MAGIX Audio Cleaning Lab 2013 - Professional Audio Editing Software [Digital Download] - Perfect for Podcasters, Musicians & Audio Engineers

Put the dark days of free software behind you. Right here is "HOLY COW!" in a box. You might be faithful to your tools by NCH or other but, ACL takes a tiny amount of effort to begin to learn and, once you do, you will begin to make your recordings sound professionally processed, crisp, loud, and clean. Whatever else you are using isn't going to stand up to this. Nothing beats a great recording but, when all you have is a noisy recording, this software will help you to specifically target the many different types of noise without destroying the audio and turning it into something machine-like. Whether I've needed to process video audio, remove the teeth sucking sounds from someone giving a speech, or master a single and give it that big booming sound that makes it ready for purchase online or radio play, I've used ACL with fantastic success. Even if you start out only using the presets, you're going to be shocked at how awesome the results are. They really should call it, Audio Cleaning & Mastering Lab. This software is equally powerful in both departments. Most every action you can take in this is non-destructive (will not alter your original audio signal). Those few times when it is destructive, you will be warned. I've used the undo after trying something destructive and didn't have a problem because ACL has kind of an alternative meaning of destructive. It actually makes an altered copy and changes the project's focus to that altered copy so, hitting the undo arrow changes the focus back to the original recording again. You will be able to make precision repairs using the powerful zoom and working in spectral view. Keep in mind, though ACL will record, this is not for tracking and mixing. For that, you'll want a digital audio workstation (DAW) like Pro Tools, Acid, Mixcraft, Cubase, Reaper, Cakewalk, FL Studio, Ableton Live, Studio One, Reason, and so many more.These are products I use, and have reviewed, with this item. To read my other reviews, click the link "See all my reviews" which is next to my name:I was using BIAS SoundSaver Express on a Windows 7 machine to digitize my old vinyl albums. However I built myself a new PC and put Windows 8 on it. I loved SoundSaver Express because of its ease of use, but it wouldn't let me renew on my new computer and so I was out of luck, researched products available and tried record gold but nothing really did the job. In spite of all the negative reviews, I decided to give Audio Cleaning Lab 2013 a try. I figured the worst that could happen is that I would be out $30. I am extremely happy with this software, It cleans much better than SoundSaver Express and my music really sounds incredibly good. Especially in light of the fact that some of my albums are almost 50 years old. The only drawback is that it doesn't allow me to name the tracks before they are saved and I have to use an mp3 tag editor to enter the track information. Oh, well you can't get everything for $30. Unfortunately, the sound of my recordings with audio cleaning lab is so much improved that I now find myself wanting to go back and re-record the LPs I've already digitized.Combined with a good turntable and PC, this product has been excellent in converting my aging LPs to MP3.There are a lot more bells and whistles than I could possibly use - and the results, in my opinion have been excellent.Crack/hiss/noise removal - and then a "mastering" process suited to the genre are straightforward and fun.For the most part the user interface is intuitive... the only negative I have is on the cut feature. I still have not figured out how to use it effectively and feel it should be more intuitive - this however may just be me thinking it should work a certain way. Also - the user documentation could be a tad better in this area. But as I say, for what I wanted to do this products is excellent. I had used the Magix lab some 8-10 years ago (XP version) and it seemed good then - this version (for Win 7) is great.I had an older version of this software that I was using to 'save' my vinyl collection of some 200+ albums from the late 60's to the early 90's. Unfortunately that version was no longer compatible with Windows 8.1, so I went with this upgrade. The graphical user interface is nicer than the previous version(s), but the software is still not always intuitive when you are adding effects. Once you figure out all the options, the software is pretty darn good at doing what it does to clean, enhance, or tweak any audio tracks you are working with.I have used Magix Audio Cleaning Lab (versions 11 and 12) products for over 10 years and was very pleased with them. This was on a PC running Windows XP. Since Microsoft no longer supports XP I bought a new PC running Windows 8.1 Pro (64 bit) and the earlier versions will not load on it. I bought this version thinking it would continue to be as good or better than the old versions; but not true. It has so many automatic settings that override my manual settings that the music I try to record is so irritating to listen to that I had to uninstall the product. I am currently trying out some free programs called Audacity and WavePad that to this point are much better than this version of Magix. That's too bad because I really liked the older versions.The software is very easy to use and has features that I need and nothing more. I suggest that you purchase through Amazon or another online store. Do not purchase directly from Magix. Magis is located in Germany and getting one-on-one support is almost non-existing. Unless, you don't mind paying for an international phone call. Establishing an account surmounts to a climb to Mt. Everest. This product works!