Recommendations Wanted For Sound Editing Software

**Si Hunt** · 11th Oct 2008, 8:22 AM

I've been using Nero 6 for yonks and like an shoe I'm fairly used to it. It's what every PS Audio has been birthed on, and we use it for burning all our CD's as well as editing .wav files and assembling them together.

BUT Nero 6 is now old, and largely unsupported. Plus I'm thinking there must be better out there - NeroSoundTrax has always had an annoying bug that makes it freeze at random points. Now the computer needs a complete re-install, I'm thinking now might be a good time to upgrade.

However! Nero 9 doesn't seem very loved in on-line reviews. Plus it's at least £30 to buy. Can anyone recommend an alternative? What we want is something that:

- Enables you to burn CD's from MP3 or Wav Files
- Has a Wav Editor on it, so you can edit Wav files with cut, paste, various snazzy effects
- Has a SoundTrax like program for assembling tracks of sounds

And without hundreds of other features we don't need.

I know a few of you recommend Audacity for the wav editing, but I'm not wholly convinced by it. I have warmed to it, but I find it a bit clunky to use; for example you can't drag a sound into a specific point in a project, it always shoots to the start and you then have to manually drag it in position. Plus you can't drag sounds while the project is playing, little things like that.

Is there an alternative? Ideally we want something like Nero that has CD burning AND wav editing functionality, but I don't mind buying two things if neccessary.

Can anyone recommend anything? OR stick up for Nero 9 as I can find only 1 on-line review and that says it's exactly like Nero 8 which people hate!

Also I'm planning to backup by buying a memory stick and shoving everything on there. Surely this is easier/cheaper than using a backup utility and a stack of CD's. What do you think?

Si.

**SiHart** · 11th Oct 2008, 8:36 AM

Perhaps you need an external hard drive to save everything on Si? They;re useful- hold more than a memory stick and are transportable too.

I don't know anything about the other problem I'm afraid, as I'm an audacity fan. I haven't assembled a play in Nero.

Si xx

**Si Hunt** · 11th Oct 2008, 8:44 AM

Thanks Si. Any links to good value external hard drives/memory sticks are appreciated btw! If it's stuff like CD's or books I know how to search for the cheapest on-line, but I don't have a clue about finding the cheapest of other stuff.

Si.

**SiHart** · 11th Oct 2008, 9:05 AM

Try http://www.dabs.com Steve has used them a lot and they're always releiable and cheap for computer stuff I believe. Steve would be able to help a bit more as he's far better on this kind of thing than I am.

Si xx

WhiteCrow · 11th Oct 2008, 9:40 AM

We need to save Si's house from another collection of CD's!!!

I think both Maplins and PC World usually do these kinds of external disks. I tend to just buy a cheap external hard disk case, as I've almost always got spare hark disks of some size. They're also very good for data backup.

**Lissa** · 11th Oct 2008, 10:40 AM

By an interesting coincidence, Amazon sent me an email about external hard drives this morning. This is their list and they start at £39.99. An external hard drive is a very wise investment. Use it with SyncToy and you can back everything up in a few minutes.