Changes From Previous Versions

This page is a log of changes between versions of Sound Studio. It records the history of new features, optimizations, tweaks, and bug fixes in Sound Studio.

Sound Studio 3.5.2

What's new:

• Localizations updated.
• Audio playback now stops when closing windows.
• Pitch and Tempo filter's duration field more accurate.

Sound Studio 3.5.1

What's new:

• Fixed a bug in "Split By Markers" where bad AAC (.m4a) files were being written. Also fixed a bug where the "Cancel" button in the "Split By Markers" progress sheet wasn't working.
• Fixed a bug where the "Podcast" flag was set when saving files.
• Fixed a crashing bug when using the "EQ" filters.
• Fixed a memory leak when using AppleScript to close documents.
• Fixed a bug with marker positions after using the "Crop" command.

Sound Studio 3.5.0

Top 10 changes:

• New ID3 tag / iTunes metadata editor.
• Chapters in AAC (.m4a) and Apple Lossless (also .m4a) formats supported.
• Apple Lossless (.m4a), ADTS AAC (.aac), NeXT/Sun Audio (.au), and Ogg Vorbis (.ogg) file formats added.
• MP3 and AAC bit rate support improved.
• Split By Markers enhanced.
• Several improvements to filter settings, presets, and preview.
• Playback scrolling preferences added.
• Several enhancements in marker display, editing, and saving.
• Several bug fixes in audio editing, filtering, resampling, playback, and saving.
• Several improvments in key shortcuts, AppleScript, VoiceOver, and Cowbell support.

New features:

• ID3 Tag / iTunes Metadata Editor. File information and metadata such as artist, album, artwork, lyrics, genre, year, track number, and composer can be read, edited, and saved with files. These tags are suppored in MP3, AAC (m4a), AIFF, AIFF-C, Core Audio Format, Sound Designer II, and Windows WAV file formats. ID3 Versions 2.2 through 2.4 are supported, as well as iTunes metadata format used in m4a files. The "Split by Markers" command has been updated so that it also generates ID3 tags and metadata.
• Chapters support in AAC (m4a) and Apple Lossless file formats. Chapters are equivalent to markers.
• Better bit rate support. MP3 bit rates now support 8, 16, and 24 kbps. AAC bit rate options show all valid bit rates (which vary depending on the sample rate and number of channels).
• Handles additional standard AIFF chunks. AIFF chunk support for title ('NAME'), artist ('AUTH'), copyright ('(c) ') and comments ('ANNO'). Other chunks (COMT, INST, MIDI, and AESD) will be passed through when opening and saving AIFF and AIFF-C files.
• CAF Markers saved in and loaded from Core Audio Format.
• Additional file formats supported: Apple Lossless (".m4a"), ADTS AAC (".aac" audio data transport stream), NeXT/Sun Audio (".au"), Ogg Vorbis (".ogg")
• Loop option for filter previews.
• Normalize to RMS (average power) filter setting added.
• Pitch and Tempo filter now has a "Linked" option for old-school pitch control, where changing the pitch also changes the tempo. Also fixed a crashing bug with changing the pitch or tempo settings while the preview was playing.
• Markers available in the "Go To" and "Set Selection" commands.
• Marker names and times are copied to the pasteboard during Cut and Copy, so that they can be copy-and-pasted from Sound Studio into a text editor.
• Markers can be deleted by deleting their name.
• AppleScript application property added that lets AppleScripts ask "Is the app recording?"
• AppleScript support added for referencing individual tracks in a document, and for changing the pan (left-center-right) and volume of each track.
• BPM grid and a "Tap for BPM" button that lets you determine the tempo by clicking in rhythm with the beat.
• Input Levels, when minimized, has a working levels meter for the dock icon.
• Color preferences presets.
• More Cowbell.

Optimizations and tweaks:

• Filter presets now behave like normal preset files, so that changes are saved only when you tell it to save them.
• Marker name display and editing improved.
• Split By Markers now ignores dots (".") in names. It also defaults to saving to the Desktop, and remembers the last user selected folder.
• Canceling a filter or tone generator no longer inserts half-processed data into document.
• Save progress sheet now shows localized text.
• Changed Markers floating window so that it recognizes key strokes for selecting markers in the list, deleting markers, and adding markers.
• Playback volume slider in the document window now stops at 0 dB (for one pixel).
• "Return" key now moves cursor to the beginning of the file.
• Preference for playback scrolling added, to switch between old-style page-by-page automatic scrolling, and the new, continuous style. It can be enabled via user default "edit.scrollWaveform.byPage". The minimum zoom level for all auto-scrolling can be set via "edit.scrollWaveform.minimumZoomLevel".
• Tweaked Auto Recording so that if start mode is set to levels, pressing OK in that dialog will automatically cause the document to go into record-pause mode, ready to start recording when the levels pick up.
• New and updated file icons.
• Updated in-application help book pages.
• Updated localizations (Danish, French, Italian, and Japanese available).
• VoiceOver enhancements.

