Cool Edit Pro

64-track digital audio recording, editing, and mixing software

Cool Edit Pro is the digital audio software package you've been waiting for. It's a breeze to learn and use, packs enough top-quality digital effects modules to fill a room full of rack mounts, and can mix up to 64 tracks together, using just about any sound card. It's like having thousands of pounds worth of professional audio equipment all in one easy-to-use software package.

Cool Edit Pro is a digital audio recorder, editor, and mixer for Windows. It's based on Cool Edit 96, Syntrillium's groundbreaking and award-winning shareware application, and it's the digital audio software package you've been waiting for.

Cool Edit Pro is a comprehensive multitrack digital audio editor for Windows 95/98/Me and Windows NT. To use it, you need only a PC compatible computer running one of these operating systems, one or more Windows-compatible sound cards, and some imagination.

Designed as a complete audio environment, Cool Edit Pro puts all of the functionality needed for taking an audio project from conception to completion in one package, eliminating the need for separate applications, or "plug-ins". From recording to mixdown, you'll find everything to do the job in Cool Edit Pro, such as session notes for planning and sketching out your session, and the flexibility of unlimited multiple sound card support, for complete freedom in routing your audio.

• Time Display Window, level meters, clip indicators, and Mute/Solo/Record colour coding let you know exactly what's going on
• Volume and Pan envelopes give you total control over the mix
• Loop, Crossfade, Zoom, and "Snap" features make editing easy
• SMPTE/MIDI slave capability lets you integrate your mix with video and MIDI sequencers
• Multiple Undo lets you back out of mistakes, and you can review previous versions of your recordings with the "Multiple Takes" feature
• Support for multiple sound cards and record/play devices means Cool Edit Pro can grow with your system and need

Once you've recorded (…up to 64 tracks!), you can apply Cool Edit Pro's unmatched DSP and editing power. Tweak EQ, and other effects in real-time to get things just right. Arrange your tracks with drag and drop, down-to-the-sample or frame precision; snap-to guides, crossfades, and images will help you get it done. When you're ready to mix, there's separate level, pan, mute, solo, and routing for each track. While Cool Edit Pro does provide an all in one audio solution, it also works with the rest of your audio tools as part of your studio.

Cool Edit Pro supports DirectX audio plug-ins allowing the use of 3rd-party DSP software. DirectX is a development platform designed by Microsoft for Windows 95/98/Me and Windows NT which provides an open standard for audio plug-ins. DSP modules, and other audio tools based on this standard can be used by any application that supports the DirectX architecture. With many of the leading software DSP manufacturers (Waves, Sonic Foundry, Cakewalk, Steinberg) providing DirectX plug-ins, and many more to come from other companies, you can easily extend the already powerful DSP at your disposal in Cool Edit Pro.

Cool Edit Pro employs both destructive and non-destructive editing methods. However, in Cool Edit Pro, even "destructive" edits are not applied directly to the wave file in use until you save the file—in essence, Cool Edit Pro uses "delayed destructive editing". When you open a wave file in Cool Edit Pro, it places a copy of the file in a temporary directory, and it uses that copy for editing. The original file remains unaltered until you choose to save any changes you've made by choosing Save from the File menu.

When you save your changes, Cool Edit Pro overwrites the original file with the edits applied to the copy. Therefore, destructive edits in Cool Edit Pro do not directly affect your original wave file, until you do a file save. Edits performed in the Edit Waveform View, like cut, paste, and Transform effects (like reverb), are destructive in nature, so when you save your file again, those edits are applied to the waveform itself. Edits made in the multitrack View, such as a cut, splice, or volume change, are non-destructive. This same model of delayed destructive editing also enables Cool Edit Pro to offer multiple levels of Undo. When you apply destructive edits to (the copy of a) wave file, Cool Edit Pro retains a copy of the file as it exists before the edit. It does this for each edit you perform, enabling you to travel back through your edits to previous states of the wave file.

