Acon Digital recently updated their audio editing, post-production, mastering and restoration software, Acoustica, to version 7.5 with a number of improved and additional features in both the Standard and Premium Editions. Paul Maunder has been trying out the new features...

Automatic Speech Recognition

When working on speech-based program content which requires captions to be added, the new automatic speech recognition feature is a nice addition which allows you to automatically generate the captions. To test this out, I made a recording straight into Acoustica 7.5 and then selected the Add Captions Automatically option from the Analysis menu. It transcribed everything I’d said almost instantly and punctuated it mostly correctly too. I dictated a long section and only encountered a couple of minor tweaks I needed to make to the transcription. Fortunately, this was easy using the Caption Editor. Captions can be exported in a variety of common formats.

DeEss: Dialogue

Acon Digital have introduced a de-esser in Acoustica 7.5. DeEss: Dialogue lets you reduce vocal or dialogue sibilance. It has an intuitive interface and gives a good visual indication of the frequency spectrum of your recording, with the areas where de-essing is applied being highlighted in red. The affected frequency band can be adjusted and the steepness of the upper and lower curves can also be controlled.

In use, I found DeEss: Dialogue to be a very effective de-esser and I was able to home in on the frequency range which needed processing very quickly by adjusting the affected band with the Audition button engaged so I could hear just the part of the signal being removed. DeEss: Dialogue also includes a Tame control, which is designed to even out unwanted resonances which may be present in sibilant recordings.

Extract: Dialogue 1.5

The latest version of Acon Digital’s excellent dialogue noise reduction tool, Extract: Dialogue 1.5 is now included with Acoustica Premium Edition. We tested this version of Extract: Dialogue back in August and found it to be an extremely effective method for achieving high quality dialogue noise reduction while leaving the dialogue itself intact. Version 1.5 can correct for phase distortions and destructive interference and it’s great to have the functionality of this latest algorithm in Acoustica.

Edit History Pane

Another useful addition in this latest Acoustica update is the Edit History pane. It’s easy to revert to an earlier editing state, in a similar way to how it works in iZotope RX. This goes beyond that though, as right clicking on a Command in the list brings up a menu with options to not only switch back to that state but also to recall a section or to show the processor settings which were applied. In testing out this feature on a noise reduction job, I found it to be very handy for re-using previous processor settings so I could apply them elsewhere. Also, the ability to recall selections means that subsequent processing can be applied to exact sections which you previously processed.

Finally, the Export Audit Trail option, found in the Premium Edition, allows you to export a list in HTML format that contains a detailed description of all the editing steps. This audit trail contains a complete list of every single step, process, edit and setting applied throughout your workflow and can be important when conducting archival work or in forensic noise reduction work where a complete edit history is often required.

Freehand Waveform Editing

Pro Tools users will be used to the ability to manually edit waveforms using the pencil tool. Now this feature is available in Acoustica. Editing waveforms in this way is often the quickest way to remove short glitches in the audio such as occasional clicks. There’s not a great deal to say about this feature other than the fact that it’s a welcome addition to the software and it works nicely. The screenshots above show a before and after of a small glitch which I was able to draw out using the pencil tool.

Tab To Transients

Several users of Acoustica requested a Tab To Transients feature, and in version 7.5, Acon Digital have given it to us! This feature, again familiar to Pro Tools users, allows for easy navigation through detected transients within the audio. Hitting Control+Tab allows you to navigate backwards, and adding in the shift key will tab to transients whilst making a selection. Features like this help to speed up the workflow and for me, this is a welcome addition which makes the work I do in Acoustica even more efficient. As a long time user of Tab To Transients in Pro Tools, I kept finding myself instinctively trying to tab backwards in Acoustica using Option+Tab but in Acoustica that’s the shortcut to move to the next document. Speaking of shortcuts…

Keyboard Shortcuts Enhancements

Acoustica includes a number of re-mappable keyboard shortcuts and version 7.5 adds a search bar to this window, along with the ability to save and load settings files. If you’ve created a number of custom shortcuts to suit your workflow, this feature is particularly welcome when moving between different machines because you can save your settings to a file, load it up on the other computer and have all of your mapped shortcuts available for use. There’s a Restore Defaults button should you or other users wish to revert back to the factory defaults. I have both a laptop and a desktop machine and I work in Acoustica on both. I’ve added some custom keyboard shortcuts for some of the menu items and plug-ins so I took the opportunity to port my settings from my main machine to the laptop. All of these time saving features mount up and, ultimately, make for a more efficient workflow overall.

Final Thoughts

With Acoustica 7.5, Acon Digital have improved upon something which was already superb. As a user of the Premium Edition, I’ve found the new features to be very welcome and for me, the new DeEss:Dialogue plug-in along with Tab To Transients and freehand waveform editing are the most useful features for my workflow, which in Acoustica is primarily audio restoration and noise reduction. Often, I’ll need to retain Broadcast Wave metadata in processed files and fortunately, Acoustica now supports this metadata. Another nice addition in version 7.5!

Acon Digital have been responsive to user feedback and requests and this, coupled with some fantastic tools and noise reduction algorithms, means that Acoustica looks set to continue to expand its user base over time. Both music and post users will find something of use in this software and I should make mention of the updated Remix feature in Acoustica which allows mixed music to be re-balanced by providing control over vocals, piano, bass, drums and other elements.

Priced at just £49.90 for the Standard Edition and £159.90 for Premium, Acoustica represents outstanding value for money. If you have already checked it out, now could be the time.