Best Audio Editing Software 1. Adobe Audition Adobe’s Audition is quite easily one of the best audio editing software you can get. The app comes with some incredible features that have been honed with the many years of experience Adobe’s team has in creating powerful applications for professional users. Audition comes with features like multi-track editing and mixing which will definitely make your audio editing experience much easier and efficient. The software also comes with a feature called ‘Auto Ducking’ which uses Adobe’s proprietary AI based ‘Adobe Sensei’ technology to figure out places where you may want to lower the volume of a background track in order to make the vocals, speech, etc sound clearer, making your job much easier to do. Audition also has some powerful clip editing features including things like mirrored fades, the ability to maintain layer stacks when moving a single piece of the stack, and a lot more. There are a bunch of plug-ins, and Adobe even has its very own series of tutorials surrounding Audition, which should definitely make it much easier for you to get started with the app.
Along with all of that, the app has a really well thought out interface, and manages to look inviting even with all of the features it packs once you scratch the surface. Plus, it supports most of the audio formats out there like MP3, WAV, AC-3, AIF, AIFF, AIFC, AAC, HE-AAC, CAF, FLAC, PCM, OGG, WMA and more, along with support for video formats like AVI, MP4, MOV, FLV etc. Pros:. Wide array of features. impressive UI. Good fit for people looking to edit voice-overs, or video related audio tasks. Too many features for beginners to easily understand and make use of.
May 11, 2018 - The 11 Best Professional Audio Editing Software. Logic Pro X – Audio Editing Software. PreSonus – Audio Editor. WavePad – Audio Editor. Acoustica – Audio Editing Software. Oceanaudio – Easy, Fast and Powerful Audio Editor.
Not a good fit for people looking to produce music. Subscription based software Availability: Windows and macOS Price: Free trial available; subscription starts at $20 per month 2. Logic Pro X Obviously, an article about creative applications will mention Apple in one way or another. Logic Pro X, which is Apple’s DAW for systems running macOS would’ve been my choice for the best audio editing software, but since it’s only available on macOS, it brings its accessibility down by quite a bit (not every artist uses a Mac, after all). That said, Logic Pro X brings some incredibly awesome features into the fold that make it an amazing audio editing app for both beginning editors, and professional users. Logic Pro X comes with all the basic features you’ll ever need in an audio editor, and also brings extremely advanced features including the ability to automatically match the timing of different tracks in a project using ‘Smart Tempo.’ The app also brings ‘Flex Time’ which lets you edit the timing of a single note in a waveform individually, without having to slice it out of the clip itself. That’s insanely incredible and will let you fix that single mistimed beat with minimal effort.
There’s also ‘Flex Pitch’ which does the same thing for individual beats, except with pitch instead of timing. Logic Pro X also brings an ‘arpeggiator’ which can automatically convert chords into arpeggios for giving your music a more complex feel. There are also a ton of pre-recorded sounds, and patches that you can freely use in your workflow, along with Apple’s insane amount of plug-ins that are shipped with Logic Pro X (there’s over 60GB of additional assets you get with LPX!).
Logic Pro X supports audio formats like WAV, AIFF, CAF, PCM, ALAC, AAC, MP3, REX, RCY and a lot more. Works like a charm on Mac. Feature rich, and has a variety of plugins.
Control over singular notes as well, if needed. Has a ton of tutorials. Cons:. Mac only. Quite expensive at $199. Can be overwhelming if you’ve never used Garageband before.
![What is the best sound editing software for mac mac What is the best sound editing software for mac mac](/uploads/1/2/5/5/125515495/807313233.jpg)
Availability: macOS only Price: $199.99 3. Audacity I’m pretty sure you’ve heard of Audacity. The free and open-source software is mentioned on almost every single audio editing thread out there, and for good reason.
Like I said, Audacity is free, like completely free, and that makes it the most easily accessible software to anyone looking to get started with audio editing. Plus, it’s no slouch when it comes to the features either. It has almost all the features you’ll need. There are a lot of effects including things like bass, treble, distortion, noise removal and more. Along with that Audacity also comes with analysis tools such as beat finder, silence finder, sound finder, and more.
For a free app that’s also cross platform, Audacity is surprisingly feature rich. There are a bunch of other tools as well including an envelope tool, a time shift tool, and more. Plus, like most great audio editing software out there, Audacity supports almost all the audio file formats out there like MP3, WAV, AIFF, PCM, OGG Vorbis, FLAC, AC3, AMR, WMA, MP4 and more. Pros:.
Completely free. Cross platform. Beginner-friendly. Pro-friendly as well with all its features. Massive online community for help. Cons:. UI is not the best.
Faces random crashes on Mac sometimes. Mics plugged in after Audacity has been launched are not recognized.
Availability: Windows, macOS, and Linux Price: Free 4. Reaper Reaper is yet another audio editing software that’s incredibly powerful and feature rich while also being comparatively more affordable than some of the other options on this list. For starters, Reaper comes with support for multiple tracks, and has a remarkable multichannel support with 64 channels in each track. It also brings the ability to directly record audio to mono, stereo, or even multichannel audio files, along with the ability to record to multiple disks at the same time for data redundancy if that’s something you want. With Reaper you can apply effects in a real time, non-destructive manner, insert almost any third party or MIDI plug in, and even brings real-time pitch shifting and time stretching capabilities into the mix.
