Just tagging on to @EricLNZ 's comment, Cubase and similar are multi-track multi-channel DAWs (Digital Audio Workstations) best suited for music production whereas Sound Forge Pro is a single track multi-channel audio editor.

@EricLNZ - I get it, music production vs video production, they both basically are different main streams.

@Dexcon - You are correct, as per this comparison "https://new.steinberg.net/cubase/compare-editions/", Cubase LE is the most basic version of the all. I wouldn't have realized all this if you wouldn't have pointed out this out for me, really appreciate it.

Just tagging on to @EricLNZ 's comment, Cubase and similar are multi-track multi-channel DAWs (Digital Audio Workstations) best suited for music production whereas Sound Forge Pro is a single track multi-channel audio editor.

I just recalled my daughter telling me that Cubase LE was not at all very helpful to her as it lacked the required presets, packs, effects etc. However, the music institute where she goes use a higher variant of Cubase, but also use some different sound editing program.

Have you tried SF and if yes, then did you find it useful?

I recently tried SoundForge. If you are looking for a tool to clean up audio it is useful (for example, reduce hiss from a recording). It works with all the VSTs I tried with it, unlike Vegas which doesn't work reliablity with 64-bit VSTs or VST 3 plugins. The loudness feature in SoundForge was quite useful for keeping a consistent loudness for my videos. The interface is similar to Vegas so it's easy to learn.

So for fixing/cleaning up audio it's a decent tool, especially as part of that package. You can export sound from Vegas, clean it up and bring it back in.

Have you tried SF and if yes, then did you find it useful?

Absolutely. I've been using Sound Forge Pro for 10 years - maybe more (from SF 10). My main use of SF is to record and edit VOs and then import the .wav exports into Vegas Pro. It is also excellent for editing so many other audio requirements like editing down a 2 minutes audio track to, say, 30 seconds. Also, once set up in Vegas Pro via Options/Preferences/Audio (tab), you can choose SF (or any other audio editor for that matter) as your preferred audio editor. This means that you can R click an audio event on Vegas Pro's timeline, click R and choose 'open in Sound Forge' and work on that selected range of the audio event in SF and the save it.

One of the great tools in SF is the Draw tool - especially useful for VOs. If you have a voice like mine prone to 'throat cracking' (vocal fry), I can use the Draw tool to reshape the sine wave to get rid of the 'jaggies' on the sine wave - unless the vocal fry extends over too many sine waves which means find another take.

Sound Forge Pro is very useful for me, whether it is useful for others is another thing.

Thank you @RogerS & @Dexcon for the helpful information.

With $50 a good bargain, I will go with VP then.

Thanks once again.

I can say that Vegas PRO and Samplitude (and all the goodies you get with the suite (includes SF14) it makes a desktop a full video/music production studio for a good (great if you are upgrading) price. I've been using both (got Samplitude just about the same time as Vegas PRO 13) and find them incredibly user friendly and very powerful. There is a Samplitude Music Studio that might work well for your daughter as a DAW. Also she might look at the free scoring program MuseScore, very powerful and can accept input from a keyboard.

@D7K, thank you for the information.

A few moments ago, I asked my daughter about which audio production software they are using at their institute, and she said of Pro Tools.

But in my case, SF would suffice all the requirements.

Just for clarity, Pro Tools has different versions, including a free version: https://www.avid.com/pro-tools/comparison

But in my case, SF would suffice all the requirements.

Perfect. A great result. Cheers.

There is also a DAW called Cakewalk. Used to be a rather expensive DAW but is now free and just as capable as fully blown Pro-Tools. It is constantly updated with lots of features added.

Just for clarity, Pro Tools has different versions, including a free version: https://www.avid.com/pro-tools/comparison

But in my case, SF would suffice all the requirements.

Perfect. A great result. Cheers.

Thanks :-)

There is also a DAW called Cakewalk. Used to be a rather expensive DAW but is now free and just as capable as fully blown Pro-Tools. It is constantly updated with lots of features added.

It was somewhere in 1997-98 when for the 1st time in my life I had heard about Cakewalk. I was then in the computers business and a systems integrator. The customer had walked into my office with the Cakewalk CD and asked if this program would work on the computer they were going to purchase.

If you don't currently own Sound Forge, then the $50 upgrade price is well worth it, although since it seems you may not have a lot of experience with audio then those benefits likely allude you at this time.

