Sound Forge history starts with a programmer, a Sound Blaster card, and a $25 shareware experiment in Madison, Wisconsin. Thirty-four years later, the same single-file audio editor is still on sale. It survived four owners, a five-year release gap, the death of its Mac edition, and two licensing systems without turning into a multitrack DAW.
The short version: Monty Schmidt built Sound Forge in 1992. Sonic Foundry developed it through version 6. Sony bought the desktop software line in 2003, MAGIX took it over in 2016, and Boris FX acquired it on March 30, 2026. The current product is called Sound Forge 2026.
Part of the Sound Forge 2026 Guide. If you need the current product rather than its history, start there.
Sound Forge ownership timeline
- 1992–2003 — Sonic Foundry: Sound Forge grows from $25 shareware into a professional Windows audio editor.
- 2003–2016 — Sony Creative Software: Sony buys the desktop line for $19 million in cash, ships versions 7 through Pro 11, and creates a separate Mac edition.
- 2016–2026 — MAGIX: development restarts after a long pause; Pro 12 becomes the first 64-bit Windows release, followed by annual upgrades through Pro 18.
- 2026 onward — Boris FX: the editor moves into Boris FX's Pro Audio group and becomes Sound Forge 2026.
That outline is simple. The interesting part is what changed at each handover—and what stubbornly did not.
1992: Sound Forge begins as $25 shareware
Monty R. Schmidt was designing ultrasonic equipment at Lunar Corp when he started testing what a consumer Sound Blaster card could do. Forbes reported the origin story in 1998: Schmidt left his job, worked from his basement, financed the project on a Visa card, and began selling Sound Forge through bulletin boards and user groups for $25.
Curtis J. Palmer, then a Microsoft software engineer, saw the program and bought half the company. He joined as chief technology officer. Sonic Foundry was formally incorporated in 1994, although the company later described itself as founded in 1991.
You will see 1993 listed as the first release year in some retrospectives. The contemporary Forbes account says Schmidt built and began selling Sound Forge in 1992, so that is the date I use here. The discrepancy probably comes from treating the early shareware build and the later commercial product as different starting points.
The appeal was practical rather than glamorous: edit audio on the PC already sitting on your desk. Sound Forge opened a sound file, showed the waveform, and let you make destructive edits with immediate visual feedback. That directness would become its competitive advantage—and eventually its limitation.
The Sonic Foundry years: Sound Forge 4 to 6
Early releases ran on Windows 3.x. Sound Forge 4 still shipped as separate 16-bit Windows 3.1 and 32-bit Windows 95/NT builds. When Sound On Sound reviewed version 4 in 1997, noise reduction, spectrum analysis, and batch conversion were separate paid plug-ins rather than standard tools in the box.
Sound Forge 6 arrived in 2002 and became the last version released by Sonic Foundry. A contemporary Sound On Sound review focused on its plug-in chainer and 64-bit floating-point processing. By then the program had moved far beyond shareware, but it still behaved like a fast, precise editor rather than a music-production environment.
Sonic Foundry was also building ACID and Vegas. Vegas debuted in 1999 as an audio tool before becoming a video editor. Those three names—Sound Forge, ACID, and Vegas—would travel together through every ownership change that followed.
2003: Sony buys Sound Forge, ACID, and Vegas
On July 31, 2003, Sony Pictures Digital completed its acquisition of Sonic Foundry's desktop software assets. Sony paid $19 million in cash, plus other consideration and the assumption of specified liabilities. Roughly 70 employees remained in Madison, and the operation became Sony Creative Software.
Sonic Foundry itself moved into streaming and lecture-capture technology. It later sold the Mediasite business in February 2024 and entered court-supervised receivership the following month.
Sony paid $19 million for three products that are all still being sold in 2026 under a fourth owner. Whatever else you say about the transaction, the assets outlasted the strategy.
The Sony era: Sound Forge 7 through Pro 11
Sony shipped Sound Forge 7 in 2003, version 8 in 2005, and version 9 in 2007. Version 10 arrived in 2009 with the new Sound Forge Pro name, followed by Pro 11 in July 2013. Sony also built Sound Forge Pro Mac as a separate product rather than porting the Windows release feature for feature.
Then the Windows line went quiet. Nearly five years passed between Pro 11 and the next Pro release. Users could still buy and run the program, but there was no clear roadmap. The Sony era gave Sound Forge its most stable decade and its longest silence, in that order.
