[muso] Mac audio software.

[littlewickersham]

I'm on the lookout for a Mac equivalent to Adobe Audition/Cool Edit Pro. There's a website giving ProTools away for free, but it just won't run on my iBook. I'm sure someone's in the know on here.

A lot of people recommend Logic, but I've had a play around with it and it's just not the same......

[Danorak]

Audacity is good and it's completely free too.  
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/download/mac.  I used to use Logic to record in, but Audacity does the job really well and seems to be pretty solid too.

If you're willing to pay, then Bias Peak http://www.bias-inc.com and Wave Editor by Audiofile Engineering http://www.audiofile-engineering.com/wave_editor.php are both good.

[NoSleep]

Isn't Audacity stereo track only? I think littlewickersham is looking for multitrack audio(edit:Although the description of Audition mentions mixing and unlimited tracks it never once is decribed as a multitrack recorder in Adobe's PDF FAQ). I guess the question is 'what are you going to use it to do?'

I would have said Logic, ProTools or Cubase myself. Tracktion is another option although I've never used it (despite getting free registration about a year ago - a special offer they had going). I use Logic myself and recommend it to you again, and suggest a short time spent learning the basics and you will not want to turn back.

[didgeripoo]

I use MOTU's Digital Performer. Which kicks arse. Similar to Logic, though, in that it's a big all in one recording bastard with midi and video sync and things. Feels a lot friendlier.

[Danorak]

Isn't Audacity stereo track only?

Nope - I've just tested it with my interface and managed to record 6 mono inputs simultaneously fine.  I think it depends on what you want to do with the audio;  I tend to record short sections off vinyl, such as drum breaks and one-shot sounds , and use Audacity to do this and edit them as I've never got on too well with Logic's sample editor.

[littlewickersham]

I don't have the hardware to record more than 2 tracks at once so that's not what's important. It's just that Audition has a great multi track editor as well as a Sound Forge-ish single wav editor all in one and that's what I need.

It's mainly needed for music recording, 1 instrument at a time and also for recording and splitting up dialogue for animations. I have a pc for that stuff but it's a noisy beast due to the massive whirring fan that was supposed to be "whisper quiet" or something.

Midi is beyond me. I've fannied about with that enough times and it never ever seems to sound like anything but a crap polyphonic ringtone. Logic seems to be mainly Midi based. (Save your angry comments, I know Midi probably has infinate possibilities and can produce some great sounds but it's not for me)

I'll have a look at all the software suggested though - cheers.

[mrpants]

Yes but midi doesn't create the sounds - it just triggers them really.  If you're unhappy with how midi sounds then change the sounds you're using.

[NoSleep]

The audio multitrack side of Logic has nothing to do with it's MIDI facilities. You can record up to 64 tracks of audio (one at a time) if you want, then edit and mix them. The MIDI can be ignored... it's just note information for triggering keyboards etc, which you won't be using.

NoSleep wrote:
Isn't Audacity stereo track only?

Nope - I've just tested it with my interface and managed to record 6 mono inputs simultaneously fine. I think it depends on what you want to do with the audio; I tend to record short sections off vinyl, such as drum breaks and one-shot sounds , and use Audacity to do this and edit them as I've never got on too well with Logic's sample editor.

(Checked) You're right. Probably worth a try for free. Can you use plug-ins with it?