The Audio Cleanup Plug-In adds advanced audio restoration features, including Click and Pop Elimination, Hiss Reduction, and Clip Restoration.á If you have a collection of old vinyl records that you'd like to transfer to CD, this plug-in is for you.

You can download demonstration versions of these plug-ins from SyntrilliumÆs web site at http://www.syntrillium.com.

Installing and uninstalling Cool Edit 2000

To install Cool Edit 2000, double-click on the installer file (usually called ce2kmain.exe).á Then follow the directions on screen.

To uninstall, or to change your installation options, click on the Start button and select Settings - Control Panel - Add/Remove Programs.á Select Cool Edit 2000 from the list and click on Add/Remove.

How to record with Cool Edit 2000

Before you record anything with Cool Edit 2000, you must first decide what audio source you intend to record.á Do you want to use a microphone?á An electronic keyboard?á Want to record from your computer CD player?á Your sound card has independent controls for various types of inputs, and you must first select and adjust your record levels.

Pull down the Options menu in Cool Edit 2000 and select Windows Mixer.á This brings up the Volume Control application, and what you first see is the play levels.á These are the controllers that affect what comes out your speakers when you play sound on your computer.

The record levels are a second set of controls that affect recording (input) levels.á To access these controls, go to Volume Control, pull down the Options menu, and select Properties.á In the ôAdjust volume forö box, select ôRecordingö, and then press OK.á The Volume Control box now becomes a Recording Control box with sliders and selectors for each of the devices you can record from.

The input sources available will vary according to your sound card.á You will likely see faders (slider controls) for Wave Record, Synthesizer, CD, Microphone, and other input devices.á If you want to record from a microphone plugged into the Mic port on the back of your sound card, select Microphone and adjust its recording level.á If you want to record from CD, do likewise for the CD controls.á You may also want to turn OFF recording for the other inputs in order to minimize noise while recording.

Selecting and adjusting record levels is an important part of recording on the computer.á It may seem confusing at first, but once you get used to it, checking the record levels will become second nature.

When you have finished checking record levels, follow these steps:

1)       Pull down the File menu and select New.á The New Waveform dialog will ask you what Sample Rate and Bit Resolution you want to use, and whether you want to create a Mono or Stereo file.á If you arenÆt sure what to select, use 44100Hz, Stereo, 16-bit.á These are the settings used for CD-quality audio.

2)       Click on the red record button in the transport controls on the bottom left of the main window.

3)       Sing! (or play the CD, or the keyboard, or start whatever audio you want to record).

4)       When youÆre done recording, click on the Stop button in the transport controls.

Cool Edit 2000 will draw the waveform you have just recorded.á To play it, click on the Play button.

Troubleshooting tips:á if only a flat line appears (no obvious waveform display), then you probably need to check your record levels.á If you can see the waveform but canÆt hear it playing, check the play levels.á See above for instructions on accessing these controls.á For detailed information, see the help file index under ôgetting startedö and ôlevelsö.

You can also zoom in on the audio.á The zoom control buttons are just to the right of the transport controls at the bottom left of the main window.á With these buttons, you can zoom in, zoom out, zoom out all the way, zoom to fit the current selection, or zoom to just the left or right side of the selection.

Note: you can also zoom by right-clicking-and-dragging on the horizontal ruler below the waveform, or on the vertical ruler to the right of it.á Try right-clicking everywhere!á Different options appear to customize the object you click on or to adjust the display or other settings.

Once youÆve selected some audio, you can play just that portion (press Play), delete it (press the Del key), copy it to the clipboard (Ctrl+C), or perform a variety of other editing functions.á You can also paste audio on the clipboard to the current cursor position (Ctrl+V).á Most of the editing functions are available in the Edit menu.á Try them out!á Cool Edit 2000 is full of handy and powerful features that make editing fast and accurate.á For detailed information, see the help file index under ôeditingö and ôscreen elementsö.

How to add effects

The fun really starts when you use Cool Edit 2000Æs audio effects features.á Pull down the Transform menu to see whatÆs available.á You can use Reverb to create concert-hall ambience, Dynamics Processing to compress or expand dynamic range, Filters to boost or cut treble or bass or another frequency band, Noise Reduction to clean up a noisy recording, Time/Pitch functions to change the pitch without affecting tempo, or vice versaàand thatÆs just the beginning!

The best way to learn what you can do with these audio effects is to try them out.á Record an audio file or open an existing oneùyou might start with a simple recording of yourself talking or singing.á Then pull down the Transform menu, pull up an effect, adjust the settings or select a Preset, press OK, and listen to the result.á You can use Undo to back out of your changes.á Note: if you are using the demonstration version of Cool Edit 2000, not all Transform functions are available at once.á You can try them all out by exiting the program and restarting it with a different set of start-up options selected.

Each of the transforms is described in detail in the Cool Edit 2000 help file.á Just click on the Help button in the dialog of any transform to read a full description.

How to create MP3 files with Cool Edit 2000

ItÆs easy to create MP3 files with Cool Edit 2000.á To export a file to MP3, pull down the File menu, select Save As, and select MPEG 3 in the ôSave as typeö box.á Click on Options to select among the various bitrates and other options available for MP3 export.á Once youÆve selected the options you want, press OK, specify the file name and directory you want, and click on Save.

Note: if you are using the demonstration version of Cool Edit 2000, MP3 export is limited to one minute of audio per file, and MP3 import/export capability is available for 30 days for evaluation.á MP3 import/export is unavailable in the Lite version of Cool Edit 2000.