Reaper also supports most popular file formats along with some not-so-popular file formats out there. There’s support for ACID, AIFF, AVI, BWF, CDDA, EDL, FLAC, KAR, MIDI, MOGG, MOV, MP3, MPEG, OGG VORBIS, OGG OPUS, QT, RADAR, REX2, SYX, W64, WAV, WAVPACK, WMV and more. Aside from all the functionality, Reaper’s interface is completely customizable so you can make it look exactly the way you like it. Pros:.
Feature rich. brings Logic Pro X like pitch shifting and time shifting. Comparatively more affordable than other powerful audio editing software.
Comprehensive tutorials on the website. Cons:. UI isn’t as good as Audition or LPX.
Not aimed at beginners. Availability: Windows, macOS, and Linux (experimental) Price: Free trial available; license starts at $60 5. FL Studio If you’re looking to be the next big name in EDM (or even if you’re just looking for a remarkable audio editing software) you should definitely give FL Studio a look-see. Used by artists like Martin Garrix, Porter Robinson and others, FL Studio is definitely a top-notch software for audio editing files. Similar to other top notch DAWs, FL Studio also supports multi-track recording, time stretching, and pitch shifting. It comes with a mixer that brings features like effects chains, automation, delay compensation and more.
Plus, FL Studio comes with over 80 plug-ins ready for you to use, including plug-ins for sample manipulation, compression, synthesis, and a lot more. There’s also a huge number of instruments in FL Studio that you can use in your track; and, with support for VST standards, you can use almost any 3rd party plugins to get even more instrument sounds. Since FL Studio is mainly aimed at music artists, it only supports a bunhc of file formats like AIFF, DS, DS, DWP, FLAC, MID, MP3, OGG, SF2, Speech, SYN, XI, and WAV. Pros:. Loaded with features. Amazing for music production, not just editing audio.
VST support so you can basically use any 3rd party plugin. Cons:. Not the best UI. Can be a little intimidating to start off with. Availability: Windows and macOS Price: Free trial available; license starts at $99 6.
Ableton Live Ableton Live is also a name that’s synonymous with music production and that’s pretty obvious considering the incredibly large number of features it brings. For starters, Ableton Live supports unlimited audio and MIDI tracks so you can stuff as many layers of tracks into your project as you need. There’s also support for MIDI capture, 256 mono input channels and 256 mono output channels. Along with that, you get up to 70GB of pre-recorded sounds you can use in your projects, up to 15 software instruments, and up to 46 audio effects. However, Ableton Live doesn’t come with some features that are commonplace in most other audio editing software.
There’s no pitch correction, and adding effects such as fades isn’t as easy as it is on other software such as Logic Pro X. However, Ableton Live is still one of the highly regarded DAWs especially for electronic music production, so if that’s what you’re getting into you should definitely check it out. Ableton supports almost all the file formats out there including WAV, AIFF, AIFF-C, FLAC, OGG Vorbis, RIFF, PCM, MP3 etc. Pros:. One of the leading names in electronic music production. Feature packed. Support for unlimited tracks.
A huge library of pre-recorded sounds that you can use. Cons:. Missing some basic features like pitch correction. Makes tasks like adding fades more difficult than they need to be. UI is quite below par as compared to the competition. Availability: Windows and macOS Pricing: 30 day free trial; pricing starts at $99 7.
Cubase Cubase, from Steinberg, is another audio editing software that you might wanna take a look at. The DAW comes with a legacy of major artists having used it including the likes of Zedd, Junkie XL and more. As far as features are concerned, Cubase brings forth quite a bit of these as well. There’s a frequency equalizer that lets you perform immensely delicate frequency edits to your tracks, an Auto-Pan feature that lets you quickly play around with your tracks. Also, if you use plug-ins, Cubase’s Plugin Sentinel will automatically scan them on startup to ensure that they are valid and won’t harm your system. There’s also a feature called Audio-ins that lets you use filters and effects separately on your audio tracks.
Cubase offers a free trial so you can check it out before deciding if you want to buy it or not. Pros:. Comes with some pretty awesome features. Has frequency equalizer to perform delicate edits.
Plugin Sentinel ensures safety of your system. Cons:. Not meant for beginners. Availability: Windows and macOS Price: free trial available; pricing starts at €99 8. Presonus Studio One Another audio editing software you might want to take a look at, the Presonus Studio One 4 is a versatile DAW that comes with a bunch of cool and useful features. There’s support for multiple tracks, and with Studio One’s Chord Track feature, you can easily make a quick prototype of songs and get an idea of what they sound like.
Chord Track brings features like key modulation, chord substitution and more for easy protoyping. Studio One can automatically identify the chords from your audio track, and you can even drag a part to the Chord Track to make a reference. Studio One also comes with a brand spanking new Impact XT drum module which is an improved version of the older Impact drum module. It brings more than 20 new features such as beat quantization and real-time stretching, allowing you to get creative with loops and beats in your song. Other than all of this, Studio One also has countless other features including things like multiple macro toolbars, improved multi-editing, external plugin scanner, and a lot more, so it’s definitely worth a look-see if you’re interested. Pros:.
Too many features to keep a track of. Capable of automatically identifying chords from your music. Has a plugin scanner to ensure safe operation Cons:.
