is there ANY type of free tool out there that has that type of "draw" correction? It could even be Linux based I guess but it might crush my Linux machine.
 
Or is there some hidden wave draw tool in Sonar I'e overlooked (or maybe Reaper has one)?
 
Oooor... can anyone recommend some good techniques within Sonar to handle the occasional printed clipping?
 
My original plan was th old - Snip around clip by a second > Zoom in on clip point > Cut out clip (creating splits within the splits) > Time stretching and X-Fading the tiny clips surround the hole > bouncing.
 
That's a lot of bullpuckery (and I think I am may be overthinking it) but just being able to draw out the bastards would be nice.
 
As always just looking to learn, save some time and maybe open up a useful discussion.
 
I do intend to buy RX at some point but I don't think that can happen this year and when it does I'd probably be better of snagging a bundle. Might be a good idea to think about a modern version of Wavelab too but I cannot justify those types of purchases until I start making some money at all this (and I'm not sure exactly what services are going to be most in demand from me when I do get going... but knowing how many crunch punk and gutter metal demos/live recordings I am likely to come across these types of correction programs seem like a good investment... but they are expeeeensive).
 
Cheers and I hope everyone is having a good day.

Hey Beepster,
 
What about Audacity? I think it can handle your problem with no issues. I have RX and it is a life-saver, but Audacity should do the trick and it's free.
http://web.audacityteam.org/download/
http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/clip_fix.html

Hey Beeps, can check out Adobe Audition 3 and get the 3.0.1 update for it. The wave form view has a sonogram view with interesting "heal" capabilities; but if you have clipping baked into a track, you will probably only get so far with any tool out there. The heal tool is best used by straddling the problem area enough so that Audition can make a "good assumption" for what the middle should look like... works incredibly well for pops/clicks, but not tried it on clipping.

Amine Belkhouche
Hey Beepster,
 
What about Audacity? I think it can handle your problem with no issues. I have RX and it is a life-saver, but Audacity should do the trick and it's free.
http://web.audacityteam.org/download/
http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/clip_fix.html

Crazy. I just happen to have Audacity installed on my laptop but I rarely open it. Sure enough there is indeed the option to draw/edit the waves. I just did a quick test of recording something through my laptop's built in microphone and clapped my hands to incur a clip and I was able to zoom in and use the Pencil tool to drag the nodes (which occur at the sample level... you can't seem to draw otherwise but that's fine for drawing out clipping).
 
It's a little inelegant and I think I need to do a bit of reading to make it work how I want but if it'll do that and export the waves without any degradation then yeah... that should do it. Cool. It's such a useful and powerful tool in so many ways but such a pain in the balls in others that I just overlook it for stuff like this. I only installed it for quick recordings (and usually default to Pyro for that these days anyway which I also have installed on my lappy and my main DAW) but I really should take a good look at everything it does.
 
Thanks!
 

mettelus
Hey Beeps, can check out Adobe Audition 3 and get the 3.0.1 update for it. The wave form view has a sonogram view with interesting "heal" capabilities; but if you have clipping baked into a track, you will probably only get so far with any tool out there. The heal tool is best used by straddling the problem area enough so that Audition can make a "good assumption" for what the middle should look like... works incredibly well for pops/clicks, but not tried it on clipping.

Hi, mettulus. Is Audition 3 part of the old school packages Adobe released as freeware? I've been meaning to snag Premiere 2 (I think it is 2) to do any video editing so if Audition 3 is being offered up in a similar manner that would be great. Again more programs I really need to learn. I'll be doing a lot of screen grab and live vids in my little room here so I need some decent vid editing and something to properly sync the audio with. Keeping that crap all Adobe would be good and I don't care if it's old school.
 
The other options are the Linux editors but then I'm pulling files back and forth between partitions and whatnot so I'll save that for when I need ultra fancy crap.
 
Cheers and thanks.

Hey Beeps, I followed the first link above and after filling it out, it issued a full set of S/Ns, so it may have been the entire CS2 Premium set (but that is indeed the package).

The older 32 bit Wave labs like 4 and 5 were all over the torrent sites so a lot of us?? (who me! never) used it up until Windows 7 64 bit stopped it dead in it's tracks. I liked it enough to purchase Wave Lab 7 elements for $90. It's certainly well worth it for me. I use Wave lab a lot. 
 
Fixing those pesky overs is pretty easy with Wave lab and I would think most editors do the same. I like Gold Wave as a second editor. It's free to try and only $50 to buy. Wave Lab stop including a MP3 convertor just like Sonar. You can add it if you like easily, but Gold Wave comes with the Batch convertor all ready to do the nasty deed, so I'm to lazy to mess with hacking in the codex for Sonar or Wave Lab. 
 
WIth Wave lab if I have a track with peaks that go over, I can see them pretty easily as you scroll the file. 
Zoom in and I apply a - 4 gain to the peak. If it has an artifact I simpley silence the part ( a few samples) that is toast. You certainly won't miss a couple of samples of a track from a multi track song. Or even a stereo 2 track if done properly. I have mastered Wave Lab and can do magic with it. 

I always thought Wavelab was some sort of mastering suite, good to know it can handle audio editing. Has anyone ever tried Sound Forge Pro? If so, what's it like for mastering/audio editing?

Sound Forge is very powerful too. I tried them all and settled on Wave Lab strickly because of workflow. Most of them are like Sonar in that you highlight a section, and then you open a tool. Where Wave lab seems different is that tool remains open after you use it. Seems most programs including Sonar close the tool after you use it once forcing you to go through those mouse clicks again. 
Wave Lab once the tools are all open they stay on screen and you can highlight a section and then choose any one of the tools to apply. Also the keyboard shortcuts are logical and make things like top and tail fast. mark the start ..shift -Home -delete. Mark the end.. shift-End-delete. 
 
A wave editors main function would be mastering. But I also use it via tool copy to repair and fine tune audio tracks from Sonar. 
I have used it to record 100's of live performances dirrectly to my Laptop ( I now have a Tascam DR 40) 
I have used it to Rip CD's that are copy protected. 
I used to Batch convert all my MP3 but now use Gold Wave. 
I've used it to change an audio tracks Clock rate. 
I've used it to repair audio that was recorded very badly at say a funeral or a public speach. 
I Ripped all my old LP records. 
I record direct from my audio card using "what you hear" and on and on. 
Wave Editors are your 2 track recorder and editor.
You can even compile CD's and burn them but I use Nero. 
 

Awesome thread.
 
It got me wondering about Pyro (which I own and have used for many things) and whether maybe there was a little pencil tool wave draw thingie. Just checked and alas there is not.
 
It did kind of get me thinking Pyro/Audio Creator could be a pretty decent starting shell if Cake ever did go down the whole "Wavelab" clone path. Just add some extra tools and options and it could do some light duty wave editing and proper file tagging.
 
Then again probably better to start from scratch I guess. Might be a bear wrangling with ancient code like that.

Hey Cactus Music,
 
I appreciate the reply. I've been thinking about getting Sound Forge or Wave Lab for mastering. Someone has put a request to integrate some of the mastering features seen in Studio One into SONAR. I really hope they are paying attention to that one because that would be amazing for us users.