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Opinions on the new Adobe Audition

New Here ,
Apr 28, 2011 Apr 28, 2011

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Please do not mistake this thread for a dupe of the other thread of a similar topic, I'd like to give a more in depth opinion of the new version of Audition compared to its predecessor.

For the past five years I have spent many hours of most days experimenting with audio, specifically audio restoration. I tried countless other applications before discovering Audition and none could offer what I was looking for. When I did discover Audition (version 3), about 3 years ago, it is one of the very few pieces of software I have since installed on every computer I use. It was extremely easy to use whilst having an incredible array of functions. The help manual was extremely comprehensive, giving detailed instructions and explanation of every single option in Audition, this alone I thought deserves praise. The program constantly delighted me; it seemed tailored to the needs of someone who would be using it to its full potential. I was constantly discovering new levels of potential that Audition offered and it has been the invaluable in allowing me to provide much needed audio restoration for vinyl rips of tunes that would otherwise become lost forever. With all that Audition v3 offered I could master even the worst, hiss-filled, click-ridden, muffled vinyl rips to recordings that would sound perfectly acceptable to be released on professional CDs.

I could not fault Audition v3, but I could, however, think of improvements, albeit very few. For years I eagerly awaited a new version and now it has arrived, I have to admit I am a quite disappointed.

The improvements that I had hoped would have been applied, have not. Instead, it seems to be a basic edition of version 3 except with a makeover. It does indeed work slightly faster, for example, instead of taking 6-7 seconds to load a track in version 3, it only seems to take 3-4 in version 4. Unfortunately this is about the only thing I can praise it for. The layout is unnecessarily complicated. I always valued audition for its extremely ergonomic layout, making it an extremely unconfusing application to work with. The new layout is clustered and unnecessary. I appreciate that I can alter the layout to what I would like, but it's unnecessary hassle to have to make it usable - I have never had to alter the layout of version 3 from its default. The available effects of the new version are the same as the old version, this alone was a little disheartening as I was anticipating numerous new abilities, but I can't really think of what else could be added, so I overlooked this. I can't, however, overlook that the processes are far more basic than what they were in version 3 and do not offer the ability to alter them to my exact needs, the declick effect being a prime example. Version 3's declick process had a vast array of settings allowing me to amend them to my exact requirements, the new version simply has 2 sliders, not even a "fix single click" option. I also feel that the help file is marginally more difficult to navigate than in the previous version.

I have to say that I agree with what was said in the previous thread, this new version simply appears to be a rehash of Soundbooth, which I have always perceived (as do many other people I have spoken to) to be a layman's version of Audition v3.


In conclusion, I regret to say that I'm sticking to v3. The new version only offers slightly faster processing, but at the cost of most of its functioning.


What's going on? Surely this is the reverse of how updates work?

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Adobe Employee ,
Apr 28, 2011 Apr 28, 2011

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Hi ianvix,

With regards to the panel layout, there is a Classic workspace preset that as closely resembles the standard Audition 3 layout as is possible.  As for the comparisons with Soundbooth, it's true that much work has been done to incorporate ease-of-use interface elements and usability features from that application with the re-write of Audition, but the DSP and backend engine are completely Audition and do not rely on shared code intended for a different purpose.

Are you trying Audition CS 5.5 on the same Windows system on which you use Audition 3?

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New Here ,
Apr 28, 2011 Apr 28, 2011

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I'm running the new version no differently than how I ran the previous version, both on the same computer (Windows 7).


The main issue I have with the new version is that it seems that it's been built to appeal to the people who probably aren't genuinely "into" audio editing, i.e. they want software to do it for them, as a pose to people who use it heavily to do intensive restoration or similar, and this is the key problem - there are plenty of alternative applications that do these basic functions already, Audition v3 was the only program I knew that was actually good at doing them. Now I fear that it will be little more useful than alternative software.

