Use an earlier version if possible. I use SFP-15 a lot. SF 16 &17 had display issues using third-party 32 bit VST-2 plugs and the peak playback meters were messed up. The VST issue was 'mostly' resolved with SF-18, but other issues remain. I am also a SF user since v3.

When I posed my question to ChatGPT, it recommended 1) Steinberg Wavelab Pro, Adobe Audition, and Acon Digital Acoustica Premium .  For client work its important to me that its a robust application that's professional, popular (not going to go away) and well supported. My goal here isn't to bag on Magix, but to learn about the alternatives. Thanks.

I’ve never used a program with an interface as clear and smooth as Sound Forge (same with Vegas), but their frequent VST plugin bugs—essential for audio work—plus High DPI issues (still in 2025!) made me switch reluctantly a long time ago. For editing, I use Acon Acoustica now: it’s lightweight, launches instantly, and very stable with all my plugins. It also has a batch converter and excellent restoration tools (Premium version only). I don’t know about more elaborate macros, as I don’t use them.

I also like the “Project page" for mastering in Studio One. It’s simple, well laid-out, and has good tools for exporting, including DDP. Wavelab is well-regarded among pros, though I haven’t used it myself (if you know Cubase, it should feel familiar). I’ve never been a fan of Adobe’s subscription system, so I can’t really comment on Audition.

Trying the demos—when possible—is really the only way to see which one feels right, but they’re all capable of getting the job done.

Have you looked at audacity? It's free and most options are comparable with Sound Forge.

If Magix hadn't abandoned Sound Forge, users wouldn't be looking for other software.

https://bigfins.com/music/Magix_n.png

Uploads aren't working, so I put the image on one of my servers.

I wasn't aware of this. It helps me understand why Magix does not reply to any tech support requests for the last 6 months.

Here is a link to the Vegas forum where a Vegas developer discusses how/why Magix dropped all support for Sound Forge, Acid and other products. The forum moderator hid my initial comment and asked me to provide a direct link. Since it is in a thread, you will have to scroll down to comment 5 in this thread: https://www.vegascreativesoftware.info/us/forum/where-s-the-vegas-category-sorting-in-the-audio-plugin-manager--149226/ I will also paste what was said below. As a heavy user of Sound Forge since the 90's it depresses me. (from VegasDerek in the Vegas Creative Software Community)

"It is unfortunate Acid, Sound Forge and Vegas broke off into their in development teams. When Magix purchased the product suite, it was stated that they really only wanted Vegas. We asked repeatedly if they had any thoughts of resurrecting the other products (including Movie Studio) and the answer was always no. The only other product they did like was DVD Architect because they had nothing else like it in their product lineup. Sound Forge and Acid and Movie Studio were seen as competition for their existing products.

Well, the time came for us to make the decision about continuing to support SF in the master Vegas code base because we were beginning to make some significant restructuring of the code. Since no new versions of SF were planned, and upper management gave their blessing to us deprecating the application in the code base, we ripped it out of the code.

I kid you not...2 months after we gutted the codebase of Sound Forge and rewrote large amounts of code in preparation for the release of VP 15, management came to us and asked what it would take to do a new release of Sound Forge. We told them it was not possible without dire consequences for the Vegas release. This was true for three main reasons. Number one, engineering resources. At the time we had 5 people working on Vegas. We could not take on another project...we were barely surviving developing Vegas, DVD Architect and Movie Studio. Second, no one on the Vegas engineering team that came over from Sony had any significant experience with SF or audio engineering in general. Finally, if they wanted any of the progress we made restructuring for the SF project, it would had to have been done by scratch again resulting in rewriting a lot of the stuff we had done since the acquisition making it impossible to release Vegas on time.

The company really wanted/needed revenue from SF. Quickly after the acquisition the company became a bit dependent on the bonus revenue. After some time they realized even the old, stale version was still selling well, even with no updates or engineering support.

So, the decision was made to take an old branch of the code base that was about 4 years old, cobble together a small team of engineers who worked on the other Magix audio products and they put together a new version of Sound Forge.

The new version contained none of the infrastructure changes that Vegas contained and it was developed completely independent from the Vegas team, causing the loss of some of that similarity and cross functionality the old product suite had.

The same happened with Acid a few years later...except they had to start from an even older code base.

In the end, it was some poor foresight that resulted in where we are at with these applications now and it is a real shame. If the willingness had been there to develop SF (and a lesser degree, Acid) when Magix had bought the applications, there were more people who could have come over from Sony to work on that code. As I said, Vegas was the main focus of the acquisition. A couple years later, it was really a revenue grab that resulted in the relaunch of the other products."

So what about SF Pro18. Does anyone know if it has issues like SF Audio Cleaning Labs 1 thru 4.??? Should I just drop SF all together.

Nothing MAGIX advised to do worked. I just want to re-activate some of my older versions of AudCleLab.

That explains so much! Especially the Acid, I use it a lot, but I can easily admit it's a broken POS.

Use an earlier version if possible. I use SFP-15 a lot. SF 16 &17 had display issues using third-party 32 bit VST-2 plugs and the peak playback meters were messed up. The VST issue was 'mostly' resolved with SF-18, but other issues remain. I am also a SF user since v3.

