Any news on Adobe Audition 4?

[drjohnny79]

I see. Yes, I'm starting to understand the advantage of having an advanced single wave editor and multitrack linked together in the same app. I wonder what other programs does that? Samplitude? Maybe there are more. I'm just used to my Cubase SL3, which doesnt have alot of offline processing.

How good is the convolution fx in AA3? Is it true stereo? (can process each L/R channel individually if you have true stereo impulses)

/Johnny

[headquest]

Another unusual and novel use of the multitrack view in Audition is the multitrack effects. These are:

+ Envelope follower, which varies the output level of one waveform based on the input level of another

+ Vocoder effect, which is, well I think you know what that is
and...

+ Frequency Band Splitter. With this effect you can convert the audio from one track into up to eight seperate audio files/tracks, based on the frequency range. The applications of this are kinda interesting, ranging from scientific through to very creative.

Although the Spectral Frequency wave editing options in many respect have replaced the need for this, it is still nice to have.

Just commenting because I also think this is something that you don't normally find in the Cubase/Logic/etc hosts, but also won't find in an audio editor that lacks the multitrack options Audition has.

[BONES]

So to say that Adobe "screwed over" the programme or its developers is nonsense.

So you're suggesting that the Syntrillium guys would have gone with the Adobe standard interface from teh start if Adobe hadn't thought of it first? Get real! And I was talking about that so much as screwing Syntrillium's customers over.

Also the fact they changed the name is hardly significant here

It is if you own a valid license for Cool Edit, because it made it clear you could not upgrade from one to the other. If they had kept the name, they would have been obligated to offer an upgrade path for existing customers but when its a "new' product, they are free to screw everyone over. If they always did that, I might see some merit in thinking it was normal practice but AFAIK it is the only time they have changed the name of an acquired product.

Secondly, whenever new features are added to any programme, those who liked it previously for its leanness might think it has become bloated.

Or maybe, like CE Pro before it, it simply exceeds their needs?

In the case of Audition, Adobe/the original developers have added a simply huge amount of features, most of which are imho extreemly useful and have massively grown the programme. But yes, some might see this as bloat, and prefer a lighter programme.

Realistically, I am perfectly happy with CE2k's feature-set and my motivation for moving to SF was that it doesn't run reliably on Vista. Coupled with that is the fact that SF is several times faster at processing most of the time, which to me is far more valuable than adding new features that I don't need [everything mentioned in previous posts is just as easily done in ORION, including splitting frequency bands, and I don't see any value in rampant duplication between my host and audio editor]. I miss being able to grab individual samples and move them around with my mouse but I can achieve the same result in SF by slightly less direct means, so its not a big deal. Losing my 4-Track mixer is more of a big deal in certain situations but I can still use CE2k for that in a pinch [on my XP workstation].

audition 1 was cool edit pro

Did Adobe give it to registered users of CEPro for free or did they make them pay for nothing more than a new name?

[Optomadic]

audition 1 was cool edit pro

Did Adobe give it to registered users of CEPro for free or did they make them pay for nothing more than a new name?

NO they made us pay for WAY more than just the name change. What part of this dont you get?

Doesnt it bug you when CEP crashes all the time as is it FULL of bugs and memory leaks that Adobe fixed and dont try to say it doesnt!

[Hink]

BONES, I was like you...I really like ce2k, but then I used it just to mix to from my hard disk recorder. I think it was free for cepro users, but audition cost me 99 bux I think and that's how I got into it.

[BONES]

Here in Australia they never offered a cross-grade path for CE2k, only for CEPro. I would much rather have spent $99 on it than SF7, I can tell you but SF7 seemed like a good deal at that price, even though the upgrade to v9 cost me almost twice that.

[headquest]

Also the fact they changed the name is hardly significant here

It is if you own a valid license for Cool Edit, because it made it clear you could not upgrade from one to the other. If they had kept the name, they would have been obligated to offer an upgrade path for existing customers but when its a "new' product, they are free to screw everyone over.

There was an upgrade path from Cool Edit Pro to Audition right up to Audition 2. It was available directly from the Adobe website internationally as a download. Only with Audition 2 did they close the door to Cool Edit customers, as the amount of new stuff they had added by that point had turned it into a different programme, and they had already provided plenty of opportunity for the Cool Edit customers to come on board...

[headquest]

+ Frequency Band Splitter. With this effect you can convert the audio from one track into up to eight seperate audio files/tracks, based on the frequency range. The applications of this are kinda interesting, ranging from scientific through to very creative.

Although the Spectral Frequency wave editing options in many respect have replaced the need for this, it is still nice to have.

For the benefit of those new to Audition I would like to explain this a little better, becuase it is actually a fantastic feature that is well worth exploring.

