Cullop, or LethalxPrincess as she’s known to many, is a pro-gamer by trade. For years, Cullop crisscrossed the nation with Major League Gaming (MLG) immersing herself in a cutthroat world while breaking stereotypes in the process. Her squad, Team Foxy, is considered the top female team in the gaming community.

Not surprisingly, it was actually gaming that connected Cullop to the Sound Tour. Sponsored by the popular headphone company, the tour, which we previously told you about, is a reality show pitting Cullop and a team of four other female contestants against a squad of all men.

“I heard about the Sennheiser Sound Tour through the gaming community. Sennheiser is a great product that is highly recognized for its quality in the professional gaming world. When the tour was announced, the word spread quickly in the E-Sports community,” Cullop recalled.

With the ultimate goal to promote the Sennheiser headphone product base, the two teams have spanned North America participating in a variety of challenges. From meeting celebrities to getting on tour buses, Cullop admits it’s been a whirlwind ride.

“Personally, there are many highlights of the tour that I have enjoyed such as traveling, experiencing new communities, and meeting new and exciting individuals,” said Cullop. Ever the gamer, she admits that for her personally, the best part of the tour has not been meeting a person or going to a particular place, but rather it’s been a simple truth.

“The biggest highlight of the tour so far has been the fact that the girl’s team is in the lead. We have won three challenges and the guys have only won one. I am a very competitive individual and I am confident we will take home the grand prize,” she confided.

Along the way, both teams have been faced with the challenge of going up to people on the street to promote Sennheiser. While in some cases they’ve been shut out and rejected, most people have been willing to step in front of the camera according to Cullop.

“Generally people are accepting and don’t mind the camera, we actually seem to get better responses if the cameras are out and rolling. I think people want to know what’s going on with the cameras, the tour, and the product,” said Cullop.

One of the Sennheiser girl’s most memorable visits was their trip to Boston. Between crashing a few weddings, visiting the Salem Witches Cottage and partying it up outside the Paul McCartney Fenway concert, the ladies got their fill of Beantown. Cullop says it was easily one her favorite places on the tour.

“My time in Boston was amazing; I literally fell in love with it the moment I arrived. Boston is now on my top five places to move. What I remember most about Boston was the atmosphere in the air, I went to Fenway Park, Faneuil Hall, and shopping on Newbury Street. Everywhere I went people were alive with spirit; they were helpful, and even entertaining. I would love to live in an area like Boston because it has so much to offer,” she said.

With the tour winding down, Cullop admits she misses her Xbox, controller and gaming in general. Save for a few hours of gaming in NYC, she has not gotten a chance to play much while on tour. Despite this, Cullop contends she wouldn’t trade her Sennheiser Sound Tour experience for anything — or any game — in the world.

“The one thing I will bring away from this trip is the experience. No matter how the team does and no matter how I personally do in the competitions, I will always remember the new places, people, and experiences I have encountered along the way,” concluded Cullop.

The system is designed to be versatile and can run for 10 hours on eight AA batteries or forever on AC power and can entertain rooms with up to 80 people, Roland says.

The BA-330 has a four-channel configuration, with two channels dedicated for microphones or instruments, and two other channels for standard 1/4″ stereo inputs. Each channel has its own independent tone adjustment and effects switching for built-in effects, such as EQ, reverb, delay and widening. A Stereo Link function allows for a pair of BA-330s to work in tandem to provide an extra-wide stereo spread, Roland said.

The unit is built around four 6.5″ drivers and two tweeters.

Roland also says the BA-330 is the first portable PA designed with an “Intelligent Anti-Feedback function” that automatically sniffs out potential feedback and eliminates it automatically.

The BA-330 will be available in November for $829.50, so don’t count on playing with it outside a subway stop for pennies.

Now let’s talk about that for a second.

At $1,000, these speakers cost more than the vast majority of desktop PCs on the market today.

Honestly, the speakers sound fantastic. You probably can’t buy something off the shelf that’s going to sound as good as the BeoLab 4.

