What's Your Sound Effects Library Search App of Choice?

[dix]

I'm curious what Search apps people here are using. [sry this is sort of a x-post from Gearslutz and VI-Control]

Just as I decided I'd had it with AudioFinder and was considering biting the, rather expensive, bullet and buying SoundMiner ($200 to $900!) Pro Sound Effects released a new search app called SEARCH. At $100 Search looks pretty good, but I'm not sure I want to get in bed with a version 1.0 app that needs to wrangle a large complicated database

I tried demos of Search and SoundMiner and among the things I like more in these apps than AudioFinder is the ability to select and drag sections of the waveform in the apps directly to DP. Even if the selection is pitch shifted, the shifted audio is dragged in. With AudioFinder you have to create a new audio file from the selection, pitch shift that if needed, and drag that into the DAW. Also, with Search and SM you can select just one channel of the audio to drag in as a mono audio file - though you have to buy a $649 version of SoundMiner for that feature! With Search you can have Favorites folders like you can in AudioFinder, while with the $200 dollar SoundMiner HD you can not - you have to get a $400 Soundminer HD+ for that.

A couple other factors. For me, I'd need to upgrade my OS to a newer, less DP-snappy, version to use Search, which only runs on MacOS 12 and up (I tested on a Mojave volume). And, whereas SoundMiner is expensive, it's more of an industry standard. Also, all of SM's wonderfulness and value may not be immediately apparent just messing around with the demo. Based on my brief trials SM and Search seem pretty close in terms of features that I want.

I'm guessing there's other apps out there too I should consider. Please let me know what you use and recommend. Thx!

https://www.prosoundeffects.com/search/

[MIDI Life Crisis]

Does seem pricey to me as well. Unfortunately, I don't subscribe to these libraries.

About 12 years ago I was at the Brand Library in Glendale (hey specialize in fine art and music. If you're ever in Glendale or the L.A. area, I highly recommend a visit, but I digress...)

There was a sound FX CD in their SALE box. It looked semi professionally useful and at $3, why not? The head librarian happened by the desk as I was paying and noticed I bought the disc. He asked if i was interested in sounds (duh...). He brought out a huge box of CDs. The one I bought came from the box (first one out), But there were dozens of sets. He asked for and got $200 for the whole shebang.

It sat in the studio for about 2 weeks before I could really go thru them. All high end discs from Lucas Film, Hannah Barbera, The General, etc. In all, about 100GB (in MP3 format to save space on my HD). The original CDs are, of course, AIFF files that probably approach 750GB. I did some research and it ends up that the whole thing is sold as a package to production companies. That particular package was sold at the time for $18k! Whaaaaaat!

It gets better, CDDB kicked in on every disc, providing extensive title and content information. So getting back to your original question, my sfx search app is the Finder. Sound design has never been so easy!

[dix]

Ha! Yes, the Finder isn't a bad search tool for searching file names. But part of the reason libraries are so expensive these days is that they're embedded with extensive meta data, that search apps use, that makes searches a lot more flexible and productive. My library is currently just shy of a TB. Small compared to "real" sound designers libraries, but still quite a bit to manage.

As I get more sound design work I'm learning how important the search app is. And not just for searching meta data. The operations I mention above are really helpful. The ability to pitch shift effects while browsing is a big deal. A lot of the sound effects I import have been pitch shifted to some degree. Also, being able to crop out sections (of long ambiences for example) so I'm not importing unneeded audio is important.

I bought AudioFinder ($60) to avoid paying for SoundMiner. While Search looks great, I'm wondering if I'm making the same mistake again if I buy it...if I'm going to buy SM eventually I might as well start now and avoid the $100 fee I'd give to Search to find out I actually need SoundMiner!

...I advise caution using those acquired sound effects MLC. Especially the ones from Hanna Barbara! We all (of a certain age I suppose) know the sound Fred Flintstone's feet make when he runs.

[MIDI Life Crisis]

I never create designs (or music) intentionally derivative of iconic sounds or works and always strive to create something unique, original, and hopefully, progressive musically. Fact is, even with the extensive sfx lib, more often than not I create my own sounds.

My current project in that area is for an art exhibit opening on Catalina Island in July. It's a massive event (think: two dance companies, a choral group, me and my violinist, and about 300 audience/performer/participants - drones, live video feeds, time lapse photography [also live feed] did i mention CRAZY MAN! lol ).

My source material for the sound design is recordings of birds from the island that have gone extinct (along with a good dose of original music, of course). I used IRCAM TS to process the sounds, then imported into DP to reduce artifacts and master the recordings I'll use in performance.

BTW, can't recommend this software highly enough:

https://www.audioease.com/download/?Mjg2NDUyMzMz

You can (at least) playback from the Finder at 50% speed and (optionally) effect pitch or not. It's not perfect if you want to drop 3 octaves but at least give a starting point to assess if a sound might work pitch shifted.

I just downloaded the new 3.0 beta and it works find under Sierra.6.

[dix]

This Catalina project sounds amazing MLC! What fun!

Yes, for artistic projects I rarely need a search app like SoundMiner, but for less creative straight forward, deadline tv/theatrical-style sound design (cup-downs, car-bys, walla etc) a search app is a necessity. Often I end up spending a quarter of my time or more working the meta searches and auditioning sounds.

I’m starting see reviews that approve of Search. SoundMiner rules the roost (I don’t any sound designers that don’t use it). It’l be interesting to see if Search gets a foothold.

[RevBob23]

I use Sound Miner, and have been for nearly a decade.
Note, that pretty much the cheapest version is all you need.
For example,
I use it for search, creating go to libraries by type, quick edit and grab, and marking off fav choice for a source and comparing.
The most basic version of Soundminer HD does this all great no need to the other versions unless you share licenses with a huge productions studio, are pulling sound fx from a server or shared storage, or need to get into music licensing.
Look at the pricing options and clearly at features, low ball it and choose the cheapest that will cover what you need. You can always upgrade later if you need more.

[Michael Canavan]

So anyone owning Iced Audio AudioFinder, good news, sort of. The developer posted a brief message, and torched the Iced Audio forum. So great, looks like AudioFinder will make it to Apple Silicon, but suck, the developer has pulled and community reaction to that announcement. Good program anyway, glad it's finally being worked on again after a year or so of no news.

https://icedaudio.com/main/?p=496

[dix]

That is good news, but I set aside AF because the development, and its developer has been so erratic for so long. AudioFinder’s bang for the buck really can’t be beat though. The next closest option is hundreds of dollars more.

[Michael Canavan]

That is good news, but I set aside AF because the development, and its developer has been so erratic for so long. AudioFinder’s bang for the buck really can’t be beat though. The next closest option is hundreds of dollars more.

Yeah agreed, it's been about three years since anything has been done with it, but it's super useful for what it does. In other news Sononym is in beta for Apple Silicon. As far as audio searching it's probably the best. The only competition is XO really, and that's specifically for drums.

[bayswater]

Is AudioEaser Snapper an alternative? They claim to support Silicon, but don't say if it's native. The youtube linked here says you can drag directly into DP, although the support page doesn't mention it

https://www.audioease.com/snapper/

[dix]

Snapper is indeed AS native, but it's a Finder extension utility, not a library database app like AudioFinder....that said, you can do a lot just using the Finder, Spotlight etc. searching sound effects.

Per the OP, these days I'm mostly using SoundQ as a sound effects database. It's AS native and gets updated frequently (3 updates in May). It's dead simple and rather bare bones, but it nearly has all the functionality I need.