Bug fixes:

• Fixed a bug with editing audio.
• Fixed a bug where Resample would hang or crash.
• Fixed several memory leaks.
• Saving in AIFF-C IMA-4 format has been fixed.
• Fixed a bug in the Crop action where stereo files would become a two-track mono file. Also changed Crop so that the window will scroll to the beginning.
• Fixed bug where Return/Enter key strokes were not being recognized in Filter dialog windows, and where VoiceOver reports the window is busy.
• Fixed several problems with using Audio Unit plug-in filters, including AUBandpass and AUPitch.
• Filter stuttering preview bug and buffer size bug fixed.

Sound Studio 3.0.5

New features:

• Waveform is now updated live during recording. This is a preference that can be disabled.
• Waveform now scrolls smoothly during playback and recording.
• Added "Save Selection As..." command.
• Added file format and file options pop up buttons to "Split By Markers" command. Progress bar now works correctly in "Split By Markers".
• Added file options (bit rate, sample size, or compression type) and estimated file size to the "Save As" panel.
• Cut or copy of sound data with markers will put marker times and names on the global pasteboard in a tab-delimited list.
• Audio Units can now show their custom user interface, including Carbon-based user interfaces.
• Temporary files from previous Sound Studio sessions are now revealed at launch time, if any such files are found.
• All temporary files are deleted when Sound Studio quits.
• Looping playback changes Play button with looping indicator. Turning on looping during playback will take selection as loop start and end points.
• Added option-arrow-key shortcut for jumping to next marker, and shift-option-arrow-key for extending selection by marker.
• New keyboard shortcuts:

Optimizations and tweaks:

• Optimized recording engine. Changed recording behavior so that left and right channels always record to their corresponding tracks in the document.
• Optimized playback engine, and tested it on a 500 MHz G3 iBook.
• Markers window's table view now can be sorted by name or time, in both directions. Zooming the Markers window is now smarter. The two utility panels (Input Levels and Markers) now become key windows only when necessary, so that the main window stays key most of the time.
• High-resolution button images. (They may render incorrectly on Mac OS X 10.3.9 and earlier.)
• Rulers and marker text are now affected by user-selected background color. Marker names now drawn with a 50% opacity background.
• Editing marker name in main view works better.
• Overview waveform now cannot gain focus, so that the main waveform view will always remain the first responder.

Bug fixes:

• Fixed bugs in Pitch and Tempo filter, including the negative-tempo bug.
• Fixed bug where memory was being freed in ioProc thread, which could cause massive delays in the recording and playback engine. Memory cleanup is now done in the main thread. This also fixes a display bug with the cue readout.
• Fixed bug with editing documents where the same clip is pasted more than once in the same document.
• Fixed bug with editing documents with newly recorded audio.
• Fixed bug where an extra packet (512 samples) was being repeated at end of recording.
• Fixed bug in generic Audio Unit view where changes to presets or changes in the number of parameters was not updating the view.
• Fixed bug where quitting or closing a window while recording would not give you a chance to save the file, or would crash.
• Fixed bug where FM Synthesis carrier frequency was not being saved in the dialog panel.
• Fixed bugs in and updated Japanese, Danish, French, and Italian localizations.

Sound Studio 3.0.4

• AUMatrixReverb now works on stereo files and selections.
• Saving in MP3 format now works on Intel Macs, when the Universal Binary (kTunes) version of LAME MP3 framework is installed.
• Fixed bug in Graphic EQ on Intel. The bug produced a stuttering output.
• Fixed bug where 24-bit integer format (including 24-bit AIFF) would open and save incorrectly in Intel-based computers. The bug would result in a file full of noise when opening a valid 24-bit file, and distortion when saving 24-bit files.
• Fixed bug in right-channel peak readout.
• Fixed bug with disappearing grid lines during playback.
• Increased frequency limit in Insert Tone and Insert FM from 9,999.99 Hz to 999,999.99 Hz. (Now you can make mosquito ringtones.)
• Fixed crashing bug with selections where firstTrack == -1. If you selected audio by clicking and dragging up and to the left of the waveform view, and then applied a command such as a Filter or Paste, or tried to play the audio, it would either fail or crash.
• Added tooltip text to more buttons.
• Added preference for "Save window size and vertical scale". Size and Vertical Scale of new windows can now be based on the most recent changes. If you resize a window, that new size will be used for all new windows. If you change the Vertical Scale, that setting will be used for new windows.

