Hi - I'm looking for a program with roughly the equivalent functionality of Sonic Foundry's SoundForge. Emphasis is on sound manipulation (EQ, compression, sweetening, etc.) and also on conversion to different audio formats including ADPCM compression, etc.

I am working on a project that requires manipulating high quality monophonic voice files into voice files that sound as good as possible in a target environment which is ROM limited and audio challegened.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Batch processing capabilities would be nice to have as well.

Thanks,

DP

I think both Bias Peak 3.1 and Spark XL 2.5 would fit your bill. Both are very high quality sound editing and mastering tools. My preference is on Spark, mainly because I´m used to it. Try both, there´s LE versions of both programs. Websites should be www.bias-inc.com and www.tcworks.de

Filarion said it all, but remember you'll have to invest in good VST plugins (or TDM, it depends on your environment) to perform quality eqs and compressions, etc.
For just pre-mastering, have a look to T-Racks by ik-multimedia
For just converting to different formats, have a look to SoundApp (freeware!)
Bye.

the only thing to add here is that i've used peak AND spark extensively, and in my opinion spark is the best of the two.
batch processing in spark is INCREDIBLE! a joy.
i could start talking about barbabatch, audacity, cacophony etc but i won't.
spark is the dogs...

Thanks to all - this is a good place to start. I hadn't heard of Spark before...

Dan

True, spark is quite good, and it has some unique features, like the varispeed, great tool. And the VST Matrix is nice, too (a bit like vbox).
Damann, what do you think about its dithering algorithms? When switching from 24 bits to 16, or from 48kHz to 44.1 for example? Did you compare peak & spark results on this point?
Bye.

hi yukulele,
i only really use spark for editing, processing samples, you know, load in the snare track from a live kit, cut out the best hits, create samples etc.
the results have always sounded good enough, but the very nature of reducing the bit rate or sample rate of a piece of audio is never gonna be the most pleasing thing to the ears.
i use logic to dither mixes, at the point i bounce a finished mix to disk, i turn dithering on. this has always been good enough, but logic 5 now has a new algorythm for this called powr dithering, it sounds noticeably better than results from logic 4x.
on the basis that peak is developed by the berklee institute, i would expect very good algorythms, my problem with peak is minor.

it's always been a bit "buggy", and it's not as intuitive as spark, therefore a little slow to use. you have to admit that the batch processing in spark is incredibly fast, well designed, and a pleasure to use...