I Didn't Hear Any Audition. Not Even 2000 of Them.

I have to admit that the program I'll be writing about in the next paragraphs is one very weird piece of software. Not that almost 13 dollars would be a rather high price for what it does, but I can't really see the point in creating such a software. After I had spent about 20 minutes to learn that it will play only WAV files and eventually gotten to work it around a bit (and was quite mad) I really burst into laughter: seriously, what's it doing really?

This is one meaningless piece of software, at least from my point of view; I can't figure a decent use for it, other than for me only, work-related: one more article I'll write and get paid for. It is not a proper player and neither is it an editor, nor some sort of library: it just bundles together some Windows features and even works with Windows tools...but towards which final goal�I can't tell.

The Looks

Audition 2000 looks just as a crappy version of Win98 would look and that's a fact. The GUI is so simple and uncared for that you'd rather say you're watching some process-window and not a sound player. The classic grey color and minimalist-design, almost silly icons complete the rather desolate view offered by the Audition 2000.

Altogether, it looks pretty close to a weak Windows Explorer screen but with lesser detail and care in the graphical design. As a matter of fact, "graphical design" is an expression denoting a bit too much for the amount of efforts that has been spent for Audition 2000. There's nothing appealing and I really can't imagine the person who would extensively use this program: everything is dull and even repelling as the era of such appearance has been long buried now.

The Win98 heritage is obvious as you'll notice that almost all present menus are already accessible by means of shortcuts placed in the main window. If you open the Options menu you'll see exactly the kind of interface design that Win98 has made popular: of course, it may have been "edgy" then, but now it looks simply hilarious. Sections in the Options menu are accessible by using the 4 tabs and setting up Audition 2000 will be made mostly by checkboxes; does it ring any bells...?

Overall I'd say that the Audition 2000's GUI has rather "happened" or simply "occurred" than "be designed" or "thought of". Sorry, but it really looks awful!

The Works

Now for the technical part of the Audition 2000. Nothing! All it does is play WAV files and believe this is everything it will do: no tagging, even renaming, editing or something else...it just plays the waves.

Provided you know it will play only WAVE-files you'll use the WinExplorer-like interface to browse the content of your harddisk and look for WAVs. I have to add that Audition 2000's help in finding these tracks is equal to nil, despite what you would have expected: you just have to browse to the exact folder and only then will the program display the WAVs contained in the rightmost pane.

Doubleclicking triggers playback and you can choose to play only the selected file or play all file in that folder. I was disappointed to see that, as I was in the middle of the "playlist" and pressed the "play all" button, the playback had not started from where I was, but from the very first file in the specific folder, whatsoever. This SUCKS!

Words like "editor" and "volume" must not deceive you, as the Audition 2000 has nothing of the kind inside: it will just open generic volume controls in Windows, while for the "editing" it will pop up the (hold tight!) Sound Recorder! Now you see why I was laughing as I went deeper in the workings of this software... Even the Properties screen is Windows-native.

All these make me say that Audition 2000 is rather "bugging" the OS and uses its resources, be them physical or software, to do what almost any player would do (for free of course). Still, I can't see a point in Audition 2000...

The Good

The only good thing I have remarked in Audition 2000 is that it did not crash...

The Bad

It exists and costs almost 13 USD. This IS hilarious!

The Truth

I guess there is no other truth than the fact that Audition 2000 is futile. Sorry to say this, but this is one of the worst and most un-oriented pieces of code I have laid my eyes upon in the last half a year...

See the screenshots below and definitely try Audition 2000, even if only to say I was more than right: