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Which program for sound mixing? 32 bit PC. Unsure of my options.

msp1518

msp1518

Gang, I have searched and researched, but it is hard to know what is real and what are fake reviews online.

I'll be shooting two entries for the Straight8 contest, one will have fairly simple music and the other needs a robust soundtrack featuring music and a lot of sounds of NYC (cars, trucks, pedestrians, subways, etc).

Right now I use Vegas Movie Studio HD Platinum 10 for basic video editing. It's nothing special, but I have barely scratched the surface of the thing.

Will this program do what I need in order to mix a kick arse soundtrack or should I look at something else? I'd imagine there must be some amazing freeware out there (there always is).

In March I will be upgrading my PC from 32 bit XP to 64 bit Windows 7 so I can download and try Adobe CS5 with Soundbooth. I'd try it now, but it is 64 bit. I'd need a 32 bit trial version.

Anyway, that is what I am asking so thanks in advance.
 
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Vegas has above average audio implementation for an NLE; it started out as a DAW, after all.

Pro Tools (PC & Mac) is the standard, and with the latest incarnation - Pro Tools 9 - you can use any interface you would like, or even the computers own audio card (although that not would be a good idea). Previously you could only use Digidesign hardware.

For PC Cubase and Nuendo are probably the other two most popular; on the Mac it's Logic and Digital Performer.

Vegas should work just fine. You may want to invest in some other things like a good pair of speakers and some sound insulation and treatment for your mixing environment. A few select plug-ins would also be a good investment like noise reduction and an IR reverb. Izotope RX ($320, Advanced $1,100) is probably one the best bang-for-the-buck bargains in NR out there. AudioEase Altiverb ($530) is becoming an industry standard - I have it and love it! The DMG Audio EQuality EQ (99 British Pounds) is also making big inroads.

You can have all of the nice stuff in the world, but nothing can compare to a great pair of ears and experience.

Good Luck!
 
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Audacity & Ardour are free and open source options for sound editing. Plenty of community support. Audacity is for any platform and Ardour is for OSX and Linux. Linux has TONS of audio tools and plenty of plugins freely available >>> I know Im a freak using Linux here
 
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I'd stick with Vegas if I were you, you've got everything you need as long as you're sticking with audio files. I'd very much recommend Izotope Ozone as a mastering plug-in, you'll realise how much of a difference it makes to the stereo and sound quality.
 
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Vegas is a great option, I've used it on most of my projects as of late.

You can get Reaper for free (kind of).
http://www.reaper.fm/

EDIT:

I reread your post. If you have Vegas you dont need anything else. It uses VSTs, its solid and does surround sound right out of the box.
 
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I'd very much recommend Izotope Ozone as a mastering plug-in, you'll realise how much of a difference it makes to the stereo and sound quality.
Click to expand...

Just used this tonight and was happy. The tape saturation option adds some kick + warmth. A decent plug in with a lot of scope.

*

On the zero-budget knife edge, where I live... Audacity is not so bad. The Spitfish, Blockfish, Floorfish suite is good for compression. Lots of support as IndieBudget mentioned. Just remember to hit Ctrl-S to save every 15 seconds or so....(!)
 
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If you want to really get serious with audio it's a steep learning curve. I have found there are people round that are really good at editing video, but because they are not really tuned in to audio editing, and don't have much experience or knowledge of audio engineering the sound really lets the whole thing down. When I see someone looking for free or really cheap audio software, I always wonder what importance they really place on the audio in the project? So I would suggest either looking at getting someone else who is experienced to edit the audio, or try and save up for good audio software. Like Protools, Steinberg Nuendo or Cubase, or Samplitude for PC or Apple Logic if you are on a Mac. Then put some serious time into learning to use them.
 
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The vegas Movie Studio HD is just a limited version of vegas you should be able to use that for a basic short film. The main limitation to it is that it only lets you have a few tracks for video and audio. I believe it is 3 tracks each or something like that. Other than that you still can use VST pluggins. So if you get any of the other pluggins you should be able to use them with the vegas you have. Vegas is very similar to the Digital Audio Work Station called Sony Acid and has some of the features acid has for audio.

Another options people did not mention is Sonar X1 the new version is supposed to be really sweet for audio production. The stripped down version called Sonar Studio is like $200 and the Producer version is like $400 if I remember. I am saving up for this because I like to make music too.
 
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