Each speaker is powered and amplified (and as such, each speaker requires its own electrical outlet) and these pyramid-shaped speakers really crank. There are some small speakers that claim to reproduce full loudspeaker sound, and there are few that do. These do.

One issue I have with these speakers is that the BeoLab 4 is just a speaker. It’s designed to be plugged into stereos and amps and all kinds of cool products, but not necessarily computers. The BeoLab 4 PC is the same thing, but it’s designed with the right connectors to plug it into a computer sound card’s headphone jack. That does the job for the most part, but there’s no on and off switch, and there’s no volume control, so you’re relying totally on the computer’s volume control.

Each speaker is built on a 4-inch driver with a 3/4-inch fabric dome tweeter with 35 watts provided by the amp. Requiring two power outlets is a pain, but it’s mostly just an inconvenience because they only consume 7 watts of power. Don’t worry about the electrical bill. Frequency range is 50-20,000Hz.

There’s a lot of technical things I can say about these speakers, or you can read them here. The bottom line is, do you need these speakers?

Do you own a stock Dell? Yes? Then no, you don’t.

Are you an iTunes whore who’s always listening to your downloaded music? Yes? Then no, you don’t.

Watch the occasional DVD on your computer? Nah, still don’t need these.

Are you a music producer using expensive software and high end hardware? Yes? Oh. Well then yeah, these would be good.

Do you edit high definition video with multi-channel audio tracks? Yeah, these would do nicely.

Are you getting the picture?

These are awesome monitors. They sound great. They look good. They’re powered. You can even customize the colors.

The fact is, unless you need high-end speakers (and are equipped for them) you’re not going to notice the difference between these for $1,000 and a $100 set from Best Buy.

The BeoLab 4 is much more practical as a home theater speaker than it is as a desktop computer solution. They’re expensive toys for people who have a G-note to spare in this economy.

Teams, divided by gender for maximum entertainment value, will travel across the US and Canada promoting Sennheiser’s products in a competition to quote, “put headphones on as many people as possible connecting them to the true sound of Sennheiser.”

Yeah, I don’t know what that means either, but it still sounds like fun. The benefits include getting paid to travel across thirty cities for ten weeks this summer while becoming a Youtube and Internet sensation. How you ask? Sennheiser will record these charades and edit them into weekly webcasts and upload them to their Youtube channel (www.youtube.com/sennheisersoundtour) for all to see.

To get in on the action you need to whip out your best reality show personality-I suggest reviewing a few seasons of the Real World as well as a heavy dose of Battlestar Galactica to drum up your nerd quotient-and make a video explaining why you’re the best candidate for the job. Submit your job resume to Sennheiser@thejetstargroup.com, include the location of your video, and finally, cross your fingers. Hurry: submissions are due by May 1.

Submissions extended to May 8

That’s where an entire audio sub-industry has sprung up, catering entirely to iPod owners who want to “dock” their music box somewhere and jam to a room-filling sound that’s not mashed into their ears.

Blast and The Boston Globe recently tested five of these docks: the Altec Lansing inMotion Max at $199, the Logitech Pure-Fi Express Plus for $78, the compact iHome iH4B for $39.99, the Cambridge SoundWorks i765 for $299, and Wayland-based Sprout Creation’s all-wood Vers 2X at $199.

As a bonus, Blast also tested the Boston Acoustics Duo-I at $199 and the iHome iH51BR at $149.

For professional advice, we turned to Dariusz Dobrolinski, is co-owner of the tiny yet historic Q Audio store on Vassar Street in Cambridge, which claims to be the worlds smallest hi-fi store and one of the original distributors of CD players in the US in the early 80s. Dobrolinski said the Altec Lansing inMotion Max was the best item on the list, and we agreed.

“It sounded the richest,” Dobrolinski said. He warned us not to jump at the deepest bass or the highest treble, which some inexpensive systems tend to crank up to make up for their lower quality components.

