Those unfamiliar with the application can play catch-up via the SOS web site, where they can read previous reviews from the May 1996, November 2001, September 2002 and June 2005 issues. There is little point is spending too much time here revisiting Sound Forge 's core features. Given the combination of software and plug-ins provided, Sony's use of the phrase 'Digital Audio Production Suite' to describe it would seem to sum things up quite nicely. The combined prices of the Izotope plug-ins, CD Architect and the Noise Reduction plug-ins, when bought individually, is well in excess of the price of Sound Forge itself, so the bundle would seem to represent good value for money. Also included in the bundle are Sony's CD Architect (v5.2) and Noise Reduction (v2.0). Users of Sony's Vegas or Acid Pro will know that these applications have had multi-channel audio capabilities for some time, so Sony clearly have some expertise in the area, and it would seem to make very good sense to provide users of these applications with a true editing environment to work in.Īmongst the other new features of this release are further reworking of the user interface, an improved range of metering options and a bundle of 'mastering' effects supplied by Izotope. Nearly two years later, Sony have released version 9 of Sound Forge - and guess what's top of the 'new feature' list? Yep, support for surround sound: or, more accurately, comprehensive support for the recording, editing and output of multi-channel audio. Alan's key criticism was the lack of support for surround sound formats. Alan Tubbs reviewed version 8 back in the June 2005 issue of SOS, and was suitably impressed with the refinements to the user interface and new features such as VST and ASIO support. I'm a big fan of Wavelab 's Audio Montage features, but for straight editing tasks I've always had a personal preference for Sound Forge. And when it comes to sophisticated audio editing - on the PC at least - two applications really dominate: Sony's Sound Forge and Steinberg's Wavelab. However good your DAW is at tweaking and trimming audio files, sophisticated audio editing is not really what a MIDI + Audio sequencer is really about.

Sony's Sound Forge is one of the best-known stereo editing packages around, and version 9 brings a new world of multi-channel editing possibilities.

Sony sound forge audio studio 9 review