Just out of curiosity, would this be possible to share the installer for SF15? If it's possible, of course.

would this be possible to share the installer for SF15?

Hi @Olec, If you do not have a SF-15 activation serial code (and the paired email address), you would not be able to use it. If you do have the code, you can download the installer from the 'Magix Download Center' or 'Magix Service Center> My Products' .

would this be possible to share the installer for SF15?

Hi @Olec, If you do not have a SF-15 activation serial code (and the paired email address), you would not be able to use it. If you do have the code, you can download the installer from the 'Magix Download Center' or 'Magix Service Center> My Products' .

I actually have the serial number - I've officially bought the SF18 (and have been using their subscriptions until now), but in an ironic twist, can't install it due to a broken installer,

@Olec, "broken installer" for 18 or 15 and do you mean you cannot install using the install manager or the unpacked .exe installer for the main SF application? .. which would still be in your 'Documents> MAGIX Downloads' folder if you did not delete it.
Do you have the 365 subscription version or the perpetual version?

@Olec, "broken installer" for 18 or 15 and do you mean you cannot install using the install manager or the unpacked .exe installer for the main SF application? .. which would still be in your 'Documents> MAGIX Downloads' folder if you did not delete it.
Do you have the 365 subscription version or the perpetual version?

The last one I had was the perpetual one, same exact one that the installer and the license checker don't like.

The last one I had was the perpetual one, same exact one that the installer and the license checker don't like.

So you have the perpetual license for SF-18? Does it install successfully.. but you cannot activate it? Does it show an error message?
What about SF-15?

I can give a link to download the unpacked installer to either, but that would not help with an activation issue.

So what about SF Pro18. Does anyone know if it has issues like SF Audio Cleaning Labs 1 thru 4.??? Should I just drop SF all together.

 

Sadly, I purchased the upgrade to SF18 PRO and it's unusable. I sent a message to Support via the website a few weeks back, and not surprisingly (now that I've read this thread) no response. I was looking for more "self-help" info when I stumbled on this.

Immediate reaction to SF18: 😠

Like others, SF has been a workhorse I rely upon. EASY. No non-sense. Does what I need at a price-point realistic to my situation (not a pro, mostly volunteer work using my previously pro skill set).
Bottom line: SF just worked since I started on v4.

Based on the comments, sounds like I just threw away the upgrade cost to SF18. Will try to get a refund and will keep you posted on my experience.

SF18 issue: it just doesn't work. On a Win10 device that runs Acid Pro, Sound Forge (15), Sport Sound Pro (v18), etc. NO issue. RAM, storage, CPU are not a problem with any other app. I've monitored Task Manager trying to spot the culprit. I've gone back to see if there is any indications that Win10 is not supported, or if there are specific configs to follow, no luck. Is "PRO" the clue - intended for very specific Audio workflows and hardware specs?

Use case: Take publicly available (purchased, subscription, etc.) MP3 files and edit for sporting event scenario. Trim intro; remove inappropriate language; increase volume; make custom edits; etc.

SF 18, out of the box:

• Struggles with the Play command - lags or requires multiple clicks. Space bar (start/stop) struggles.
• Starts to Play, but chokes (processing?) a basic MP3 common song file constantly
• Gets "lost" - playback wave form display is not aligned with music.
• Restarting the app, or the entire machine, does not seem to impact results.

Sure, there might be workarounds or fixes, but that's like saying Word (out of the box) is great except it won't accept keyboard strokes; what you type isn't displayed in the doc; or can't open a file with 300 words in it.

At the moment SF15 is still the trusted, reliable, and working version of SoundForge software. Open to any suggestions. No specific recommendations for a replacement to SF - haven't needed it in 25 years, but I'm looking.

pas

@paschmitt All symptoms are caused by MP3. Make sure that the proxy compressed file format option is enabled in the program preferences or convert all MP3 audio files to WAV before you edit them. MP3 is only supposed to be used for a final delivery format for listening, not for editing.

all symptoms are caused by MP3. Make sure that the proxy compressed file format option is enabled in the program preferences or convert all MP3 audio files to WAV before you edit them. MP3 is only supposed to be used for a final delivery format for listening, not for editing.

+11

Thanks @SP. and @rraud. Appreciate the response.

What's interesting is that SF15 doesn't have that value checked. And I've never had to make that configuration for SF to work.

I've flipped that flag, will this and report back.

SF has had the 'proxy' option for as long as I can recall and the default was always disabled. According to my experience and other user reports, it was usually not necessary until the later versions, starting around 14, 15 or 16? I would surmise Magix changed the mp3 codec that is less efficient. But as was stated, MP3 is an end-user format and each 'save' procedure re-encodes the file and degrades it somewhat. The proxy mode creates a PCM proxy file.

The last one I had was the perpetual one, same exact one that the installer and the license checker don't like.

So you have the perpetual license for SF-18? Does it install successfully.. but you cannot activate it? Does it show an error message?
What about SF-15?

I can give a link to download the unpacked installer to either, but that would not help with an activation issue.

Yes, if possible, I am only looking for the installer. I have a feeling activation will succeed with older versions that are not SF 18 Pro.