Grant Hutchinson

Update! Thanks for all the suggestions, everyone. I have a number of new tools to check out.

Hey, Mastodon audio peeps! What are we using on macOS to digitize and edit audio … that isn’t Audacity or GarageBand.

Feb 25 at 7:45pmIvory for iOS
Show threadParker MorseFeb 25
@splorp I am hearing a lot of younger music people saying FL Studio is the best compromise between price and features.
Show threadstudio craque 54 🏳️‍🌈Feb 25
@splorp Ableton Live Intro
Show threadGrant HutchinsonFeb 25
@dtauvdiodr Will look into that. Thanks!
Show threadmccFeb 25

@splorp Until I quit Macintosh I was using Amadeus. This used to be a very good piece of software and I don't know if it's being currently updated.

I am looking at Reaper but it is hard to learn.

Show threadGrant HutchinsonFeb 25

@mcc Amadeus! That’s what I used on Snow Leopard back in the day. Apparently it has been updated for Apple Silicon.

https://hairersoft.com/

Amadeus - Audio waveform editors / sound and voice recorders for macOS X

#

Show threadmccFeb 25

@splorp Yes, at some point in the last 8 years I re-downloaded it from the app store and found it had expanded from a two-track editor to a proper multitrack editor (but still not at the complexity of a DAW), which is not what I want but may be actively useful for some workflows.

Also, in the time since you last used Amadeus, Martin Hairer, the author, won the Fields Medal, which is basically the nobel prize of mathematics. This has nothing to with anything but it still blows my mind

Show threadmccFeb 25
@splorp "Yeah turns out the guy who writes your shareware sound editor got the prize for being the most important emerging mathematician in the world"
Show threadLuke Dorny Feb 25
@mcc @splorp this is cool. $60US ain’t bad! I was using audacity and Sound Studio since the late ‘90s, by Lucious Kwok, but someone else owns SS now: https://www.felttip.com/ss/
Sound Studio 4 - Mac App for Audio Editing

Record, edit, and produce your audio with Sound Studio, an easy-to-use Mac app for recording and editing digital audio on your computer. Digitize tapes and vinyl records, record live performances, create your own mixes with crossfades, tweak the levels and EQ, apply digital effects and save in all major file formats.

Show threadmccFeb 25

@Luke @splorp Yeah the only problem is he added some features I didn't want and doubled the price and I'm like wait I think the original version was what I wanted lol

But not you can maintain multiple versions/pricepoints as an individual author

Show threadLuke Dorny Feb 25
@mcc @splorp 🤑
Show threadGrant HutchinsonFeb 25
@mcc !!!
Show threadDan QFeb 25
@splorp Uh-oh, are you about to tell me that something's bad about Audacity?
Show threadGrant HutchinsonFeb 25
@dan Audacity is fine and I’ve happily used it for years. Just looking for information about what else is out there these days.
Show threadDan QFeb 25

@splorp Phew!

I've heard good things about
Ocenaudio (free as in beer) and Tenacity (FOSS; Audacity fork, removes telemetry).

Show threadGrant HutchinsonFeb 25
@dan I looked into Tenacity, but they only supply Windows binaries. I’m not looking to build from source at this point.
Show threadvga256Feb 25
@splorp my swiss army knife for all A/V work is Screenflow. it handles 95% of my use cases.
Show threadGrant HutchinsonFeb 25
@vga256 I really don’t do any video editing, so Screenflow might be overkill. I will give a look see, though. Thanks for the suggestion.
Show threadvga256Feb 25
@splorp yeah. only worth it if you already happened to have a registered copy. their prices went insane a few years ago
Show threadSimon RolfmoreFeb 25
@splorp @Meyerweb I mostly use REAPER because I’m familiar with it from my pre-Mac days. It’s very decent IMO.
Show threadGrant HutchinsonFeb 25
@cloudthethings @Meyerweb I had not heard of REAPER … I love that it supports macOS from Leopard through Tahoe!
Show threadSimon RolfmoreFeb 25
@splorp @Meyerweb it’s from the guy that wrote the original Winamp!
Show threadTyler HellardFeb 25
@splorp I use Wavebox for a lot of recording and basic editing functions on my laptop and phone: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/wavebox-audio-editor/id1577078380
Wavebox Audio Editor App - App Store

Download Wavebox Audio Editor by Luis Rivas on the App Store. See screenshots, ratings and reviews, user tips, and more apps like Wavebox Audio Editor.

App Store
Show threadGrant HutchinsonFeb 25
@poploser Oh, nifty. I’ll check it out. One of main features I need is being able to capture stereo output over USB from my Tascam tape deck. Audacity sees both channels, but GarageBand doesn’t.
Show threadTyler HellardFeb 25
@splorp Ah. No idea if it'll work for that or not, but worth a shot.
Show threadMiguel ArrozFeb 25
@splorp I asked the same thing a few months ago. Check the responses to this, some nice options there: https://mastodon.social/@arroz/115491814267832499
Show threadGrant HutchinsonFeb 26
@arroz Thanks for the link. Perusing now.
Show threadGayaFeb 25
@splorp logic 😅
Show threadThomas BrandFeb 25
@splorp GarageBand ’09 runs on Snow Leopard. What are you waiting for?
Show threadGrant HutchinsonFeb 26
@Eggfreckles On a serious note … I tried GarageBand on old and new Macs … it doesn’t recognize both channels from the USB output of my Tascam tape deck. Otherwise, I would have stuck with it.
Show threadThomas BrandFeb 26
@splorp of Audacity has the same issue, I don't think it is a software problem.
Show threadGrant HutchinsonFeb 26
@Eggfreckles Audacity works for me. At least with my deck.
Show threadChris WellsFeb 26
@splorp Ocenaudio (will have to check out Amadeus)
Show threadAleš RoubíčekFeb 26
@splorp Ableton Live
Show threadGrant HutchinsonFeb 26
@alesroubicek Another vote for Ableton! Thanks for the feedback.
Show threadChristopher SlyeFeb 26
@splorp You don't want to hear this, but... Since I still have Creative Cloud I use Audition. I like it because it opens ALAC files. FWIW my ADC is a Tascam DA-3000 and I use ffmpeg, SoX, and XLD for various file manipulations.
Show threadGrant HutchinsonFeb 26
@slye No, this is actually good stuff … I do still have CC kicking around, because Photoshop and Illustrator. Never thought of Audition.
Show threadDan Kletter 🥑Feb 27
@splorp @slye Raising my hand to co-sign using Audition. One of few remaining perks of keeping a CC subscription haha.
Show threadGrant HutchinsonFeb 26
@slye I don’t have a full blown ADC (other than a 15 year old M-Audio unit that works under Snow Leopard). I’m currently using a Tascam 202mkVII dual cassette deck with USB output for all the tape things.
Show threadChristopher SlyeFeb 26
@splorp Years ago I did a pretty basic digitize of some old cassette tapes by playing them through a little USB converter. Worked fine, but I regret saving everything as mp3. One reason I have the Tascam now is because it will save in high-res, including DSD. More archival, in other words. I use Audition, et al., to edit what I capture (a lot of needledrops, but other stuff too).
Show threadPointlessOne Feb 27

@splorp I don’t use it much myself but haven’t seen it mentioned yet so for completeness sake: Ardour.

https://ardour.org/

Ardour Development | Ardour DAW

The open-source cross-platform digital audio workstation

Ardour DAW
Show threadGrant HutchinsonFeb 27
@pointlessone Added to my “software to try” list. Thanks.