Re: [AV Media Matters] Audio Restoration Tool

[Graeme Jaye <gjaye@retemail.es>]

Moderators comment: There are several good products out there - the market
is moving very quickly.  The trend also seems to be towards real time
performance - considering that pc's keep getting faster and audio cards keep
getting smarter - it appears to be a certainty. We have recently brought a
Digidesign card on line that is duplex ( can both record and playback at the
same time), and are expecting a copy of DC "Live" any day
(http://www.diamondcut.com/Live.htm) - which is from the nice folks at
Diamond Cut. I can recommend their earlier product DC32 which we have here
at VidiPax.  We also have Steinberg Wavelab and other tools.  My feeling is
that the way the market is shaping up you are far better to spend your money
on several systems - all of which can live on the same PC and offer
different approaches and filters which may be applicable in different
situations.  The market is moving toward real time solutions now that the
hardware can support it - and while Cedar is a fine product - there are now
many alternatives and it is clear that this is the way the world is moving.
I believe even Cedar is making a plug in although it is "defeatured" - but
they will have to respond to competition so I would expect that this too
will change.

Hi Pete

At 14:58 21/12/99 -0800, you wrote:
>I know all about the CEDAR systems of audio restoration software however
>the full package runs about $18,000 a little more than my institution will
>pay.

Me too :-)

>What does anyone know about the Noise Reduction software newly offerd by
>Sonic Foundry in Madision, WI?? Cost is $400-$500. I realize that it
>doesn't compare to CEDAR but is it worthwhile?

I have played with Sonic Foundry products - even have an earlier version
installed here - but to my mind, you can find better value for money.  Have
a look at CoolEdit Pro (http://www.syntrillium.com) for a really neat piece
of software for this type of work.

'Worthwhile' is a loaded word - it rather depends what you mean by it.  If
you mean 'will it do the job?' then the answer is 'yes, in the right
hands'.  However, it is a lot slower than realtime systems like CEDAR and
NoNoise.  You pays your money .......

My personal view is that much of this type of software excels in one or
more areas but none is perfect at everything.  I run several different
audio restoration applications and quite often use one in preference to
another, depending on the problem encountered.  Even so, my total capital
investment is still a lot lower than something like CEDAR would set me back.

Graeme Jaye
gjaye@retemail.es

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