Summary: Sony Sound Forge Audio Studio 9 (1/2008)

    by Douglas Dixon

Sony Sound Forge Audio Studio 9
New Features
Features Summary
About Sony Creative Software Products

Sony Studio Product Line  (7/11)

Sony Creative Software continues to develop its line of popular and powerful tools for digital video, DVD, audio, and music production, including separate lines of higher-end professional tools and consumer software (www.sonycreativesoftware.com). 

Sony's professional product line is built around three core product names: Vegas for video editing, Sound Forge for audio editing, and ACID for music creation (www.sonycreativesoftware.com/products).

Sony's consumer products trade off these names, but under the Home Studio brand, as in Vegas Movie Studio, Sound Forge Audio Studio, and ACID Music Studio (www.sonycreativesoftware.com/homestudio). Sony offers trial versions as downloads from its website.

           
  Sony Vegas Movie Studio, Sound Forge Audio Studio, ACID Music Studio

For more on the Sony Home Studio products, see my previous articles:

• Sony Vegas Movie Studio 9 (8/08)
• Sony Vegas Movie Studio+DVD 8 (10/07)
• HDV Editing with Sony Vegas Movie Studio+DVD (1/06)
• Mass-Market Digital Video and DVD / Sony Screenblast Movie Studio (3/03)
  
• Sony Sound Forge Pro 10 Audio Editing Software Reviewed (Videomaker Magazine, April 2010)
• Sony Sound Forge Pro 10 (12/09)
• Sony Audio / Music Studio Software: Sound Forge Audio Studio 9 and ACID Music Studio 7 (5/08)
• Sony Sound Forge Audio Studio 9  (1/08)
• Sony ACID Music Studio 7  (1/08)
• Sony Sound Forge 9 (7/07)

Find related Sony Software articles in the Manifest Tech Blog

Find Sony Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 11 on Amazon.com Find Sony Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 11 Suite on Amazon.com Find Sony Sound Forge Audio Studio 10 on Amazon.com Find Sony ACID Music Studio 8 on Amazon.com

Sony Sound Forge Audio Studio 9

Sony Sound Forge Audio Studio 9 is designed for easy recording, editing, restoration, encoding, and mastering of audio on home computers. It includes interactive Show Me How tutorials to help step though leaning new tasks.

   
        Sony Sound Forge Audio Studio 9

- Capture & Record: Import music from CDs and MP3s, record live performances, capture audio from vinyl, cassettes, and more. Just plug in your microphone, instrument, or playback device and let Sound Forge Audio Studio software do the rest.

- Edit & Mix: Audio editing and effects processing. Edit recordings to balance sound levels, trim unwanted sections, or synchronize audio with video. Customize with built-in effects such as EQ, delay, reverb, and chorus. Mix audio tracks, apply effects, restore old and damaged vinyl and cassette recordings, remove vocals, and synchronize audio with video.

- Save & Share: Burn CDs, export audio to MP3 players, or upload songs to the web. Save audio and video in popular formats including MP3, WAV, WMV, and QuickTime. Encode for web streaming or portable music players. 

Version 9 adds high-fidelity 24-bit / 96kHz audio support, the Vinyl Recording and Restoration Tool, the Vocal Eraser plug-in by iZotope, Gracenote CD album identification, and Microsoft Windows Vista support.

Sony Sound Forge Audio Studio 9 was released in 2007, and is available for Windows for $59 (download) or $69 (packaged product). An upgrade is available from previous versions for $29 (download) or $39 (packaged product). Sony also offers a trial version as a download from the website.