Sound Studio 3.0.3

• Fixed bug in writing Wave files on Intel Macs.
• Fixed bug with markers on Intel Macs.
• Fixed bug with closing a window while the waveform was first rendered and drawn, and by AppleScript.
• Interpolate filter fixed.
• Added "Tab-delimited text" format to Save As dialog box.
• Pitch and Tempo filter: various issues fixed, including crash on 10.3.9.
• Updated Japanese localization. Added Danish localization.

Sound Studio 3.0.2

• Added Core Audio File (CAF) format support to allow Sound Studio temp files to be opened.
• Added warning alert for when saving to a file format that doesn't save marker information.
• Added AppleScript support for cut, copy, paste, clear, and mix paste commands.
• Added "factory presets" support.
• Changed saving in 16-bit PCM format to use triangular probability distribution function dithering.
• Changed time readouts and ruler to use minutes (") and seconds (') marks instead of colons (:).
• Fixed AppleScript "sdef" file so it does not crash Cocoa scripting and Script Editor. Removed "Insert Noise" AppleScript command.
• Fixed AppleScript dictionary bug in equalize command.
• Fixed Audio Unit bug with mono and multichannel audio selections, and latency issues.
• Fixed default bitrate for AAC (was 96k, now is 128k).
• Fixed display bug on large files at 1:1 zoom level when the window shows more than 17 million samples.
• Fixed new document at launch behavior to reflect preferences.
• Fixed bug with marker positions when changing tempo with the "Pitch and Tempo" filter.
• Fixed bug with Flanger and Chorus which resulted in clicks in output.
• Redesigned main window and Input Levels window with new buttons.
• Universal binary tested on Intel Macs.

Sound Studio 3.0.1

• Fixed bug in Backwards filter
• Fixed bug that would crash Reverb and other delay-type filters when changing its settings
• Reduced latency of filter preview
• Fixed marker behavior in cases where audio is inserted or pasted
• Added French localization by François Rayer
• Updated in-app help book to version 3
• Registration menu item is now disabled when app is registered
• Known bugs: Audio Unit plug-ins only works when selection contains two tracks.

Sound Studio 3.0

• Multi-track support: layer stereo sounds and save in interleaved format.
• Saves in MPEG-4 AAC (advanced audio coding) m4a format.
• Saves in MP3 when the LAME framework is installed.
• Automator support (launch Automator to see the bundled actions).
• Added "New Mono Document" command for quickly creating a monophonic document.
• Universal Binary: compiled for both PowerPC and Intel x86 architectures.
• Known bugs: Audio Unit plug-ins cannot be applied to file and only works when selection contains two tracks.

Sound Studio 2.2.4 Changes From 2.2.3

• Fixed bug which prevented registration on Mac OS X 10.2 "Jaguar" systems.
• Added "System 7 Sound" and "Sun AU" file formats to list of readable file types.
• Fixed bug which used unnecessary CPU time when an new, empty document was open.
• Fixed bug in Zoom In button in Japanese localization.
• Updated AppleScript dictionary with more parameters for document class.

Sound Studio 2.2.3 Changes From 2.2.2

• Fixed bug which prevented app from launching on pre-Tiger (Mac OS 10.4) systems.
• Updated Japanese and Italian localized resources.
• Added QuickTime Movie to list of readable file types.

Sound Studio 2.2.2 Changes From 2.2.1

• Added AppleScript support.
• Added Italian localized resources.
• Added Scratch Disk location preference.
• Added Default Zoom preference.
• Added "Make new document when no other files are open" preference.
• Changed Dynamics Expander to start with a low gain value.
• Optimized Filter I/O.
• Optimized opening AIFF-C files.
• Optimized Insert Noise/Tone/FM Synthesis.
• Fixed bugs in Edit Grid window with using a number of samples for the grid.
• Fixed bug which prevented very last sample in the file from being changed.
• Fixed bug in opening MP3 and AAC files where the end of the file would have repeated sample data.

Sound Studio 2.2.1 Changes From 2.2

• Fixed bug in saving 16-bit audio which caused distortion in some cases. Fixed by clipping audio instead of wrapping around values outside of the valid range (-1.0 to 1.0) when converting from 32-bit float to 16-bit integer.
• Fixed bug in Normalize which could over-amplify some sounds.
• Fixed bug which prevented using iSight for recording.
• Fixed bug which where Mix Paste would crash.
• Changed Split By Markers to be more like version 2.1.1b3 behavior. Changed to always use two-digit prefixes (01, 02, 03...), to convert ':' (colon) characters to '-' (hypen).
• Fixed bug where multiple tracks, with one shorter than others, would stop playback at end of short track
• Fixed bug in window drawing code which would cause the window to redraw when no drawing was necessary. This also fixes the one-pixel-wide gaps that may show up in the waveform.

