Vegas 4 vs Samplitude 7 for Audio Only

akapaws · 07-18-2004, 07:42 AM

Anyone have experience with both Vegas 4 and Samplitude 7? I am trying to decide which to use for particular multi-track audio-only applications. Vegas is quick, easy and solid; Samplitude has the famous object editing and latency detection, for starters. Can anyone add to this comparison? Are there areas where one excels over the other?

Thanks.

Joe Hannigan · 07-18-2004, 03:29 PM

Vegas 4.0 & DVD Architect 1.0 are an unbeatable combination for DVD production (and video editing). It blows away that clunky, crash-prone mess called Adobe. The audio ain't bad at all, including (and especially Dobly Digital AC3 authoring. (Version 5 and 2 are now out, and I went right into the upgrades. They are better than ever, more powerful.)

HOWEVER, if you're doing serious audio editing, there's no comparison. I use Samplitude 7.22 for all the serious stuff: CD editing, mastering, restoration, etc. I also use it for 5.1 surround mixing and then simply open the files up in Vegas/DVD Architect for the Dolby AC3 conversion. It's lossy, but not bad at all for DVD soundtracks. (No worse than a Hollywood Movie Soundtrack).

I also do "Temp" audio tracks in Vegas as guide tracks, save it as "wav" files, and then open them in Samplitude. Tweak 'em there, and bring them back to Vegas for the final picture lock up and rendering to DVD, etc.

If you're doing serious DVD (with audio) production, you need both. (Sorry, that probably doesn't help, eh? :-)

akapaws · 07-19-2004, 01:48 AM

Joe H., thanks very much for the feedback. Every bit helps with this stuff! So it sounds like in your opinion, use Vegas for assembling tracks and Samplitude for editing, would you say?

dawboxpro · 07-19-2004, 05:31 PM

I would say Vegas for recording tracks and Sound Forge for editing. Same company and the two work together like a glove for intense editing.

Originaly Vegas was Audio Only with small video abilties. So in other words it stands up on its own for audio and has such non BS easy features.

I have never used samplitude and I am sure it is a great program but if you can get the best of two worlds for half the money I would not be thinking I would be breaking out my wallet. (LOL)

I produced a nice instructional video using Vegas as well as a documentary with a killer soundtrack. Dropped all my Acid songs right into the video and trarted tweaking.

As far as Audio I used version 2.0 and loved it for multitracking I did an EP with it in 99. since then the audio features have only gotten better and now you get the video rolled right into it.

So go for bro you will not be un-happy.

www.dawbox.com

Joe Hannigan · 07-19-2004, 08:03 PM

Originally posted by akapaws
Joe H., thanks very much for the feedback. Every bit helps with this stuff! So it sounds like in your opinion, use Vegas for assembling tracks and Samplitude for editing, would you say?

Absolutely. Vegas, and Sound Forge are without a doubt great programs, but there's simply no comparison to Samplitude for Audio. (ok, that's my opinion and I'm sticking to it! Hehehe :-)

You can do a lot with Sound Forge for audio, and it's getting better all the time, but IMHO, it's still not in the same league with Samplitude for pro audio and mastering.

Use Vegas to edit your video, and temp audio tracks. Edit/tweak/sweeten the audio in Samplitude, and bring it back into Vegas for the DVD/Video.

Samp and Vegas are a good combintation for getting both sound and picture sorted out, but I admit it's not a cheap way to go, paying for both. If it's any consolation, neither program (Vegas 4, 5, and Samplitude 7.22) has EVER crashed on my systems. NEVER, EVER. I'm not kidding. (Adobe, eat your heart out.)

macouno · 07-22-2004, 07:02 AM

I work with a combo of Vegas and Cubase myself...

Vegas is simply grand for video... but for audio I'd only use it if I were recording a band or something similar... I just don't think it's functional for composing in.

For audio only multi tracking there's lots of options and samplitude is nice but only one of many. If for instance you want to do a lot with midi and vsti plugins and such... well... I'd go cubase, though I've heard good things about sonar as well.

It's all good stuff but it really depends on what you will actually do with it.

akapaws · 07-25-2004, 11:38 AM

Thanks very much to all for this very valuable feedback. Looks like I will need to try various scenarios using these programs and decide for myself on this. Nice to hear good things about all three of these well known products (Vegas, Samplitude and Sound Forge).

dawboxpro · 07-27-2004, 11:22 AM

Just remember that samplutude 7 is $1000 and you could get Sonar 3.0, Sound Forge, CD-Architect and Vegas for that price. I respect Joe's opinions but I and thousands of others including top industry pro's use these programs every day in the real world to get the job done.

Remember also that these are all stand alone programs

I am impressed with the mixer shots of samplitude as well as there boasts of un-colored sound after dithering ect. I would suggest trying out the demo's for all these programs and see what you think.

I would choose Cubase or Sonar or Samplitude over Vegas for audio recording of a band. But if you wanted to do DJ, Hip Hop or even overdubbing with loops and your own voice and guitar Acid 4.0 for $150 would help you produce tracks very fast and at 24bit...

akapaws · 07-27-2004, 10:42 PM

OK, more food for thought. Thanks very much again. I am saving all these threads for reference when I get a chance to compare these programs.

patsplat · 07-27-2004, 11:22 PM

Originally posted by dawboxpro
Just remember that samplutude 7 is $1000 and you could get Sonar 3.0, Sound Forge, CD-Architect and Vegas for that price.

You can get Samplitude 7 for $498, buying v6 studio for $99 and then v7 pro upgrade for $399 from here... http://www.audiomidi.com/common/cfm/...d=241&cpid=203 http://www.audiomidi.com/common/cfm/...=3652&CPID=224

akapaws · 07-28-2004, 12:36 AM

Good point!

dawboxpro · 07-29-2004, 03:38 PM

Guess I was checking prices at the wrong place.

Thanks for the heads up on the price..

TimZ · 08-01-2004, 10:48 AM

You say this is for audio only work. Then IMHO it is a no-brainer!! For audio recording, mixing, mastering & burning to CD, nothing can touch Samplitude. And with Version 8 just coming out, it gets even better. I've used them all, and Samplitude is the king for audio work.

T

akapaws · 08-02-2004, 12:38 PM

Based on feedback from this site I have gotten a little deeper into Samplitude. It seem to be a very well written program, very responsive, no crashes yet. The object editor feature and latency detection is also very cool. I have heard this software is supposed to sound extra nice, but have not really noticed a difference compared to other software.

akapaws · 08-02-2004, 12:38 PM

Based on feedback from this site I have gotten a little deeper into Samplitude. It seem to be a very well written program, very responsive, no crashes yet. The object editor feature and latency detection is also very cool. I have heard this software is supposed to sound extra nice, but have not really noticed a difference compared to other software.