Previous articles on Sony professional software:
    Summary: Sony Sound Forge 9 (7/07)
    Automated Soundtrack Creation - Sony Media Software Cinescore (11/06)

Find related Sony Software articles in the Manifest Tech Blog

Find Sony Vegas Movie Studio on Amazon.com Find Sony Sound Forge Audio Studio 9 on Amazon.com Find Sony ACID Music Studio 7 on Amazon.com

Sony Audio Studio 9 -- New Features

24-bit / 96kHz Audio Support

• Import and edit high definition 24-bit audio
• Supports high resolution 24-bit files and sound cards
• Capture the subtle overtones and nuances of instruments, vocals, and effect changes

Vinyl Recording and Restoration Tool

• Convert records, cassettes, and other analog sources into digital format
• Steps through the recording process, creates new tracks when detects pauses

Vocal Eraser plug-in by iZotope

• Remove vocals from songs to create Karaoke tracks
• Isolate and extract vocals from songs for remixing

        Vocal Eraser 

ATRAC .aa3 Format Support

• Natively edit and export ATRAC formats, ATRAC (.aa3) and ATRAC lossless format
• Editing and encoding, surround encoding and decoding, encode up to 512 kbps, 48 kHz.
• For MP3 players, NET-MD players, HI-MD players

Gracenote CD Album Identification

• Used when extracting audio content from CDs
• Automatically view information about a CD track including title, artist, song name, also submit data

Disc-at-Once (DAO) CD burning

• Use regions within a file to designate tracks
• Burn to CD in one continuous file

User Interface Color Customization

• Customize editing workflow, including waveform and envelope colors, and default file height

Microsoft Windows Vista Support

• Works with Windows Vista logo and certification

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Sony Audio Studio 9 -- Features Summary

General

Real-time audio editing and recording: To capture audio from almost any source, simple plug a microphone or instrument into your computer's sound card and start recording. Visually monitor audio levels in real time for accurate mixing. Capture instrument and vocal performances, digitize and restore old recordings, record voiceover tracks for your videos, and create custom audio effects and textures.

• NEW -- 24-bit, 96kHz audio support - High resolution for audio fidelity
• NEW -- UI customization - Waveform and envelope colors, and default file height
• Built-in Show Me How interactive tutorials
• Simple editing and navigation
• Drag-and-drop operations
• Real-time nondestructive editing
• Multitask background rendering
• Media Explorer with automatic file previewing
• Automatic left and right mono to stereo merge
• Fully customizable toolbars
• Mix, paste, and crossfade
• Automatic file mixing and conversion
• Unlimited Undo/Redo
• Over 30 built-in effects & processes
• System and user-defined function presets
• Enhanced Preset Manager
• Crash recovery
• Mark-in, mark-out, drop markers in real time
• Embed URL flips within audio and video stream
• Mono and stereo sound files
• Real-time play and record meters
• Full support for 4 GB and larger files
• Standard keyboard commands, mouse shortcuts, and toolbars
• Compress sound files for 8-bit distribution 

Processes

• Bit Depth Converter (to 8-bit, 16-bit, 24-bit)
• DC Offset, 10-band EQ
• Fade In/Out, Graphic Fade, Multiple fade curve types
• Insert Silence, Invert/Flip, Reverse
• Mute, Volume, Pan, Swap channels
• Normalize
• Resample, Smooth/Enhance
• Time Compress

Effects

More than 30 built-in audio effects such as EQ, delay, chorus, and reverb, as well as 1,001 sound effects. DirectX and VST support for additional effects.

• NEW -- Vocal Eraser plug-in - Extract or remove vocals
• DirectX audio plug-in support
• VST audio effect support
• ASIO driver support
• Amplitude Modulation
• Chorus, Delay, Distortion, Dynamics, Envelopes
• Flange/Wah-Wah, Noise Gate, Pitch Bend, Reverb, Stutter

Tools

Drag and drop to balance sound levels, trim unwanted sections, and synchronize audio with video.

• NEW -- Disc-at-once (DAO) CD burning - Burn tracks to CD in one continuous file
• NEW -- Vinyl Recording and Restoration Tool - Convert records, cassettes, other analog sources
• NEW -- JKL scrubbing
• NEW -- Gracenote Music ID CD album identification
• Track at once CD burning
• Drag-and-drop CD extraction
• Express FX Vinyl Restoration Tool
• Statistics Tool
• Simple Synthesis with sweep
• DTMF/MF Synthesis

Tools for ACID Software

Create your own music loops and samples to use with ACID Music Studio software.

