In the timeline, drag the Playhead or click a specific time point.
Last updated on
Dec 16, 2021
Learn how to navigate the timeline and control audio playback in Adobe Audition to preview, review, and edit your audio with precision.
In the Editor panel, the following features help you monitor time:
- In the timeline near the top of the panel, the Playhead lets you start playback or recording at a specific point.
- In the lower left of the panel, the time display shows the current time in numerical format. The default time format is Decimal, but you can easily change it. The same time format is also used in the timeline.
- To show the time display in a separate panel, select Window > Time.
A. Playhead B. Timeline C. Time display
Position the current‑time indicator
In the Editor panel, do any of the following:
In the time display at lower left, drag across the numbers, or click to enter a specific time.
At the bottom of the panel, click one of the following buttons:
Note
To display these buttons in a separate panel, select Window > Transport.
- Pause: Temporarily stops the current-time indicator. Select the Pause button again to resume playback or recording.
- Move Playhead to Previous: Places the current-time indicator at the beginning of the next marker. If there are no markers, the current-time indicator moves to the beginning of the waveform or session.
- Rewind: Shuttles the current-time indicator backward. Right‑click the Rewind button to set the rate at which the cursor moves.
- Fast Forward: Shuttles the current-time indicator forward. Right‑click the Fast Forward button to set the rate at which the cursor moves.
- Move Playhead to Next: Moves the current-time indicator to the next marker. If there are no markers, the current-time indicator moves to the end of the waveform or session.
Preview audio by scrubbing
To scrub audio by producing an audible preview as you shuttle across a file, do any of the following:
Drag the Playhead.
USe the Rewind or Fast Forward buttons.
Press the J, K, and L keys to shuttle backward, stop, or shuttle forward. Repeatedly pressing the J or L key gradually increases shuttle speed. You change the default shuttle speed by changing the JKL Shuttle Speed in the Playback and Recording preferences.
Play audio linearly or in a loop
In the Editor panel, position the Playhead or select a range.
At the bottom of the panel, right-click the Play button, and select one of the following:
- Return Playhead to Start Position on Stop: Reflects the behavior of Audition 3.0 and earlier. (Press Shift+X to toggle this option on and off.)
- Play Spectral Selection Only: Plays only frequencies you’ve selected with the Marquee, Lasso, or Paintbrush selection tools.
Select the Loop Playback button if you want to fine-tune a selected range or experiment with different effects processing.
To start playback, select the Play button.
Tip
- By default, the Editor panel scrolls when playback extends beyond the visible section of a waveform. You can disable auto-scrolling from the Playback and Recording section in Preferences.
- To quickly start and stop playback, user the spacebar.
Synchronize the current‑time indicator across files or views
In the Waveform Editor, you can maintain the position of the playhead when you switch between files. It is a useful technique when editing different versions of the same waveform. In Multitrack Editor, you can maintain the position of the playhead when you switch to Waveform Editor, which is useful when applying edits and effects in both views.
Synchronize the playhead between files in the Waveform Editor:
Select Edit > Preferences > General (Windows) or Adobe Audition > Settings > General (macOS).
Select Synchronize selection, zoom level, and playhead across files in the Waveform Editor.
Synchronize the playhead between the Multitrack and Waveform editors
Select Edit > Preferences > Multitrack Clips (Windows) or Adobe Audition > Settings > Multitrack Clips (macOS).
Select Synchronize clips with Waveform Editor.
Change the time display format
Select View > Time Display, and choose the desired option:
- Decimal (mm:ss.ddd): Displays time in minutes, seconds, and thousandths of a second.
- SMPTE 59.94 fps: Displays time in the SMPTE non-drop-frame format, where each second equals 30 frames.
- SMPTE 59.94 fps Drop: Displays time in the SMPTE drop-frame format, where each second equals 30 frames.
- SMPTE 30 fps: Displays time in the SMPTE format, where each second equals 30 frames.
- SMPTE 29.97 fps: Displays time in the SMPTE non‑drop‑frame format, where each second equals 29.97 frames.
- SMPTE 29.97 fps Drop: Displays time in the SMPTE drop‑frame format, where each second equals 29.97 frames.
- SMPTE 25 fps (EBU): Displays time using the European PAL television frame rate, where each second equals 25 frames.
- SMPTE 24 fps (Film): Displays time in a format where each second equals 24 frames, suitable for film.
- SMPTE 23.967 fps: Displays time in a format where each second equals 23.967 frames.
- Samples: Displays time numerically, using as a reference the actual number of samples that have passed since the beginning of the edited file.
- Bars and Beats: Displays time in a musical measure format of bars:beats: subdivisions. To customize settings, select Edit Tempo, and set the following options in the Properties panel.
- Custom (X frames per second): Displays time in a custom format. To modify a custom format, select Edit Custom Frame Rate, and enter a number of frames per second. Valid values are whole numbers from 2 to 1000.
- Tempo: Specifies beats per minute.
Jump to time
Use the Jump to time shortcut to set the focus to the timecode display. This allows you to enter a time code to position the playhead. To enter timecode, follow these steps:
In the time display at lower left, drag across the numbers, or click to enter a specific time.
The timecode is highlighted. Enter the specific time you would like to move the playhead.
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