You are posting in a forum for Video Editing, you may get more help on the audio forums.

Roger

OK. Thanks. I'll try to figure that out

@Jerry-Gilmer, @RogerGunkel

Hi

I have moved the topic to the correct forum

John EB

Forum Moderator

@Jerry-Gilmer

Although SFAS 13 is registered it seems that the Audio Restoration tools you are using may be an "add-on" that requires additional registration/activation. (The symptom of the periodic "beep" often signifies a plug-in that is not registered or activated, i.e it is running in Trial Mode.)

Are these "tools" provided by iZotope? If so, their plug-ins almost always require activation which is separate from the host program.

HTH

Jeff

Actually, I'm using "Vinyl Recording and Restoration " under Tools and "Audio Restoration" and "Peak Normalization" are step 3 of that process. When I get to step 3 I can avoid selecting "Audio restoration" and when I do that the beeps don't seem to be inserted but they are inserted when I do select "Audio restoration". I really want audio restoration because I've found it very effective in the past using SFAS 10. But I'll keep playing … .

Update.  Bottom line:
It still doesn’t work, I still get the beeps. What Have I done?  I purchased my copy of SFAS 13 from Best Buy
and it was bundled with Acid Music Studio on a single CD, at a good price – which is why I bought it.  The CD also had something on it called IZotope Ozone 8, or something like that.  After reading the comments from emmrecs (Thanks for posting!) on this forum about additional plug-ins needing additional registration/activation, I installed Acid Music Studio and Ozone 8 from the CD and entered the activation codes when prompted.  This was not effective – I still got the beeps. 

So, I went back to Best Buy expecting that the “Best” they would do would be to simply replace the product, because refunding $$ for software doesn’t happen, and that’s what they did.  But this was not effective either; after installing SFAS 13 from this second CD I still get the beeps. I suppose I could keep returning the nonworking software to Best Buy over and over, but that's not really my style and I believe it would not result in a working copy of the software.

I’ve used SFAS 10, originally from Sony, for several years and have been happy with it.  I use only the Vinyl Recording and Restoration tool and Audio Restoration is step 3 of 7 in the process.  In step 3 the user can
select Audio Restoration or Peak Normalization, or both, or neither.  The beeps can be seen on the graph most
readily when only Audio Restoration is selected after recording with no music playing, although when I’m converting vinyl I select both Audio Restoration and Peak Normalization.

Is it possible that this collaboration between Magix and Best Buy to bundle SFAS 13 with Acid Music Studio on one disk has resulted in some unfortunate interaction resulting in my beeps? I’m asking that rhetorically. I have not purchased an ‘unbundled’ copy of SFAS 13 to see if the Audio Restoration step in the Vinyl Recording and Restoration tool works without inserting beeps; I shouldn’t have to. I already paid good money for the software in good faith, fully expecting it to work for me. But it doesn’t.  I’m hoping Magix is monitoring this forum and can check into this flaw and then maybe they can make this right for me.  All I want is a working version of the software.  I have a lot of vinyl remaining to be converted.

@Jerry-Gilmer @emmrecs @johnebaker

Hi,

I have SFAS 12.6. I see that there are new features in version 13 that I don't have, including "Vinyl Recording and Restoration." Also, the Audio Restoration is different. Looking at the Magix.com web site, I see the following:

and the tool is Vegas ExpressFX Audio Restoration.

I have the similar tool in Vegas 15:

You mentioned that you used these in version 10. Were they there and then removed?

Here is what I see under Tools in SFAS12.6:

Can you give us screen shots of what you have? Include the presets for the Audio Restoration interface.

So, you have a tool that I can't test. However, your problem may be from one of the parameters under the Audio Restoration interface. Did you try modifying them 1 by 1 to see which one may be causing the problem?

Normally, I don't apply any of these unless necessary, and even then, carefully. Misuse can cause more problems that it solves.

As for interference between SFAS and ACID, that would be highly unlikely if ACID is not open at the same time.

