Thank you!

Is there another version than the one I mentioned in the title? Sound Forge 17. Audio Sudio 17.

I zoom-in using the Edit tool.

Yes, the position counter also changes its position.

I only use SoundForge for very simple editing of mp.3 files - lectures. I bought this version just a few days ago and on the first day everything was ok. To solve the problem I activated the Reset all preferences function yesterday. Nothing changed. Today I repeated it, but in addition I activated Reset cached data. The problem is now solved. 

Hi @UGIS-POLIS, If it occurs again, or other abnormal behavior with MP3 files. try enabling "Always proxy compressed formats" in the 'Options> Preferences> General' menu.

Is there another version than the one I mentioned in the title? Sound Forge 17. Audio Studio

There is Sound Forge Pro and Sound Forge Pro Suite, but both are basically the same as Audio Studio, aside from more included plug-ins, UI options and automation.

Hi there. August 2024:

Sound Forge Pro 16 build 106. Same issue as above unfortunately (on Sound Forge Audio Studio 17). I've uploaded a short 90 second clip showing all my settings and a proper demonstration of the issue on a WAV vs on a compressed file:

VIDEO:

I will definitely update/upgrade if the issue is confirmed to be fixed (and if updating is free). Really hoping for a fix for this, it's making my workflow super difficult now. Thanks!

@spectoral Have you tried the 'Always proxy compressed formats' option that @rraud mentioned?

SP, yes I have. Please watch the video. It answers all possible questions in only 90 seconds.

I'm having exactly the same issue as spectoral (8/5/2024) in his video. Got SF 17 when it first came out. Just stopped using it and went back to using 15. Downloaded the new 17 audio studio online subscription thinking the problem would be solved in that. NO. It still persists. Got s/w with a problem and now a subscription to the problem. 😥Searching for alternatives to SSF. Shouldn't need to do that. What am I missing? Been with SSF since SSF 10. If this isn't the right forum, please advise.

@ZseZse I wouldn't be surprised if this has something to do with compressed audio files. Uncompressed files have a continuous stream of data while compressed files usually use frames of information which are uncompressed one by one. So you usually can only skip from frame to frame not from bit to bit. The bits are created on the fly and so are the waveform graphics. So the cursor might jump back and forth between the individual frames. At least that's my understanding of this.

Maybe it worked better in the past because other decoding libraries where used. But over time file patents run out or decoders get old and are not longer maintained and get replaced with different ones which work in another way.

Usually, if you use uncompressed audio files, it shouldn't be a problem.

@SP. Thank you. As much as I am able to understand, your response makes big sense. I've recorded & edited with SSF for years. I can continue to use 15 and 15 Pro to get my podcast, etc. done and until I can expand my knowledge base enough to continue with the later versions. Trying a few other s/w products but there's a learning curve and I'd really like to stay with what I know. Guess I'd better get busy. Thank you again. I was really frustrated.

Just trialed SF17 and having the same issues. I have been using SF since version 5 with no issues. This is a deal breaker for me.

@rexQue Enable the proxy option for compressed files in the program preferences

Thanks. Tried that, including all the other snap options as discussed in the video by spectoral.

@SP - Anything else I could try before shopping around for another product? I'd really like to stick with SF, but this functionality is key for my use.

@rexQue The proxy option should solve the problem with compressed files and the cursor jumping around. If not, then convert your file to WAV first.

The proxy option doesn't change anything. Unfortunately converting to .wav not a suitable option for me. Thanks for your reply though. There are many other editors that do not have this problem (I've test 3 so far). Any idea why it's happening with SF?

@rexQue Other editors likely convert the compressed formats as well to an uncompressed format on the fly and store that in RAM or some temp folder. Sound Forge doesn't do that if the option isn't enabled. So I'm not sure why it's not working for you.

I've tested a 10 hour long MP3 file in Sound Forge 12 and RX 10. l disabled the proxy option in Sound Forge. It loads the file 25% faster than RX and takes about 200 MB less RAM than RX while the file is open. Both programs do obviously something different in the background.

Be aware, compressed formats work by storing audio in chunks of data. So it's correct that the software jumps from chunk to chunk as long as you haven't converted it to uncompressed WAV. It always needs to read the whole chunk otherwise it cannot recreate the samples.

It is the same with plain compressed archive files. If just one bit goes missing, the whole archive cannot be opened again.

Maybe it has something to do with the compression used by the file you want to open. You can use a free tool like MediaInfo to check out the file metadata and copy and paste it from the menu View>Text into this forum.