“If you want to buy a docking system, don’t look for something that has bass and sizzles, it may impress you, but later on you will notice you don’t get the midrange and that’s where all the instruments and all the voices are,” Dobrolinski said. “Bass is not critical unless you want to fill a huge room, but none of those systems are designed for huge rooms.”

The Altec Lansing and Cambridge SoundWorks models were all very similar, though. They sounded great, look great, and come from brand names that are known for generally building their products to high quality specifications.

The iHome name has gained a lot of ground in the last three years. You often see these functional alarm clock iPod docks in both luxury hotels and college dorms. They generally sound good and have useful wakeup features like dual alarm clock times and, of course, the ability to wake up to your favorite songs blasting from your nightstand. The iH4b’s compact size and low price makes it a great value for dorm rooms and bedrooms. It has a good sound on a small footprint.

The Vers 2X is a great choice people who want something different. It doesn’t have a radio or really any other features except an iPod dock, but it’s an attractive, well-built speaker system.

Dobrolinski said that you should also focus on how the product looks. Style is important. He also said that you’ll want your dock to have a remote control so you’re not getting up all the time to tune it.

Individual products on Page 2

No doubt, bro. Mac’s got mad skillz. Word to your one button mouse.

Adobe Creative Suite runs just fine on my Dell, but for audio, and for the past, oh, 10 years, it’s been Acid Pro.

As I’ve said in a previous review, anyone can pick up Acid and make something happen with it. If you actually spend some time with the software, you can do absolutely wonderful things with the software. You can still get Acid Studio for about $40 if you just want to dabble, though.

In its most basic form, you can use Acid to mix together and cross-fade the perfect mix tape for your sweetheart. You can also compose a synchronized video soundtrack in Dolby Digital 5.1.

Acid Pro 7, released at the end of 2008, has all the features you’ve come to expect from the franchise — multi-track recording, loop-based production, MIDI sequencing, and lots of freebie effects. This iteration, however, has some features that are just plain delicious if you’re a musician.

Pro 7 features a dedicated sound and MIDI mixing console that has the ability to let you assign effects, working seamlessly with a good keyboard.

A look at the Acid Pro 7 interface

Sophisticated input busses allow the user to record from external sources and mix your audio and instruments. You can also plug external effects processors in and monitor them from the program. You can also direct that processed audio to other external hardware.

Basically, Acid Pro 7 is a modular recording, processing, and producing station.

The software also has native Flac support, which will make those people who record at concerts happy.

Best of all, the software loads up quickly, runs as fast as your computer will let it and puts out excellent sound.

The Logitech Squeezebox really tickled our fancy. This product will forever change the way we listen to music. We like it, in part, because the Internet provides tons of free choices from radio stations all over the world.

It would be fair to go into the ring not expecting much of a fight out of the plucky $300 Logitech — it’s based on fairly lossy streaming Internet audio after all and built on good if not basically mediocre drivers. But no. It sounds good. Not audiophile, but you’re not paying for audiophile either, are you?

One of the funnest things about the Logitech Squeezebox Boom is listening to Radio One London from an apartment in Boston.

That’s why Blast loves the Squeezebox: expanded horizons.

One of the funnest things about the Logitech Squeezebox Boom is listening to Radio One London from an apartment in Boston.

Tuning via a knob is much easier than tediously and repeatedly pressing buttons over and over, so that’s a big plus as well.

Download an audio design white paper on the Squeezebox Boom.

Pros: Internet radio provides a number of free choices from radio stations all over the world, giving you not only a wide range of music, but a little culture. A ton of the content is free, and you can also stream your existing music collection from your computer to the Squeezebox. It plugs into your network or downloads via Wi-Fi.

Cons: You have to download special software to send your MP3s and music files to the device. It doesn’t automatically find them on your network.

The final word: This is really more of a lifestyle choice than an impulse buy, meaning it will change your music listening life. We loved it.

Don’t miss John Guilfoil’s “Five ways to listen to music without an iPod” story, in The Boston Globe.

