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Best Free Audio Editing Software

In a Hurry?
Pros  Go straight to the Quick Selection Guide
 
Introduction

When I first started experimenting with home recording, the tech available was both expensive and, well, not very good. Obviously, like most things you can buy, there were setups to suit all budgets but in honesty, unless one could afford studio or near studio quality equipment, the resulting recordings were always a little (or a lot) substandard. I consider the "home" four track Old_recording_machineanalogue recording device to be the original "Purpose Built Disappointment Machine". That was a long time ago and things have changed, and for this I am thankful. :)

These days one can achieve amazing results with relatively cheap equipment, and for those wishing to discover the world of sound recording and editing, if you're reading this review there's a reasonably good chance you already have mostly everything you need as far as hardware goes, and once you have selected one of the applications reviewed here you should have everything you need to get started. That said, it depends on what it is you are hoping to record and how good you want that recording to sound, but that's another topic for another day.

What I will say is any one of these apps will allow you to record (or import) and then edit mostly anything local to your computer, and with the correct hardware, anything at all, and any of these apps will give a true representation of what you have recorded. Whatever audio it is you hope to record, one of these apps should suit you unless you are hoping to use more than sixteen tracks simultaneously, in which case you might need to spend some cash. Commercial alternatives for multi-track recording and editing apps are not cheap by and large, and in my experience if you are going to spend your cash on commercial wares of this type, it's best to spend a lot rather than a little, but that's just my view, and that's not why we're here after all. :)

 
Discussion

AudacityWhere to start with Audacity....hmm.....from the first time i ever used it this application has been part of my essential toolkit. As far as single track editing goes, there is very little that cannot be achieved with Audacity, and achieved easily and cleanly. As far as physical drive space goes, Audicity is a small installation, but an immensely powerful one. Really though, track editing is just the tip of the iceberg with this application: it's functionality for editing is balanced with it's equally powerful functionality for recording, and also applying effects and modifications to existing audio tracks.

With Audacity you can record tracks in either mono or stereo using as sample rate of up to 96000 Hz, and up to 32bit floating point sample format, depending on your hardware. The process of recording a track (either from an internal or external source) could not be more simple once you have configured your devices, and one of the (many) neat things i really like about this application is right there in front of you: it's a little slide control that allows you to adjust the input volume of whatever it is you are recording without having to go back into the config panel. Audacity is also capable of multi-track recording, but this also is dependent on your hardware. To be honest, Audacity wouldn't be my first choice for multi-tracking, but it can do the job if required.

When you have your audio track, whether you are recording a new track or simply importing an existing track, there are virtually no limits to what you can then do by way of editing and manipulating that track, from a simple EQ tweak or fade in or out, right through to applying the most exotic VST based effect you can find, and it's so easy, and if you're not happy with the result simply CTRL+Z (undo) and your track is restored to how it was: Audacity has unlimited undo capability. You also have the facility to cut,copy and paste, which is useful and can save time. Another cool feature of Audacity is the spectrogram view, for spectrum alalysis. Audacity does come equipped with a fairly comprehensive list of effects but VST plugins are supported: to use VST plugins you will need to download and install the Audacity VST Enabler, for which i will provide a link. Also supported are LADSPA plugins.

Supported file types are: Ogg Vorbis, MP3, WAV or AIFF sound files.

To sum up, Audacity is as simple or as complex as you want it to be, but either way it is excellent freeware and one that i wouldn't be without.
Audacity VST Enabler
 


KristalKristal Audio Engine is a powerful multi-track recorder, audio sequencer and mixer - ideal for anyone who  wants to get started with recording, mixing and mastering digital audio. According to their website, "It is designed as a modular system. The main application provides a mixing console, while the audio sequencer, live audio input and so on are loaded as separate Plug-Ins". It supports an ASIO audio driver, which may be appealing to those who are concerned with latency during multi-track recording. It's based on a 32-bit floating-point audio engine that can handle sample rates of 44 to 192 kHz with word sizes of 16, 24 or 32 bits. It comes with a three-band parametric EQ and supports WAVE, AIFF, FLAC, and OGG Vorbis file formats. It can only handle a maximum of 16 audio tracks, though the web site mentions an upcoming version 2 that will handle more tracks and provide support for MIDI, virtual instruments, and a wider range of VST plugins. Like all media-editing programs, Kristal requires a modern fast PC. Don't even think about using it with a sub-1Ghz machine.