2016: MAGIX acquires Sound Forge and restarts development
MAGIX officially confirmed the Sony product takeover on May 24, 2016. The deal included Sound Forge Pro, Sound Forge Pro Mac, Sound Forge Audio Studio, ACID, Vegas Pro, and Movie Studio. Existing serial numbers continued to work, while registration and support gradually moved to MAGIX accounts.
Development restarted quickly. According to MAGIX's Sound Forge Pro 12 announcement, Pro Mac 3 shipped on May 15, 2017, Audio Studio 12 followed that August, and Pro 12 for Windows arrived on April 4, 2018. Pro 12 was the first 64-bit Windows release in the product's 26-year history—a late transition, but an essential one for modern plug-ins and larger editing sessions.
The Mac branch did not survive. A discontinued MAGIX notice, preserved in a community support thread, stated that further development of Sound Forge Pro Mac had ended and the product had been removed from sale.
Buying a piece of software and shipping three related releases in eleven months is not the behavior of a company that bought an asset to park it.
The MAGIX era: Pro 12 through Pro 18
After Pro 12, MAGIX settled into a near-annual rhythm: Pro 13 in 2019, Pro 14 in 2020, Pro 15 in 2021, Pro 16 in 2022, Pro 17 in 2023, and Pro 18 in 2024. Audio Studio continued as the cheaper edition and stopped at version 17.
Sound Forge Pro 18 became the final numbered MAGIX release. It added tools such as Text-to-Speech and 3D Reverb and expanded modern plug-in workflows. The larger point was continuity: MAGIX kept the editor current enough to run with modern Windows and plug-ins without replacing its waveform-first workflow.
MAGIX itself went through a self-administered insolvency process. RM Equity Partners announced its acquisition of MAGIX Software GmbH on January 20, 2025, after the restructuring. Fourteen months later, Sound Forge changed hands again.
2026: Boris FX acquires Sound Forge
On March 30, 2026, Boris FX acquired Vegas Pro, Sound Forge, and ACID Pro from MAGIX. Financial terms were not disclosed. The Madison and German teams stayed with the products, and Sound Forge joined a Pro Audio group that already included Samplitude, Sequoia, CrumplePop, and Music Studio.
The branding changed with the owner. Sound Forge Pro became Sound Forge 2026, with Sound Forge Plus as the higher tier. The current official product page positions it as a Windows audio editor with recording for up to 32 channels, not as a replacement for a full DAW.
That role is also visible inside Boris FX's catalog. Samplitude Suite 2026 includes Sound Forge 2026, making the editor a file-level companion to a multitrack production environment. In July 2026, Boris FX also acquired iZotope. Earlier Sound Forge editions had bundled iZotope plug-ins; the editor and the company behind those tools now sit under the same parent organization.
Sound Forge version history at a glance
| Year | Release or event | Owner | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1992 | First shareware build | Monty Schmidt | $25 Windows audio editor distributed through bulletin boards and user groups |
| 1994 | Sonic Foundry incorporated | Sonic Foundry | Curtis Palmer joins Schmidt as CTO |
| 1997 | Sound Forge 4 | Sonic Foundry | Separate 16-bit Windows 3.1 and 32-bit Windows 95/NT builds |
| 2002 | Sound Forge 6 | Sonic Foundry | Last Sonic Foundry release |
| 2003 | Sony acquisition; Sound Forge 7 | Sony | Desktop line sold for $19 million in cash, plus other consideration and assumed obligations |
| 2005 | Sound Forge 8 | Sony | Second major Sony release |
| 2007 | Sound Forge 9 | Sony | New processing and multichannel editing work |
| 2009 | Sound Forge Pro 10 | Sony | The Windows product adopts the Pro name |
| 2013 | Sound Forge Pro 11 | Sony | Last Sony Windows release |
| 2016 | MAGIX acquisition | Sony → MAGIX | Sound Forge, ACID, Vegas, and Movie Studio move together |
| 2017 | Pro Mac 3; Audio Studio 12 | MAGIX | First Sound Forge releases under MAGIX |
| 2018 | Sound Forge Pro 12 | MAGIX | First 64-bit Windows version; development resumes after nearly five years |
| 2019–2023 | Pro 13 through Pro 17 | MAGIX | Near-annual Windows releases |
| 2024 | Sound Forge Pro 18 | MAGIX | Last numbered MAGIX release |
| 2026 | Sound Forge 2026 | Boris FX | Boris FX acquisition and move to year-based naming |
Why Sound Forge lasted when other 1990s editors disappeared
Sound Forge never won by becoming everything. It remained unusually good at one job: opening an audio file, showing you exactly what is in it, and letting you repair, trim, process, convert, or master it without building a multitrack project first.