FIrst of all a basic "how to". Simply select a range within the Arrangment, control click on a clip to select it, and from the Effects Menu select the Frequency Band Splitter effect. This will bring up a simple dialog box in which you can define the crossover points between up to eight bands, or select one of the provided presets. It takes a short while then to create the brand new tracks, each containing the audio file for one frequency band inserted at its correct time. Once the frequency bands have been turned into seperate audio tracks you can either mute or delete the original track.

Because each frequency band is now its own track, you can add insert effects via the mixer, adjust the levels independantly (which works like a graphic EQ of course), change the panning and stereo image, use send effects in the mixer, etc. This is useful with a full mixdown of programme material, but also has lots of creative uses.

Here's an example. Take a short drum loops, follow the steps above, and split it into three bands: one containing just the bass drum, one for the snare, and one for the hats. Once you have these as three seperate tracks you can do some interesting effects. For example, the bass drum can be converted to a mono file and have a small gated reverb added. Next the snare can have something like dBlue's Glitch plug added to create more weird effects. Or perhaps s short slapback delay. The hats could have an auto-pan and stereo widener. This would turn your loop into something less ordinary...!

Essentially this is a super-charged multiband effect. Instead of just having control over the eq, compression and limiting as one has with a plugin multiband, this allows for absolutely any effect or destructive edit to take place in each band.

Also each element of effecting can be tweaked and automated over time of course, and there is an immediacy and creativity about doing all this in real time using the mixer paradigm rather than destructive editing or a more simple multiband effect plugin.

As I mentioned, the same is possible using the Frequency Spectrum edit view, where you can select a frequency range and apply effects. What is preferable with the Frequency Band Splitter Effect is that you can mix the different effects in real time, rather than having to apply them, undo, tweak, apply again, etc.

Also it is fair to point out (as BONES does) that similar results can be acheived in a conventional host. In this case, the effect can be acheived by repeatedly rendering the audio file using an EQ to notch out each frequency band one by one. Obviously it is a much more time-consuming process this way though, and not necessarily something most users would think to try. The immediacy and ease of Audition's Frequency Band Splitter effect makes it something that is always present and tempting as an option!

Modular type hosts allow for something similar in real time too. For example, it is possible to set up an effects rack with five layers in Live 7, each layer defined with EQ notching. And in Reason this is possible using the Vocoder in EQ mode within a Combinator... Once again though, the Audition method is more inviting and saves lots of time.

Moving on from the Drum Loop example, hopefully those new to this idea can see how much potential this has for mastering a full mix of programme material. In this case obviously more subtle use of effects is the order of the day, but but I find using this effect is often a good way to add missing sparkle from a mix.

For those new to or considering Audition, and for those who want to try thnis method in their own sequencer, I hope this explanation is helpful.

[koolkeys]

Just as a quick thought. I was just editing some samples and discovered some odd glitchy artifacts that I hadn't heard before. Loaded up the spectral editor, applied the heal brush over a section of the view. Noise gone. Ten seconds, counting processing time, tops. No need to search and destroy what ended up being more than a specific frequency and no audible effect on the resulting audio.

Great stuff.

Brent

[Ozpeter]

Bones, see http://web.archive.org/web/200308210044 ... llium.html for the original upgrade offers - but as pointed out above, the offer has closed. The offer from CE2K to Audition 1 was, I'm pretty sure, cheaper than the Syntrillum upgrade cost from CE2K to CEPro, or the same.

I'm not sure we've said much about the healing brush above, but it's not any kind of "filter" - it involves some very sophisticated interpolation of the sound from either side of the brush stroke.

The frequency band splitting to separate tracks does make things very easy to visualise - but I suspect that Voxengo has a freeware equivalent in ...

"Overtone GEQ is a 7-band harmonic (overtone) graphic equalizer with multi-channel support (supporting up to 8 input/output channels, host setup dependent: if you are using audio host application that conforms to VST specification of version below 2.3, 2 plug-in channels will be available only). Overtone GEQ offers extensive internal channel routing capabilities, and supports mid/side processing."

I miss being able to grab individual samples and move them around with my mouse

No need to miss it as Wavosaur does that for free, I 'discovered' the other day - and simple interpolation for click removal too.

[Optomadic]

Just as a quick thought. I was just editing some samples and discovered some odd glitchy artifacts that I hadn't heard before. Loaded up the spectral editor, applied the heal brush over a section of the view. Noise gone. Ten seconds, counting processing time, tops. No need to search and destroy what ended up being more than a specific frequency and no audible effect on the resulting audio.

Great stuff.

Brent

Seems to me that the only thing that even comes close to this is Izotope RX.