 


WavosaurWavosaur weighs in at a total uncompressed filesize of 491K and is the only product in this review that requires no installation, which makes it extremely portable. What surprised me about it was that, for such a small program, Wavosaur packs a lot of advanced features, including resample, bit-depth convert (8,16,24,32 bits), pitch shift, vocal removal, DC offset removal, auto-trim, silence remover, interpolate, auto detect region, crossfade loop, and export of multiple .wav files from regions. It also supports ASIO drivers and VST plug-ins, has many analysis tools and is skinnable.

 

Thanks to subscribers Jay Eitelman, Rinchen Tsepal, and Brandon Tanner for contributing to this review.

 
Related Products and Links
 
Quick Selection Guide

Audacity
10
 
Gizmo's Freeware award as the best product in its class!

Runs as a stand-alone program on a user's computer
Interface is easy to use, easily applies noise profiles, capable of saving in multiple compressed formats
Support for VST Plugins is available via a separate plugin.
http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
1.2.6
2.1 Mb
32 and 64 bit versions available
Open source freeware
A portable version of this product is available from the developer.
Windows 98-Vista, Mac OS-X, Various Linux Distros
Kristal Audio Engine
8
 
Runs as a stand-alone program on a user's computer
Modular system- Many different plug-ins, supports ASIO,
Can only handle 16 audio tracks maximum, requires a very fast PC
http://www.kreatives.org/kristal/
1.01
3.51 Mb
32 bit only
Free for private use only
There is no portable version of this product available.
Windows 98,ME,SP,2K,XP,Vista, Win7
Wavosaur
7
 
Runs as a stand-alone program on a user's computer
Requires no installation, many features for its size
Not quite as intuitive as other programs
http://www.wavosaur.com/
1.0.6.0
226 KB
32 bit only
Unrestricted freeware
A portable version of this product is available from the developer.
Windows 98,ME,SP,2K,XP,Vista, Win7

 
Editor

This software category is maintained by volunteer editor laupnaicul. Registered members can contact the editor with any comments or questions they might have by clicking here.

 
Tags

best free audio editing software, top free edit audio software, edit audio file free

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Comments

by keithc on 7. December 2011 - 22:43  (84600)

Minor correction: Audacity does have a portable version, at least for Windows. I don't think you can get it on the main site, but it is on portableapps.com

by garth on 8. December 2011 - 10:56  (84645)

You are correct and i don't how i overlooked that error in the software details, thanks for drawing my attention to it. :)

by prabu (not verified) on 7. December 2011 - 9:52  (84567)

can you tell that the Wavosaur s/w cause any problems to the P.C , how can i uninstall that s/w from my P.C .
Can you tell any multi-track audio editing Software for free .

by david b. (not verified) on 29. December 2011 - 15:14  (86172)

since it's completely portable you only need to delete it's folder from your HD.

by garth on 8. December 2011 - 11:02  (84646)

If it's causing issues you might try Revo uninstaller, also available as a portable if you don't want to install it on your machine. http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-program-un-installer.htm

Kristal Audio is a free multi-track audio editing and recording software that will hopefully meet your needs :)

by melonsoda (not verified) on 6. December 2011 - 10:05  (84487)

I'd like to add Ardour to the list. It's a free* DAW and it works on GNU/Linux and Mac OS X.

http://ardour.org/

I used this app quite some time. It isn't a very polished app (for Mac standards; the look and feel is more linux-like) so it has it rough edges and it's interface is fairly complex to use. However, there are regular updates and overall the app works fine.