It's like the new version is for people who don't really know what they're doing, so the software is intentionally basic to avoid confusion, instead of the software offering maximum functionality enabling the person to do as much as is possible to achieve their goal.

As a person who uses Audition so frequently (probably about 2 hours a day on average), I feel let down that the new version is so limited in what it can do when compared to version 3. Having checked out the effects of the new version, I honestly can't see how I would manage to do what I did when using v3, or at least not as efficiently or as effectively.

It's as if instead of trying to improve Audition by adding new functions, improving existing ones and removing flaws, you've mainly aimed at changing it simply to make it different, not necessarily to make it better. It does run faster which is definitely a good thing, but I can't justify using a considerably more basic version of a program, simply because it's a bit faster.

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Adobe Employee ,
Apr 28, 2011 Apr 28, 2011

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Thanks for your feedback, and if you can share the primary differences between comparable tools or effects that prevent you from using it as you'd like, I'd be very happy to include them in our feature database for consideration as we work on CS 6.  The more specific, the better.

I look forward to getting similar feedback from other users when Audition is available for legitimate download from Adobe.com early next month.  Share what you like, share what you dislike or are lacking, and share where you'd love to have that's never been there.

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New Here ,
Apr 28, 2011 Apr 28, 2011

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In my opinion, which is purely my own (I honestly have no idea what the rest of Audition users think), Audition v3 was a professional tool, and CS5.5 has taken that professional tool and attempted to make it more user friendly with non-professionals. The problem here lies in that non-professionals won't really benefit too much, as all that differentiates CS5.5 from alternative software is a much better user interface, and people who use it for professional needs will suffer as it is now significantly more basic and doesn't really offer the abilities that a professional would require.

The two recurring themes of problems I had with v3 were that It was quite slow, and there were certain, small, ergonomic aspects of the software that I would like to be improved (I'll post up specific examples when I encounter them next time I use Audition). There were also a couple of functions that I think could be improved/created entirely, but overall, version 3 really was a fantastic program. In short, I think the best thing to do would be to integrate the faster  backend of CS5.5 into v3, but enhance the features/ergonomics of v3.

I'm not sure what other people use Adobe Audition for, but I use it about 95% of the time for restoring vinyl rips. Audition is basically a toolbox, and this was perfectly adequate, but for ergonomic improvement I think it would be a very helpful idea to create "themes" that people can choose.

For example, if I had a "Vinyl Restoration" theme, the toolbox would be designed to offer the specific tools that I would use. An example would be to refine certain tools to be more specific for my needs, i.e. when I'm removing rumble from a vinyl rip, using the FFT filter, I would create a carefully plotted curve that is effectively a highpass. The problem is, this is literally building my required tool from scratch, if there were already tools specifically for common tasks like this (a straightforward highpass is a bit too basic to do this task), it would be extremely helpful.

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Adobe Employee ,
Apr 28, 2011 Apr 28, 2011

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The FFT filter is still in Audition CS5.5, and the Paramteric EQ has had both High and Low Pass filters added.

Again, and specifics about what workflows are missing would be of great help to us.

For example, the "Fill Single Click" has been morphed into the much more assessable command "Auto Heal Selection" found under "Effects>Auto Heal Selection..." and has a keybord shortcut.

-MattS

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New Here ,
Apr 28, 2011 Apr 28, 2011

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The help file needs a rewrite.  I don't see anything about auto heal in there, and it's not very easy to navigate either.

Ok, I think the best way for me to do this would be to say the positives (improvements) and negatives (problems) of the effects in the new version. I'll work through each effect like this:

Click Remover:

Negatives

- It's automatic. I have effectively no control about what it will do. The two sliders offer very basic adjustments (remove more or less clicks gives me no actual control of how it's doing it).


Spectral View

"Increase or decrease resolution", aside from not specifying how many bands this is, having to repeatedly click these options to reach the desired resolution is laborious and time consuming.