Multiple Undo gives you tremendous freedom in working on wave files without having to worry about "destructiveness" in the least; however, it also requires additional hard drive space to store these copies (copies are automatically deleted from your hard drive when you close a file or exit the program). You can disable the Undo feature if your disk space runs too low.

Real time preview
Cool Edit Pro offers real time preview for many of its DSP effects. This means that you can monitor the processed signal before applying the effect to the waveform (remember: the effect is actually applied to a copy of the waveform, and can be freely undone). The preview feature updates in real time, meaning that changes you make to effect parameters while in the dialog for that effect become audible immediately, while the audio is playing. Keep in mind, however, that this system performance affects the preview feature. On slower systems, some effects may tend to break or skip during preview.

Multitrack
Cool Edit Pro's multitrack environment enables you to place any number of waveforms into different tracks for simultaneous playback and mixdown. This mixing process involves combining all of the placed waveforms into two (or more) channels for output.

Because you can edit, add, and subtract waveforms in the multitrack environment, Cool Edit Pro must constantly watch for changes to the multitrack session, such as a moved or deleted waveform, a volume change, or new material recorded into a track. When something is altered, Cool Edit Pro must immediately work that change into the mixed output, and it does so through background mixing. Background mixing occurs behind the scenes much of the time that you are in the multitrack environment, and is generally very fast. The faster your system—especially your CPU and hard drive(s)—the faster Cool Edit Pro can mix in the background.

The mix progress meter in the lower left corner of the Multitrack View constantly shows how far along Cool Edit Pro in the process of mixing your session. The meter goes from "empty" to "full" as it mixes the session, and it turns bright green when the entire session is fully mixed. You can think of this either as a "ready" indicator; however, you need not wait for the meter to reach completion entirely before beginning playback. As stated earlier, Cool Edit Pro continuously mixes, and will continue to do so while playing, so you can safely begin playback when the mix progress meter is about halfway along. In general, if the background mix is not sufficiently completed, you will hear a break-up or skipping when playing back the mix. If that happens, just wait a few seconds; Cool Edit Pro will usually "catch up" very quickly, and you can begin playing again.

Again, playback can be directed to a pair of outputs (as in a single stereo sound card) or to multiple outputs (as in multiple stereo sound cards, or a single card with multiple outputs). Cool Edit Pro generates a mix for each set of outputs used. If you are using one stereo sound card, Cool Edit Pro generates just one mix, but if you have multiple outputs, it must create a separate mix for each output device (typically a stereo pair). The additional mixing required for multiple outputs demands more processing power and therefore tends to slow down the mixing process.

Function Presets
Many of the functions have presets that are available for easily storing and recalling your favourite settings. New presets can be added at any time. All preset information is saved in the cool.in, usually in your Windows directory.

Cool Edit Pro supports 24-bit, 96kHz formats ...as well as 32-bit, 192kHz, and 8-bit, 1kHz, and everything in between. In fact, Cool Edit Pro was the first Windows program to support bit resolutions higher than 16-bit and sample rates up to 10MHz. Yes, we mean ten million Hertz. (Scientists sometimes use these extreme sample rates.)

Note that most sound cards do not go much above 48kHz, but in Cool Edit Pro, you can specify any sample rate you like in the "New Waveform" and "New Multitrack Session" dialogues that appears when you select /File/New. If your sound card and its drivers do not support the format you specify, Cool Edit Pro will show an error message when you try to record or play the file.

So when you're ready to step up to 24/96, or even to create audio meant for DVD, Cool Edit Pro can help you get there

What can you do with Cool Edit Pro?

Record, play, convert, and edit files up to 2 gigabytes in size and in any of more than 25 formats

Use a fantastic array of Audio Effects modules, including Reverb, Multitap Delay, 3D Echo, Equalisers (Graphic, Parametric, Scientific, and "Quick"), Compression, Chorus, Flanger, Distortion, Convolution, Pitch change, Tempo change, and more-many with Real-time Preview!

