When it comes to audio creation and editing, Adobe's Audition software has been through hard times of late. Evolving from a nifty program called Cool Edit Pro, many users have complained about lack of functionality in some areas and counter-intuitive design in others. With 2.0, the third iteration of Audition, Adobe has gone back to the drawing board with a complete redesign and increased functionality and usability. The result is remarkable; a powerful audio tool which consumers can comfortably use without too much hassle.

The new design focus allows for various customisations to the workspace with windows that can now be docked together for easier grouping or resized to conserve desktop space. The colours and curves look more like Macintosh software now, perhaps in an attempt to make the software feel more high-end and professional.

The biggest changes since version 1.5 come in the core functions. The focus seems to be on plugin management, automation, multi-track recording and production pipeline integration. With over 50 plugins included in the package and more available from third party sources, creating unique, high quality audio is much simpler. In the past, plugins generally had to be applied to entire projects and then merged into individual tracks. In 2.0, plugins can be applied to singular tracks either via the individual buses or on the master output. The most impressive new plugin is the multi-band composer from Izotope which allows complete control and manipulation of the threshold, gain, and attack on-the-fly. All the plugins can be easily applied using the Mastering Rack, which can hold up to 16 plugins per track, each with their own individual effect controls.

Automation has been significantly improved with the removal of track envelopes. Adobe has opted for a more natural and simpler on-the-fly style mixer. This allows you to adjust the volume and pan as you move along a track. As you record, the edit points are created in a dedicated automation lane. This lane makes it much easier to edit as opposed to the old, cramped style where they would appear just above the waveform.

Recording on a whole is more robust with the addition of multi-track recording. One incredibly useful new feature is the ability to apply an effect to an incoming audio source without recording the effect on your PC. This means that while you are playing an instrument you can hear what your desired effects will sound like once you apply them but the file recorded on your computer will be pure and unedited.

Adobe has made a huge effort to simplify production pipelines with their Production Suite software, of which this package is an element. Adobe Bridge is used by audition to track source assets which can then be shared across all the programs in the suite. In the same vein, Audition 2.0 has been ingeniously integrated with Premiere Pro 2.0 for projects like film scoring. You can import an AVI from premiere into audition and then lay down score while watching the footage. This makes synchronisation extremely easy since the audio is being created with the video on hand. Once you have finished creating the score, the entire project can be exported back into premiere with the newly created audio already in place and ready to go. This is a great feature and one that will be greatly appreciated by budding filmmakers the world over.

Adobe Audition 2.0 has really matured in this iteration and become an audio tool worth thinking about. It is not suitable for people with little to no knowledge of audio editing techniques and terminology as it is extremely complex and hard to understand without some training or research. However, we found it enjoyable to use and highly recommend it for people looking for something powerful yet fairly intuitive.