Generate tones/noise/silence

Missing.

FFT Filter:


Negatives

- Unable to adjust amplitude range.

- Only offers time constant filtering, not variable


Graphic Panner/Phase Shifter

Missing.

Effects Menu

Having to keep clicking on the effects tab to get effects is an unecessary step and becomes annoying very quickly. Like in v3, this should be avilable as a window. And no, the effects rack does not solve this problem. I find that a fully collapsed display of all the tools available is most helpful, then I can easily browse to see what would be most useful for a given task. Having to keep collapsing menus to get tools is like trying to find a page in a book without an index.

Waveform/spectral Display

I personally find that viewing both the spectral and waveform is not that helpful, when using a screen that is not very big, such as a laptop screen, the spectral display is barely 2 inches tall for each channel. I find that having the spectral to be as large as possible is essential, ideally 3 or 4 inchers per channel, otherwise it's difficult to see the frequency distribution clearly.

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Engaged ,
Apr 28, 2011 Apr 28, 2011

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Ianvix, are you previewing a final release version of the software, or is this a Mac beta (missing lots of features on the list linked elsewhere), or what?  Where can we have a look?  If this isn't the finished product, are you seeing what the Adobe staff are seeing?  I feel like I'm missing something here.

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New Here ,
Apr 28, 2011 Apr 28, 2011

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Why, are the above problems not present on the version you have?

I'm using the version that comes in the Adobe Creative Suite 5.5 Master Collection trial for windows.

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People's Champ ,
Apr 28, 2011 Apr 28, 2011

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Where did you manage to get the trial?  The rest of us here are still waiting for it to be available!

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New Here ,
Apr 29, 2011 Apr 29, 2011

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No idea, a friend who is also a fan of Audition (who also has similar dislikes of the new version btw) burned me a dvd with the trial on it. I assumed he got it from the adobe website, I'll send him an email and find out.

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Adobe Employee ,
Apr 29, 2011 Apr 29, 2011

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CS 5.5 has not been released and any installations you acquired before the official release date are not authorized.  The authorized trial downloads will be available sometime in May, but anything downloaded online before that point cannot be confirmed as official Adobe-supported releases.

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Engaged ,
Apr 29, 2011 Apr 29, 2011

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Well that may be good news because it may or may not be complete.  Ian, you still might think AA5.5 is crippled when the release version comes out, but hopefully it won't be as bad to you as you're seeing now.

Is your friend an Adobe employee or beta tester or something?

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Community Expert ,
May 01, 2011 May 01, 2011

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MusicConductor wrote:

Is your friend an Adobe employee or beta tester or something?

Oh, I'm pretty sure he's a 'something'...

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New Here ,
May 01, 2011 May 01, 2011

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He's an audio engineer and gets new stuff, both hardware and software, all the time, he tells me it could be a beta. So does this mean that it's likely to be an unfinished version of it? If so I'll wait till it is officially released and reserve conclusions until then. Hopefully the official version won't be missing the features I mentioned above.

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Guest
Apr 30, 2011 Apr 30, 2011

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Really, so the trial of Audition CS5 isn't an Adobe release? Is it a beta? That's weird. Well, if the new version does have midi and/or rewire, then I CAN use it. I guess we'll see. The one I got doesn't say Beta on it anywhere. It looked legit. I'll definitely uninstall it then. It had the Adobe 30 day trial popyup and everything.

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Engaged ,
Apr 30, 2011 Apr 30, 2011

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Looks are deceiving, aren't they?  :O)  Where did you get this version?  I guess you get the point that Adobe hasn't released anything yet.

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People's Champ ,
May 01, 2011 May 01, 2011

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If your friend is a beta tester he'd KNOW the version he gave you was a beta--and the long legal document he signed before getting access to the software would have prohibited giving you a copy or even telling you about it.  The only public beta was the Mac version since that's completely new.