Not meant for beginners. Availability: Windows and macOS Price: Free version available; pricing starts at $99 9. Hindenburg Pro Hindenburg Pro is also an audio editing software that’s worth mentioning. It’s cross-platform and works with both Windows and macOS. Plus, it comes with non-destructive, multitrack recording.
Hindenburg Pro can also import 24-bit audio files and even work in 24-bit sessions. Other than that, the DAW brings in a large number of effects including compressors, EQs, loudness meters, and support for third party plugins so you can expand your effects-set to the extent of your imagination. With the automatic EQ feature in Hindenburg Pro, you can let the software automatically set up your preferred voice profile without having to tweak things too much, and once you’re done editing your audio, Hindenburg will let you export the project to a variety of formats including mp3, AIFF, and even Apple Lossless.
Pros:. Feature rich.
Support for 24-bit audio files. Automatic EQ will help normalize your voice while editing voice overs and interviews Cons:. dated UI. Not really suited for music production. Availability: Windows and macOS Price: 30 day free trial; pricing starts at $95 10. Ardour Last but not the least, Ardour is also a pretty powerful audio editing software that’s made better by the fact that not only does it work on Windows and macOS, it also fully supports Linux, so you can basically run it on almost any computer you want. Ardour brings you almost every feature in the book when it comes to audio editing starting from making recordings easier with mics and MIDI devices, to editing thanks to easily usable editing features like cuts, crossfades, transposition, swing and more.
The software also brings unlimited undos and redos so you can experiment to your heart’s content. There are also mixing features included with the DAW, so you get access to EQ, automation, faders, monitors and more.
Add to that a flexible mixer and the hundreds of plugins that Ardour brings and supports, and you have a great audio editing software. Pros:. Completely cross platform. Kind of beginner friendly. Unlimited undos and redos Cons:. UI looks bad.
Doesn’t come with advanced features. Not suited for professionals. Availability: Windows, macOS, and Linux Price: Free; Pay at least $1 for full feature set Bonus: Best Audio Editing Software for People With Basic Needs The article above mostly focused on audio editing software that are feature packed and can be used for everything from basic audio slicing and joining to frequency modulations, pitch corrections and more. However, if you’re simply looking for an app to perform the very basic of manipulations too, there are a bunch of options you can go with.
There’s which brings all the basic features in the free package. There’s if you’re only looking to cut audio files into smaller pieces. There’s which works completely online so you don’t even have to download an app. There are obviously more of these software, but for your basic needs these should prove plentiful. You can also check out if you’re interested in getting started with making beats without spending insane amounts of money of software.
In fact, AudioTool works online as well, so it’s easy to access anywhere. SEE ALSO: Use These Audio Editing Software for Your Next Project So now that you know about the 10 best audio editing software you can use, which one are you planning on giving a shot? All of these options are pretty great in their own regard but at the end of the day it only matters which software best fits your style of work, so make use of the free trials on these software to figure out which one of these software will be the best DAW for you. If you think we’ve missed out on a pretty great audio editing software that deserves a mention, drop us a line in the comments down below. Hello, I am a novice looking to do some basic editing of a bunch of family camcorder videos I recently converted to digital format on my PC. Most of what I want to do I’d call pretty basic (cutting long video into separate clips, adding captions, etc.). One aspect– the removal of some annoying voice segments while retaining the accompanying video sections– I’m guessing may be more complicated.
I’m trying to figure out which programs will enable me to do this but am confused as to what having separate audio tracks really means. Is it strictly to manipulate different audio clips one is adding to a project when building a video, OR is it pertinent to my goal of deleting audio segments from one standalone video (i.e., I’m not adding different video and audio clips together from different sources)? Thank you for any advice, feedback, guidance regarding software suggestions to accomplish my goal.
I am currently learning Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop and am somewhat familiar with the feel of those Adobe platforms so if all the products were basically the same, I’d likely opt for an Adobe product because I’m guessing it would be easier/quicker for me to pick up. For Windows I would recommend Cubase Pro and FL Studio.
I use both and never looked back. Ableton Live is also one of the big boys and a good program. The free stuff will only leave you frustrated with limitations and a lot of quality loss to the point where you cannot publish your work in the end. Yes, the free stuff can be good depending on your hardware but, you will end up using aprox 20 different apps which will definitely slow you down. I have searched high and low for cheaper and free alternatives, with only leading me back to my roots for what I originally got certified for in the first place. USE WHAT YOU KNOW and play with the other toys until you can ace it Free or Paid ? NOTE: Ableton Live have a HUGE learning curve if you’re used to Steinberg Products Just a heads-up ?. Sudarshan, if your phone doesnt produce a clear recording of your voice that: A) Try a different phone; B) Record/Edit/Upload from your PC or laptop.
Not sure what your content is but to obtain the best possible sound, pick-up a low to mid-level USB Microphone. Im talking a full-size mic.
You can pick up a cheap-o or something decent on amazon for as little as $30! You can grab an Audio Technica for $90-$200. Otherwise you can try your computers on-board mic but youre not gonna get the clear sound that an actual microphone can offer. Of course, if your sound is bad, unless your content is REALLY good visually, you wont get a high volume of viewers ?.