The Meridian F80 was pitched to us as a solution for a flashy executive as a great “secondary audio system” for bedrooms, kitchens, etc.

Of course, this British audio product partially designed by Ferrari costs $3,000.

The Boothroyd Stuart Meridian F80

It may not be cheap, but what the F80 is is a full on 2.1 (two speakers and a subwoofer) stereo system with two programmable antennae, input/output options and an excellent CD player built in/

You can also buy an iPod dock for the F80, but if you buy a $3,000 stereo, don’t sully it with your compressed musical crap, ok?

The rear mounted subwoofer adds amazing depth to the system, but the real surprise is that the two front speakers don’t sound like they’re inches apart. You get a spacial experience that feels like a room full of sound in a compact little red box.

Pros: The F80 sounds amazing. It is a complete 2.1 (two speakers and a subwoofer) setup inside one compact box. It plays CDs, AM/FM radio, and you can even plug it into your television/home theater to play DVDs. If you really miss your iPod, you can buy an external dock to plug it in.

Cons: Why doesn’t it have HD radio? We understand that not everyone is all about HD radio, but why not throw it in for three grand?

The final word: The F80 is basically a portable home theater with 80 watts of power. It doesn’t feel like the speakers are right next to each other. If you absolutely have to have the best stereo/radio/alarm clock, drop your chips here.

Don’t miss John Guilfoil’s “Five ways to listen to music without an iPod” story, in The Boston Globe.

Promotional:
Get the best home theater speakers for optimum home theater experience at The Speaker Company.

A few years ago, you were looking at $400+ for any decent Cambridge SoundWorks product at their mall-front audio boutiques.

You got a good product, but they sort of fell into the Sharper Image category of “oh, this is nice, but I’d never spend that much money on it.”

The big difference, however, is that Cambridge actually has useful products that normal people can benefit from instead of hundreds of different back massagers.

Cambridge SoundWorks, now owned by Creative Labs, decided to close all of its retail outlets and focus on direct marketing — reducing their and our costs.

Thus, the SW820 HD Radio, which would run you hundreds more in the store days, is only $129.99, and it still sounds like $400.

Not everyone is a believer in HD Radio, and we’re not necessarily sold on the concept either. But look at it this way: Radio is here to stay. Why not give HD a shot if it really does offer more programming options for free?

There’s just one flaw in that otherwise impeccable logic. The HD signals are often spotty at best, especially getting 15-20 miles into the suburbs, away from a metro radio signal.

Here in Boston, you’ll have a hard time getting a good HD signal — or the stations-between-the-stations — on the South or North Shore or beyond Framingham. (West Coasters — think of that as deep into Orange County from Downtown Los Angeles.)

The other big flaw with the SW820 is that the antenna is a bitch to screw on, requiring a special wrench that comes with the radio. Don’t lose it, or you can forget about HD programming no matter where you are.

The radio does sound very good, and tuning via the knob instead of repeatedly mashing buttons is a relief. When you do get an HD signal, you clearly notice the difference.

Like it or not, HD Radio sounds good, and for the $100 you’ll spend on Amazon for this baby, Cambridge SoundWorks makes their case.

Don’t miss John Guilfoil’s “Five ways to listen to music without an iPod” story, in The Boston Globe.

We have over a dozen Plantronics Audio 350 gaming headsets that we’re just throwing at our readers right now. Enjoy the ultimate gaming headset for free!

What do you have to do to get one of these freebies? Write a review! Review a new movie, music album, video game, software, hardware, gadget, laptop, camera, pretty much whatever you want. Write up a review that’s at least 400 words, and if we use it, you’ll get a freebie!

Email all reviews to newsroom@blastmagazine.com, and include your name, address, website address if you have one, the review, any photos you have of the product and don’t forget the 1-5 star rating!

There are two truly great and ridiculously fun pieces of software that have been out there forever in the music studio/audio editing/looping world: Fruity Loops and Acid.

They’re fun because even though most people don’t have a damn clue how to really use the software, anyone can pick either title up and start making noise right away.