*the free version works, however if you donate you will be able to save the audio unit settings.

by garth on 6. December 2011 - 19:23  (84527)

I was going to look at Ardour but for whatever reason it will not install properly on my linux installation.

by Sven (not verified) on 30. November 2011 - 21:04  (84188)

I recently reinstalled XP Media Center Edition. Now I have no sound from my speakers and the Sounds and audio device properties box lists No Audio Device found.Same with Device manager. My processor is AMD Athlon 65 3500+. Can someone help?

by MidnightCowboy on 1. December 2011 - 4:31  (84214)

Sorry, but we are unable to offer support here in the comments. Please post your query in our forum.

http://www.techsupportalert.com/freeware-forum/general-computer-support/

by Pam (not verified) on 30. November 2011 - 5:33  (84152)

I appreciate the information on this site. Thank you. And what a find! After spending hours and hours trying to edit a cd, I feel hopeful that you will be able to give me some guidance.

I have a cd with a recorded message on it (a teaching) and I need to edit out (cut) the long introduction and cut one or two other long pauses and that type of thing. I need to save it and by doing so create a new recorded message on the computer. The new messages will be the edited version. Then I need to burn this to a cd which is compatible with any cd player.

I tried Audacity and, wow, it was so easy, however, I couldn't use the cd which I burned the edited message onto in the car cd player or on the old cd player in our stereo. What did I do wrong?

Any advise you can give here would be much appreciated.

Thank you.

Pam

by Hunting.Targ (not verified) on 4. February 2012 - 3:00  (88266)

I ditto the props. Sound, informative, easy-to-read reviews helped me make a swift, decisive choice. THX all.

by garth on 3. December 2011 - 9:59  (84316)

Hi sorry for the delayed response, after you edit your file you need to export it (File/Export) as a WAV file and then burn it to a cd as cd audio. You can export it as an mp3 but will suffer some overall loss of quality.

by davey (not verified) on 31. October 2011 - 15:52  (82472)

i need to take a section from three diffrent tracks and join them together as one with no gaps,any tips or info would be great,and i have no knowledge of this kind of stuff,so what to download and how to do it in simple terms would be fantastic!cheers!!

by garth on 1. November 2011 - 1:04  (82498)

Hi
This is not a difficult process but there are a few steps involved, so if you can register and post your question in the site forum i will be able to give you detailed instructions and guidance there. You would need to post a new thread in the multimedia section http://www.techsupportalert.com/freeware-forum/multimedia/

Regards,
garth :)

by philmungus (not verified) on 29. October 2011 - 8:37  (82357)

I am trying to find a suitable system to work on a
mac 10.6.8 - 24'' 2core duo 3.6 GHz
Audio inbuilt Intel S/PDIF optical digital input and output

I am new at this I am trying to produce meditation tape with multiple tracks in layers and I would like to know the tone & cps frequencies do any of the above do this job even partially or do I need to look further, I have a project where I have a range to deal in and would like a device that is easy to work I am not a tech head.

I have since tried I can find what I want I am not sure how to work out my tone around 5MGHz and cps.

Is there some sort of glossary giving abbreviation meaning I am lost

by garth on 29. October 2011 - 11:41  (82358)

Audacity is the only one that will run on OSX but it does have onboard frequency analysis and is fairly easy to get a grip of. Audacity also has a comprehensive online manual accessible from the help menu :)

I came across this that you might find useful somewhere along the way http://www.panic.com/audion/index.html :)
I don't have a mac myself so can't comment on this application but it may be worth a look.

by ZUGA (not verified) on 21. September 2011 - 22:17  (80067)

I am looking for an audio editor that has a real time eq and spectrum analyzer, freeware or not too expensive and will run of WIN2K?