Did you check for updates for SFAS? Look under Help in the top menu.

John CB

Thanks for posting. I'm trying to reply but I don't know how to post images to this forum.

@Jerry-Gilmer

Hi Jerry,

Use the button with the up arrow on the toolbar of a message, third from the right, to upload/insert an image or video.

John CB

OK: I’ll try to address some specific questions.  Yes I’ve checked for updates, several times, and I continue to learn that there are no updates to the SFAS 13 I’ve installed.  I’ve loaded SFAS 13 on two computers and get the same result – beeps.  I agree that it is unlikely that the bundling of SFAS 13 with Acid Music Studio and IZotope Ozone 8 would be causing the beeps but this also bothers me because it suggests that I shouldn’t buy an unbundled version of SFAS 13 because it may not work either.

I have SFAS 10 installed on an older ASUS laptop and SFAS 13 installed on a newer HP laptop, both running on Windows 10. (I’m trying to retire the older ASUS and am unable to successfully install SFAS 10 on the newer HP, I think because I’ve installed it on earlier machines as well and apparently I’ve reached the limit on the number of installs; that’s why I bought SFAS 13.) Here are images of the About page for both SFAS 10 and SFAS 13:

Here are images of the available menus from both 10 and 13 with the Tools menu opened on each.  You
can see that the Vinyl Recording and Restoration tool is available in both versions:

Notice that also in the Tools menu list is a separate Audio Restoration tool; in the above images the separate Audio Restoration tool is not available to be selected because there are no music files open in the workspace.  And when using the Vinyl Recording and Restoration tool I never have the need to come back and select the separate Audio Restoration tool at all.  The only thing I use in SFAS 10, and the reason I bought SFAS 13, is the Vinyl Recording and Restoration tool.  But, for completeness in this posting, I’ve included an image below of the settings for the Audio Restoration tool:

But I've never needed to use this. BTW, it's the same in SFAS 10.

OK, so what happens when I select the Vinyl Recording and Restoration tool?  Here’s the first screen I see just after I select the tool, Step 1 of 7:

After I set levels I click on Next and go to Step 2 of 7.  I didn’t post an image of Step 2 because the screen is almost the same as the previous image except that it shows a red button to begin recording which turns to a pause button during recording.  After I click the pause button I then click the Next button and the following screen appears; this is Step 3 of 7:

I can select the Audio Restoration function or the Peak Normalization function, both, or neither.  Notice that none of the menu items at the very top of the screen, the various menu items for using all the functionality of SFAS 13, are available to be selected.  This means if I even wanted to use the separate Audio Restoration tool under the Tools menu, I’d have to cancel out of the Vinyl Recording and Restoration tool or complete all the steps in the tool and then use the separate Audio Restoration tool.  My choice has always been to complete all the steps in the Vinyl Recording and Restoration tool, and when I do that I no longer need to use the separate Audio Restoration tool because I’ve already used the Audio Restoration function (as well as the Peak Normalization function) in Step 3 of 7 in the Vinyl Recording and Restoration tool.

For illustration for this posting, I clicked on the record button and then about 25 seconds later I clicked on the pause button.  During these 25 seconds the turntable was plugged into the laptop but no record was playing.  After pausing I then clicked on Next which took me to Step 3 of 7.  Then, again for illustration, I simply clicked on Next again WITHOUT selecting Audio Restoration or Peak Normalization in Step 3 of 7.  The result of this is in this image:

Notice that now I’m in Step 4 of 7 with the 25 second clip displayed.  The clip is clean with no beeps, no noise, nothing, as expected.  Then, I clicked the Back button to go back to Step 3; I then selected the Audio Restoration function but not the Peak Normalization function and clicked Next.  The result of this is in this image:

Notice a signal appearing about every 4+ seconds on each channel, left and right.  THAT’S THE BEEP.  When I then go Back to Step 3 and now select the Peak Normalization function, I get the result in this image:

The beeps now appear as long vertical lines in this clip. In a real clip with an actual music signal the beeps still exist in the music but they don’t APPEAR as dramatic as they do in the above image. But the beeps are definitely still there.