[Bevoss]

FIrst of all a basic "how to". Simply select a range within the Arrangment, control click on a clip to select it, and from the Effects Menu select the Frequency Band Splitter effect. This will bring up a simple dialog box in which you can define the crossover points between up to eight bands, or select one of the provided presets. It takes a short while then to create the brand new tracks, each containing the audio file for one frequency band inserted at its correct time. Once the frequency bands have been turned into seperate audio tracks you can either mute or delete the original track.

Because each frequency band is now its own track, you can add insert effects via the mixer, adjust the levels independantly (which works like a graphic EQ of course), change the panning and stereo image, use send effects in the mixer, etc. This is useful with a full mixdown of programme material, but also has lots of creative uses.

Here's an example. Take a short drum loops, follow the steps above, and split it into three bands: one containing just the bass drum, one for the snare, and one for the hats. Once you have these as three seperate tracks you can do some interesting effects. For example, the bass drum can be converted to a mono file and have a small gated reverb added. Next the snare can have something like dBlue's Glitch plug added to create more weird effects. Or perhaps s short slapback delay. The hats could have an auto-pan and stereo widener. This would turn your loop into something less ordinary...!

Essentially this is a super-charged multiband effect. Instead of just having control over the eq, compression and limiting as one has with a plugin multiband, this allows for absolutely any effect or destructive edit to take place in each band.

Also each element of effecting can be tweaked and automated over time of course, and there is an immediacy and creativity about doing all this in real time using the mixer paradigm rather than destructive editing or a more simple multiband effect plugin.

As I mentioned, the same is possible using the Frequency Spectrum edit view, where you can select a frequency range and apply effects. What is preferable with the Frequency Band Splitter Effect is that you can mix the different effects in real time, rather than having to apply them, undo, tweak, apply again, etc.

Also it is fair to point out (as BONES does) that similar results can be acheived in a conventional host. In this case, the effect can be acheived by repeatedly rendering the audio file using an EQ to notch out each frequency band one by one. Obviously it is a much more time-consuming process this way though, and not necessarily something most users would think to try. The immediacy and ease of Audition's Frequency Band Splitter effect makes it something that is always present and tempting as an option!

Thanks HQ, great tutorial!

A question: if I was to open an item copy from Reaper in Audition using the external editor function, and I guess drag the file to the multitrack and effect it as per your tutorial, can you then save it as the opened file? Do you have a method for when opening a file from Sonar or Live in Audition's multitrack?

It sounds like maybe exporting it (after effecting) and then paste as a new take from the media explorer would work, but saving it would be faster (if it's possible.

Cheers

Btw is the demo crippled at all?

[headquest]

Thanks HQ, great tutorial!

Hi Bevoss. NP

A question: if I was to open an item copy from Reaper in Audition using the external editor function, and I guess drag the file to the multitrack and effect it as per your tutorial, can you then save it as the opened file? Do you have a method for when opening a file from Sonar or Live in Audition's multitrack?

It sounds like maybe exporting it (after effecting) and then paste as a new take from the media explorer would work, but saving it would be faster (if it's possible.

Cheers

It's tricky but possible. Within the multitrack view, once you have split the frequency bands, you would need to make a note of the original file name, then delete that, bounce down the mix of the seperated files to a new file, then rename that to the name of the original clip you imported (from Live).

In order to use the ASIO drivers in Audition you would also need to disable them in Live first (which is done by double clicking over the CPU bar at the top right of the interface, in case you didn't know that tip).

I think that the process is probably similar with REAPER. I can't comment on Sonar though ... I used that for a few months after receiving a promotional copy, but it didn't really click with me in terms of workflow, so I've not kept it. Each to their own of course.

On balance it might be easier to just open the file in Audition standalone.

Btw is the demo crippled at all?

No, except that the loop content is not included. You can use the demo fully, including save, export, etc. The only limitation is that it times out after 30 days IIRC.

I hope this helps, and if you do try the Audition demo feel free to ask any questions here or via PM. Ditto if you need advice setting up an Ableton effects rack to do this splitting thing

[Bevoss]

Cheers for that! I'm only using Reaper, for some reason I thought you used Sonar as well as Live so I was just seeing how you handled it.

Btw I made up an autohotkey script mapped to Capslock & C, that copies the file name of the item in Reaper after I 'render as new take'...then I'll hit 'E' to open it up in Audition, and try effecting and then exporting, and paste the name in when prompted and overwrite.

If this works I'll ask Xenakios if he'll include 'Copy Filename' in his Extension Plugin natively.

Also I should be able to feed the audio into Reaper via ReaRoute, to save disabling Reaper's device.

[Optomadic]

Bevoss I loves me some ahk !