Note that this is a review of the current release (1.01) as of 05 October, 2005:

This long awaited audio editor is yet another punch in the gut to Apple devotees who refuse to learn the lesson of the price of early adopting. Anyone considering using this horror for commercial work would be wise to think twice. Nowhere near ready for release (as nearly 300 postings on Apple's Discussion Forums, most of them cries for help, attest), this program, running under Apple's own OS X 10.3.9 REGULARLY inflicts the following work-killing malfunctions:

1) sudden crashes when in multi-track window
2) sudden crashes when in audio file editing window
3) program hangs (beachball of death)
4) lengthy "stalls" as the program apparently catches up with its cache files
5) waveforms vanishing in the multi-track window (file graphic goes blank)
6) loss of sync between waveform and actual audio
7) mono files automatically saved as stereo (no user option to override)
8) routine failure of "pops and clicks" filter including making these worse
9) files normalized well below -5db may reopen at 0 db with clipping

There are other problems (browse the Apple Discusion/Soundtrack Pro), but these make the point. Apple's now gloves-off policy of accelerating cash flow by releasing beta software as commercial grade, then quickly "patching" the premature releases while eager customers take the hit in lost time and productivity, missed deadlies, and the risk of damaged client relations has never been more glaring. Sadly, this has become something of an industry practice, and is at least an explanation preferable to the only other one: outright ineptitude. In any event, Soundtrack "Pro" is anything but. Perhaps later releases—maybe six months or a year down the road—will provide levels of stability that Apple would require of its first releases if it hadn't declined to the point of placing cash flow above quality, but this remains to be seen.

Pro Tools remains the program of choice for serious audio editing.