Audacity is a Free audio editor available at Source Forge. Its been heavily recommended by many podcasters such as Leo Laporte.
I would consider Audacity the best of the best of the free audio editors, but free is free. And you truly do get what you pay for.
Audacity is not only free, but also offers free plugins (that really only work with Audacity).
If you’re familiar with other DAW (Digital Audio Workstations), Audacity is simple. The worst part of using the program is setting input levels with your operating system’s control panel/settings.
But this isn’t a story to brag about Audacity’s features… This is where I tell you what separates the Pro-Apps (Pro-Tools, Digital Performer, Logic, Sonar, Ect) from the Boys (Audacity).
Audacity’s Missing Features
Listing them quickly…
Note: These features come in handy for advanced audio editing, but if you’re confused by what I’m saying in this list, and or have no need for features, maybe audacity will be perfect for you!
- No Master Fader (for Master Volume control or Master FX aka stereo mastering)
- No Groups (For same reasons as above)
- No Sends of Any Sort (Aux, Ect)
- Stereo Input is Iffy with Windows Vista (A OK on XP and Mac OSX, no linux test yet)
- No Real Time Plug Ins
- GUI is, well, not quite as sexy (If this matters to you)
There are, of course, other missing features, but this is what matters to me.
Why Then?
Why use it then? Its Free!
And, well, simpler than some Professional DAWs…
While quite good for a 1 man Podcast, or converting your tapes/vinyl to digital format, I wouldn’t recommend this for any Multi-Track (above 2 Track) recording.
I’ll be sticking with ProTools… but if i ever get one of those shiny netbooks I’ve been eyeballing, Audacity will be part of my mobile netbook recording rig.
I recorded a full length LP “Audiocosm” using audacity in 2008. At times I had over a dozen individual (some stereo) tracks in my initial mix. I found audacity very stable, fast and capable. I found the recording quality (sending stereo feed out of my analog mixer directly into my notebook soundcard) equal to and better than most protools M or LE setups. The usb breakout a/d/d/a boxes are just not that great. This is a reality check to most users and often a simple a/b test demonstrates the fact quickly. The latency issues with protools is just unacceptable and the buffer overflow errors very counterproductive to a composer wanting to capitalize on inspiration…Save the $$ on the software, breakout box and invest it in a good quality soundcard, mixer and mic(s)
Audiocosm is available from itunes, emusic, HMV Canada (via order), and indiepool.
Jarrod
I am recording a simple song I wrote and all it has is vocals and guitar. There will be two guitar parts that will overlap though. Would it be hard to make a song that simple? And how will the quality be?