Audition, a favorite, previously Windows-only wave editor from Adobe, is coming to the Mac this winter. Adobe is touting native surround support, multi-channel effects, and performance optimizations; you can check out how the new tool looks at Adobe Labs. The public beta is due this winter. Interestingly, Adobe is pushing the video side of this more than audio, even though Audition is popular with audio users. The demos are hosted by video specialist Jason Levine, and “post production” is the phrase that keeps coming up.

The Mac is quickly becoming spoiled for choice with dedicated wave file editors, maybe enough that the half-decade-plus absence of Macromedia SoundEdit can finally be put to rest. WaveLab from Steinberg was announced back in March, joining the likes of BIAS Peak, Audiofile’s Wave Editor, DSP Quattro, Sound Studio, Apple’s Soundtrack Pro, and Audacity. Readers are divided on whether such dedicated tools are even needed, given expanded editing features in music and video programs, but those who do love them are very particular in their tastes. That means lovers of Audition on Windows, and people looking for more serious post-production tools to complement Adobe’s video offerings, now have some good news.

What made Adobe make the decision early? Well, I don’t know if you can chalk it up to a scathing review by my colleague Chris Breen for Macworld. But I do think the message he brought – that Soundbooth CS5 wasn’t quite up to pro tasks – was probably one Adobe was hearing from a lot of other people, too. Here’s how Chris opened his review:

When you think Adobe, the first thought unlikely to pop to mind is audio. And yet Adobe continues to include its Soundbooth audio editing application in the Creative Suite 5 Production Premium and Master Collection bundles and sells the application separately for $199. Compare the latest version of Soundbooth with its predecessor, however, and you can be excused for thinking that audio is not among Adobe’s priorities. Soundbooth CS5 is a meager update that fails to address the application’s most glaring shortcomings.

Ouch. For what it’s worth, while I think you’d have to be pretty nuts to buy Soundbooth standalone for two hundred bucks, it’s worth trying out if you own CS. It’s great for quick edits and podcasts and such, though I agree with all of Chris’ criticisms.

Windows users, though, very often do think of Adobe Audition as a close rival with tools like Sony SoundForge and Steinberg WaveLab on the PC. (Now, only SoundForge hasn’t announced a Mac port.)

So, to what can you credit Adobe’s ability to port the tool? Without knowing the specifics of Audition, generally with Adobe apps, you can thank the use of cross-platform libraries and some shared code between applications. That could also mean that the announcement of Audition for Mac is simultaneously good news for loyal Windows users – it means Audition is getting some attention, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Audition for Windows gets an update around the same time.

What I wouldn’t read into this is any larger conclusions about Windows-to-Mac porting, as Synthtopia does:

Adobe Bringing Audition To The Mac. Could Sonar Be Next?

I can answer that question: no. Cakewalk has told me repeatedly that, while they’re enthusiastic about supporting the Mac, SONAR is closely tied to Windows. A DAW is also a lot more complicated than something like Audition. Tools like Cubase (in its current generation) and Ableton Live were built with cross-platform support in mind; adding it down the road is a much harder task.

I don’t think anything about this landscape has changed. Developers who can do it easily are happy to be on both platforms, most of all a company like Adobe that makes cross-platform support part of their business strategy.

But as I said, even Windows users may wind up getting a refreshed version of a favorite audio editor out of this.

Stay tuned for when you can audition this tool for yourse— oh, jeez. That’s a terrible way to end this post. I apologize. Someone must have dropped a CS5 box on my head or something.

Updated: Jim Dalrymple at The Loop talks to Adobe about Audition. Notable – Audition for Mac is getting some of the great noise reduction features from the Windows release (as noted by readers in comments), as well as some of the more unique and effective tools in Soundbooth (Paint Brush, Healing):

An audio engineer himself, Levine said that Audition has a number of features that cannot be matched in other applications. Most notably, Levine said Audition’s noise reduction and restoration capabilities will be something to watch out for.

“There are plug-ins that can do noise reduction, but quite frankly, Audition is just better,” said Levine.

Audition will also feature some very familiar tools like a Paint Brush and Healing Tool. Photoshop users know these tools well and they work just the same in Audition, except with audio instead of images.

Adobe Audition coming to the Mac [The Loop]

Speaking of audio editors for the Mac, Adobe has its own wave-editing tool for Mac and Windows. Soundbooth is different from other entries in the field, in that its aim is really to woo a wide audience and not just those of us who work with sound regularly. Got a Flash project and need to make some quick sound effect adjustments? Making a swooshing noise for After Effects? Transcribing notes from a workshop session? Soundbooth CS4 is aimed at you.

Now, you can buy Soundbooth on its own for US$199 list, though I expect almost no one would. (For one thing, if you’re spending your hard-earned dollars on an audio editor, you’re likely to choose one of its rivals, like Adobe’s own superior Audition for Windows.) More likely, you’ll get Soundbooth as part of Adobe’s creative suite.

I actually quite like Soundbooth; because it was built from the ground up, it has a clean, elegant interface, and some unique features. Unfortunately, CS4 was not the step forward I hoped it would be for this fledgling tool. You can read a review by Mac guru Christopher Breen in Macworld; I know that review up and down as I was its tech editor.

Review: Adobe Soundbooth CS4 [Macworld]

Basic sound editor adopts more-advanced features

The problem I have with CS4 is that while adding multitrack capabilities make sense, the implementation just doesn’t seem finished. Many of the options in the wave editing view don’t work in multitrack view, including some you’d expect to work with multiple tracks visible, like adjusting effects, markers, and slicing up chunks of a waveform. (In every other program I’ve ever seen, those are mixing functions.) Apple Soundtrack Pro, Sony SoundForge, and Adobe’s own Audition all seamlessly allow multitrack edit working methods. I have a feeling we’ll just see this addressed in CS5, but Adobe, if you can manage a point-5 release of Soundbooth that fixes this, I’ll be the first to applaud.

Note that you can simply choose to stick to the Editor view and not bother with multitrack, which is what I’ve taken to doing. But needless to say, if Adobe wants audio newcomers to be comfortable with Soundbooth, these kind of idiosyncrasies won’t help.

It’s also a bit odd that Adobe allows non-destructive saves exclusively, rather than letting you “flatten” changes when you want to make them permanent.

Now, in my own Peak review, I complained about the lack of multitrack functions and non-destructive editing. Soundbooth CS4 demonstrates that it’s better to add these features late than add them half-baked, so BIAS, I’m willing to wait. But part of the reason I’m being a stickler on those issues is that I know it’s possible to add these to an audio tool successfully.

That said, I’m actually really happy to have Soundbooth around on my hard drive as an additional audio utility, alongside these other tools. I’ve got a stack of interviews to transcribe, so I’m eager to try that feature. Expect a report back (plus, hopefully, some published interviews with musicians) once I’m done.

The simple truth is, while Soundbooth doesn’t stand so well on its own, as an integrated part of Creative Suite, it’s fantastic. Let’s assume this is just an off release and the third version restores some of the fresh promise of the first.

For one last Macworld review, see my take for Macworld.com on Apple’s Soundtrack Pro – now, sadly, only available in Final Cut Studio and Logic Studio, not on its own (though the latter can be a nice option).

Soundtrack Pro 2.0.1: Improved editing and new features help you sync audio with video