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Editorial author

Erick Finn

Erick Finn writes SoundForgePro guides about audio editing, restoration and mastering using documented product information.

This archive collects SoundForgePro articles credited to Erick Finn. The review methodology explains how test sections combine published measurements, how prices and versions are checked and how verdicts are set.

Correction, September 17, 2026: earlier profile text described a recording career, a studio location and routine hands-on testing. Those claims have been removed because the reviewed project records did not substantiate them.

To report an article error, include its URL, the disputed wording and supporting evidence. The Corrections Policy explains the reporting route through the existing Facebook and X profiles.

Latest guides

Guides by Erick Finn

Podcast microphone on a boom arm beside closed-back headphones, an open notebook with a pencil and a cup of coffee on a wooden desk by a window with potted plants in warm daylight

ComparisonsOct 2026

iZotope RX vs Adobe Audition: Which One Do You Need for Audio Repair?

Audition is the editor, RX is the repair suite. Compare their repair tools job by job, see what published comparisons found, how RX Connect works inside Audition, and which RX edition is worth adding.

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Wooden studio desk in warm daylight with headphones resting on a small audio interface, an unplugged quarter-inch cable, a coffee mug, a notepad and a speaker in the background

TroubleshootingOct 2026

iZotope RX Keeps Crashing or Won't Open? Fixes by When It Crashes

iZotope RX crashes at launch, while reopening files, scanning plug-ins, opening the audio device or inside a DAW each have a different first fix. Check OS support and Full Disk Access, back up session data, rescan plug-ins and switch drivers before you reinstall.

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Acoustic guitar leaning on a wooden stool beside a ukulele, with a brass-hooped snare drum and a drumstick on the oak floor

iZotope RXOct 2026

iZotope RX Music Rebalance: Settings, Stem Split and Vocals

Music Rebalance in RX 12 Standard and Advanced splits a finished mix into Voice, Bass, Drums and Other. When to render a new balance, when to use Stem Split, settings that stay transparent, and what published reviews found.

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Closed silver laptop, small USB microphone on a mini tripod and coiled earbuds on a blank spiral notebook with a pencil on a pale ash desk

iZotope RXOct 2026

iZotope RX 12 Tutorial for Beginners: Your First Clean Repair

A beginner's path through iZotope RX 12: check which edition you have, find problems on the spectrogram, select them, preview against Bypass, render, and keep every step in Undo History. Includes the save rule that protects your original file and what five RX 12 reviews found.

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Vocal recording corner in warm window light with a condenser microphone behind a round pop filter, headphones on the stand and a handwritten lyric sheet on a wooden music stand

ComparisonsOct 2026

Melodyne Essential vs Assistant: Which Melodyne 5 Edition to Buy

Melodyne essential handles quick pitch and timing fixes on one vocal; assistant adds the dedicated tools and Inspectors for natural-sounding vocal edits. Edition table, US prices and upgrade costs, the free routes that exist, what reviewers agree on and how to open Melodyne with ARA in Sound Forge.

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Sunlit café table by a window with a handheld field recorder topped by a shotgun microphone in a foam windscreen, closed-back headphones and a cup of coffee on a saucer

iZotope RXOct 2026

How to Remove Background Noise in iZotope RX 12: Modules and Settings

Pick the RX 12 module by noise type, then set it in order: Voice De-noise for a steady floor, Spectral De-noise with a learned profile, Dialogue Isolate for noise that keeps changing, De-hum and Spectral Repair for hum and one-off sounds. Edition limits, prices and what published shootouts found.

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Mirrorless camera, brass stopwatch, memory cards and closed-back headphones on a sunlit wooden desk beside a small external drive

Boris FXOct 2026

VEGAS Pro 23 Review: Why VEGAS Pro 2026 Is Faster, Which Edition to Buy and the Upgrade

The published render comparison is VEGAS Pro 23 versus 2026. VEGAS Pro 2027 is now the current purchase, with an Ultimate perpetual option and included upgrades for eligible active plans.

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Light oak desk with a compact cine camera on a short slider rail, a green card with white cross markers, a roll of orange gaffer tape and an open case of brass drafting compasses

Boris FXOct 2026

Mocha VEGAS vs Mocha Pro: What Each Does in VEGAS Pro and When to Upgrade

Mocha VEGAS comes with VEGAS Pro Plus and shares Mocha Pro's planar tracker, but it hands everything back to VEGAS tools and has no Remove, Lens or PowerMesh. Here is the feature split, the handoff steps, the limits and what Ultimate costs.

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Three brass-cornered wooden boxes stacked like steps with studio headphones in the open top box and a compact monitor speaker beside them, headline iZotope Bundles Compared

iZotopeOct 2026

iZotope Bundles Compared: Music Production Suite 9 vs Everything Bundle and More

Six iZotope bundles, one table: what each contains, how much it saves against buying the parts, which upgrade rows lead into it, what past Black Friday sales took off, and why Music Production Suite 9 beats the Everything Bundle for most music buyers.

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Three glass jars of honey in ascending size, a wooden dipper dripping into the smallest and a vintage chrome vocal microphone on a pale oak table

iZotopeOct 2026

Nectar 4 Elements vs Standard vs Advanced: Which Edition to Buy

Nectar 4 Standard is the edition most vocal and dialogue mixers should buy. Here is what Elements, Standard and Advanced each include, what upgrades and subscriptions really cost, and what four published reviews agree on.

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Open wooden microphone case with a chrome ribbon microphone, pop filter, foam windscreen, tuning fork and coiled XLR cable beside a jar of honey, headline Best iZotope Vocal Plugins

iZotopeOct 2026

Best iZotope Plugins for Vocals: Which Tool and Edition to Buy

RX 12 Standard to repair the take and Nectar 4 Standard to shape it, plus Velvet, VocalSynth 2, Neoverb and the free Vocal Doubler. Which edition holds each vocal tool, what reviewers scored them and when the Pro plan beats buying.

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Light oak desk in warm daylight with a worn guitar fuzz pedal, a coiled instrument cable, a compact drum machine, drumsticks and closed-back headphones

Free PluginsOct 2026

iZotope Trash Lite: Is It Free, What's Locked and When to Upgrade

Trash Lite is iZotope's free distortion plugin: the full Trash running in Lite mode. Here is how to get it, what the Lite window includes, what Convolve, Multiband and the other paid features add, how it loads in Sound Forge and on iPad, and what reviewers concluded.

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