Let me now explain why I use the Vinyl Recording and Restoration tool and complete all the steps instead of trying to use the separate Audio Restoration tool.  The answer is because the remaining steps in the Vinyl Recording and Restoration tool are really slick, convenient, and effective (when the tool’s Audio Restoration function works).  I’ve converted vinyl albums this way for several years with SFAS 10.  The next image shows Step 4 of 7 after using the first three steps to record side 1 of Michael Jackson’s Thriller vinyl album. While in Step 3 with this album I selected both the Audio Restoration tool and the Peak Normalization function.  Here’s the result:

This looks like a normal, even expected, result, but although you can’t see them, the beeps are still there.  What’s really slick about this image is that you can see that the processing that occurs between steps 3 and 4 places track markers in the areas between songs.  Side 1 of the album has four songs and the Vinyl Recording and Restoration tool has identified four tracks.  I love this!  Also, while still in this step I can zoom in to the signal and reposition the track markers; SFAS usually does a very good job of placing track markers, but it’s not perfect so being able to adjust the markers is a tremendous help. 

When I’m done with this step and have the track markers where I want them, I then click Next to go to step 5 of 7.  This is where I type in the album info as well as a name for each song/track:

Steps 6 and 7 deal with saving the tracks and what the user wants to do next – like record more, of just finish.  The next image shows the result of me saving the tracks to my music file on my hard drive.  This is not an image from SFAS 13 but instead it is just an image of the resulting music files on my hard drive:

I really like the Vinyl Recording and Restoration tool, when it works right.  But I’m going to delete the files in the previous image from my computer because they all have the beeps; they’re worthless to me.  Is anybody else able to use the Vinyl Recording and Restoration tool in SFAS 13 without getting the beeps when the Audio Restoration function is applied in Step 3? While preparing this posting I thought of another hypothesis for why I get the beeps; since I've registered SFAS 10 in the past when I installed it and now I can't install it on my newer HP laptop, is it possible that the lock Magix has on me for further installs of SFAS 10 is somehow confusing my install of SFAS 13? It's only letting me use SFAS 13 in some sort of trial mode that inserts beeps? Or is this just the Twilight Zone? Beep beep beep beep...….du du du du. I'm going a little batty.

@Jerry-Gilmer

I honestly can't answer your most pressing question, how to remove the beeps, but I am going to make a suggestion about what you've posted here:

One of your screenshots includes your full email address. Be aware that spam bots may well be delighted to harvest that address and so deluge you with spam! I strongly suggest removing that specific screenshot, editing it to hide your email and then reposting it.

Your comment about whether you have SFAS10 already installed the maximum number of times may be correct. If you were running a version of a Magix program that they had released I would recommend contacting customer Service/Sales to explain the problem and ask that they reset your installation allowance. However, the fact that SFAS10 is a Sony product from the pre-Magix days, I'm not sure whether this can be done here.

Jeff

Thanks emmrecs. The guilty image has been replaced. I'll try to contact Magix customer Service/Sales, if I can figure out how.

@Jerry-Gilmer

There is a Contact button for Support at the bottom of every page of this forum.

You will need to shorten or clean up your explanation of the problem, illustrated as you did. Try to be direct and don't talk about possible interferences due to other the way you installed the software, or ACID or iZotope, as they are not the problem. Put it in a pdf similar to your explanation, illustrated, and submit it with your ticket or as a reply to the automated reply that you will receive.

Before doing this, did you check for updates under Help? If there is one, get it and try the recording again.

As best I can tell, something is going wrong with the automatic cleaning. I suggest that you not use it but use the Audio Restoration tool to see if it does the same thing. If so, play with the sliders to try to determine if there is one or more that could be causing the problem.

