Adobe Audition vs Soundbooth

In 2006 Adobe created a fair amount of controversy when they introduced Soundbooth, a new addition to their multimedia productivity suite. The controversy was not so much the Soundbooth software itself but the fact that it was replacing Adobe Audition in popular software bundles.

In a nutshell:

• Adobe Audition is a professional-level editor with lots of very powerful features.
• Adobe Soundbooth is an entry-level application with a limited selection of wizard-type features.

Adobe Audition was originally Cool Edit, a popular application in its own right. Adobe acquired Cool Edit and integrated it into their existing suite. It is now a mature application that includes full multi-track capabilities and a comprehensive set of effects, filters and tools.

Soundbooth is a new application developed largely as a companion for Premiere Pro and Flash. It is limited in features and not suitable for complex sound editing.

Soundbooth will almost certainly improve in the years ahead and will probably close the gap somewhat. However Adobe has said they intend keeping Audition as their advanced audio option, so there is little hope that Soundbooth will ever catch up.

Soundbooth does work very well with video, especially when integrated with Premiere Pro. The "common tasks" panel is simple and effective. Soundbooth is a good option for people who aren't sound professionals, and for anyone working with video who wants a quick way to address simple problems.

Soundbooth does not look destined to become a complete editor, but could certainly fill a useful role as a convenient toolbox. Perhaps the ideal setup is to use Soundbooth for quick fix-up jobs and use Audition for more complex audio projects.

Summary

Soundbooth has the advantage of being easier to learn and simpler to use for certain common tasks. Audition has the advantage of being better in every other way.