I found MAGIX online offer for $20 reasonable enough to give it a try, though I’ve never tried Sound Forge but would like to try it out. I found MAGIX to be more of a music writing program with all their sound bites and you can edit songs as well but I was not impressed and rarely use MAGIX anymore.
For music editing & engineering I use Adobe Audition which has worked very well and it processes with 1,000’s of processes which you should write down your settings if you like the output, because there are so many variables. I got a version before they got greedy by their monthly/yearly charging for using Audition. I would NEVER pay a monthly or yearly fee for using software unless the cost was reasonable and $360 a year is outrageous IMO. Adobe software bought “Cool Edit Pro” from Syntrillium Software Corp. Which was way ahead of their time for the quality of that software. Audition is as close to professional studio software like Protools that I’ve tested. Audacity is FREE Open Source Software.
I’ve been using it exclusively for 6 years. You need to download and/or install a couple things, depending on what you wannaw use Audacity for. For example, if you want to export audio that you’ve recorded/edited with Audacity as.mp3 files (and you do!) you’ll need to the “LAME/FFMPEG libraries. The link is right there on the website. It, too, is FREE!
I use it continuously every day. The other thing to do is make sure all your “Effects” are enabled. Cllick “Effects” + “Add/Remove plugins”. If you do any voice over or vocals, you’ll want to grab the Declicker AND perhaps DeEsser.
I COULDNT SURVIVE WITHOUT THEIR DECLICKER! At the end of each day, I say a special Thank You to my Audacity Declicker!
478 Shares Voiceover Software – there are many different types, brands and makes of voiceover software on the market. This blog looks at the most popular voiceover software and makes recommendations as to what they’re used for, which are best, and why. There are different types of voiceover software that you should specifically use during your studio recordings, be that at home in your home recording studio, or out and about.
This blog is specific to that software – however looks at the generic types of software and tools you will need as a voice artist. The Types of Voiceover Software So what are these different types of voiceover software? What are they used for?
Well, as an overview (specifically to Voiceover) these can be broken down into four broad groups:. Audio Editors. Multi-Track Recorders (DAW’s, or Digital Audio Workstations).
Plugins. Miscellaneous Voice Studio Software This blog deals with the first two in turn. Plugins are a huge subject and a little off-topic for a discussion on Voiceover Artists requirements as they’re common to all recording software environments. For miscellaneous voiceover software, go and google Annotate and Voxover, two amazing bits of software that you may want to consider for your studio, but again out of the scope of this topic. #1 – Audio Editors. These are the lifeblood and the workhorses of most Voiceover Artists, and indeed radio producers, television editors, hobbyists and studio engineers around the world. Audio editors do exactly what they say on the tin – they edit audio.
In almost all cases they edit destructively, meaning that as you make a change to a file it is saved into the source audio file itself. This is important to note as it affects your workflow and how you should backup & manage your audio files. Typical things you can do with an audio editor include:.
Recording audio in a single stream (mono or stereo) from selectable inputs. Editing the audio file, for example selecting an area, moving it, deleting it, copying it and so on. Providing a visual representation of the audio file, areas you are working on, sometimes in decibels (volume) sometimes via spectral views (by pitch) and so on, with audio meters to show specific levels at various points. Creating new audio files. Renaming audio files. Processing the audio files, e.g., compressing, normalising, EQ, topping & tailing, adding delay, echo, reverb, effects, altering the volume, all of which can be done as a whole or on individual parts. Reversing audio files.
Sorting out audio problems such as phasing, de-essing, removal of noise, pops and clicks, plosives. Mastering your audio ready for broadcast & delivery to clients. Changing sample rates, bit depth and filetypes, for example converting from wav files to mp3 files. Batching repetitive processing tasks to save huge amounts of time The key elements of a good, professional audio editor are that they should allow all of their operations to a fine-point detail (i.e.
To a sample level), have a great quality audio engine, excellent quality algorithms, be fully tested, be flexible and provide good & relevant visualisations, be stable (not crash, which many do), be constantly supported (and developed to move with the times) and be able to work in all relevant mediums and filetypes. Examples (& Ratings) of Audio Editors: Sony SoundForge Pro – £200 / $249 Pro version, £79 / $99 Entry Versions At the time of writing this, there are two distinct and separate versions of Sony’s SoundForge – the Windows version and the Mac version. For historical reasons, these are not in sync with each other and may as well be considered different programs. They look and feel different and are even sold separately. The Mac version of SoundForge is in it’s infancy – at the time of writing it is on V2.5 – is a tiny bit buggy and misses a couple of key features of it’s sister Windows version. Although it’s prettier, and much better than the free software I’ll mention later, it still has someway to go to match it’s sister in terms of functionality.
However, that said, it’s developed by Sony who have an amazing track record and a huge development team so I expect this to change radically and will quickly catch up. Don’t get me wrong though, even the Mac version as a piece of voiceover software is a fantastic audio editor worthy of anyone’s money. The Mac version also comes with a completely new and standalone ‘Convrt’ program (which has completely redesigned the existing batch processor) which makes batching files a doddle – and easily the best batch processing system on the market. The Windows version of SoundForge though is an absolute joy to use and is easily my audio editor of choice.
It’s robust, highly feature-rich, has been excellently developed, has a clean, simple layout and.works perfectly. You can edit simply and easily (it’s snap functions are second to none, and for editing out voice-clicks this program is by far the easiest I’ve used) and the audio engine sounds great – it introduces no noise whatsoever.
