Best 2 track audio editor?

[zed]

Lossless is an odd term to apply to editing of AAC and MP3 files. Does that mean it edits them directly instead of converting to SD II, AIFF etc.? I'm pretty sure DSP Quattro converts MP3s to the default file format in the preferences.

With Mp3 files it can damage the area right around where you make deletions if you erase part of an information packet. But the point is that it never rewrites the actual content of the file, so you can save it thousands of times without any degradation, as opposed to file conversions where the data is morphed and modified to meet the new specifications.

If you were using plugin effects to modify your audio file it could not be lossless because everything would have to be recalculated. But for simple edits, the only thing that changes are the start and stop points of the data, and the information that determines the volume of the sound bytes. I like to know my files will not lose any quality, whenever that is possible. Fission keeps the Mp3 files in Mp3 format while editing.

[mhschmieder]

I made the mistake of starting my evaluation period of Wavelab 7 last month and then as usual having unexpected things affect my schedule. Thus I was in a made rush to evaluate it late Saturday night before the 30-day demo expired.

I am going to stick with BIAS Peak Pro. I simply find the interface -- as odd as it is at times -- easier to navigate for the stuff I most frequently use a two-track editor for, which is mastering a final mix.

Wavelab is probably way more advanced when it comes to preparing a CD Master for mass production, and other such stuff. And it has interesting alternate views while playing back audio, with a zoom window below that can be set to a DIFFERENT view on the waveform data.

With more evaluation time, I might have decided to add Wavelab to my arsenal (just as I did with Wave Editor a few years ago). But having used it for a few hours for BASIC mastering tasks, I found several things about it that annoyed me to no end:

1. Audio Units are not supported; only VST
2. iZotope Ozone goes all glitchy and doesn't show its full GUI (a repaint problem?)
3. Canceling or exiting without a save is slightly indirect, slowing down workflow
4. Undo/Redo doesn't seem to capture the full set of actions as it does in Peak

Bear in mind that the Ozone problem may not be Steinberg's fault, and that the UNDO issues may just mean that I missed some "semantic undo" options in the app. An example of "semantic undo" is when "select" (e.g. Photoshop mouse selection) is coupled with "deselect" and "reselect" instead of being part of "undo" as in "undo select" and "redo select".

Yet Wavelab has a rich feature set and may well be more detailed in some of its features. I simply came away with the usual suspicion that the Mac version (as with Cubase) isn't given the full attention and thus could be a bigger risk for ongoing compatibility (including with plug-ins, such as Ozone) than Mac-specific apps such as Peak.

BTW Peak is almost always on sale anymore as well, and is on sale right now as well as probably offering cross-grades from competing products (even including free ones?).

Wave Editor is also usually on sale, and cheap to start with. I don't use it as much now that I have iZotope RX2 Advanced, as that app includes many of the advanced SRC and dithering algorithms that I was using Wave Editor for to start with (including some of the resampling algorithms for time stretching and other such corrections and modifications of legacy files that may have a tempo mismatch or other audio ID problem).

The one warning I have about Wave Editor is that it is EXTREMELY slow to start up, if you have ANY new or updated plug-ins that need to be verified and authorized.

[Michael Canavan]

The one warning I have about Wave Editor is that it is EXTREMELY slow to start up, if you have ANY new or updated plug-ins that need to be verified and authorized.

DSP Quattro starts up instantly. I have it set up as my "open with" for audio files.
At $99 seems like DSPQ is way ahead in terms of function VS price.

[sayatnova]

FWIW: I also was looking at 2-track editors. I own PEAK and have since version 2, or so. There are things I really like about it or am used to. However, one thing that makes me really annoyed is that due to PEAK not able to display "cocoa coded" plugins (I don't remember exactly what the tech support said), all of my most recent PSP plugs show-up as just a set of numbers and values with no GUI... I was told to down-grade the plugs if I wanted to see the actual PSP interface. Not acceptable. I use PSP plugs quite a bit. So, now I don't really use PEAK anymore (even the latest upgrade will not show the PSP plugsd completely so I am not upgrading). Fortunately, DP has no problem displaying the PSP plugs correctly!

This may or may not help in weighing the pros and cons of varying 2-track editors.

Take care.

[Michael Canavan]

However, one thing that makes me really annoyed is that due to PEAK not able to display "cocoa coded" plugins (I don't remember exactly what the tech support said), all of my most recent PSP plugs show-up as just a set of numbers and values with no GUI...

Yeah DSP Quattro 3 has that issue, but the 4 beta doesn't. It's public what DSPQ 4 has feature wise so no NDA broken.

http://macosxaudio.com/forums/viewtopic ... 30#p377230" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Armageddon]

I abandoned Peak a few years back and went with Wave Editor -- it's about one-fifth the price of Peak and pretty much has all the same features and editing controls. My only gripe with Wave Editor is that it's a bit less intuitive than Peak (instead of simply opening a file and immediately getting to work, you have to do a little bit of extra navigation around the "Layers" feature, which is set up a lot like Adobe's similar feature in a lot of their product), but once you get used to that, it works out just as well. You might also want to consider Amadeus Pro, which is even cheaper than Wave Editor, but slightly clunkier to work with.

