Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

Lebodde · May 16, 2003, 11:02 PM

I need to do a simple audio edit job this weekend. I have to edit a radio show I recorded. I believe it is in aiff right now. I just need to be able to do simple cuts and dissolves. Four tracks max. I would like to have a waveform display which always makes editing a lot easier.

It needs to be OS X. Any suggestions?

Thank you very much for any help.

symonsl · May 17, 2003, 02:49 PM

Originally posted by Lebodde:
I need to do a simple audio edit job this weekend. I have to edit a radio show I recorded. I believe it is in aiff right now. I just need to be able to do simple cuts and dissolves. Four tracks max. I would like to have a waveform display which always makes editing a lot easier.

It needs to be OS X. Any suggestions?

Thank you very much for any help.

Spark ME is free and simple. I don't think you can do more than two tracks at once, though:

http://www.tcworks.de/home/content/e...E_X/render_doc

gatorparrots · May 18, 2003, 12:19 AM

Cacophony is $25 and supports up to sixteen tracks. It uses the well-regarded SoX for its effects processing.
http://www.bannister.org/software/cacophony.htm

If you can stand booting into OS 9, Pro Tools Free (8 tracks) is a really good option as well.
http://www.digidesign.com/products/p...roduct_id=2040

buddhabelly · May 18, 2003, 04:31 PM

audacity is a multitrack editor. free. search sourceforge.net for it. it can use VST effects plugins too.

Jim Paradise · May 19, 2003, 08:30 AM

Originally posted by buddhabelly:
audacity is a multitrack editor. free. search sourceforge.net for it. it can use VST effects plugins too.

Definitely get Audacity! ^_^

Lebodde · May 19, 2003, 11:43 AM

Thanks very much guys.

I downloaded and tested Peak and SparkME over the weekend. Both seem to be nice programs but neither is multitrack. I just need 4 tracks so I can dissolve from one recording to another.

Unfortunately while SparkME looks pretty cool, its tryout version does not have any documentation which makes it pretty useless. Peak worked out fairly well although it is only 2 tracks. Although I think you can dissolve between track using their playlist editor. But it's a little less intuitive than seing the tracks side by side as in AfterEffects or Premiere.

I will try and download Audacity tonight.

Thanks very much again.

buddhabelly · May 19, 2003, 11:54 AM

Originally posted by Lebodde:
Thanks very much guys.

I downloaded and tested Peak and SparkME over the weekend. Both seem to be nice programs but neither is multitrack. I just need 4 tracks so I can dissolve from one recording to another.

Unfortunately while SparkME looks pretty cool, its tryout version does not have any documentation which makes it pretty useless. Peak worked out fairly well although it is only 2 tracks. Although I think you can dissolve between track using their playlist editor. But it's a little less intuitive than seing the tracks side by side as in AfterEffects or Premiere.

I will try and download Audacity tonight.

Thanks very much again.

What exactly are you doing? Do you want to build a cd that crossfades from one song to another? I'm a little confused.

Lebodde · May 19, 2003, 12:47 PM

As I mentioned in my original post, I am editing a radio show I recorded. I need to cut a bunch of stuff out. Most of it is simple cuts but in some instances I need to crossfade from one part to the next in order to smooth out the cuts.

buddhabelly · May 19, 2003, 02:50 PM

Originally posted by Lebodde:
As I mentioned in my original post, I am editing a radio show I recorded. I need to cut a bunch of stuff out. Most of it is simple cuts but in some instances I need to crossfade from one part to the next in order to smooth out the cuts.

If that's the case, you don't need a multitrack editor. I'm going to guess that the file was recorded in stereo, so Peak would probably be my choice. You can cut the show down to a bunch of seperate segments, and then build a playlist of all the segments in order. Then just string 'em together. I believe Peak has a crossfade filter.

Alternatively, if you want to go totally free, you can make all the cuts in Audacity, save the files with names that are sequential (should probably do the same for Peak), load them into iTunes and use its crossfade filter. You should be able to set the preferences for when you burn an audio CD to put no pause between the tracks and apply the crossfades to the final CD.

I think that'll work. Hope this helps.