It won’t be a surprise to you that Sony Pictures and all of Sony’s audio engineers, studios and so on use this software and it really shows in it’s development, layout and professionalism. The batch converter is especially useful and extremely easy to use. For the tech-heads among you, it also comes with it’s own scripting language so you can literally write macros and scripts to process highly-complex audio tasks, and has lots of great features such as daisy-chaining effects, markers with split functions (to chop up those long single recordings into multiple files) and much more. The Sony Noise Reduction plugin is also second to none. More on plugins later, however SoundForge does have one key feature that’s the reason I use it in our studios instead of Audition and that is the Auto Trim/Crop function.
In essence this trims blank space (silence) from the start and the end of files, and can be batched, with varying settings and fade-curves. Why is this important?
Voiceover artists the world over record multi-line scripts, for example, 2000 lines of IVR recordings, where each line needs to be saved as an individual file. SoundForge is the only program on the market that allows you to, for example, specify a 50ms start gap and a 200ms end gap, remove everything else and automate that throughout 2000 files so that each file is completely uniform. This one plugin alone is worth the expense of the program and makes your life as a voiceover artist much, much easier. (NB: There is an entry level version of this program called SoundForge 2 which is much cheaper and less feature rich version of the program.).
Adobe Audition – Subscription Only (£17 / $19 pcm or £204 / $228 per year) Once upon a time there was a company called Syntrillium who had one of the world’s best audio editors, called Cool Edit Pro 2. Syntrillium sold it to Adobe and Adobe really haven’t done an awful lot with it since.
It is however, still brilliant. Unlike SoundForge, the Mac and Win versions of this program are in sync and both are great.
The major advantage of Audition, and the reason that it’s very popular as a piece of voiceover software, is that it’s a brilliant editor, but unusually it also has a multitrack section to it. Compared to programs such like Cubase, Protools and Logic, the multitrack capabilities are relatively limited, but for those who just want to line up music with audio tracks, make demo reels and that kind of thing, Audition’s multi-track capabilities are perfectly adequate. You can do all the things you’d normally expect, such as placement of tracks, fades on regions, send and return effects and insert effects, and of course mixdowns. If you’re into creating your own music or very detailed productions, this probably isn’t for you, but as voiceover software – it’s fine. Back to the editor though, it’s virtually flawless. It’s got a great audio engine and you can edit to a sample level and do all the things you can do in SoundForge with the exception of the auto-trim/crop. In some cases it’s superior to SoundForge with things like it’s visualisations – the spectral view is just great and very useful.
It’s batching is comprehensive and although not quite as simple to use as SoundForge, is still powerful and automates many tasks that would otherwise take forever. It can take a little while for the uninitiated to figure out where everything is with Audition, but once you’re there, it’s workflow makes a lot of sense, and it has several features that are incredibly useful like workspaces which allow you to save and amend your working area as you see fit, and recall them at the touch of a button. One downside is that Adobe have now made Audition exclusively a subscription product so you now have to pay for it monthly. I don’t really like this option as I would like to pay once and keep forever, but there is the argument that users tend to upgrade their software every other year, and so you keep on paying anyway. The good news about the subscription is that as long as you’re happy to keep paying, the entry price is low and you can be using it straight away for a very low cost.
The downside to it is that, at (for example, UK prices) £17 pcm, that’s £204 per year, which is more than the price of SoundForge, and if you use it for 3 years, more than the price of both SoundForge and the full version of Cubase put together, and you still have to keep paying for it even then. I can’t help but think Adobe have shot themselves in the foot a little here, great though the program is. Overall though, Audition is a pro piece of kit and highly recommended. (Editors note: If you want to get Audition and live outside the US, get a VPN e.g., Hide My Ass and order the subscription from the USA – e.g. In the UK you’ll save £5 each month that way) Audacity – Free Onto the free software.
Audacity is widely used by voiceover’s – it’s essentially an open-source audio editor that performs well. For the money, i.e. None, it’s brilliant and it records audio well, allowing a reasonable set of editing tools and if you’re stuck with just using Garageband or Sound Recorder, definitely upgrade to this as it’s a huge step up in terms of functionality. The elephant in the room with Audacity is that it does look/feel a little noddy – it’s designed by coders, and it really looks like it – it’s not particularly easy to use unless you’re already au-fait with the processes of audio recording and editing, and if you were, the chances are you’d be using something else already. It doesn’t have the best user interface and there are some key features missing, especially in terms of it’s metering in plugins like the compressor (there isn’t any). But hey, it’s a free piece of voiceover software, and it’s an editor and a completely viable option for those on a budget.
Audacity does also have a slightly functional multi-track editor, which will allow you to create mixes and mix in music with voice, but as with the rest of the program, it looks like it was designed at the start of the 90’s and isn’t that easy to use for beginners. Personally I think you get what you pay for – it’s not as comprehensive as the paid models and does have bugs – these tend not to be fixed as quickly as it’s paid competitors by it’s very nature of being open-source. My own personal opinion is that if you’re on a limited budget either go and get Audition for the low entry price and work on a pro piece of kit, or preferably the cut-down version of SoundForgebut if you’re a beginner, just dipping your toe into the water and want to check it all out before you commit to much spending – this is a great option.
