Okay, I spend the whole day searching for and demo'ing/trying all the audio editors that I could find but it seems that there's no alternative for my old friend Sound Forge Pro 2.5. Now here's the thing, I want to stay up2date with my tools - especially with almost each year a new OS X and possible compatibility issues - but unfortunately SF is discontinued and Magix seems to be only interested in Windows. So maybe someone has the golden ticket because I'm a bit lost here.

I use an audio editor mainly for shaping/cutting wav samples. All the other things are food for my DAW (Logic X). That's why the zero sample accuracy zoom +easy mouse behaviour are so important to me. Check the image to see what I mean. I also like a white background (which isn't always possible to tweak in an audio editor).

Some helpful links that I used in my quest so far:
https://audiosex.pro/threads/sound-forge-alternative-on-mac.13813/
http://www.techradar.com/news/the-best-free-audio-editor
http://www.toptenreviews.com/software/multimedia/best-mac-audio-editing-software/
(and Google of course)

Btw, I'm aware of the criticism against the SF Mac version in comparison with Windows (used both) but I guess that's related to all the other features (which I don't use) and perhaps the slow start-up.

 

so, which ones did you try and discard already?

 

Logic has a decent sample editor Click on the track a window appears.. go to to file and you see the wave at a sample level if you zoom in. With the pencil you can modify a single sample.

 

A lot (free ones and Youtube review vids included). Can't remember all of them anymore. Let's see: Adobe Audition, Amadeus Pro, WavePad Masters Edition, Sound Studio, TwistedWave, iZotope RX5, 2nd Sense Audio ReSample, Audacity. None of them 'emulates' what SF does in 100% zoom mode. Although I understand why most people use them. I guess I'm too precise in my editing. But that's just the way it is.

I'm aware of that but it's not the same unfortunately. You can also open an other editor window by option+click btw (enable advanced tools first).

 

wow, that's a lotta tryin. since bias peak is dead the only suggestion i got left is dsp quattro.

 

Yeah, it was just one of those days. But I'm planning to do a fresh OS X install this weekend so now is the time to try things. About DSP-Quattro, I forgot to mention it in my list. Same story unfortunately. With all the examples I also tried to tweak preferences and view settings to see if it comes any close but I think the maximum zoom mode in SF is just unique. Otherwise there should've been at least 1 editor equal.

 

just to understand the image correctly...
is this what you need?

 

Yep! And easy mouse control when zoom in/out, going from left to right, selecting etc. for a fast workflow. But that was no problem in most editors. Although some had only knob controls (the little + and - magnifiers).

 

that screenshot is from wavosaur which is win only unfortunately (might run ok in wine).
did u try audacity? horrible looks but excellent editor.

 

Have you tried Steinberg WaveLab? This interests me because I still use Soundtrack Pro & on 10.9.5, but I know sooner or later I'll have to use another.

 

Eisenkraut.
BTW, I've used Audition for manually correcting clicks a few years ago -
have they really removed the sample-level editing feature in later versions??
Note that you have to horizontally zoom-in deep enough for the sample handles to become editable!

 

I found this link: http://blog.wavosaur.com/wavosaur-for-mac-with-wineskin/
But it didn't work (error when opening the app). I'm on Sierra 10.12.4 so that might be the reason.
See for Audacity my reply below. It looks very outdated indeed. But there might be some skins available. Or customize options.

I didn't. Although the trial is without, buying means that you need an USB-eLicenser. Had one before but didn't like it so sold it together with my plug-ins. Already have iLok2 and other USB hardware connections so that's enough. I understand why developers use such protection but I'm not a dongle fan. Or Steinberg/ReFX/Vengeance/Arturia etc so I'm a bit prejudiced I guess.

Hmz. Yesterday I tried Audacity and although the view might be similar to SF/Wavosaur when 100% zoom is used I wasn't convinced about the controls and workflow. For example: mouse only works with command+mouse, playhead vs dots aren't matching, not a very stable feel (if that makes any sense), outdated GUI. However, I'm trying it again right now and maybe I need to get used to it first before judging.

About Eisenkraut. I have no idea how to open it. Downloaded the universal pack but I'm not that familiar with scripts.

Will call Magix support too when they're available again to ask for any news about Sound Forge updates for Mac.

 

I just checked Audition again, and I was shocked to see that neither the latest version nor the older v5.0 (i.e. CS6) support sample-level editing. Well, in fact it doesn't really matter because waiting almost one minute until the app has launched (even after several launches) is a no-go for many guys anyway. Man, how great the old v1.5 Windows version used to be!

However, Audiofile Engineering's Triumph does sample-level editing and much more.

 

Hey, @fiction. I been demoing Triumph and can't figure out how to render a file. I get in there and do what I need to do really fast, that I love, but when I go to render the Render Assistant pops up, I go through the motions and it just gets stuck on the dither options. I can't get past it. If I may ask, what am I doing wrong?

 

http://www.magix-audio.com/za/sound-forge-pro-mac/new-features/
Look there... SF is back through Magix

 

Yep, finally!

 

Try Audiofile Engineering's Wave Editor (now "Triumph", though 32-bit Wave Editor will still run on Sierra) or DSP-Quatro.

 

"alternative for my old friend Sound Forge Pro 2.5",
we've been trying to solve this as well, Adobe Audition seemed promising, but the fact it costs 290€ to be paid every year made us rechange the thinking,
OcenAudio is interesting FREE open-source audio editor, which can do what you need,
we, ended up with Cockos Reaper, which is way more advanced DAW, but functionality-wise it does what we need and costs 225$ one-time purchase

 

Last edited: May 25, 2017

Back from the archive. Although I haven't made the switch to Catalina yet (obvious reasons), it seems that Magix Sound Forge isn't compatible anymore and there's no sunny news on the horizon for Mac users about a new release. Something with a 'bad crumb' error. So the question remains once again, is there a good alternative with the options as described above? Just tried Audacity again but it's still not the same.

 

Why don't you want Ocenaudio?