• Create loops for use in ACID software
• Loop-editing toolbar
• Assign root notes, number of beats, and tempo

Sample Editing

• Sustaining Loop , Release Loop Recording
• Real-time record meters
• Remote record function

Regions and Playlists

• NEW -- Updated marker and region ruler with selection snapping
• Regions List
• Name markers, loops, and regions

Timing Basis

• Absolute Frames
• Measures and Beats
• Samples, Time, Seconds
• SMPTE Drop/Non-Drop
• SMPTE EBU/Film Sync
• Time and Frames

    Burn track

Audio and Video Support and Encoding

Integrated CD burning. Convert audio files to MP3, WAV, WMA, and other formats, including QuickTime and RealMedia for the web. Create your own podcasts and streaming media, or export audio to MP3 players and other portable devices.

• NEW -- ATRAC .aa3 Format Support
• Flash (.swf) format import
• Save files to popular multimedia and Internet file formats
• Windows Media 9 import and export, RealMedia 9 export
• QuickTime 6 import and export MPEG-1&2 import*
• Export to Sony NetMD players
• Adjustable video frame rate and frame size
• Video frame display above waveform
• Edit AVI files with multiple audio streams
• Maintain perfect sync while working with full NTSC and PAL video
• Audio and video synchronization with sub-frame accuracy
• Various video and audio compression options
• Support for 24fps native DV video files 
• Video preview window

Supported Formats

• Opens: AA3, AIFF, AU, AVI, SND, DIG, SD, IVC, MP3, MPEG-1, MPEG-2*, OGG, OMA, PCA, QuickTime, RAW, SFA, VOX, W64, WAV, WMA, Windows Media
• Saves: AA3, AIFF, AU, AVI, DIG, IVC, MP3, MPEG-1, MPEG-2*, OGG, RealAudio, PCA, RAW, RealVideo, QuickTime, VOX, W64, WAV, WMA, Windows Media

* MPEG-1&2 support requires the purchase of the MainConcept MPEG plug-in.

Minimum System Requirements

• Microsoft Windows XP or Windows Vista
• 900 MHz processor
• 256 MB RAM
• 150 MB hard-disk space for program installation
• Windows-compatible sound card
• DVD-ROM drive (for installation)
• Supported CD-Recordable drive (for CD burning)
• Microsoft DirectX 9.0c or later (included on disc)

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About Sony Creative Software Products

Professional Product Line  (8/08)

Sony Creative Software develops higher-end professional tools and more entry-level consumer software for digital video, music, DVD, and audio production (www.sonycreativesoftware.com). Originally developed by Sonic Foundry, and acquired by Sony Pictured Digital in May 2003, the product line includes higher-end professional tools and more entry-level versions for consumers.

The three core professional products are Vegas for video editing, Sound Forge for audio editing, and ACID for music creation, plus the newer Cinescore for professional soundtrack creation.:

- Vegas Pro 8: Professional HD video, audio, and DVD creation
            (also includes DVD Architect 4.5)
        www.sonycreativesoftware.com/vegaspro

- Sound Forge 9: Professional digital audio production suite
        www.sonycreativesoftware.com/soundforge

- ACID Pro 6: Professional music workstation
        www.sonycreativesoftware.com/acidpro

- Cinescore: Professional soundtrack creation
        www.sonycreativesoftware.com/cinescore

Sony also hosts ACIDplanet.com as an online community for digital musicians and videographers to share and collaborate (www.acidplanet.com). The site also includes downloads of free content and ACID XPress, a free ten-track mixing and composing application.

Consumer Product Line  (8/08)

The corresponding Sony consumer tools share these names, but have been rebranded as the Home Studio line (originally Screenblast), emphasizing Movie, Audio, and Music creation, and deemphasizing the Vegas, Sound Forge, and ACID connections (www.sonycreativesoftware.com/products/studiofamily.asp):

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