Acid Pro first came out in 1998 and was the first true loop-based Desktop Audio Workstation. It’s been popular with bands, DJ’s and producers ever since.

Acid Pro 6 remains the bulked up commercial product at $200+, but a slightly lighter Acid Music Studio 7, which you can scoop up for $50 has most of the features of its predecessor and just about everything a student or individual user could ask for.

What I liked about Acid Studio were the tutorials. Sony’s “Show Me How” system lets you ease into working with the software, and I highly recommend spending a few hours practicing on them if you want to get serious with the software. 

There are also 3,000 build in music loops, 1,000 MIDI files and the capability for importing your own audio to mix up. You can also record live from your own instruments via your sound card. 

Finally, when you’re done you can export your audio artwork to CD’s, flash drives, MP3 players or package them for easy web streaming. 

I have always prefered Acid over the years to Adobe’s Audition, and being a PC guy I don’t have much experience with Garage Band. I can tell you that if you want to really ease into audio editing and mixing, there’s a free, open source title out there called Audacity. While it’s not as polished or powerful as the boxed products, it is a great, free resource for audio editing.

There are a bunch of other DAW’s out there, but I’ve found Acid Pro and now Acid Music Studio balance power and learning curve better than the competitors. There’s also a free trial available. 

Overall, Music Studio won’t do everything that Acid Pro 6 does — particularly with sample rates. Music Studio maxes out as 16/48kHz while Pro can do 24/192kHz. Pro also can process 5.1 surround sound recordings. But if you’re just looking to break into music creation and mixing, I love Music Studio.

The Swarovski crystals cover the outside of the radio forming a tattoo-style vine wrapping across the product, the company said in a statement.

You can have some bling for $2500 if you can make your way to Saks Fifth Avenue’s home department.

We’re currently reviewing one of Sonoro’s Cubo products, and we love the way it sounds so far.

The Powerline Stereo Audio System will be displayed by IOGEAR at CEDIA 2008 in booth #468.

And now, something technical:

“The Powerline Stereo Audio System uses existing electrical lines within the home to stream music to any room, creating a full-house multimedia network without the need for expensive audio cable installation,” the companies said in a statement. “Arkados’ HomePlug powerline technology and its Direct-to-Speaker software provide reliable connectivity and the highest quality digital sound from the audio source to the speakers for the system.”

Of course, everyone’s happy:

“We are pleased to have joined forces with IOGEAR, a leading connectivity manufacturer, to provide an affordable, high-quality solution to home audio networking,” said Oleg Logvinov, president and Chief Executive Officer of Arkados. “The Arkados HomePlug solution within IOGEAR’s Powerline Stereo Audio System allows consumers to install their own state-of-the-art home audio network at a significantly lower price point. We are looking forward to showcasing the system at CEDIA.”

Yay.

Oh. Ohhhh… Interesting.

It’s heavy and shiny and costs as much as a high-end home audio center channel, but the Bowers & Wilkins Zeppelin will do things to your iPod audio that you weren’t sure she was capable of.

Sure, at $600, it’s more expensive than any iPod, but if you want a $20 speaker system, there’s plenty of those out there that sound like amplified earbuds.

The Zeppelin sounds phenomenal. It weighs in at almost 17 pounds and packs five drivers.

It’s built around a central 5″ bass driver, two 3.5″ midranges and two 1″ metal dome tweeters for those high notes and puts out 100 total watts of power, which is as powerful as any standard home theater setup.

Why the constant comparison to home theater components? Because the Zeppelin acts more like a piece of equipment than a device. It feels more like an antique wood coffee table than a plastic folding card table. The majority of audio components sound “good.” A bunch of them sound “bad.” And then there’s a breed that sounds like what your “always-has-to-have-the-best” neighbor has. The audio quality on the Zeppelin is amazing, and it’s even more amazing that this device was specifically built for iPods.