Sound Forge won't help your daughter in the music creation process. Actually, Vegas is a much better music creation tool than Sound Forge, so if you want to get her something that is more useful for music, let her start getting more familiar with Vegas and its multi-tracking audio features. Vegas started off as a DAW multi-track recorder and as such it has very powerful audio features. Hint: My background is that I'm more of audio guy than a video guy where for 90% of my audio work, I use Vegas where it is my preferred audio multi-track editing, recording, and mixing tool.

Sound Forge does not playback audio, while recording audio along with it at the same time. Vegas does. You can't record more than a stereo input into Sound Forge, with Vegas you can record as many audio inputs onto separate tracks as your system can handle. You can't do punch-in overdubs in Sound Forge, you can in Vegas.

Sound Forge is more of an audio precision analysis and fine editing tool. Think of it more as a surgeons laser precision scalpel in regards to audio. You can zoom into the sample level and perform edits and modifications at that level, you can't do that in Vegas. It is a perfect tool for audio mastering where you are only working with a single stereo file. If you're familiar working with Hitfilm and/or Vegas Effects in conjunction with Vegas, think of Sound Forge to audio as to what Hitfilm is to video. Need to perform a highly intensive CPU processing effect to an audio event in Vegas, then right click on it in Vegas and select "Open in Sound Forge", perform those intensive processes offline in SF, then save in Sound Forge, and that audio gets updated with those changes done in SF and updated onto your Vegas timeline.

Now in regards to Vegas compared to Cubase. They are both audio multi-track recorders/editors. Where Vegas falls short in the music creation process is that it does not support Midi track recording/editing. It also does not support virtual synthesizer plugins which get used in conjunction with Midi sequencing. If you create music that does not include Midi and Virtual synths, I would argue to say Vegas is actually a better mult-track recorder/editor than Cubase.

Cubase is made by Steinberg. Steinberg also makes a tool called Wavelab. In regards to Steinberg vs Magix/Sony app product comparison. Cubase is a competitive offering to Acid Pro which does support midi and virtual synths as well as multi-track audio editing/recording. Wavelab is a competitive offering to Sound Forge. If you're familiar with using Vegas, you will feel at home working in Acid Pro, it shares the same user interface and workflow.

Now my personal gripe. Under Sonic Foundry, Acid Pro started it's life off as an audio loop based arrangement tool and it does a fantastic job at that. Vegas started off it's life as a true multi-track audio recording/editing tool. As Vegas new versions came out they began adding Video NLE features into Vegas, originally so you could perform audio post work of adding sound to video. That further NLE development of Vegas continued with Sonic Foundry and then onto Sony where Vegas audio users felt more and more neglected in regards to music creation features that were now being offered by other competitive DAW offerings. So while Vegas's video NLE audience started to grow, it's audio DAW audience started to leave because it didn't implement important music creation tools such as Midi, Virtual instrument support, or Rewire support so you could more easily sync another tool up to it which did, such as Acid Pro. Try to phantom this, Sony/Sonic Foundry has created a tool called Acid Pro which has great Midi/Loop based/Virtual synth features for music creation and they have Vegas Pro which is a great multi-track audio recorder/editor, then a technology comes along called "Rewire" which allows you to use those 2 apps in synchronis harmony between them with sample accurate sync, and are able to share audio streams between them and they decide to add Rewire support to Acid Pro, but then follow that up by deciding to not add Rewire support into Vegas so you can essentially use them together in a single workflow with all the features everyone is requesting. They basically abandoned their Vegas Pro DAW users over time, and then tried to gain them back by adding multi-track audio features into Acid Pro. The problem there? The multi-track audio features in Acid Pro fell way short of the multi-track audio features which were already in Vegas from it's initial v1.0 release.

So now if you head on over to the Acid Pro forums, on most days you can hear a pin drop with no real forum discussion activity going on and Magix has yet to pick up the ball and fully implement the audio multi-track features which are already in Vegas while Vegas continues to be neglected on the audio side since it doesn't even have VST3 plugin support which has been available since 2006 and is a "must have" expected feature for anyone who works with multi-track audio where many audio plugin developers have already stopped releasing VST2 plugins and only producing VST3 plugin versions. Once you video guys start running into that situation, maybe we'll start seeing Magix get some motivation to start supporting VST3 plugins in Vegas Pro. The audio external hardware controllers which made their way into Vegas aren't even being made anymore and they have yet to provide support for the newer generations more popular hardware controllers which are.

#End Rant

Vegas Pro has a substantial multi-track DAW built in, though it is not specifically designed for music. However anyone with basic music/audio chops should be able to put a mix together.