Hardware considerations

Your sound card* is what converts audio from an analog signal to digital when you record, and back from digital to analog when you play it back.á Sound cards differ in their ability to handle different types of audio data.á Almost all sound cards can record and play back CD-quality audio (44100Hz, stereo, 16-bit), and most can also record and play audio at various lower-quality settings.á Some can record at much higher settings, like 24-bit/96kHz.á Cool Edit 2000 can record and play up to 32-bit audio at sample rates up to 10 megahertz.á To find out what your sound card can do, select Settings from the Options menu and look at the chart under the Devices tab.

Your hard disk drive(s) also play a key role in recording and editing audio on the computer.á Audio files can take up a large amount of spaceùroughly 10 megabytes per minute of CD-quality audio.á That means one three-minute song can take up 30 MB!á Your hard disksÆ capabilities affect both the storage space requirements and the throughput speed necessary to handle these large amounts of data.á ItÆs a good idea to maintain at least three times the size of your file in unused hard disk space.á For example, if you are editing a 30MB file, you should try to maintain at least 90MB in unused space.á If you want to do extensive editing and storing of audio, you may want to consider getting an additional hard drive.

There are many other optional items you can use with Cool Edit 2000.á You can plug a microphone directly into the back of most sound cards.á You may need an adapter to convert the 1/4ö plug or three-lead XLR-style plug to a 1/8ö plug to do so.á Such adapters are widely available at stores like Radio Shack.á You can also plug a mixer into your sound card.á This will enable you to record multiple sources simultaneously and normalize the input level from nearly any analog source to a level your sound card will like.

If you want to transfer songs from a record player, you will need to pre-amplify the signal and adapt the plugs to go into your sound card.á For example, you could plug RCA cables to the Tape Out jack on your home stereo amplifier and then use an adapter to convert them to a 1/8ö stereo mini-plug to connect it to the Line In port on your sound card.

Tutorials

Cool Edit 2000 includes the ability to download and view video tutorials explaining the use of the program and how to accomplish specific tasks with it.á Pull down the Help menu and select Tutorials«Check for New Tutorials to see a list of available tutorials.á You can select the tutorial you wish to view from Help«Tutorials.á The topics of these tutorials will expand as people use, and ask questions about, Cool Edit 2000.á If you know a topic that you would like to see covered in a tutorial, please email usered@syntrillium.com with your suggestion.

Optional Plug-Ins

Syntrillium offers optional plug-in products that extend Cool Edit 2000Æs capabilities.á These include the following:

╖         Studio Plug-Inùadds a 4-track mixing studio to the program.á The Studio Plug-In offers Mute/Solo/Record, Pan and Volume faders and envelopes for each track, Loops and Crossfades, Punch-In recording, support for Multiple Takes, and many other advanced multitrack features.á If you want to record music and add a voice-over, mix sound effects together, or start putting together multi-part songs, the Studio Plug-In is for you.

╖         Audio Cleanup Plug-Inùadds advanced audio restoration features, including Click and Pop Elimination (for cleaning up old vinyl recordings), Hiss Reduction, and Clip Restoration.á Got a bunch of old 45s and LPs youÆd like to convert to CD?á The Audio Cleanup Plug-In can make them sound like they were made for CDs.

Technical Support

Syntrillium offers free technical support for the Cool Edit 2000 family of products via email.á To contact our support department, just email support@syntrillium.com.á Please be sure to describe in detail the question or problem you have, and if possible, include steps to reproduce the behavior youÆre describing.á If you do not have access to email, you can fax your questions to Syntrillium at +1-480-941-8170.á Please provide a return fax number or email address.

Syntrillium does not offer technical support by phone for the Cool Edit 2000 family.á Now, wait, let us explain!á Cool Edit 2000 is a very powerful product, with a vast array of features.á It surpasses retail products that cost several times what Cool Edit 2000 does.á We have worked hard to make Cool Edit 2000 the easiest to understand, best-documented audio recording product available, but we recognize that you may have questions or problems that will require help from our technical support staff.á Technical support by email is much more efficient and almost always more informative than support over the phone, and it enables us to track issues better when a complex question or problem arises.á The reason most people like phone support is that it is fast.á Well, our support via email is also fast.á Syntrillium is committed to responding directly to each technical support email we receive within two business days.á We usually get back faster than thatùwithin one day, and often on the same day.á Give it a try!á If youÆre thinking ôthis couldnÆt really be any goodö, drop us a note by email and let us prove you wrong.

Learning moreà

So where should you go from here?á Try the software!á Play with it.á Click everywhereùespecially try the right mouse button.á Pull down the menus and see whatÆs there.

If you want more detail on how to get the most out of Cool Edit 2000, pull down the Help menu and choose Getting Started.á This topic contains general information about the software and how to use it.á Then check out the Help Contents section for detailed information on each of the major areas of interestùnavigating Cool Edit 2000, a menu reference, keyboard and mouse shortcuts, etc.

Have fun!á Once you get started using it, youÆll see how Cool Edit 2000 got its name.

⌐ 1999 Syntrillium Software Corporation

P.O. Box 62255
Phoenix, AZá 85082-2255
Phone: +1-480-941-4327
Fax: +1-480-941-8170
URL:á http://www.syntrillium.com
Email:á support@syntrillium.com

Cool Edit is a trademark of Syntrillium Software Corporation.