And if there is to be any complaint about the Zeppelin, it’s that it is 99 percent iPod-centric. Obviously there’s no CD player. There’s no radio. You can plug a Zune or any other audio device in, but then you’re left with this arm in the middle where the iPod is supposed to go.

Maybe that’s not a complaint, because this seems to work just fine. We’re a music consuming world that’s now 99 percent iPod (or iPhone now) centric, so why not plop your pod into something like the Zeppelin?

The remote control doesn’t work that well. There, I issued a complaint. It’s good up till about 10 feet and then it’s hit or miss.

With a product like this, all we’re missing out on here is the fact that we’re still largely using compressed MP3 files that don’t sound as good as pure, unadulterated audio. Do yourself a favor sometime, plug a CD player into a device like this. I did.

Digression over.

The Zeppelin works with iPod Touch, Classic, 4th and 5th generation, Nano and Mini. There’s also an auxiliary input port so that you can plug in just about any device. You can also use composite or S-Video to output video to a television or display.

This is a peach of a product that you should definitely check out.

So, I’ve toed the company line. That’s what the iH12 and every other iHome product does. It’s what they do, and they’re very good at it.

The iH12 is a compact cube with a backlit display, dual alarms and gradually progressing volume for waking and sleeping. It has a remote, AM/FM radio with 12 presets and an auxilary input to plug in your non-iPod devices.

The device has iHome’s usual Reson8 speaker with passive subwoofer for bass. It’s not going to shake a room, but the iH12 projects a clear sound that’s as good as any of the docks on the market.

It is not compatible with 3rd generation or earlier iPods, so make sure you have something fairly new to throw at it.

At $80, it’s priced right in the meaty curve of the iPod-audio-docking-alarm-clocking products. Give it a shot.

4 out of 5 stars

We have seen some excellent smaller, two-piece computer speakers (Bose has a great one for $400). There are also some excellent one-piece systems, like a Polk Audio product for $1,000.

There are several choices in subwooferless computer speakers. There always have been. Most of them suck or are too expensive or both. The challenge has always been to somehow capture the sound that comes with today’s 2.1, 4.1 and 5.1 (even 6.1 and 7.1 that we’ve seen…) computer speaker systems. Let’s face it, a lot of users just don’t feel like mounting a complete surround system around their desktop.

The Altec Lansing SoundBar tries to pick up the slack and give users a compact solution that won’t sound like two tin cans and a string.

At $80, it is not going to compete with the Polk SurroundBar, but it’s a long shot better than the $10 Dell Sound Bar that is made to retrofit their Ultrasharp monitors.

The Altec Lansing SoundBar sits comfortably below any flat monitor and lets you connect your computer and any other headphone-jack device, like an iPod, simultaneously.

Here’s what you should know about the SoundBar: it does its job. He’s a blue-collar, clock-punching factory worker who’s happy with his lot in life. The product has good bass, excellent highs and projects a pretty clear sound. But it’s not going to shake a room.

The SoundBar is still a one-piece speaker system without a subwoofer, and nobody is trying to sell it as anything different. So don’t expect it. It also doesn’t deliver (or claim to deliver) a three-dimensional surround sound experience. This isn’t a home theater unit. It’s not going to make you jerk your head around to see where that sound came from. The SoundBar is essentially a center channel that does a decent job of separating left and right effects.

The SoundBar is powered by three 2″ divers; two of them are active, full-range speakers, while the third is passive and handles the bass. The device is controlled by a single knob that handles power, volume and muting. The line-in and headphone jacks are also useful, and they give you audio ports right at your fingertips.

It’s certainly priced right, and if you’re looking for a clear, compact speaker that won’t need its own room and require multiple wall and ceiling mountings, this is a great choice.

Overall: 4 out of 5 stars

The product will come in two flavors — “cubo elements” and “cubo fusion.” The elements model comes with Internet radio that allows users to choose from 10,000 radio stations. There is also an AM/FM version of the product. “fusion” comes equipped with an iPod docking station and key-lock system to secure the unit in place.

