Sony Sound Forge 8 With Noise Reduction 2.0 Review

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(More customer reviews)This is possibly the best 2-track editing tool on the market thus far, and without putting a hole in your pocket too. Having the opportunity to sample a "full version" of Sound Forge 8 from Sony for a 30 day period, I was immediately sold and knew sooner or later I HAVE TO have it. During the time I was evaluating Sound Forge 8, I came to realized that Sony not only let me tried out the basics but I was granted FULL permission to go skin deep and utilized every tool on this amazing software. In retrospect, I was able to clean up and re-mastered a few songs from my vinyl collection for free - up until the time it expired.
So I bought it! The reasons were all of the above - and then some...the box included 'CD Architect 5.2' & 'Noise Reduction 2.0'.
One of the reasons that I wanted this software so bad was the "Scrubbing" and "Pencil" tool. I use the features to scrub in areas where the clicks and pops or "glitches" (shown as unusual high peaks when zoomed in) and alternately using the pencil to smoothly redraw the waveform, bringing them to a stage where they are totally eliminated, and without causing destruction to the highs and lows whatsoever. These ingenious tools has allowed me to clean up my [old] vinyl records without having to use any sort of "noise reduction" to cover up the whole song compared to similar softwares on the market. It allowed me the freedom to clean/edit ONLY the parts needed and in contrast, preserved the original sound quality without any loss of frequency - all in real-time and totally non-destructive!
My conclusion: having tested a number of other similar softwares including the ever so costly "Waves Restoration Native" bundle (a technology licensed from the German based company Algorithmix's "Sound Laundry" which I also owned and use alternately) and retails for about twelve hundred bucks. Sony Sound Forge 8 is possibly the best thing as for editing and cleaning up old recordings. But this is more than just for cleaning up old vinyls, you can create different mixes; crossfades; loops and generate effects, the possibilities are endless. Noise Reduction 2.0 offers an array of different surface noise reducing preset settings with almost undetectable artifacts, but so far I haven't really use them. Also, CD Architect 5.2: not for the faint of heart, this is a nice burning tool with many professional features to tweak around (if you want to alter your music), I should state that this is a "CD mastering" software because it is exactly what it was designed and intended for. The best thing about this software is that it allows you the option to edit before you post master any CD to perfection, but the downside: it ONLY allows disc-at-once (DAO) CD burning and automatically closes or "finalize" the disc whether you burn 1 or 10 songs - regardless!
There are too many features to list and are quite complexed to use if you just want to do a "burn and go" CD. Also, if you like to master CDs and leave it open for later additions like I do, then I'll suggest using something like Nero or Roxio. Other than this minor flaw, it is a splendid software.
For me, the software is used strictly for archival purposes; for others, it's a whole new production. I combine Sound Forge 8 with Cubase SE to create the ultimate digital domain and it works wonders!Pros:
*Scrub Tool
*Pencil Tool
*ASIO (soundcard driver support) compatible for low-latency real-time response
*VST Plugin support
*CD Architect 5.2 included at no extra charge
*Noise Reduction 2.0 included at no extra charge
Cons:
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