That distinction sounds small until you work with hundreds of individual files. Broadcast editors, sample designers, mastering engineers, game-audio teams, and anyone cleaning dialogue often need a scalpel, not another timeline. A DAW can do much of the same work, but it usually asks for more setup and hides destructive file operations behind a project model.
The workflow also produced music in ways its designers probably did not expect. In an interview with The Wire, Burial explained that he built Untrue in Sound Forge rather than a sequencer, arranging by looking at waveforms and placing sounds by eye. That is an extreme use of a destructive editor, but it captures why the interface inspired loyalty: the waveform was not a preview of the work. It was the work.
The cost of that consistency is just as real. Sound Forge is still Windows-only, its interface carries decades of history, and multitrack production belongs in another application. My Sound Forge 2026 review covers whether that trade still makes sense for a new buyer.
What four owners mean for your Sound Forge license
The product history now matters during installation. Sound Forge 2026 uses login licensing through a Boris FX account. Boris FX documents the current sign-in and “Use on This Computer” process, while older releases remain tied to the legacy MAGIX system.
Pre-2026 installers and purchases are managed through the MAGIX Service Center. Sound Forge 11 and earlier can use Boris FX's documented legacy offline activation. A serial for an older version does not activate Sound Forge 2026.
Current installs use the Boris FX Hub. When Sound Forge is bundled with Samplitude or Sequoia, Boris FX says to install it through Manage Extras in the Hub. If you are dealing with an error rather than researching the history, use the activation troubleshooting guide or the current installation walkthrough.
Audio Studio 17 is a legacy product and is not listed in the current Boris FX lineup. Existing licenses may still run on compatible Windows systems, but the current development line is Sound Forge 2026 and Sound Forge Plus. The Audio Studio vs Sound Forge 2026 comparison explains the practical difference without pretending the old entry edition is still current.
Sound Forge history FAQ
Who created Sound Forge?
Monty R. Schmidt created the first Sound Forge in Madison, Wisconsin. Curtis J. Palmer later bought half the company and joined as chief technology officer. Their company, Sonic Foundry, developed Sound Forge through version 6.
When was Sound Forge first released?
Schmidt built and began selling Sound Forge as $25 shareware in 1992, according to a 1998 Forbes profile. Some later histories use 1993, likely because they treat the early shareware build and the formal commercial release differently.
Who owns Sound Forge now?
Boris FX owns Sound Forge. It acquired Sound Forge, Vegas Pro, and ACID Pro from MAGIX Software GmbH on March 30, 2026. Sound Forge now sits in the Boris FX Pro Audio group.
Is Sound Forge still made by Sony?
No. Sony owned Sound Forge from 2003 until 2016. MAGIX owned it from 2016 until 2026, when Boris FX acquired the product. Older tutorials still say “Sony Sound Forge” because many widely used versions came from the Sony era.
How much did Sony pay for Sound Forge?
Sony Pictures Digital paid $19 million in cash for all of Sonic Foundry's desktop software assets, including Sound Forge, ACID, and Vegas, plus other consideration and the assumption of specified obligations. The transaction closed on July 31, 2003.
What was the last Sony Sound Forge version?
Sound Forge Pro 11, released in July 2013, was the last Windows version shipped by Sony. MAGIX resumed the Windows Pro line with Sound Forge Pro 12 in April 2018.
Does Sound Forge run on Mac?
Not currently. Sony created a separate macOS edition, and MAGIX released Sound Forge Pro Mac 3 in May 2017 before discontinuing the branch. Boris FX has not announced a current macOS edition.
Do old Sound Forge licenses still work?
Yes, for the version they were issued for and on a compatible Windows system. Legacy downloads remain in the MAGIX Service Center, and Sound Forge 11 and earlier have an offline activation path. Old serial numbers do not unlock Sound Forge 2026.
Last fact-checked August 2, 2026. Product ownership, licensing, and availability can change; verify the current lineup on the official Sound Forge page before buying.
Related Sound Forge guides
- Sound Forge Pro 18: Features, Price, and Whether You Should Still Buy It
- Sound Forge Audio Studio vs Sound Forge 2026: What Exists Now?
- Sound Forge 2026: What Changed From Pro 18?
- Acid Pro vs Sound Forge: The Same Family, Different Jobs
- Sound Forge Pro Review 2026 — Is It Still Worth It?
- Sound Forge: The 2026 Guide (start here)