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New Here ,
May 01, 2011 May 01, 2011

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Well then I don't know what version it was. Like I said above, I prefer v3 as it offers better functionality so have continued with that for now, I'll wait for the official release of the new version and try that. Hopefully the official version will not suffer from the issues I listed above.

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Guest
May 04, 2011 May 04, 2011

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Having tried the demo for some time now I'm very disappointed...

Sure, there are some fantastic aspects to this new update, not least of which is knowing that the Adobe audio team are now giving their full attention to Audition and not Soundbooth. Also the speed of the new programme and some new features such as the clip effects are most welcome. BUT... while Audition 3.0 seems to me a mature professional programme, Audition CS5.5 seems much more like a new kid on the block, with so many daily features simply not there.

The biggest omissions that I noticed straight away - and which I had not expected from durin's and other posts - were the inability to preview a clip before importing it, the lack of timestretch in multitrack, no video thumbnail for aligning music/video accurately, and so many effects missing from before.

...and of course CD burning. I use Audition for mastering and CD burning is an absolute MUST HAVE (in fact I felt the existing CD burning needed improving further, not ditching).

Asking me for money to "upgrade" to this new version is bordering on insulting.

What I really hope for - staying positive - is that over the next year or so the Adobe team get their act together with bringing back the features so many of us rely on - the stuff that's been at the core of Audition since the start. Failing that I guess I will be looking at Wavelab, but I would definitely rather stick with Audtion and stay positive that the developers have a vision to bring this back to a professional full-featured toolset.

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Community Beginner ,
May 11, 2011 May 11, 2011

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The biggest omissions that I noticed straight away - and which I had not expected from durin's and other posts - were the inability to preview a clip before importing it, the lack of timestretch in multitrack

     Huh, what?  No timestretch in multitrack?  I use that constantly!  Timestretch covers a multitude of sins when you have actors that need to speak echo each other's lines but record their lines seperately.  Singers who don't quite get timing right.  Soooo many uses.

    
     Well, I didn't buy 3.0 because it wasn't enough of an upgrade over 2.0.  Guess I'll have to wait for 6.0 now.

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New Here ,
May 05, 2011 May 05, 2011

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It's a bust.  As a big fan of 3.0, I had pre-ordered 5.5.  Earlier this week I downloaded the 30-day trial version and was shocked.  The interface is needlessly complex, most of the keyboard shortcuts I use most have either been changed or have disappeared and, most disheartening, as has been noted elsewhere, several of the features I happen to use most are not there.  Clip time stretching, grouping, internal CD mastering, etc.   One improvement:  multi-track clip volume envelope is now adjustable minus AND plus.  And yes some function are a tad faster running on Windows 7 Pro 64.  But after a few hours with the trial version I contacted Adobe and attempted to cancel my order.  Too late.  It has already shipped.  This user will be returning 5.5 unopened.  Adobe dropped the ball on this one big time.  I await 6.0.

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New Here ,
May 10, 2011 May 10, 2011

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I couldnt agree more .. Im a 12 year user going back to CEP ..  Im a on 3.0 right now .. Love 3.0 and how it works like a daw .. I re-wire  Fl studio and reason all the time .. I am Very Disapointed with Cs5.5 ( audition 4 ) Using Audition was a breeze before .> Everything was a click away with the main pointer tool .. No need to go and hit othere tools all the  time to do simple stuff ... Many People as myself use this as there primary DAW  .. Now that there is No - midi , and No re-wire .. I am seriously thinking about buying pro tools .. Which i would hate to do .. Only thing 3.0 is missing when it comes to music production is a WAy better midi sequincer , dynamic tempo , grid lines , and a more stable re-wire .. BAM thats it .. And if Audition did kinda what Logic does with Midi it would be without a dougbt the best DAW on the market and could be advertized and pushed to the point to compete .. But No .. ADObe would rather think like Geeks instead of the end user who @ the end of the day get limited by there geek mess ups .. You took a Great Audio editer and turned it into a Great DAW in 3.0 .. Easy to use and to setup .. It only was missing a few functions .. Which could have easly been done with a few upgrades .. Now you have tottaly messed up the program .. I cant even open old sessions from 3.0 and have them used correctly with all the hours of FX and mixing i did all gone .> so i must use 3.0 ..  LISTEN TO THE MUSIC PEOPLE ADOBE >> WE HAVE BEEN LOYAL FOR YEARS WHILE OTHER PRGRAMS HAVE COME ALONG AND UPGRADES TO WHICH COMES MUCH FASTER >. EXSAMPLE CUBASE >.... QUit Being thinking like geeks and think like the end user and producer of music .. it is kewl that adobe can be used to edit audio for video .. but honestly you have even made it harder for that .> WAKE up ..