In SF Audio Cleaning Lab, I noticed that if the DeClicker/DeCrackler strengths are too high, they make a mess and I end up with stutters.

Good luck!

John CB

Thanks for your help on contacting tech support. It seems there is no way to upload more than one pic and it also doesn't seem to let me upload pics in the body of the text, nor upload a pdf. But the worst part was that after I worked with it and learned that I couldn't upload what I wanted, I entered text and one pic and clicked Next only to learn that I have to pay to get a "voucher" in order to submit a help request. Are you kidding me????? I now have no way to contact them.

BTW, yes, I've checked for updates several times and yes, I've tested the separate Audio Restoration tool and learned that it does NOT insert beeps. The problem is in the Audio Restoration function in Step 3 of 7 of the Vinyl Recording and Restoration tool.

I think I'm giving up. Magix wins. They beat me. They have my money and I have their product that doesn't work. I'll look for another product from another company. And I'm mad.

@Jerry-Gilmer

If you bought SFAS13 within the last year, which it seems that you did, you should be able to raise a ticket without paying for a voucher. Did you log in to the Support area?

When you create a ticket, Magix automatically sends you an email. You can reply to this email, without changing the header with the ticket number, and you can attach whatever you want.

John CB

Yes, I've logged into the support area and when entering my problem and after clicking Next, this is what I get:

It doesn't recognize that I purchased SFAS 13 just a couple of weeks ago. However, somehow I was able to browse my account info and could see that it has me registered with SFAS 10 and two copies of SFAS 13 (the second being a replacement from Best Buy). So, it really does look like Magix has beaten me.

As angry and as disgusted with this as I am, I want to sincerely thank you, browj2, for your assistance. You're great!

When I was browsing my account info after logging in to support I noticed that I could actually download a copy of SFAS 13 so I did that. After uninstalling the already installed copy I then installed the copy I just downloaded and guess what? Still get the beeps.

So, it appears I'm appropriately registered with Magix and can successfully login to my account. But the software doesn't work and I'm unable to submit a request to tech support. It's really messed up.

SUCCESS! Sort of. After logging into my Magix account I was able to download a copy of SFAS 10, yes, 10. I installed it on the newer HP laptop successfully and it appears to work -- NO BEEPS. Of course, I'm still out the cost for SFAS 13. But at least I can convert vinyl successfully on my new laptop.

This whole mess seems like some sort of bad interaction between my registrations for my earlier SFAS 10 and my recent copies of SFAS 13. Unfortunately, I can't contact tech support to let them know, unless I somehow buy a "voucher."

Again, browj2, thanks for your guidance.

Looks like I spoke too soon. After closing SFAS 10 and clicking to reopen it, it doesn't even open. It mentions something about elevated privileges and when I try to continue it just doesn't open. Same thing I got when I installed SFAS 10 from my CD. So, I'm still in the mess.

The 'elevated privileges' issue is common in SF Pro 10. Likely the same with AS 10. I need to tweak the registry after almost every Win 10 update. It is a PITA, but after you have done a few times, it gets easy. See the posts in the below link
https://www.magix.info/us/forum/program-will-not-open-unless-it-is-run-as-administrator--1207220/#ca1396227

Thanks, rraud, I think it's working!! I opened your link about editing the registry and saw a comment there to "Uncheck 'Run as Administrator' in the Sound Forge Pro shortcut...". So I went to the properties for the shortcut for SFAS 10 and noticed that 'Run this program as an administrator' was not checked. I checked it. I used the shortcut to open SFAS 10 and got that "Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device" screen; I clicked 'yes' and SFAS 10 opened. I tested it for the beeps and, as expected, did not get any beeps. I opened and closed SFAS 10 several times and it worked, still with that "Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device" each time, but I'm OK with that. I restarted the laptop and was able to open and close SFAS 10 several times successfully. I think I'm good to go. So, I didn't have to edit the registry. Thanks for posting that link.