“Cubo fits comfortably on nightstands, kitchen counters and tabletops, adding flair to any room,” the company said recently. “User-friendly buttons let individuals effortlessly control their music and program alarms to a desired song or radio station.”

The system is built on a full-range driver with a bass-reflex tube. It comes in three wood and seven lacquer-color finishes. It looks like a good one, and at $350, they just might catch the eyes of their style-conscious target market.

They come in a wide variety of packages and configurations.

In a nutshell, there are three main Bluetooth devices, the TX, the RX and the F1.

The TX sends audio, the RX receives audio, or you can go with the F1 — stereo Bluetooth headphones.

The Cerulean F1 wireless stereo headphones reach 33 feet, and they allow you to to plug-in to any auxiliary audio source or iPod-compatible audio system and listen to it.

They are designed to with with traditional iPod docking platforms, and the TX and RX don’t require any batteries because they’re charged by the iPod and Dock-compatible audio device. You can use them with non iPod products, but you’ll need an external power source and audio wires.

These are great but expensive toys. A set of TX + RX or F1 + TX will run you upwards of $150. They sound great, however and are sleek and stylish on top it it all.

Overall, if you’re willing to put up the extra dollars, iSkin’s Cerulean line is one of the best, most compact Bluetooth devices I’ve used. It removes the wires, but it’s versatile enough to be used away from the traditional iPod application.

Take a look on the iSkin website.

Quick hits:

Distributor: iSkin
Developer: iSkin
Genre: Bluetooth audio
Launch Date: August 8, 2007

Overall: 4 out of 5 stars

THE MEAT

Probably the biggest new feature in SF9 is its ability to directly record and handle audio streams of up to 32 separate channels. What this means is that you can, for example, capture an entire 5.1 surround sound stream in one pass, whereas previously, you’d have to break the stream into three pairs of tracks and record them separately, synchronizing them after the fact. It’s something of a wonder that this feature wasn’t introduced a long time ago. In this day and age of DVDs and 3D games with cinematic soundtracks, producers are increasingly finding themselves to be dealing with greater-than-stereo mix scenarios, and Sound Forge’s previous two channel limitation was a thorn in the side that many weren’t willing to bear.

While the phrase that would come to most people’s minds in a case like this would be “better late than never,” Sony was obviously not satisfied to hide behind this excuse and used the time effectively to do things right, rather than simply tweaking a few functions to hack in multiple channels in a few places. They took the effort to modify the supporting features of the program to cope with the new information properly, so that things like the spectrum analyzer and mix meter would be capable of showing frequency and phase cancellation issues across the composite of all channels simultaneously.

Additionally, the mix capabilities are appropriately flexible and aren’t arbitrarily limited to stereo-based notions of left and right, enabling you to crossfade and bleed any channel into several others at once so that you can precisely position things when merging down or spreading up. If that’s not enough, they also put in enhanced drag-and-drop between channels and files, and added support for exporting and saving into over half a dozen multichannel file formats, with support for over two dozen formats overall.

In addition to multichannel capabilities, SF9 now comes with Quicktime/MPEG, Noise Reduction 2.0 and the iZotope mastering effects bundle as part of the standard package, which is a significant value boost over the previous version, considering all three are worth a couple hundred dollars by themselves.

The iZotope set is particularly interesting, giving you an EQ, reverb, compressor and limiter, all with real-time graphs and meters that show you exactly what you’re working with (the multiband compressor looks especially useful). Effects also have highly configurable wet/dry mix and crossfade options now, and along with all the multichannel support comes the ability to use multichannel VST pluggins too.

Last but not least, we also get integration with the Gracenote MusicID Media Recognition Service, so you don’t have to waste time manually typing in id3 tag information when extracting songs from audio CDs.

LAST WORDS

Sound Forge version 9 is definitely a major step forward for the program. With its current feature set and price (and now Windows Vista compatibility as well), it offers a very attractive package that’s well worth considering and should be on the radar of both owners of previous versions, and anyone new who’s just getting into the business.