Adobe Audition 3 is the latest release of the comprehensive Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) production solution from Adobe Systems. It features a multitrack, mix/edit environment that you can use to create your own music, record and mix a project, produce a radio spot, clean up audio for a movie, as well as compile and edit a soundtrack. In fact it is your own personal recording studio.

What do you need to run Adobe Audition 3? You need to be running Windows on an Intel Pentium 4 – 1.4 GHz or higher, Windows XP SP2 or Vista, 512 RAM, 10 GB hard drive space, Microsoft DirectX or ASIO compatible sound card, and DVD-ROM Drive.

Adobe Audition started out as Cool Edit from Syntrillium Software in the early 1990's and was developed by former Microsoft employees Robert Ellison and David Johnston. Adobe purchased Cool Edit Pro v2.1 in May of 2003 as well as a large loop library called Loopology. They renamed it to Audition and version 1 was released in August 2003. This version, Audition 3, was released in November 2007.

So what is new with Adobe Audition 3?

• VSTi virtual instrument support – now gives you a wider range of virtual instruments that you can add to your production. Simply add a MIDI track host to your mix, choose an instrument, then record new audio in the Sequencer.

• Enhanced spectral editing – has made your frequency space editing more flexible with the new Effects Paintbrush and Spot Healing brush. Now you can make a free-form selection in frequency space and apply the effects in varying degrees to that selection. You now have a Marquee selection tool to zero into a specific area, and a Bitmap import/export option that will allow you to edit your audio in Photoshop to change minute details and optimize your audio file.

• Improved multitrack editing – gives you increased accuracy by editing clips that are grouped together. You can then trim and delete, split clips, and add fades across multiple tracks just by grouping clips. You can even mix down multitrack files into a single file for use as a new track.

• New effects – such as Convolution Reverb, Analog Delay, Mastering tool, and Tube-modeled Compressor. These along with 50 audio effects create new possibilities for whole different sounds.

• Radius time stretching from iZotope – will let you slow down or speed up an audio piece without changing pitch or you can change pitch without changing tempo by the use of the high quality time-stretching algorithm from iZoTope.

• Guitar Suite effects – will let you tailor your sound with analog-modeled guitar effects. Components such as Simple Compressor, Adjustment Filter module, Distortion Module, and Box Modeling module are built into Guitar Suite. Apply one effect or stack many together to create unique sounds.