music editing computer programs

i've been testing out sony's music software program
called "sony acid music studio 8.0" and i'm having a real
difficult time accepting sony's answer on issues i'm
encountering with adjusting the pitch.....we i do so, the
re-created version is all fragmented, fluttered and
garbled.....when i asked a sony rep about it he said
that's just because of the pitch adjustment.....has
anyone ever encountered this issue when adjusting the
pitch, either making the song longer OR shorter....if
that's what sony's product produces when adjusting the
pitch, i'll need someone to point me in a direction of a
different music software program that doesn't have this
issue.....any help would be welcomed....

Try Audacity--it's free.

It has these under effects:

Change Speed, affects both tempo and pitch
Change Tempo, affects tempo without changing pitch

I use Adobe Audition 1.5 to do all my digital editing. In order to alter a song's speed using this software program, you first click the "Effects" option on the tool bar, select "Time/Pitch" on the pull-down menu, and then click the "Stretch..." option. You can choose among the following options while in "Stretch" mode:

Time Stretch (preserves pitch)
Pitch Shift (preserves tempo)
Resample (preserves neither)

You must select "Resample" in order for the audio music file to play back properly. I've found that choosing either of the other two options results in flutter and even distortion.

Audacity is buggy under Windows. Use Sony Sound Forge on PC platforms. Adobe Audition is OK but some features are gone which some users need.

Thanks for pointing that new release out. Glad essential features are back.