Mac Audio trimming / fading software

[TomHoward]

Afternoon all

 

I am doing some editing of sound files to be used in presentations, they are generally snippets that need taking from recordings / tracks etc, often as a demonstration.

Logic is clearly capable of this, but does anyone know of a faster utility-style program that is quicker than opening logic, importing, trimming, adding a region fade or automation fade, and bouncing?

 

I'm thinking of something like the Video Trim control in Quicktime which I use for trimming the videos - although this can't do a fade to black it isn't as much of a problem with video. With audio edits they just sound nasty when the stop suddenly.

Something like the time and loops page in QLab (where you can add the fades and trim the length) but that allowed me to directly export again as a new file.

 

Opening the audio file in Quicktime and trimming is 95% of what I am trying to do, in terms of speed and simplicity, but I doesn't give any fading options.

 

Thanks, Tom

[azlan]

Do you need to destructively edit the files (ie create new copies that can be moved to other programs, computers etc?) if not then qlab (assuming you are on a mac) will let you very quickly add start and finish points to a track, as well as add fade ins and outs as needed.

 

Otherwise, most wave editors (wavelab, waveosaur, Adobe audition) should be able to do the edits you need very quickly, as they edit destructively in real time, so no bouncing or automation Needed

[MarkPAman]

Adobe Audition - now part of the Creative Suite. Easily the best editor for stereo I've ever used (and still not too shabby for multitrack).

 

Create fades by dragging a marker - takes a fraction of a second.

 

Pretty sure there's still a free trial available.

[Oldradiohand]

...or Audacity, Auditions older, simpler and free brother. Google will find it.

[J Pearce]

I use Audacity all the time for little bits like this, much quicker to get it done than loading Audition or a full DAW package.

[azlan]

Adobe Audition - now part of the Creative Suite. Easily the best editor for stereo I've ever used (and still not too shabby for multitrack).

 

Create fades by dragging a marker - takes a fraction of a second.

 

Pretty sure there's still a free trial available.

 

It's part of creative cloud now, so it's a 30 day trial followed By monthly subscriptions unless you can find a retailer that still sells the older 'creative suite' versions

[TomHoward]

I'm talking about destructive edits, as they are snippets of audio to be put into Powerpoint / Keynote presentations. In the same way as Keynote/Powerpoint have built in editors for cropping images, there's no such facility for start & end points of playback, and I'm just trying to do these edits in as few mouse clicks as possible, as I have to do a good few of them.

 

The best I've found so far after playing with it for an afternoon is http://www.ocenaudio.com.br - load, drag track into window, and you can drag out a region and trim to it, and drag out a fade length and apply fade.

If it weren't for wanting to do the fade, Quicktime Player trims audio in the same way as it trims video.

[sleepytom]

http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/soundforgesoftware is my audio editor of choice.

[richardash1981]

The best I've found so far after playing with it for an afternoon is http://www.ocenaudio.com.br - load, drag track into window, and you can drag out a region and trim to it, and drag out a fade length and apply fade.

If it weren't for wanting to do the fade, Quicktime Player trims audio in the same way as it trims video.

 

You can do the same with Audacity. Edit > Trim to remove all except the selected audio. Effects > Fade In/Out to fade selection, or use the envelope tool to do more complex level changes as required. Imports through QuickTime on Mac, so can load whatever Quicktime can load. File > Export to export audio at end. Most of these have (or can have set in the preferences) keyboard shortcuts to speed things up.

[Bobbsy]

Adobe Audition - now part of the Creative Suite. Easily the best editor for stereo I've ever used (and still not too shabby for multitrack).

 

Create fades by dragging a marker - takes a fraction of a second.

 

Pretty sure there's still a free trial available.

 

It's part of creative cloud now, so it's a 30 day trial followed By monthly subscriptions unless you can find a retailer that still sells the older 'creative suite' versions

 

I'm another long time Audition user and find it the best editor around.

 

You can download the trial version HERE.

 

As was said, if you decide to keep it, the monthly subscription is about $20 (though there are deals sometimes).

 

However, if you want to buy it, you don't need to find a retailer with an old version. You can still buy Audition CS6 (the last version before the Creative Cloud) from the Adobe site. (No link because it takes me to a page with Australian pricing, not much good to you, but a bit of searching for Audition CS6 on the Adobe site should get it for you.

 

For what the OP wants, the free Audacity MAY be enough, though I find I usually end up wanting more than Audacity can do. However, I'm curious about reference to Audacity being faster to load than other DAWS. I just did a test and Audition opened for me in six second while Audacity took over five...i.e. practically nothing in it.

[J Pearce]

I can only try both on the work laptop, which isn't fast but isn't sluggish either, and Audition takes at least twice as long as Audacity. Certainly audacity is far more forgiving to low powered systems.

[s1ater]

I use Fission to do this sort of stuff quicky

 

http://rogueamoeba.com/fission/