NGWave Audio/Sound/MP3 Editor: Test 2: Speed
This test shows that NGWave's superior internal data storage system makes NGWave as fast and efficient as possible.NGWave does take some time to open and save files, because it converts the data into a special format for editing. However, many basic editing functions are done with lightening speed as a result.
Note: Opening and saving an MP3 may take more time; MP3 is a special encoding of audio, and a lot of processor time is used to encode and decode the data. The particular speed will depend on your processor speed, as well as which CODECs you have installed (some CODECs are faster, while others may offer higher quality, with a speed trade-off).
NGWave never stores redundant copies of the same data as is the case in most editors. See this page for more details on these differences.
Follow Along
At this point, you can fire up your current favorite sound editor, and perform each of these Actions in both NGWave, and your favorite editor. Alternatively you can do the whole test in one editor, then repeat with the other.Either way, we're confident that NGWave will out-perform your current favorite sound editor on the majority of these items.
The Tests
For this test, you will need a large Wave file -- around 5 minutes is ideal at 16-bit, stereo, 44.1 kHz sample rate. While the sample rate and bit resolution aren't important, some test actions will require a stereo (two channels) file.Tip: Set your Temp Directory (in Tools --> Options) to use your fastest local hard disk drive. Ideally a second drive that is NOT your primary Windows drive, and is sufficiently fast, should be used. Optionally NGWave can test your disks for you to determine which is fastest.
The tests
Action: highlight a small portion of audio at the very beginning of the file. Now press the 'Delete' key.Notice that NGWave does not waste time. You might see a progress dialog flash up for a split second, but the delete operation does not take any perceivable amount of time. This is the case no matter how large the file is or where you are currently editing.
Action: highlight some audio in the middle of the file, and press Delete. Do the same for the end of the file.
Notice that in some editors, the more data that appears after the selection, the longer it takes. So deleting from the end is instant, while deleting from the beginning is painfully slow. See this page for a little insight into this.
Action: highlight some data in just one channel of the data. Press Delete. The above link explains why some editors are very slow at this seemingly simple command (and some don't even allow it, while others simply mute the selection instead of deleting it).
Action: highlight the entire file (hint: press CTRL + A). Click the 'Mute' button (or choose Process --> Volume --> Mute). Click 'OK'.
Action: Click Undo. Click it again. Keep clicking it all the way back to the original file. Click Redo until you're back where you were. Notice that NGWave takes no perceivable amount of time to restore any step in the history of the edit process. For files less than an hour long, Undo and Redo operations are practically instant.
Note that you can pull up the Edit History Window by clicking Edit --> Edit History. Clicking on any item displays that portion of history immediately, and clicking Preview lets you listen to each Undo Level right there in the History window.
Note that you can use CTRL + Z and CTRL + Y to Undo and Redo, respectively.
Action: Put the cursor somewhere in the file, and click Edit, then Insert Silence. Choose to insert about 10 minutes of silence. Notice that NGWave again is very quick, while other editors actually sit there and fill your disk with zeros.
NGWave knows that those particular blocks of audio are zeros, and sees no reason to actually write zeros to your disk, as with other editors.
Copy Buffer
NGWave uses an internal Copy buffer. This is done for several reasons:- Avoids having to actually copy large amounts of audio data around
- Avoids having to convert data formats
- Allows you to have several clips on the clipboard
Notice that, to the right of the Paste button, there is a little drop-down that now shows the text Clip 1. This drop-down lists all available clips on the clipboard. Whichever clip you select is the clip you will be working with.
Also notice the little Play button to the right of the Clip List. This lets you instantly hear a clip.
Action: Copy the entire file to the clipboard. The quickest way is to press CTRL + A and CTRL + C. Notice the Clip List shows Clip 2.
Action: Paste the clip at the beginning of the file. Since the whole file is already selected, Paste Insert defaults to inserting at the beginning of your selection. So simply press CTRL + V to perform this action.
Zoom out so you can see the entire wave-form (press CTRL + L). Now, do the whole thing again: Press CTRL + A, CTRL + C, and CTRL + V. You should now have some 20 minutes of audio, or your song repeated 4 times.
Action: Undo back to the original file, and highlight and copy a small portion of audio. Make it something distinguishable, like a drum hit. Now, find a good place to mix the clip into your file.
Press CTRL + M, or click Edit --> Paste --> Paste Mix. You can click Preview to hear the resulting mix, and adjust the volume in realtime.
You can also Nudge the selection. Simply put, this pushes your selection left or right by a small amount, so you can find that perfect place for your paste mix.
Right-click on the Nudge buttons, and you can choose how much they nudge the selection.
Action: If you are using Windows 2000 or Windows XP, open up your Task Manager. Right-Click on the Taskbar area, and choose Task Manager. Select the Processes tab, and locate NGWave.exe.
Highlight NGWave.exe and click End Process. That's right -- kill NGWave unexpectedly. This is a safe way to simulate a crash, without risking any harm to your system. Do NOT try this under Windows 98 or ME, and do not just shut down your PC improperly.
Now go launch NGWave again. NGWave's Crash Recovery will recover your session exactly as it was when you killed it -- full Undo and Redo history, your clipboard data, etc.
We don't recommend trying this with other editors unless they specifically mention having Crash Recovery features.