It’s most definitely better than using Garageband/Sound Recorder for free. It’s best point?
If you hadn’t clocked.It’s free voiceover software! Cool Edit Pro 2 – Free Still downloadable, this old favourite is now free and as previously mentioned is the predecessor to Adobe Audition. It’s a tiny bit tricky to use in the multi-track view where you need to use lots of right-clicking to make things move – can be a little frustrating – but the editor is still absolutely brilliant and still just as good today as it was then. Of course, it’s not anywhere near as up to date, but it’s powerful, proven.and again.free voiceover software. In all seriousness, this long-forgotten piece of software is a real contender and wipes the floor with it’s other free-competitor, Audacity, but it is a little hard to use and isn’t as up-to-date. (editors note: link updated and this may need to be run in compatibility mode for Windows XP SP3 – just right-click on the file and choose it from the compatibility options. In terms of licensing – look up the youtube videos on how to license it free – thank you Peter Quistguard!) Twisted Wave – $79 Twisted Wave is much like Audacity, but it’s not free.
It’s an entry level program which is quite cheap, but it’s scope and range of editing capabilities reflects this. It doesn’t inherently have any true effects in there of its own – but it does run AU (Apple’s Audio Unit effects) and VST’s (Steinberg’s audio effects) which you can download to your computer and then use in the program. The audio engine is ok, but like Audacity it’s got a very clunky user interface and in my opinion isn’t worth the money, especially since (for only an extra $20) you can get Sony’s cut-down Sound Forge 2, which is far superior to Twisted Wave in virtually all ways.
One interesting thing that Twisted Wave has that many do not is a fully browser-based, online version which acts much like Google Sheets, i.e., it’s all hosted online, but for audio editing. I’d be really excited about this were Twisted Wave itself not just a little bit rubbish.
If future development carries on and they sort out their effects and audio interface, this is an interesting prospect. Wavasour – Free. Wavasour looks like a complete clone of the Windows version of Sony SoundForge. It even acts like SoundForge – quite how they got away with it without being sued is beyond me. The best part? It’s completely free.
It also has some great advantages that other freebies don’t, like it’s VST compatible (and the website has a lot of free VST effects you can download and install. It’s also ASIO compatible, which means that you can get it set up with your audio interfaces to reach nearly latency-free recording and playback. The downside to Wavasour is that this is an old program which was written, reached V1.1 and was never developed again – you’re stuck with how it is, the bugs that are in it, and the support is completely non-existent. If you have a look in the forums, the last posts are 5 years ago, and when people have posted (6 months ago from now) there are no replies to the cries for help, and your screams will be lost in the ether. It’s such a shame, because it looks brilliant compared to Audacity, it is well thought out and laid out (thanks Sony), and aside from the bugs is brilliant – but Audacity is at least still developed and with an active community. Again, the lesson learned from Wavasour and Audacity, is that you get what you pay for, and there’s always a downside to the free voiceover software. Garageband & Sound Recorder (Garageband Mac, SR Windows) – Free with the OS Garageband and Sound Recorder are entry level recording tools.
They are designed for literally everyone to use from children upwards, and as such do not have comprehensive toolsets at all. You cannot edit finely in these programs, they do not have good audio metering and do not have comprehensive tool suites. In fact, Garageband is actually a very cut-down and free version of Apple’s Logic software, whichis great. But considering that Audacity exists, is free and is available on both Mac and Pc, there’s no need to use such a feature restricted piece of software. It’s not that it’s bad (it isn’t!), it’s just that it doesn’t do enough for you.
For that reason, there’s just no point using this if you’re serious about home recording at all. For the seriously lazy, I suppose they come pre-installed, but if you’re lazy enough not to download one of the free programs, you’re probably not even reading this part of the article anyway! #2 – Multi-Track Sequencers (DAWS) So Digital Audio Workstations, DAW’s, aka, multi-track sequencers or recording environments, are audio recording, editing and processing environments.
They share many common factors with audio editors in that they also record, allow you to edit audio, create effects, but they are designed in a fundamentally different way and are useful for different jobs (as well as some which are the same). One of the main differences is that DAW’s edit non-destructively. This means that if you make a change to the file, cut a region, edit out a clip or whatever, you need to ‘bounce’ or mixdown the complete session to a new file which can then be delivered to a client – during this process the original source files remain intact and unchanged. The obvious benefit of this approach is that you can always go back to the original source point with a DAW if you screw something up, or if a client asks for changes – with an audio editor you need to have backed up the original source file or ‘copied to new’, otherwise you’re always stuck with the last saved version of your file. Some (I say ‘some’ because the list of things you can do with pro DAW’s is quite phenomenal) of the things you typically can do with a DAW are:. Record audio on one track. Record audio on multi-tracks, infinitely up to the limits of your setup, e.g.
Apple Logic Pro X Full Version – £149/$199 Take a look at the price tag and you can instantly see what’s attractive about this Mac only DAW. Although it’s touted as a music production system, it’s actually a fully-fledged DAW direct from the core of Apple. (sic!) As a program, it’s effectively Garageband’s Daddy, or rather, Garageband is Logic’s son. It’s pretty user interface will feel quite familiar to users of Garageband, and Mac users will feel at home with it straight away. It uses the OSX Core Audio drivers so sounds great and runs audio, midi and has lots of great ease-of-use features like Take Management. It has many different audio editing tools, including nifty speed fades, and has in-built samplers and Flex-Time which allows audio slicing based on transients.
