You have a point in that the Adobe apps are costly, although none of the issues I’ve raised should have anything to do with price. I’m talking about basic functionality that should be expected in any audio-editing tool (and, in fact, is generally found in them).
I’m not sure what Audition costs stand-alone (if that’s even offered). I already had to have the annoying CC subscription for work, so I have Audition anyway. I wish Sound Forge were usable on the Mac, but the Mac version is just abysmal.