As most folks are aware Sound Forge is a multi-channel editing application and does not facilitate sound-on-sound recording (aka, overdubbing). It should be noted that when Sound Forge Pro is included in the Vegas Pro package deal it does not include the Elements plug-ins from iZootope, (RX and Ozone), Unfortunately Magix/Vegas does not clearly state this. These and the other third-party plug-ins are only included for free when Sound Forge Pro is purchased singularly.

Thank you, @Rednroll, for such a detailed and informative explanation. The knowledge derived out of all this is simply precious & invaluable. Even though I read your complete message, word-to-word, I also had my daughter read it. Really appreciate the time and efforts you put into educating us all.

@rraud, thank you for letting me know about the hidden trick. It is true that many companies conceal such type of information to boost their sales but at the same time, leaves behind unhappy & unsatisfied customers.

@Alok-Sharma

In a discussion like this, it is absolutely necessary to distinguish what kind of music production one will be involved with. They are as different as night and day!

1. Audio recording, editing, and mastering only. Use Sound Forge.

2. MIDI and Loop instrument production. Use an integrated DAW, such as Cubase or Cakewalk (free), which ALSO have  Audio Recording and production capabilities.

Those are two completely different classes of audio production software, and the distinction must be made prior to purchase, so one isn't saddled with unwanted expensive features, nor left wanting for loop / midi instrument capabilities. It is that simple.

@Alok-Sharma

In a discussion like this, it is absolutely necessary to distinguish what kind of music production one will be involved with. They are as different as night and day!

1. Audio recording, editing, and mastering only. Use Sound Forge.

2. MIDI and Loop instrument production. Use an integrated DAW, such as Cubase or Cakewalk (free), which ALSO have  Audio Recording and production capabilities.

Those are two completely different classes of audio production software, and the distinction must be made prior to purchase, so one isn't saddled with unwanted expensive features, nor left wanting for loop / midi instrument capabilities. It is that simple.

Or you get something like Samplitude that does it all at a professional level. Beware of DAW's that require you to buy lots of VSTs to be fully functional.

Or you get something like Samplitude that does it all at a professional level. Beware of DAW's that require you to buy lots of VSTs to be fully functional.

Professional level material comes from the knowledge and experience of the user, not the tool. I've tried most DAWs out there and for me personally, it boils down to which one makes my life working with it the easiest when using it. When I start trying out a DAW, if it takes me 1 hour of staring at the screen and searching through the help menu to perform what I consider to be a common editing or recording task, then my patience runs out and I move onto the next.

Many people rave about Albeton Live, and I've given it a whirl quite a few times. I never could grasp its workflow paradigm to get my head around it. It's been awhile since I tried Samplitude, it seemed ok at that time but that's been like 15 years ago lol! I hear many like Fruity loops studio as well and Reaper is great as well. I've surrendered to the fact that whatever initial DAW you like the best when 1st starting out, you're likely going to stick with it for the long haul and learn ways to work around any of its short comings while hoping for the best those short-comings improve in future releases. It's really not about the cost of the software, or the inclusion or not of plugins which makes you stay with a particular DAW. It's about the time investment you put into it, where you end up developing a personal relationship due to that time and effort investment. When you try to move to another DAW after that time investment, things just tend to be frustrating because although a DAW may have a particular feature....it just does it in a different manner which causes frustration.

I've worked around the short comings of Vegas as a DAW, by complementing it with the features in Acid Pro. Together, they do everything I need to be able to obtain professional results, while at the same time not having to learn a different workflow paradigm since they have the same user interface and share 90% of the same keyboard short-cuts. The added benefit is that I'm able to produce and edit video for a complete 360 degree multi-media tool set while staying within the paradigms of those same 2 programs.

@Alok-Sharma

In a discussion like this, it is absolutely necessary to distinguish what kind of music production one will be involved with. They are as different as night and day!

1. Audio recording, editing, and mastering only. Use Sound Forge.

2. MIDI and Loop instrument production. Use an integrated DAW, such as Cubase or Cakewalk (free), which ALSO have  Audio Recording and production capabilities.

Those are two completely different classes of audio production software, and the distinction must be made prior to purchase, so one isn't saddled with unwanted expensive features, nor left wanting for loop / midi instrument capabilities. It is that simple.

Or you get something like Samplitude that does it all at a professional level. Beware of DAW's that require you to buy lots of VSTs to be fully functional.

