Audacity is an audio tool that allows you to record and play sounds, import or export WAV, AIFF or MP3 files. Use it to edit your sounds using Cut, Copy and Paste (with unlimited Undo), mix tracks together, or apply effects to your recordings. Audacity also has a built-in amplitude envelope editor, a customizable spectrogram mode and a frequency analysis window for audio analysis applications. Built-in effects include Bass Boost, Wahwah, and Noise Removal, and it also supports VST plug-in effects.
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 can record live audio through a microphone or mixer, or digitize recordings from other media. With some sound cards, and on any recent version of Windows, Audacity can also capture streaming audio.
You can use Audacity to: Record live audio. Record computer playback on any Windows Vista or later machine. Convert tapes and records into digital recordings or CDs. Edit WAV, AIFF, FLAC, MP2, MP3 or Ogg Vorbis sound files. AC3, M4A/M4R (AAC), WMA and other formats supported using optional libraries. Cut, copy, splice or mix sounds together. Numerous effects including change the speed or pitch of a recording. Write your own plug-in effects with Nyquist. Playback of MIDI files.
Device Toolbar manages multiple recording and playback devices. Level meters can monitor volume levels before, during and after recording. Clipping can be displayed in the waveform or in a label track. Record from microphone, line input, USB/Firewire devices and others. Record computer playback on Windows Vista and later by choosing “Windows WASAPI” host in Device Toolbar then a “loopback” input. Timer Record and Sound Activated Recording features. Dub over existing tracks to create multi-track recordings.
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 real time.
Easy editing with Cut, Copy, Paste and Delete. Find the spot to edit easily with scrubbing and seeking or Timeline Quick-Play. Unlimited sequential Undo (and Redo) in the session 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.
Effects. Real-time preview of LADSPA, LV2, VST and Audio Unit (macOS) effects. Plug-in Manager handles plug-in installation and addition/removal of effects and generators from the menus. Generate tones, silence, noise, instruments or rhythm track. Change the pitch without altering the tempo. Change the tempo without altering the pitch. Noise Reduction to remove static, hiss, hum or other constant background noises.
