Equipment Review
Product Reviewed:
ACID Pro 2.0
Made by: Sonic Foundry
Cost: $250
Submitted by JR#97
Rating: 
Features:
Loope arranging and editing. Auto tempo and key matching. Volume, pan, and DX effects. It has CD writing capablities. It also includes SoundForge XP.
Technical Specifications:
N/A
What I liked:
This program is just pure fun. I've had it for quite a while and never took the time to learn it. And now I'm kicking myself because it was one of the easiest programs to learn. It's interface is simple, but very effective and effecient. On the left there is a track properties area that includes track name, mute, solo, device assign, and a multi functional slider that controls volume, pan, and effect levels. On the right is the working area. The working area is divided into measures. You simply draw where you want the loops to show up. It's so simple! And the program automatically reads and adjusts the tempo and key so that all of your loops are in time and in tune! You can also draw envelopes on your wave forms to automate your mix. DX effects are supported so you can fine tune or sweeten your looops. Very nice! This thing blows the doors off of any drum machine any day!
What I didn't:
Most of my gripes are just typical Sonic Foundry product gripes in general. I don't like having to choose different tools on the menu bar everytime I want to do something. The envelope function is a bit awkaward. Unlike CEP, you can't just have the envelopes visible and click and drag to manipulate them. You have to chooose the envelope tool, then left click on the wave form you want to work on, and then if you want to do fades, you have to left click and add handles to adjust. Very time consuming and unnecessary. With CEP, you have your envelopes visible, click and hold where you want to adjust and presto. I also didn't like the fact that Sound Forge XP was included. Lose the stripped down editor and lower the price. I chose CEP as my defualt editor anyway. See my CEP review for reasons why.
User Tips:
Layer your drum loops, don't just lay them out in sequence. You can get some sick phatty grooves going on. The dynamics of one loop combined with the dynamics of another creates amazing results. Fine tune your samples in an editor. I use CEP and use the measures setting on the time line so I can see if the beats are lining up correctly. I also highly suggest the DEA combo.. Leaf Drum with Acid. Create .wav file drum sequences in Leaf and drop 'em in Acid. There is no need to ever get stuck with lamer drum machine sounds anymore!
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