@D7K, this is precisely what had happened when I had purchased Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 Studio USB Audio Interface Recording Package for my daughter in October 2015. Then everything was new for her and after a few years, I told her about a very good offer on Cubase LE upgrade to which she told that the software is absolutely of no use to her as it lacks all the required presets, effects, packs etc.

So basically this is what happens to laymen who put all their trust in a product and later find out that the included software is nothing more than a useless trash.

In that sense, it is always better to do a thorough research and then make the final decision.

Or you get something like Samplitude that does it all at a professional level. Beware of DAW's that require you to buy lots of VSTs to be fully functional.

Professional level material comes from the knowledge and experience of the user, not the tool. I've tried most DAWs out there and for me personally, it boils down to which one makes my life working with it the easiest when using it. When I start trying out a DAW, if it takes me 1 hour of staring at the screen and searching through the help menu to perform what I consider to be a common editing or recording task, then my patience runs out and I move onto the next.

Many people rave about Albeton Live, and I've given it a whirl quite a few times. I never could grasp its workflow paradigm to get my head around it. It's been awhile since I tried Samplitude, it seemed ok at that time but that's been like 15 years ago lol! I hear many like Fruity loops studio as well and Reaper is great as well. I've surrendered to the fact that whatever initial DAW you like the best when 1st starting out, you're likely going to stick with it for the long haul and learn ways to work around any of its short comings while hoping for the best those short-comings improve in future releases. It's really not about the cost of the software, or the inclusion or not of plugins which makes you stay with a particular DAW. It's about the time investment you put into it, where you end up developing a personal relationship due to that time and effort investment. When you try to move to another DAW after that time investment, things just tend to be frustrating because although a DAW may have a particular feature....it just does it in a different manner which causes frustration.

I've worked around the short comings of Vegas as a DAW, by complementing it with the features in Acid Pro. Together, they do everything I need to be able to obtain professional results, while at the same time not having to learn a different workflow paradigm since they have the same user interface and share 90% of the same keyboard short-cuts. The added benefit is that I'm able to produce and edit video for a complete 360 degree multi-media tool set while staying within the paradigms of those same 2 programs.

@Rednroll, like before, thank you for sharing all the experience and knowledge you have accumulated over the years. It is very much appreciated when people come forward and share their experience with the rest of the world.

Very good tread..

I previously have looked at various audio applications to complement my Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 16. Most of them seemed to be overkill, more suited towards music, than video.

Now after upgrading to Vegas Pro 18 Edit it seems I can do most of my audio work within the application itself, with the help of some extra plugins,vst etc.

When I need to do something extra, I use an easy to use application, which is free (although the developers would like a donation). The name of the application is oceanaudio , from www,oceanaudio.com. For instance if I need to reduce the volume on parts of the audio file, I just mark it with my mouse, and use the volume controller to reduce it. As an alternative to an audio envelope in Vegas itself. Easy.

I think that it if your daughter wants to make music ,she should use the proper tools for that, but I believe it is difficult to find an application that suits both of you.

Thank you @Werner_NOR for your input.

Since I am still at the beginner level, the most that I would be doing in the initial stage would be basic sound editing, fixing, corrections etc.

I did take a look at the Ocen Audio (https://www.ocenaudio.com/) and by looking at the screenshots, it seems to be an easy-to-understand & use software. I will definitely try it out, even though I might not need to go deep into audio editing.

But at the end, I always believe in using what is easy, comfortable & convenient to me. For e.g. DaVinci Resolve offers a free version but its interface was so confusing that I uninstalled it within minutes of installing it. Filmora Pro, though free, (but displays a watermark on the exported media), has an Adobe Premiere Pro look alike interface, but I absolutely had no luck with it. I uninstalled it too. But Vegas Pro was very different. I felt more comfortable with its interface and hence decided to go with it even though it is one of the costliest software out there.

As for my daughter, all I know that nowadays she does all her sound related work in the music institute and when I ask her, she doesn't tell me much. The problem lies with the generation gaps and age factors. The kids of the modern centuries think that their parents have no understanding about whatever fields the kids have chosen. Though they may be correct to some extent, but I have spent my whole life starting with electronics, then computer's, hardware & software, later web technologies, photography and recently video editing. But anyway, I respect her decision and prefer not to cross our paths. Let her be on her own, as that is the only way she would learn the lessons of life.

Like you said in your concluding sentence, no one application would suit both of us, is quite true. What I am comfortable with, she might not be. But in her case, she will definitely need the professional grade sound production software, just like I chose to go with Vegas Pro.