So to end this i will get right to the point // Adobe Audition CS5 is a EPIC FAIL !!!! Booo !!! .. You took a great fast and easy DAW and made it a pain in the neck like MOST DAWS ,.. I use to be able to do everything with just a few clicks .. now i gotta select tools ? What a JOKE .. It has killed the workflow .. And you took away options that 3 had .. Like CD burn / midi / and re-wire .. EPIC FAIL and this is coming from a 12 year user since CEP .. Maybe my money should go to pro tools .. it sure isnt going to cs5 .. I will wait till cs6 .. and after years of waiting if i dont get what i need .. im packing up and leaving as MANY users will do ..

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New Here ,
May 10, 2011 May 10, 2011

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Ohh Looking  again through it .. There is more to grip about .. where is the stereo field effects .. I practically LIVE on those effects for vocals in songs .. bring em through the mix nicely ( i record vocals with a slight stereo dub delays then apply a stereo expander acchodingly which is my secret for making vocals cut through a mix would having to Dub them ) tha effect ONLY audition has ( being the best stereo expander out there ) is now gone .> that thing is a gold mine waiting to be discovered .. Anyhow .. Make this a serious program for us Musicians PLEASE .. Compete COMPETE COMPETE ... And Update often or you wont get money from me EVER again for ANYTHING .. I will boycot and badmouth ADOBE TO MY DIeING DAY !!! You guys should have added FX and not tooken them away .. Ohh and alot .SES files to be saved again .> sometime i have had issues with XML files being ccorupted and a SES is ALWAYS MY BACKUP .. MAN THIS IS A EPIC FAIL .. NOBODY KNOW AUDIO BETTER THEN US AUDIO ENGINIEERS WOM ALSO MIX MASTER AND RECORD MUSIC IN MUTITRACKS AND WITH MIDI .. LEARN FROM US AND MAKE A PROGRAM FOR US AS WELL AS THE VIDEO GUY >> DONT KILL A GOOD THING >> RIGHT NOW AUDITION IS IN NEED OF ALOT OF HELP >.

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Adobe Employee ,
May 10, 2011 May 10, 2011

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Without repeating a lot of what Durin and others have already stated about this release of Audition CS5.5 and the history of the decision making, etc.., I ask that you take a look at the following thread for some answers:

http://forums.adobe.com/message/3621787#3621787

The good news for anyone awaiting new versions of Audition is that we are back in the suite and the application has replaced Soundbooth as the product that will be updated each time a suite releases. If you have not heard the news, the suites are now also on a very predictable schedule as well (every 24 months with mid-cycle releases in between for faster updates).

To repeat, nothing has been taken away, we just haven't gotten to adding everything back yet.

Audition has been re-written as a cross-platform application with a solid foundation going forward (replacing Audition 3's very old Windows 98/XP codebase).

We didn't have to time to re-implemt all features, but we feel we started this first cross-platform release off well with what we did get.

The Audition team is listening and we are prioritizing features accordingly for future versions - no need for yelling though, we hear ya 😉

Stay tuned!

--Ron

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