As well as all the normal effects, you get lots of instrument racks and instrument effects racks with a good non-destructive audio editor and cool auto-tune functions. As you might expect, editing is easy in Logic and it’s longest running selling point is that it’s very stable – many people use a Mac loaded with Logic for live performances because it’s so unlikely to crash.
Logic isn’t as feature rich as Cubase nor Pro Tools by a long way, and it isn’t installed in as many pro studios, but what it does, it does very well indeed and makes mixing and mastering a breeze. Apple like to make things easy for you! It’s also much cheaper than it’s rivals, and this may have an impact on your choice. Reaper Full Version – $60 Last but not least, making huge waves in the industry is the newest kid on the block, Reaper. It’s making huge waves because it’s in constant development and it’s super-cheap for what it is but with good functionality. Let’s be frank, it’s very light in features compared to the big boys, but what’s there is very good and it’s developing at a fast pace. This is so cheap in fact, that there is an argument that as a piece of voiceover software, and for all your DAW needs, this is the only choice as it has all the main things you really need.
But before you get your credit cards out, let’s remember that Cool Edit Pro and Audacity are both free and also have limited multi-track capabilities. Still, it’s multi-tracking at it’s heart, it’s got a good range of effects (again, missing some metering here and there) and it supports VST and AU formats so the world is your oyster with effects and processing.
It supports Asio and Core Audio, and although it isn’t that easy on the eye, it comes with free Reaplugs, video support, elastic time stretching and much more. For those on a budget, this is a serious contender. Adobe Audition Previously mentioned, the multitrack section of Audition is basic but functional. It’s not super-easy to use and definitely not as user friendly as the true DAW programs, but it does have the advantage that it’s all in one program with a brilliant audio editor. It also has most of the effects you’d need and some basic level mixing & automation tools. Well Now I’m Confused!
How Do I Choose The Right Voiceover Software For Me? Do I Need an Audio Editor, a DAWor Both!? This is an important question, and not a stupid question at all. Money and budget is a serious factor, but so is your workflow and productivity. It’s up to you to evaluate your budget but I can help with the workflow. Remember the main difference between the two is that an audio editor is designed to edit audio files destructively, and a DAW/multitrack is designed to mix multiple tracks and larger productions together, non-destructively. They have a different workflow and as a voice artist you’ll use them differently for different tasks.
As a professional voiceover artist though, you definitely do need an audio editor. If you’re a voiceover artist who only ever records vocals one at a time, or one voice at a time and then edits these audio files, you can probably just get away with only using an audio editor as opposed to having a DAW as well. If you want to record your demo reels at home, or want to mix more than one track of audio together, you’re going to also need a DAW. Alternatively, if you record long form scripts, especially those which need mixing to individual files, such as IVR scripts, this is much easier to record, edit and split to individual files in a DAW.and then finely edit or batch process in the audio editor.
(Note that Audition is a viable option for both, but do remember that the multi-track version is limited and it doesn’t have the strip silence features common to DAW’s). If you want to create Music, Sound Effects, record with proper foldback to your booth, record loop grouping or ADR looping, you’re almost definitely also going to want a DAW.
So Which Voiceover Software Should I Choose? For Those Who Aren’t On a Budget: You can evaluate as you see fit. But for me personally, on a Windows PC, I use Cubase and Soundforge.
When I’m on Macs, I use Cubase and Audition. If I had my way (and mainly because of the crazy subscription prices) I’d have Sony bring their Mac SoundForge up to the same level as the Windows version, and then use Cubase and SoundForge. Why Cubase over the others? It’s simply the best of the lot, the most easy to use, the most flexible and the one that breaks most boundaries – it’s not tied to a complicated physical mixing desk model, and their support is just the best. I genuinely use all three of the big hitters for different things, and I always wish I was using Cubase.
Why Sound Forge? Firstly because it’s not a subscription model and you get to keep it forever, secondly because (at least on Windows) it’s the best in terms of functionality, and thirdly because it has Auto Trim/Crop, which for VO’s is essential. Why Audition on a Mac?
Because the Mac version of SoundForge isn’t quite there yet and is missing a scale on it’s waveform window – once that’s there, hopefully in the next version, we won’t be forced to rent our software from Adobe. Which is a shame, because it’s one of the best editors in the world. For Those On a Limited Budget: For all the above reasons, I’d go for the cut-down version of SoundForge and Reaper – two excellent programs and you’ve got a couple of great audio programs with most of what you need for only $150. The only exception to this for the editor, is if you can find an older version of Adobe Audition that isn’t on subscription, for example CS5 or CS6 on Ebay or somewhere similar.
For Those On a Strict/Zero Budget: If you’re looking for the best of the freebies I’d go for Cool Edit Pro 2 on Windows for the audio editor/Multitrack and Audacity on a Mac. Audacity is also there on a PC for free, but CEP2 (although older) is a much better program overall. What a useful list – homage to you for the hard work. Butwith respect I am amazed by your ‘faint praise’ for Twisted Wave. It is hugely popular, and in my view one of the most nimble and logical of editors. Really productive.
