Is this the ultimate sound and music editor?
Afew weeks ago, I reviewed the Video Audio Cleaning Lab from Magix, designed to fix and enhance any problems you have with your video sounds. Well, this latest product is the big brother of that package, so it’s quite capable of fixing the same problems, yet it can also handle a whole lot more as well. The name of the product on review is the Magix Audio and Music Cleaning Lab Premium. The Premium tag indicates that it’s the top of the range in this series, and one that includes some very sophisticated sound editing features.
The interface is quite similar to the previous product, which seems to be the format that’s evolved to become the common layout for sound editors, where the screen is split into two primary sections. As usual, this shows the sound waveforms running across the top, with the editing tools arranged along the bottom. From here, the general arrangement has your five primary options on the left, the dialogues and menus for the individual effects in the centre and the information and visual analysers on the right. If you’re editing video sound, you can also open a video preview window in the lower-right quadrant as well. You do have limited control over the layout, but only in terms of the proportions of the top and bottom of the screen. Alternatively, you can expand the area you're working on using one of three preset function keys. The interface is fully context aware, so the display automatically changes to reflect both the primary option and, of course, the editing function you’re currently using.
Import options include CD, vinyl, cassette, speech, digital and web radio. All of these can be monitored and any adjustments can be made while you’re recording. And in the case of web radio, the program lists over 6,000 stations you can record directly from.
To say it’s comprehensive is something of an understatement, because it has every conceivable filter and effect you could want. These range from simply removing clicks or background hiss, to adding reverberation and optimising speech recordings. Incidentally, these are just a couple of examples from the huge catalogue available to you. But you needn’t feel overwhelmed by this, because in the majority of cases there are presets (over 350) you can use. There’s also a global auto clean option that analyses the project or a selected portion of it, then offers a one-click solution to fix what it calculates is wrong. Most of the time where you’re trying to get rid of extraneous noise or crisp up the whole performance, it works quite well. However, I found the auto option could be a little conservative in its solutions, which to be honest would be the preferred choice anyway. Luckily the same interface provides options to tweak the results a little further if necessary, rather than having to backpedal every time. The system also includes six professional studio effects, together with a (Virtual Studio Technology) VST 2 interface that allows you to add your own VST compatible plug-ins.
Once you’ve completed the editing, you would normally move to the mastering option to optimise the project for final output. This follows a similar path to editing, yet in this case you have a range of preset styles to add to your project. Styles basically change the tonal quality to match the type of music or, in the case of speech, the appropriate venue. So you could create a 50s big band or 70s disco sound with a single click.
There are also export options for all the major file formats, including video. And you can create your own CD track layouts, add new or change the meta data or upload directly to the most popular social media and storage solutions.
All in all, an excellent program, which also won't break the bank. Joe Lavery
Easy to use yet very comprehensive.