While it may have journalist in the title, Hindenburg Journalist Pro is a multitrack audio editor not only designed for speakers and commentators on the radio but also for podcasters.
This program allows for much better and more accurate monitoring of audio, something that’s crucial when you want to make a good impression on your listeners.
The standard Hindenburg Journalist version of the software was an essential tool that helped many within the podcasting space to really get their show off the ground, ensuring it had the very best audio quality possible.
The Hindenburg Journalist Pro version, on the other hand, has definitely made a name for itself among audio editors for podcast production. But for a higher price point, is it really worth that much more than its Lite predecessor?
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What Is Hindenburg Journalist Pro
While the Hindenburg Journalist offered a plethora of features across its interface such as sound editing tools and sound quality monitoring.
The Pro version proclaims to do everything the standard version did well and make it even better including more advanced features, along with a few more editing functions and a slightly different interface overall.
The Hindenburg Journalist Pro is a cross platform audio software that can run on either Windows or Mac and is mainly used on a mobile device, an iPad, or a desktop computer.
This program isn’t designed to throw you into the deep end with no support however, it comes with a few different training courses to make recording each episode easier than ever.
With a lot of hands-free features to adjust the audio automatically, there’s no wonder Hindenburg Journalist Pro has started gradually rising in popularity for those in the podcasting and music production space over recent years.
Is Hindenburg Journalist Pro Worth It?
The pro edition of Hindenburg Journalist is admittedly fairly steep with its asking price, so before you spend your hard-earned money on this program, it’s vital to know how much it improves on the standard edition of this fantastic audio editor program.
New Features
The biggest draw to Hindenburg Journalist Pro and why so many podcasters consider it a natural step up from the standard Hindenburg Journalist is the sheer amount of new and advanced features the program comes with.
One of these incredible features is ‘Magic levels’, which is essentially a few handy audio tools all wrapped into one, including an adaptive leveler, an audio mix and bleed, and an auto duck.
When you apply these features to a specific track or audio clips, it will begin to scan the audio while making the appropriate adjustments as it goes to pre-level it and creates more of an even listening experience.
Therefore the parts that were initially too loud or quiet will be bumped down or up by the software itself, saving you a tremendous amount of editing time, especially for those longer recordings.
This feature can be used on audio recordings and even on music for when you want it to duck under the voice, perfect when setting up an intro or if you want some music on in the background as part of the pod.
Another great part about ‘magic levels’ is that it can also help regulate and stabilize audio files, if you’ve selected two recordings simultaneously, reducing any microphone bleed when you’ve got two mics close to each other.
Aside from magic levels, another Pro feature is the multi-track recording which allows you to assign different interface inputs to other tracks, enabling you to record with multiple interfaces and devices simultaneously, saving a huge amount of time, but also memory.
With Hindenburg Journalist Pro, you also get a few smaller features that can help make the overall podcast recording software experience much easier including noise reduction to mitigate any background noise.
There is also a loudness meter so that you can monitor how loud or quiet your audio is to where you want it, and the ability to create a ‘voice profile’ which allows the software to fix inconsistent voice sounds and adjust your voice exactly the way you would like each time.
Each of these features is some of the best in terms of ease of use and efficiency in audio recording multiple tracks and will cut down the editing time by more than half, allowing you to put out episodes much faster.
It must be said, however, that these are considered very advanced features. Adobe Audition is another option to consider, if you have advanced editing skills, as it offers an advanced suite of tools to help you create professional-sounding audio files.
As with most Adobe products, there is a steep learning curve and the cost can be prohibitive for those just starting out.
Of course, they make things easier, but if you just want a reliable audio editing program without all the bells and whistles to make it state of the art, then this Pro version may not be for you.
Interface
Despite many new and advanced features and effects being built into the Pro edition of Hindenburg, the actual display and interface have primarily remained the same.
However, this definitely isn’t a bad thing.
You will still get your workspace at the very top with the cut, paste, insert, clear and split options, and undo and reverse options to allow for easy audio editing.
You will also have full access to the zoom in feature which gives you incredibly precise editing capabilities, along with being able to quickly see the contents of your entire episode when you zoom out.
You also get details for each recorded track to the very left of the screen, which displays their volume levels and added effects.
Unfortunately, there hasn’t been much added to the display besides the new effects, which can be found in the appropriate tabs and menus.
However, we wouldn’t say this is much of a disappointment since the clear and precise layout of Hindenburg has always been recognized as one of the best when compared to its competitors, so you can be sure the display still remains easy to understand and use.
Training
With such a wide variety of new features on show, Hindenburg Journalist Pro very generously offers in-depth training in the form of documentation, live online videos, and webinars.
Everything from how to use the interface all the way to the most intricate and in-depth effects is covered by these training guides and while they may not be very beginner-friendly, seeing as they assume the user knows how a lot of the basics already work.
They still provide some much-needed guidance on the newest features Pro has to offer and how they can make editing audio that much easier.
Price
Something crucially important to mention is that Hindenburg does offer a 30-day free trial for its pro version, giving you a great amount of time to get your hands on the software and test if it’s what you’re looking for.
This is also much more generous than many of Hindenburg’s competitors, which often only offer their users the standard 7-day trial.
The Pro version will cost you $10 a month, or you can pay $120 up-front so that you have it for the entire year. You can also make a one-time purchase for Hindenburg Pro rather than a subscription which is $399.
Compared to the Hindenburg Lite, which can be purchased all in one for a much cheaper $99, there is admittedly a massive commitment that each customer needs to make to buy Hindenburg Pro as it is considered more expensive than many other competing programs.
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While the price is a little high considering these competitors are nearly on the same footing as Hindenburg Pro, there is no doubt that with its incredible audio features and built-in tools to help adjust the audio perfectly, along with multi-track editing, the Hindenburg Pro definitely offers the largest amount of advanced features to make audio recording and editing as easy as possible.
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Final Verdict
With the sheer amount of customizable extra features it offers, there is no doubt that Hindenburg Journalist Pro is one of the very best audio editing software out there, specifically due to how much easier it can make the life of the user, and this couldn’t be any more true than for those who want to use the program for podcasting.
While not quite the professional audio workstation, the software has the ability to automatically even out volume ranges through its built-in ‘magic levels’ feature.
It also has the ability to record with two microphones at the same time and offers online training to make the interface as easy as possible to get to grips with.
Despite its steep price point, we would still definitely recommend Hindenburg Journalist Pro for those who might already be experienced with recording audio and editing raw recordings and want as many additional features as possible, rather than those at the beginner level who might be new to podcasting altogether.
This is not to say that anyone new to podcasting shouldn’t at least consider Hindenburg Pro since it does make editing far more manageable and will allow you to produce episodes at a much faster rate.
It all comes down to how serious you plan to take podcasting and precisely how accurate you want your audio storytelling to be.
The Lite version of the software is still incredibly effective and will ease you into audio editing much easier and is far less overwhelming, however the Hindenburg Pro is stacked to the brim with unique effects and features you won’t find on any other software.