I’ve used TW daily as recorder/editor with my desk macs for six years now. In no way would I compare it to the fiddle-fingers Audacity nor, in terms of easy use, with the heavyweight packages such as Cubase that are overkill for mono voice. And, as you say, it takes plug ins (and will stack them). What’s not to like?
Hello Howard. You’re welcome! This is a common feedback point I’ve had from this so far and my justification for it is that compared to SoundForge 2 which is only $20 more, it’s hugely inferior. Try them both side by side as I’ve done and you’ll instantly see what I mean. The main reason I wrote this article, and also the one about Voiceover Microphones is that (and this is just human nature) we all tend to be slightly proud and give advice that we currently have or use – you know how it goes – definitely use Twisted Wave and a Blue Yeti, or Audacity and Rode NT1 etc, and I wanted to do a fair comparison of them all Although Twisted wave does work, and is cheap – side-by-side it’s not really that much better than Audacity is, which is free, and a million miles from SoundForge 2 which is in the same price bracket. The fact that it might be hugely popular doesn’t really change the facts of the review!
Yes it does what it does just fine, it’s just not worth the money IMO. ? Re your reference to Cubase – as you can see that’s a different piece of software and has difference uses, hence the recommendations at the end for the different needs of VO’s, and why most only need audio editors, rather than DAWs. It’s great to have a list like this for people to reference. Thanks for putting it together! I’d like to respectfully suggest you omitted a piece of software that definitely merits consideration: Studio One from Presonus.
It’s primarily designed for musicians, as so many recording software packages are, but it really is great for VO and Narration as well. It has some very powerful features (including a GREAT punch and roll function). It has a stripped down free version that you can use to get a feel for how it operates, and the basic paid version is very affordable ($99) and does pretty much anything you’d need for VO. Hello Hugh, Reading through the various “pro” and “con” editing software, Cubase works great for a home studio voice over artist for the following two reasons (my reasons:-)): “Cubase also have interactive online capabilities so you can collaborate with other artists around the world in real-time. It has VST Connect which effectively replaces ISDN, Source Connect and ipDTLand builds that kind of peer-to-peer connection natively into the program.” Several clients are requesting “listening in” on recording sessions so the VST Connect makes sense. I suppose one could use Skype or VOIP but since it’s built into the system, why not take advantage? “In terms of support Steinberg also have their act sorted out – you ring up, you get through to a guy called Herman – he talks to you until your problem is fixed.
They don’t charge you for it, or ask you to purchase a support pack. This is the way that all support should be.” Oh my! A real, live, breathing, human being who stays with you until the problem is fixed???? AND his name is Herman????
What could be better than that:-)))) My understanding is I’ll need the Full Version for VST Connect. If I purchase Artist, can I upgrade to Full Version at a later time? Hi Hugh, Great post, I just wanted to clarify something. As a voice over artist I am setting up a home studio for the first time so that I can audition and record voice overs and send directly to the client. I’ll be starting from scratch in terms of learning how to use the software so I just wondered what your advice would be on what product to use? ( I am using a Mac) Do I need both an audio editor and DAW? I need the end product to be good enough for the client to use with out further edits etc.
Hello I share the sentiments of others who state that this information is invaluable, and I thank you sincerely for it. I wonder though, if anybody has any thoughts about what is VI (visually impaired) friendly. I am currently using audition, but it is not as easy to use as my older Version, which I admit was rather old. I don’t even remember what version it is, but I know I’d still be using it if my husband had reformatted my computer.
The subscription-based version is not near as easy for me to use as the other one was. Any thoughts?
Thanks in advance. I’ve sworn by REAPER so far. For the handful of jobs I’ve done it’s been great. Very easy to create all my show reels with it.
But it’s major shortfall is using it for compression/normalisation. You can’t see how the waveform is changed, it gives you no dB scale beside the waveform to work with visually.
And on top of that, it’s a bit more fiddly to do the very precise edits of single points on the waveform, for removing clicks etc. I’m going to try SoundForge Pro in the new year. I’ve looked on the website – do you have any input on SoundForge Pro versus SoundForge Audio Studio. It looks to be a cut down version. At a quick glance, it looks like the Audio Studio version cuts out some features that sound useful such as noise removal, declicker and denoiser. Those features sound like godsends if they work.
I’ll have to try them out first, to see if it’s a case of “they are actually useful” vs “it makes a hash of it so best to edit waveform manually.” It also looks like, since writing this article, Sony have sold these products to Magix. Have they continued with the same quality as Sony? I have a question. My recording equipment came with SonarLE (which is a version of Cakewalk), and so far I’ve enjoyed it for simple recording and playback.
But I can’t export to MP3 unless I pay $10 for an encoder. I need the MP3 capability very soon for something I’m working on, so I was thinking about just ditching SonarLE and using Adacity instead. I’ve already started your webinar on it, and plan to finish it this week. If you were in my position would you just pay the $10for the encoder or use Audacity instead? I have been using Garage Band for about 4 years and it works perfectly. I don’t know where you get the idea that you can’t finely edit with it I have no problems(maybe I’m a better editor than you!). I use it not only for auditions but also for actual sessions and I’ve never had a client complain.
Granted I just do VO’s I don’t produce spots and maybe it comes up short in that regard. I’ve been doing VO’s for over 40 years and my experience is you don’t need a lot of bells and whistles your client wants raw tracks(edited perhaps) that they can color on their end.