A major new Windows version is promised for later this year, but the first update to reach the market is version 3 of Sound Forge Pro Mac. Vegas underwent a well-received relaunch in a new version last year, and now Magix have unveiled their road map for the future of Sound Forge.

So far, however, things are looking promising. Such a change of ownership is always an anxious time for long-term fans, who want to ensure that manufacturers invest in continuing development rather than asset-stripping the software to embed the technology in their own products. Then, in May 2016, the former Sonic Foundry product line, along with spectral editor SpectraLayers, underwent another change of ownership, with German company Magix, well known both for professional tools such as Samplitude and for their consumer-level music, audio and video software products, taking over. Sony’s foray into OS X raised hopes that they might attempt similar ports of Vegas and Acid Pro, but these hopes were not realised, and development activity seemed pretty thin from 2014 onwards. Sound Forge Pro Mac 1, which I reviewed in SOS February 2013, was a somewhat tentative introduction to the platform, lacking many of the features of the more mature Windows version, but some of these were added in version 2 a year later. Vegas fared somewhat better under Sony’s ownership, and not only did Sony release a major update to Sound Forge for Windows as recently as 2013, but they also launched an OS X version.

The most recent major update to Acid Pro was back in 2008 considering it was a pioneering piece of software in its time, and laid the ground for products such as Ableton Live, this is a considerable shame. In 2003, Sony acquired the Sonic Foundry desktop product line and set up their Creative Software division and over the next 13 years, the three programs enjoyed mixed fortunes.

Originally developed by Sonic Foundry for Windows computers, Acid Pro, Vegas Video and Sound Forge are long-established platforms for music production, video editing and audio editing respectively. Its first makeover under new ownership sees Magix’s Mac editing package team up with some powerful partners.

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