[David Polich]

Bias Peak 6.x user here. Haven't moved to Peak Studio but I think they
fixed the Cocoa plug-ins issue with that version.

I had DSP Quattro for awhile, but have to agree their support is next to
nonexistent, and I stopped bothering with updating it and went back to Peak.

[Michael Canavan]

Bias Peak 6.x user here. Haven't moved to Peak Studio but I think they
fixed the Cocoa plug-ins issue with that version.

I had DSP Quattro for awhile, but have to agree their support is next to
nonexistent, and I stopped bothering with updating it and went back to Peak.

Funny, I've mostly gotten a reply in 24 hours from Stefano? Not that I don't believe you, DSPQ is basically a one man operation from what I can tell. Peak is a much larger business for sure, but you pay 5 times as much for that, $499 VS normally$129.

[bayswater]

Bias Peak 6.x user here. Haven't moved to Peak Studio but I think they
fixed the Cocoa plug-ins issue with that version.

I had DSP Quattro for awhile, but have to agree their support is next to
nonexistent, and I stopped bothering with updating it and went back to Peak.

Funny, I've mostly gotten a reply in 24 hours from Stefano? Not that I don't believe you, DSPQ is basically a one man operation from what I can tell. Peak is a much larger business for sure, but you pay 5 times as much for that, $499 VS normally$129.

Same here. I've requested support a few times over the years since the start of V2 and had a reply from Stefano same or next day. I don't know how he keeps up with it, and keeps cranking out the updates.

[Armageddon]

Bias Peak 6.x user here. Haven't moved to Peak Studio but I think they
fixed the Cocoa plug-ins issue with that version.

I think that was a lot of the problem I was having with Peak when I decided to switch to Wave Editor. Certain plugs behaved glitchy in Peak, especially their GUIs. Some of that may have been resolved with the respective plugs' updates, but I think a few still had some problems, even after the switch to UB (I don't use VSTs for any reason). Since Wave Editor was done natively in Cocoa from Day One, I don't think it ever had those issues. Added bonus: Wave Editor uses iZotope MBit+ SRC and dithering.

[rhythm_kitchen]

Re wavelab. I would search the DUC poweruser: John_Toolbox regarding Wavelab on a MacPro. He has found a very annoying bug.

[mhschmieder]

Audiofile Engineering is changing the name of Wave Editor to Triumph with version 2, which is on its way shortly:

Wave Editor 2: Coming Soon, New Name!

You've been patiently waiting and we're excited to announce that the long-awaited feature update of Wave Editor is coming very soon! As the app has been rewritten from the ground up, we felt it needed a new name. And so, without further ado, we're excited to announce that Wave Editor is now called Triumph!

Users who have purchased Wave Editor 1.5 on or after May 1st, 2012 will receive a free upgrade to Triumph 2.0. Triumph is coming soon, so check out our Triumph Frequently Asked Questions to learn more. We're very excited about Triumph and we know you'll love it!

http://www.audiofile-engineering.com/su ... book&id=54

[mikehalloran]

From my perspective i3/ DSP Quattro has no actual marketing whatsoever. They received a few great reviews a couple of years ago and then it seems to have disappeared in the marketplace.
Generally users who have it love it,for me it's been an elusive puzzle.
I originally got it to burn CDs, never got my head around it and forgot about it.
I guess I need to reexamine it again.
For me it has to be the most puzzling piece of software I have, never figured out & never actually used. lol
i3 used to have a active presence on another forum but here in the USA the last few years they seem to have become invisible.
I also wish i3 had a more informative manual.
My next side project will be to learn how to use it & figure this out.
maybe it's not drummer friendly;)

The upgrade to v.4 is $19 - may be worth checking out.

[aculver]

Adobe Audition.

Not from an expected source (I never would have looked at it if it were not in a bundle our designers use). But it has excellent audio, many good plugins (some for mastering by Izotope), and is among the best software out there of any kind for sample rate conversions (see src.infinitewave.ca). Has all the usual editing features, and the visuals (as you would expect from Adobe) are really good.

[billf]

Adobe Audition.

Not from an expected source (I never would have looked at it if it were not in a bundle our designers use). But it has excellent audio, many good plugins (some for mastering by Izotope), and is among the best software out there of any kind for sample rate conversions (see src.infinitewave.ca). Has all the usual editing features, and the visuals (as you would expect from Adobe) are really good.

I'm currently looking at Audition. I recently received it as part of my CS6 upgrade, and though it is aimed at working with Premiere, given that I have to find a replacement for Peak, I'm hopeful Audition will fit the bill.