Audacity

There are many audio editors out there, finding the right tool for the job can be a bit tricky.

The multiplatform, open-source editor Audacity has leaped to the top of our list with its clean interface, excellent features, and support for 32-bit floating-point audio. Audacity succeeds at being both feature-rich and flexible, while keeping the toolbar and work space uncluttered. It does this by relegating most functions–such as effects, edits, and project management–to handy drop-down menus.

Audacity supports uncompressed audio standards such as WAV and AIFF in addition to OGG and MP3 files. A full complement of basic effects such as reverb, delay, and compression are included. Virtual Studio Technology (VST), Linux Audio Developers Simple Plugin Architecture (LAPSDA), and Nyquist plug-ins also are available if you're looking to expand. Another eye-catching feature is the Beat Analyzer, which helps you peg the beats per minute of a phrase.

The performance of most functions is quick–even CPU-hogging tasks such as exporting to MP3 or adding complex effects. Though Audacity doesn't offer advanced effects or features out of the box, its usability and price set this freeware wonder above the crowd.

“Audacity is a simple but powerful sound editor and recording application, available for most operating systems.”

Features:

• Record live audio.
• Convert tapes and records into digital recordings or CDs.
• Edit Ogg Vorbis, MP3, WAV or AIFF sound files.
• Cut, copy, splice or mix sounds together.
• Change the speed or pitch of a recording.
• Many effects significantly improved, especially Equalization, Noise Removal and Normalize. Vocal Remover now included plus GVerb on Windows and Mac. VAMP analysis plug-ins now supported.
• Improved label tracks with Sync-Lock Tracks feature in the Tracks Menu. Multiple clips per track. Tracks and selections can be fully manipulated using the keyboard. Many more keyboard shortcuts.
• New Device Toolbar to manage inputs and outputs. Timer Record feature. New Mixer Board view with per-track VU meters.
• Automatic Crash Recovery in the event of abnormal program termination.
• Fast "On-Demand" import of WAV/AIFF files if read directly from source. FLAC now fully supported. Added support for optional FFmpeg library for import/export of AC3/M4A/WMA and import of audio from video files.

Recording:

Audacity can record live audio through a microphone or mixer, or digitize recordings from cassette tapes, records, or minidiscs. With some sound cards, Audacity can also capture streaming audio.

• Record from microphone, line input, USB/Firewire devices and others.
• Device Toolbar manages multiple input and output devices.
• Timer Record and Sound Activated Recording features.
• Dub over existing tracks to create multi-track recordings.
• Record at high sample rates in excess of 192,000 Hz (subject to appropriate hardware).
• Record multiple channels at once (subject to appropriate hardware).
• Level meters can monitor volume levels before, during and after recording. Clipping can be displayed in the waveform or in a label track.

Import and Export:

Import sound files, edit them, and combine them with other files or new recordings. Export your recordings in many different file formats, including multiple files at once.

• Import and export WAV, AIFF, AU, FLAC and Ogg Vorbis files.
• Fast "On-Demand" import of WAV or AIFF files if read directly from source.
• Import and export all other formats supported by libsndfile such as GSM 6.10, 32-bit and 64-bit float WAV and U/A-Law.
• Import MPEG audio (including MP2 and MP3 files) using libmad.
• Import raw (headerless) audio files using the "Import Raw" command.
• Create WAV or AIFF files suitable for burning to audio CD.
• Export MP3 files with the optional LAME encoder library.
• Import and export AC3, M4A/M4R (AAC) and WMA with the optional FFmpeg library (this also supports import of audio from video files).

Sound Quality:

• Supports 16-bit, 24-bit and 32-bit (floating point) samples (the latter preserves samples in excess of full scale).
• Sample rates and formats are converted using high-quality resampling and dithering.
• Tracks with different sample rates or formats are converted automatically in realtime.

Editing:

• Easy editing with Cut, Copy, Paste and Delete.
• Unlimited sequential Undo (and Redo) to go back any number of steps.
• Edit and mix large numbers of tracks.
• Multiple clips are allowed per track.
• Label tracks with selectable Sync-Lock Tracks feature for keeping tracks and labels synchronized.
• Draw Tool to alter individual sample points.
• Envelope Tool to fade the volume up or down smoothly.
• Automatic Crash Recovery in the event of abnormal program termination.

Accessibility:

• Tracks and selections can be fully manipulated using the keyboard.
• Large range of keyboard shortcuts.
• Excellent support for JAWS, NVDA and other screen readers on Windows.

Effects:

• Change the pitch without altering the tempo (or vice-versa).
• Remove static, hiss, hum, or other constant background noises.
• Alter frequencies with Equalization, Bass Boost, High/Low Pass and Notch Filter effects.
• Adjust volume with Compressor, Amplify, Normalize and Fade In/Out effects.
• Remove Vocals from suitable stereo tracks.
• Create voice-overs for podcasts or DJ sets using Auto Duck effect.

Other built-in effects include:

• Echo
• Phaser
• Wahwah
• Reverse
• Truncate Silence

Plug-ins::

• Add new effects with LADSPA, Nyquist, VST and Audio Unit effect plug-ins.
• Effects written in the Nyquist programming language can be easily modified in a text editor – or you can even write your own plug-in.

Analysis:

• Spectrogram view modes for visualizing frequencies.
• "Plot Spectrum" command for detailed frequency analysis.
• Contrast Analysis for analyzing average rms volume differences between foreground speech and background music.
• Support for adding VAMP analysis plug-ins.

Free and Cross-Platform:

• Licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL).
• Runs on Windows, Mac OS X and GNU/Linux.

 

HomePage-Audacity

 

OS Requirements:

Win 2000/Win XP/

Vista/Win 7

Rating: 5.0/5 (1 vote cast)