Any possibilities? Any suggestions?

by garth on 23. September 2011 - 11:38  (80189)

Audacity will run on Win2k.

by Anonymous big noise from winnetka (not verified) on 14. September 2011 - 17:20  (79604)

Careful, careful with Audacity. Converting Audacity files to mp-3 for emailing has more hoops to jump thru than the lions in the circus. If LAME means nothing to you, it will after you try to email product developed with Aucacity.

by RickeeBoy on 5. November 2011 - 0:03  (82644)

INCORRECT - Emailing does work -
Instead of using scaremongering tactics saying that you need to be careful with LANE - then you need to explain yourself -
LANE is superb -
Today, LAME is considered the best MP3 encoder at mid-high bitrates and at VBR, mostly thanks to the dedicated work of its developers and the open source licensing model that allowed the project to tap into engineering resources from all around the world. Both quality and speed improvements are still happening, probably making LAME the only MP3 encoder still being actively developed.

Plus, after massive modifications of an audio MP3 using Audacity - I can happily email that from Yahoo to Gmail and it works -
Thanks to all those here who do a fantastic job ( Oh the days of 2007 and the email of the Best 46 - Thanks Guys )

by paddfitz on 10. September 2011 - 9:40  (79360)

ty

by Sue (not verified) on 22. August 2011 - 0:34  (78118)

I would like to try Audacity but when I try to listen to a track on I get an error message saying that the software could not open the sound device. I have been unable to try to find out how to fix this. If anyone knows please let me know.

Thanks,
Sue

by garth on 22. August 2011 - 7:31  (78132)

Have you checked Edid/Preferences/Devices to make sure the correct playback device has been selected?

by Steve-o (not verified) on 19. August 2011 - 21:19  (77981)

Hey guys i record my own music with a digital recorder (mostly acoustic songs) but I'm looking for a program that has sound samples that I could layer over my songs. (like bells, water drops, piano, flutes, or other instruments or random sounds)

Anyone have any ideas?

by garth on 22. August 2011 - 7:34  (78133)

Check out this article and see if anything appeals. A search for "free audio samples" will help you find the sounds you are looking for:)
http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-music-software.htm

by komanderkin (not verified) on 7. August 2011 - 12:46  (77074)

I've compiled a list of the bes free Digital Audio Workstations / VST plugin hosts here:

http://bedroomproducersblog.com/2011/05/16/bpb-freeware-studio-best-free-vst-host-applications/

perhaps some of those could be included in this list (especially Podium FREE and MuLab FREE).

by garth on 22. August 2011 - 7:37  (78134)

I have a pure VST host featured on the article linked to below but i'll check the ones you mention here. thanks:)
http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-music-software.htm

by flyboy (not verified) on 14. July 2011 - 18:02  (75493)

I need to edit a voice recording which has alot of background noise (car engine noise, other cars, road noise) and increase the volume of voice conversation. Which of these is the best at removing unwanted loud background noise?

by garth on 22. August 2011 - 7:44  (78135)

None of them really, sorry. Unwanted hiss and rumble and such like can be suppressed but not removed, at least not with these applications, not unless there is a VST plugin available for this purpose. See post 70008 below for further clarification.

by Thurber (not verified) on 28. September 2011 - 21:16  (80529)

It really is disappointing to have to give that answer, but quite true. The most important feature in clean signal processing is actually what happens before the signal processing-- the recording situation. Many years ago, I had to break the heart of an academic researcher who'd gotten a grant to travel around the globe to record the remaining few speakers of a dying dialect noted for its unique phonetic rule structure. He traveled there armed with what was then state of the art digital field recording equipment and with meticulously prepared data collection protocols designed to elicit spontaneous speech containing the most compelling phonetic examples. And when he returned, he contacted me regarding spectral analyses and brought me several hours of recordings that he had obtained in what he thought was a restful atmosphere that would put his subjects at ease: next to the enormous water fountain at the center of the bustling town square.

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