For YouTube videos, presentations, or even just system sounds, having the right sound effect file can make all the difference. FindSounds, a search engine focused on audio files, is a heck of a lot more convenient than typing ".wav" into Google and wading through inconsistent results. Type in what you're looking for and specify parameters, and the results are offered in playable previews and waveform diagrams. I almost always found relevant results in the 10 or so test searches I performed, and being able to see how long the sound helps winnow down results when you're hunting just the right sound to fit into a project. Got your own sound clip search methods? Share 'em in the comments.

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Windows only -You know that big collection of LPs and tapes you don't play anymore? Well the Giveaway of the Day website is offering a free app which looks like a great way to kick off the move to digitising your music collection. Similar to open source app Audacity, Cool Record Edit Pro is a Windows-based app which allows you to record and clean up sound files from a range of sources.

It includes a click and crackle filter for cleaning vinyl records, a noise filter for cassette-tape recordings, and an equaliser to enhance the sound quality of all recordings.

Cool Record Edit Pro supports MPEG (MP3, MP2), WAV, Windows Media Audio, Ogg Vorbis, Audio Tracks and Dialogic VOX) audio formats, and you can convert audio files from one format to another.

The system requirements are: Windows 98/Me/2000/2003/XP, Windows Vista or better; CPU: >750MHz Intel or AMD CPU; RAM: 64 MB RAM or above.

Sounds like a good potential weekend project. If you try it out, let me know how you get on. :)

Cool Record Edit Pro [Giveaway of the Day]

Windows only: Free open source conversion app MediaCoder Audio Edition is like the audio-geek cousin of its easy-to-use, all-purpose brethren, MediaCoder. The main difference is in the sheer breadth of audio file types supported (including the iTunes default M4A, FLAC, and really esoteric stuff like "Enhanced 3GGP" and "OptimFrog Encoder") and the many ways you can grab that audio—from DVDs, video files, or even web playlists. MediaCoder Audio Edition even supports the sound-tweaking DSP plugins made for Winamp, but offers a wealth of audio tweaks on its own. MediaCoder Audio Edition is a free download for Windows 98 and later systems, with 32- and 64-bit versions offered.

Windows only: It's no secret we're a fan of the free, open source, cross-platform audio editor Audacity for most editing needs, but anyone looking for a lighter-weight, portable editor might do well by free application Wavosaur application. Running from one file that's less than 1MB, Wavosaur can perform most basic cuts, effects, and encoding tasks, as well as handle MP3s without requiring a plugin. If you can't fit Audacity and the rest of the Portable Apps Suite onto your thumb drive, Wavosaur could make for a worthwhile tool. Wavosaur is a free download, works on Windows systems only.

Linux.com recently posted a helpful beginner's guide to digitising vinyl and tape albums with the help of the cross-platform, open-source audio editor Audacity. With the exception of a few Linux-only tips on tag editing, this should work on any platform that Audacity does.