Hi,

Here is the long answer:

From what I understand, you are a new user of ACL. You really need to read the manual to understand what it is all about. Start with the Introduction. Pay particular attention to the chapter on Quick Start.

So that you understand how ACL and most of the Magix programs work, ACL, with a couple of exceptions, is a non-destructive program. "Almost all effects are calculated in realtime when being played without damaging the recorded material at all. The original recordings and songs remain untouched on the hard disk. You can therefore to your heart's content without having to worry about causing any
lasting damage to your audio material. "

If you record something into ACL, say from a tape or a record, or using a microphone, an audio file is created (wav format) and stored in the default folder. To see where this folder is, on the top menu go to Options, Path settings, New projects. Everything will be put in that folder unless you change it. ACL then uses the file or files that it creates, or those that you may have obtained elsewhere and dragged into ACL, but it does not change the original file. All filters/effects are within the project file, not the source file. You do not need to run or play the files to apply the effects, they are applied unless you turn them off. When you save the project, you are not saving the source wav file, you are saving a project file that has information as to where the source file is located, and what effects to apply to it and when. Again, it does not touch the source file.

The ACL project is simply a project, it is not the final product. For the final product, you complete everything that you want to do to clean, organize and master the sound in ACL, then you export it to new files in one of the various formats. Creating a CD is synonymous with exporting.

When you go out of the project after saving the project file, if you open it up later and load the same project, all of the information will be there: the source file(s) and the filters/parameters for cleaning and mastering, just as you left them. Your source file is still untouched, it is only used, not modified.

In ACL, you have 2 ways to apply effects/filters: to the Project, or to an Object. An object is simply one or more parts of the track in the arranger. If you have imported or recorded 2 songs separately, i.e., not in the same wav or mp3 file, then you will have 2 objects. You can click on the Object tab and select one of the objects by clicking on it, and then apply the filters/effects to that object only. Say you had a tape recording with a lot of tape hiss and a vinyl recording with a lot of crackling as 2 objects in the arranger. You would want to apply DeHissing to the tape but not to the vinyl recording, to which you would want to only apply DeCrackeler. In that case you would use Objects and not the Project. If both recordings were from a tape, and the problems were the same, then you would want to do both at once so you would use Project and apply the effects to everything.

Other objects can be created by you. Let's say you have a voice recording where there are 2 parts with different defects. You isolate each part, that is you create 2 objects by cutting (with the scissors) at the point where you want to split the file. Then you apply the effects to each object as required.

I strongly suggest that you create or use a couple of files with defects to do some experimenting and learning. Go through the entire process. Don't tackle a big project to learn on; you will be disappointed. Learning about the various filters is time-consuming but needs to be done so that you understand what you are doing. At the end, your ear is the judge.

Another source of information is to look in the Forum tab in this Community, All about Magix's programs, Audio Cleaning Lab. It will have 2 tabs, Discussions and Questions. Your Questions will be under Questions, and there is relevant information under both tabs.

HTH