Edits audio files by adding effects and distortions, cutting, trimming, or joining multiple sounds together, changing the pitch levels, tempo, or loudness, etc. Record the audio from the microphone and convert between FLAC, WAV, AIFF, etc.
Except for a few features available exclusively in some professional audio editors of the highest level, there is no need to spend ridiculous amounts of money in professional audio tools when you can download and enjoy Audacity. This open-source development comes with all the utilities and features you need to produce high-quality audio files and to edit and enhance them just like with any high-end professional tool, and it comes with a feature that (as far as I know) no other commercial audio editor has ever dared to include in their product – accessibility features for persons with visual disabilities.
The program’s interface displays the expected wide clean area where the waveform graphs of your audio files will appear. Every graph comes with useful information about the file itself and with a zoom feature that allows you to work on the tiniest section of the file more accurately and intuitively. On the top side of the interface, you’ll find – together with the expected menu options and a set of quick-access icons – all the recording and playback controls you require to create and listen to your audio files. One of the few interface improvements I’d dare to suggest to the Audacity team refers to the possibility of having different tabs for the different audio files, as the program tends to open each of them on a different window.
The list of features availab
le largely exceeds the scope of this review – suffice it to say that the program offers everything you need to record new audio; digitize audio for analog sources; export and import (i.e., convert) audio files among the formats supported; enhance the sound quality; incorporate LADSPA, LV2, Nyquist, VST, and Audio Unit plug-ins; edit your audio files in any way imaginable; add effects and filters to them, and analyze (and visualize) their frequencies. As briefly mentioned above, Audacity counts with accessibility features that you won’t find easily in any other amateur or professional commercial editor. These features, which include a long list of keyboard shortcuts and access to most functionality via the keyboard, allow persons with a visual disability to make use of a software tool that usually relies heavily on graphs and images. It supports Jaws, NVDA, and other commonly used screen readers.
Due to copyright restrictions – and given that this is open source and therefore a completely free software tool – some common file formats are not supported. WAV, AIFF, and MP3, together with WMA and other known formats are fully supported, though.
Audacity is a full-fledged audio creator and editor developed by knowledgeable audio and software specialists that is not only free for everyone, but also useable by everyone, thanks to its uncommon and amazing support for accessibility features.
v3.5 [Mar 2, 2024]
Added an option to skip plugin scanning to Preferences -> Effects.
Added an overflow menu, as well as speed and pitch indicators to clips.
Added subtitle formats for labels. Export to WebVTT and SubRip and import of SubRip files is now supported. (Thanks, Pokechu22 and Larry Bordowitz!)
Reworked the plugin manager. It's now simplified and filterable, and also has a search box.
Improved accessibility. (Thanks, David Bailes!)
When zooming in vertically (Ctrl+scroll on the vertical scale), the zeroline now remains centered. Moving the vertical zoom off-center still is possible via Shift+scroll on the vertical scale.
Changed the look of the selection adjust cursors (previously pointing fingers on Windows and macOS, now look like >| everywhere).
Changed the timeline options button from a green triangle to a settings gear. From it, you can switch between Beats & Measures or hh:mm:ss timeline rulers, set various preferences regarding to looping, as well as playhead behaviors: "Scroll view to playhead" (previously: "Update display while playing") and "Continuous scrolling" (previously: Pinned Play Head).
Improved BSD support. (Thanks, Brad Smith!)
Changed the Audacity.app icon on macOS to fit new design guidelines. (Thanks, Filip Krawczyk!)
Reordered some menus.
Moved the OK/Cancel buttons of effects to the bottom.
Removed the read-only mouse preferences page.
Removed Printing options.
Removed Screenshot tool. To make a screenshot, use Win+Shift+S (Windows) or Cmd+Shift+4 (Mac) instead.
Removed Karaoke view.
Removed the "solo=none" preference.
Removed timeline tooltips preference.
Removed "dragging selection edges" preference.
Removed some warning dialogs and associated preferences.
Removed "scrolling left of zero" preference.
Replaced "Advanced Vertical Zooming" with new always-on behavior.
Removed some vertical zoom presets.
Removed EQ XML to TXT converter, which was needed for the Audacity 2.3 -> 2.4 transition. It is now a plugin instead, downloadable at https://plugins.audacityteam.org/additional-resources/eq-curves/eq-xml-to-txt-converter.
Removed the "Vocal reduction and isolation" effect. As a replacement for Windows and Linux, the Intel OpenVINO plugins work better and on a wider array of content, including mono tracks. The old effect still can be downloaded from https://plugins.audacityteam.org/nyquist-plugins/effect-plugins/filters-and-eq#vocal-reduction-and-isolation
Fixed a number of dialogs that were able to grow too large to fit on the screen.
#2133 Fixed the playback cursor sometimes desynchronizing with actual playback. (Thanks, David Bailes!)
#3723 #5615 Fixed the GetInfo scripting command.
#5283 Fixed "Reset configuration" command breaking modules preference page.
#5389 Fixed stereo tracks randomly splitting into mono.
#5500 The Export Audio -> (external program) option remembers the command line argument again.
#5670 #3903 Fixed the Compressor effect sometimes corrupting audio. (Thanks, David Bailes!)
#5580 #4952 Fixed Timer Record sometimes failing to export. (Thanks, David Bailes!)
#5681 Fixed incorrect level measurements for mono tracks in Noise Gate effect. (Thanks, Steve Daulton!)
#5750 When exporting multiple files, the mono/stereo setting is now honored properly.
#5848 Fixed some effects failing when language is set to German, Korean, Dutch, Slovenian, or Turkish.
#5868 #1548 Fixed 8 and 9 inputs not working on keyboard inputs which have AltGr+8/9 mean [ and ]. (Thanks, David Bailes!)
#5858 Fixed Audacity crashing when making a stereo track using keyboard. (Thanks, Joe Souza!)
#5976 Fixed the "Set default" button not working in the metadata editor. (Thanks, dg-no-9!)
#5977 Linux: Fixed a memory leak in Wayland by explicitly running on X11. (Thanks, Takahashi, Naoki!)
#6125 Fixed recording sometimes recording at the wrong sample rate, pitching things up in the process. (Thanks, David Bailes!)
#4999 Improved importing performance.
#5823 Filenames featuring a period mid-name are no longer cut off.
#5792 Fixed a crash when pasting 192k/24 bit audio.
#5799 Fixed a crash with AUMultibandCompressor.
#6100 Exporting stereo as mono now calculates volume correctly.
#5782 Exporting now can create folders within folders.
Total Video Converter is a powerful video and audio conversion tool
