Preferences
Changing the preferences allows you to select, among other things:

• the way you would like to record your sound file (whether from the start of track, or from a certain point);
• installing or removing the icons for applying the Effects from the default window;
• the Display of items such as theTime Ruler, Track Controls, and Movie Frames, as well as
• choosing different options of displaying your track under the Sound View sub-menu (this is the same as changing the view of the track to and from Wave/Spectrum under the View menu).

  (By changing the way your track will be displayed on the screen, you will affect the speed with which it will be loaded and/or played by the Sound Edit 16 software. For example, if under the Sound View menu you selected "Most Accurate" from the three choices of radio buttons, you will get the most accurate reproduction of the appearance of the track in a wave form; however, the computer will take much longer to display it on the screen and read the data of the disk. As a result, the playback of your record might be stopped. If, on the other hand, you select "Tape", you will get only a plain black strip of data, but the computer will be quick and fast in uploading and displaying the track, and will most likely take only a little time in doing so).

1. Go to File on the main view bar and click Preferences
2. The following dialogue box will appear on your screen:
   
3. As you can see, there are a number of folders for you to choose from. Each one of these allows you to change or edit something about the way your track is displayed and/or played, or about the functioning of the Sound Edit 16 software. For the example that we discussed above, you have to select the "Display" folder.

Changing the View of your track:
There are two ways of displaying a sound file: either Wave or Spectrum. The way the track appears is determined by the choice you select under the View menu from the main viewbar. The default setting for the display of sound file is Wave.

Try these simple exercises:

1. Record a piece of track onto a new Sound Edit 16 file.
2. Go to theView menu, and select Spectrum.
3. Your track will be change it's visual appearance and will be displayed like this:
   
   
   instead of the regular View setting. You can also choose to have both Wave and Spectrum by selecting both theWave and Spectrum option.