5 Ways Acoustica 8 Speeds Up Your Audio Editing Workflow

We keep hearing most editing and restoration time isn't spent on hard problems, it's spent on routine ones like broadband noise under dialogue, hum on a DI, a dropout in a take that can't be re-recorded. Each has a known fix, but the fix can involve setup, some trial and error, and often a round trip out of the DAW.

Acoustica 8 targets that overhead. Our very latest machine-learning models handle analysis that used to be manual, the spectral editor removes repetitive selection work, and an ARA2 plug-in keeps the whole toolset on your DAW timeline. Full control and the final call, stay with the engineer.

Below are five Acoustica 8 features which can have a big effect on turnaround, for music production and audio post alike.

1. DeNoise 3: noise reduction without a noise profile

Most profile-based noise reduction depends on finding a section of noise with nothing else in it. On dense material that section often doesn't exist, and a poor profile means more tweaking and more artefacts.

DeNoise 3 replaces profile capture with new machine-learning models that separate noise from the wanted signal directly. There's no learn step, so setup time drops to almost nothing, and processing is faster than in previous versions. Results are cleaner across dialogue, ambience and music, so one tool covers a wide range of source material.

The automatic result is a starting point, not a black box. The controls are still there for fine adjustment by ear.

Example use cases

• Production dialogue with HVAC, traffic or location room tone
• Interviews and voice-over recorded in untreated spaces
• Acoustic sources and vocals with constant background noise

2. DeHum 3: hum removal without manual harmonic hunting

Ground loops, dimmers and poor cabling leave a fundamental plus a stack of harmonics. Identifying them and setting notches by hand takes time, and over-notching thins the low end.

Our new DeHum 3 plug-in uses the same machine-learning approach as DeNoise 3. It identifies the hum and its harmonics itself, with no profile to capture, and removes them while leaving the surrounding material intact.

Manual analysis per clip becomes a quick check by ear, with less collateral damage than a bank of static notch filters.

Example use cases

• Guitar and bass DIs with ground-loop hum
• Location sound near lighting, generators or mains-powered equipment
• Archive and transfer work from older hardware

3. AudioFill: longer, cleaner gap repairs

Dropouts, a cough over a sustain or a burst of interference in a take that can't be replaced. Short gaps interpolate well but in the past, longer ones have typically meant copying material from elsewhere and hiding the edit.

AudioFill is Acoustica 8's rebuilt interpolation and retouch engine. It generates replacement content from the surrounding audio and now handles much larger time regions than before. Repairs that previously needed a separate tool, or an audible compromise, can stay inside the editor.

Example use cases

• Digital dropouts and transfer glitches
• Unwanted transients over sustained notes or room tone
• Gaps left after removing bumps, clicks or handling noise

“In classical and score productions, a repair only works if it's invisible. The quality of interpolation, and how it blends into the surrounding material, is exceptional in Acoustica 8's spectral editing. Complex artifacts and noises are addressed simply and quickly with genuinely transparent results.”

– Mark Willsher, Grammy®-winning Engineer/Mixer (San Francisco Symphony, Ultraman Rising, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim)

4. Spectral editing: less selection work, smoother edits

Spectral repair is precise but can be slow. Recurring noises are selected one at a time, hard-edged edits can leave holes, and stereo problems are difficult to read from a standard spectrogram.

Three changes in the Acoustica 8 spectral editor address those directly:

• Select similar finds every region that shares the characteristics of the current selection. Mark one chair creak or notification ping and the rest are selected with it.
• Adjustable time and frequency feathering sets how each edit blends into the surrounding material, so repairs don't leave audible edges.
• Stereo View encodes stereo position as colour on the spectrogram. Off-centre noises and balance issues become visible, and can be fixed without switching tools.

Example use cases

• Recurring noises: chair creaks, clock ticks, phone notifications
• Live recordings where the performance can't be touched
• Diagnosing stereo imbalance in music and ambience

5. ARA2: the full editor on the DAW timeline

Export, open in an editor, fix, bounce, re-import, re-align. Each round trip is small, but across a session it adds up, and it pulls attention away from the project.

Every Acoustica 8 edition includes an ARA2 plug-in. That means that in any ARA2-compatible host, you get the complete Acoustica clip editor on the clip itself, including spectral editing, restoration and processing. There's no file transfer, and changes stay in sync with the DAW session.

For Pro Tools, in addition to ARA, a dedicated Link plug-in handles AAX transfer between Pro Tools and Acoustica.

This is what ties the other four together: DeNoise 3, DeHum 3, AudioFill and the spectral tools are available on the clip you're already working on.

Compatible ARA hosts: Pro Tools, Fender Studio Pro, Steinberg Cubase / Nuendo, Reaper, with others coming soon.

Faster results and better quality

None of these changes asks you to accept a lesser result in exchange for speed. The machine-learning tools remove setup and analysis work; the spectral changes remove repetitive selection; ARA removes the round trip. Judgement and final quality control stay with the engineer.

Acoustica 8 editions

All editions are perpetual licences, with ARA2 included in every edition.

A more detailed comparison of the Acoustica 8 editions is here.

A fully functional 30-day trial is available, no credit card required. Download the trial

Acoustica 7 owners can upgrade at a reduced price. Acoustica 7 licences bought after 1 August get the equivalent Acoustica 8 edition free, added automatically to your Acon Digital account. Upgrade options

Don't forget – 25% off new Acoustica 8 licences and upgrades until 6 October.