Sound Studio 2.2 Changes From 2.1.1b3

General changes:

• Audio data is now handled and stored as 32-bit float within Sound Studio. This means that the sample size setting for a file is relevant only when the file is saved. This also means that audio data takes up twice as much disk space, if you were using 16-bit files before.
• Presets are treated as persistent data, which means that when you have a preset selected in a filter dialog, changes to the filter settings are saved right away to the selected preset.
• Most presets files from earlier versions will be read in version 2.2, but a few filters and the Automatic Recording presets use a different file format. The changed filters include: Chorus and Flanger.

File menu changes:

• File formats: The System 7 Sound file format is no longer supported.
• Import with QuickTime: The Open command now handles the most common file formats that the Import command handled, MP3 and AAC MPEG-4 audio files.
• Export with QuickTime: This command used to export only in AIFF-C format, which may have confused some users who thought it made QuickTime movies. This functionality is now in the Save command, if you save as AIFF-C and select a compression type.

Edit menu changes:

• Cut, Copy and Paste: The behavior of these commands is somewhat different from previous versions because previous versions would try to keep the left and right channels in sync even when inserting or deleting audio. Version 2.2 now allows audio data in each channel to move independently of each other, so some edits may cause the left and right channels to be out of sync.
• Paste Mixing: is now Mix Paste.
• Split at Insertion Point: use Split By Markers instead, or cut-and-paste.
• Set Selection: to select by markers, select the markers in the Markers window.

Audio menu changes:

• Resample: is now Change Sample Rate and handles resampling between different sample rates, or changing the sample rate without resampling. Changing the number of channels is now handled by the Mixdown commands. Changing the sample size (number of bits) is now done through the Sample Size submenu.
• Adjust Pitch: is now the "Pitch and Tempo" filter in the Filter menu.
• Input/Output Setup: is now moved into the Preferences window.

Filter menu changes:

• Some filter names have been changed to be more clear.
• 30-Band EQ is now replaced with a Graphic Equalizer where you can draw the frequency envelope.

Version 2.2 beta 2 Changes From 2.2 beta 1

Fixes and changes:

• Fixed recording and playback to prevent glitches, unless the computer is not fast enough.
• Fixed bug where it would crash when handling more than 2 GB of audio data. Files are only limited by disk space.
• Fixed playback cue bug which caused to to be ahead by 0.7 seconds.
• Fixed bug in Mixdown to Stereo where resulting file did not play back in stereo.
• Added "Open Audio MIDI Setup" button to preferences.
• Fixed "Sound Studio Help" in Help menu and linked help buttons, and added help content.
• Fixed bug where window was not scrolling when using arrow keys.
• Added Japanese localization.

Known Bugs:

• Playback still can have glitches, especially while the waveform is redrawing.
• Marker name display now wraps but doesn't have white background behind text.
• Marker renaming in main window does not look quite right, but is functional.
• Waveform redraw isn't optimized. Currently, entire window redraws after each edit.
• Shift-arrow-key, used to extend selections, isn't working.
• On Mac OS X 10.3 "Panther," the unsupported MP3 and MPEG-4 AAC file formats show up in the Save As dialog. Trying to save as MP3 results in an error because there is no MP3 encoder. Trying to save as MPEG-4 AAC results in an invalid file.

Version 2.2 beta 3 Changes From 2.2 beta 2

Fixes and changes:

• Mac OS X 10.2.8 "Jaguar" now the minimum system requirement. Works on Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger."
• Fixed editing bug where cutting (and pasting) parts of file created unexpected results.
• Optimized playback and recording so that it works on a 400 MHz G3.
• Fixed shift-arrow-key combination to work as expected.
• Presets now stored in "~/Library/Audio/Presets/Sound Studio/".

Version 2.2 beta 4 Changes From 2.2 beta 3

Fixes and changes:

• Registration is now activated, with a 15-launch limit on unregistered copies before the save command is disabled. Added the Kagi Registration Module.
• Fixed bugs and added optimizations to playback and recording.
• Fixed "Fourier Spectrum Analysis" results.
• Temp files now have a CAFF (Core Audio Format File) header so they can be opened by any app that supports CAFF.
• Fixed bug where app would hang on quitting or changing audio devices.
• Updated online help book.
• Updated Japanese localiztion resource.

Version 2.2 beta 5 Changes From 2.2 beta 4

Fixes and changes:

• Faster waveform drawing.
• Added pop-up menus for vertical scale, sample rate, and zoom ratio.
• Added zoom ratio readout.
• Added 512 zoom menu item with keyboard shortcut.
• Improved support for modifying selection with arrow keys and with mouse.
• Fixed crashing bug where old registration code was not found.
• Fixed glitches in playback which required a sample rate conversion.
• Fixed many minor bugs.

Version 2.2 final release Changes From 2.2 beta 5

• Fixed bug where playback cue (green line) was out of sync with playback.
• Fixed other minor bugs.

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