Clean up audio recordings with Noise Reduction, Hiss Reduction, and Click and Pop Eliminator

Mix up to 64 tracks simultaneously-no special hardware required!

What do others think of Cool Edit Pro?

“There’s no way to do this program justice, even in 10,000 words ? the cost-to-functionality ratio is extremely discrepant on the functionality side, the most pleasing and navigable of all digital audio editors I’ve seen, and on and on. Pick up Cool Edit Pro and you’ll never need another audio tool as long as you live.” - eMedia

“Cool Edit Pro is packed with features designed to eliminate guesswork. This software gives the impression that it’s taking very good care of your sounds, and your ears will second that opinion. Cool Edit Pro is as good as it gets.” - Pro Audio Review

“Cool Edit Pro provides all the tools - right out of the box - to get you from start to finish on most multitrack recording projects.” - Electronic Musician

“The flexibility to set any preference in Cool Edit Pro is staggering. Yet the learning curve is virtually flat. Everything is just as it looks - graphical bliss. If you know how to click and drag and you’ve ever worked on an analogue multitrack recorder, you’re producing in minutes.” - Radio and Production

Features

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General

• 32-bit processing and 32-bit resolution file support
  
• Sample rates to 192kHz (including 96kHz)
  
• ActiveMovie/DirectX Plug-In support
  
• Amplitude and pan envelope controls for each track
  
• Automatic silence removal
  
• Beat finder
  
• CD player controls
  
• Cue/Play lists, with auto-cue features
  
• EBU file extensions
  
• Favourites menu for commonly-used functions
  
• High-quality sample rate conversion
  
• Horizontal and vertical zoom (down to individual samples)
  
• MIDI triggering of wave files
  
• Multilevel undo
  
• Punch-In recording
  
• Scripts and batch processing
  
• SMPTE and MIDI timecode sync
  
• Snap to ruler, wave boundaries, and cue marks
  
• Timed record, with auto-on feature
  
• User-definable toolbar/keyboard shortcuts
  
• Zero cross adjust (left, right, out, in)
  

Effects

Italicised items support Real-time Preview

Sound Generation

• Tones (sine, square, saw, etc.)
  
• Noise (white, brown, pink)
  
• DTMF Tones (for phone systems)

Data analysis

• Spectral View
  
• Frequency Analysis w/live update
  
• Statistics (min/max RMS power, etc.) with histogram view

File Formats Supported

• Amiga IFF/8SVX (.iff, .svx)
  
• Cool Edit text (.txt)
  
• VBase ADPCM (.vb)
  
• DSI Compressed (.vl)
  
• ACM Waveform*
  
• Windows IEEE Float (.wav)
  
• Windows PCM waveform (.wav)
  
• 8-bit signed raw format (.sam)
  
• ACM waveform (.wav)
  
• Apple AIFF format (PCM encoded data only) (.aif)
  
• CCITT mu-Law and A-Law waveforms (.wav)
  
• Dialogic ADPCM 6KHz and 8KHz (.vox)
  
• Pika ADPCM 8KHz (.vox)
  
• IMA/DVI ADPCM waveform (.wav)
  
• Microsoft ADPCM waveform (.wav)
  
• Next/Sun CCITT mu-Law, A-Law and PCM format (.au)
  
• Raw PCM Data
  
• SampleVision format (.smp)
  
• Sound Blaster voice file format (.voc)
  
• DiamondWare Digitised (.dwd)
  
• RealAudio 5.0 and G2 (.rm - export only)
  
• TrueSpeech (.wav)
• MP3 encoder/decoder available as optional plug in
  

*Enables Cool Edit Pro to access installed ACM Filters

System Requirements

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• Windows 95/98/ME or Windows NT/2000
• 486 or better CPU 8 MB RAM (32 recommended)
• 4 MB free hard disk space
• Stereo sound card Recommended: Speakers or headphones Mouse
• Optional: Multi-I/O sound card
• CD Player Microphone