Filter Menu
A filter applies an effect on the selected audio. An effect works by taking the audio as input, applying some kind of transformation to it, and putting it back in the file. If nothing is selected, the entire file will be selected before applying the filter.
Some filters will let you save presets. A preset allows you to save the position of the controls of an options window so that you can recall them later. You can save several presets in the default presets folders. Any files in the default presets folder will show up in the "Presets" popup. To create a preset, select "Create New Preset" from the pop-up button, and give it a name and save it. Then make changes to the options window. Any changes will be immediately saved to the presets. To make changes without affecting a preset, select "Default" from the presets pop-up.
To rename, delete, or otherwise manage presets, select the "Reveal in Finder" command from the pop-up. This will show the presets folder in the Finder, where you can manage the preset files. Presets are stored in the "~/Library/Audio/Presets/Sound Studio/" folder, in your home directory.
Last Filter
The first item in the menu shows the name of the last filter used. Selecting it will reapply the filter to the current selection without showing its options window.
Amplify/Volume
This command will raise or lower the volume of the selected audio. The options dialog box shows the amount of the change in both decibels (dB) and percentage factor (%). To adjust the volume to a uniform level, see Dynamics Compressor and Normalize, below.
Fade In
This command applies a linear fade from zero volume to full volume.
Fade Out
This command applies a linear fade from full volume to volume.
Fade Special
See Fade Special
Normalize
See Normalize
Dynamics Compressor
See Dynamics Compressor
Dynamics Expander
See Dynamics Expander
Noise Gate Expander
See Noise Gate Expander
Add Noise
Adds white noise to the current selection. You would use noise to mask out other sounds in the recording.
DC Offset
This command can be used to shift the waveform vertically in the display. In the manual mode, you would enter the amount to shift the waveform, and the entire selection will move by that amount. In automatic mode, it removes any signal below 20 Hz, resulting in a signal that is centered on the zero voltage line. This can help increase the dynamic range of a recording.
Interpolate
This command can be used to repair individual spikes in waveforms by drawing a
smooth line from the start of the selection to the end of the selection. For best
results, zoom in to 1:1 and select the area just around such a spike.
If you select the entire file and apply this filter, you will get a straight line from
the start to the end of the file, which is not how you want to use this effect.
Invert Signal Polarity
Changes the waveform so that positive voltages become negative voltages and vice-versa. In the waveform view, this has the effect of flipping the waveform on the x-axis, so that it is upside-down relative to the original. You won't hear a difference after you've applied the filter, but this filter is useful if you reversed the positive and negative terminals on your cable connections, and you ended up recording the audio with the voltage inverted. Applying this filter will fix the inversion.
If you consider waves that go above the centerline of the display to be positive and waves that go below to be negative, the Invert filter just makes the positive parts negative and vice-versa. This filter is useful when you have a stereo file and one of its channels is inverted relative to the other. The audio will sound like it's coming from the sides when you listen to it in stereo, with no audio coming from the center.
Swap Left and Right Channels
When there are two tracks selected, this command swaps the two tracks. With more than two tracks, it swaps the odd number tracks with the even number tracks.
Backwards / Reverse
This reverses the audio in the file so that it sounds like it is playing backwards.
Chorus
See Chorus
Delay and Echo
See Delay and Echo
Flanger
See Flanger
Pitch and Tempo
See Pitch and Tempo
Reverb
See Reverb
3-Band EQ
See 3-Band EQ
10-Band EQ
See 10-Band EQ
Graphic Equalizer
See Graphic Equalizer
High Pass
See High Pass
Low Pass
See Low Pass