I have a sound edit software - CoolEdit96- which is very good and does exactly what I want (sometimes upgrades and later versions don’t improve the software).
The install file I have was downloaded ages ago from the net and is shareware. This shareware isn’t limited in time, but in functionality. When I start the program, I get to pick two features, whereas the others are disabled. I can change features each time I open the program, so the limitation is not all that much trouble.
At work, which is a high school, we decided that in addition to DigiDesign’s ProTools we should have something easier and simpler for kids to start playing around with. I thought of CoolEdit. But the makers of the software don’t exists anymore. There is a clear warning that should I want to use the software the way I intend, I need to purchase licences. This is fine and dandy and the school can afford it and is willing to pay. Only… Syntrillium, which made the software, doesn’t exist. They have been bought up by Adobe, who is perfectly willing to sell me Adobe Audition, which I don’t want.
I’ve talked to Adobe Customer Services here (i.e. Sweden) and they don’t have a clue.
And that’s great, it’s just that putting it in the hands of 16 year olds who have never had any experience with sound editing software is a bit overkill - so the need for something simpler to start training with is there.
Oh, and you really don’t want to know what other stuff we have.
Many companies will allow you to use an old version of a product by licensing the latest version. While this is slightly different, Adobe does seem to see Audition as an upgrade to the CoolEdit app that they bought, so it might be worth pursuing.
Admittedly, the licensing for Audition is quite a bit more expensive, but I’m assuming that Adobe is still giving very good educational discounts.
I know that, GorillaMan. I just wish they could come out and say what I have to fork up to use the old software, and if it’s possible even*. If it’s too much, then we’ll have to pursue another software. Paying as much for CoolEdit96 as for adobe audition 1.5 is simply stupid.
*Note: I have talked to adobe, but sales person couldn’t answer or refer me to someone who could, so my question here is if someone has run into something similar and might have some advice.
I would have the same problem trying to license and install SoundEdit 16, which was a sound editor (duh!) from Macromedia, which dropped it not terribly long after acquiring it from whoever they bought it from. Adobe of course now owns what used to be Macromedia.
To answer your question:
a) You can advertise in various places for anyone who has an authentic license for CoolEdit and no longer uses the program to sell it to you. I guess you’d need either a site license or enough indiv licenses to put copies on all the machines, but this should satisfy internal organizational requirements for no unlicensed software.
b) Try calling Adobe and ask for “Pre-sales Tech Support” for Audition. You may be able to get a straight answer about being able to legally install and run CoolEdit on the basis of having bought Audition, and with luck they will not demand that you buy a site license for Audition to run CoolEdit on multiple machines.
