TOP 10 Windows Apps for Audio Production & Recording

The Audio Production and Recording category contains programs developed to let users edit, record, mix, tweak, encode, and compose digital audio files, including applications that convert MP3 files. Some programs, such as DJ software, let users create their own music. Notable titles include Virtual DJ and Audacity.

Audacity

Audacity is an open source, cross-platform audio editor and recorder. Audacity can record and play sounds and import and export WAV, AIFF, MP3, and OGG files. Edit your sounds using cut, copy, and paste features (with unlimited undo functionality), mix tracks, 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.

WavePad Free Audio and Music Editor

WavePad Free Audio and Music Editor is a free music and audio editor for Windows. It allows you to create and edit voice, music, and other sound recordings. You can duplicate sections of recordings and add echo, amplification, noise reduction, and other effects for free.

Adobe Audition CS6

Record, mix, edit, and master digital audio files with powerful tools that bring flexibility and control to your desktop studio. Easily create music, produce radio spots, and restore imperfect recordings. Bring audio and video together using smart integration with Adobe video applications.

Adobe Audition CS6 software offers high-performance, intuitive tools for audio editing, mixing, restoration, and effects. Powerful new features such as real-time clip stretching, automatic speech alignment, and control surface support help you deliver projects faster than ever.

Sound Forge Audio Studio 14

SOUND FORGE Audio Studio 13 provides comprehensive tools and features for editing audio of all kinds. Record, editing and produce podcasts in up to 32-bit/384 kHz studio quality.

Mix and edit music with a wide range of professional audio effects. The flexible and dynamic Event tool lets you cut audio and edit cuts and crossfades at any time. Edit audio files with up to 6 channels to produce expansive 5.1 Surround sound. Convert old vinyls and tapes to digital and fix low-quality audio using a range of professional restoration tools. Use powerful mastering effects to enhance your songs and audio recordings before posting them online or burning them to CD. All on a customizable user interface with 4 selectable shade settings.

Wavosaur

Wavosaur is a audio editor, it's ASIO and VST compatible. You can perform audio editing in a fast and efficient way, record from your soundcard inputs, edit and process your audio files. Wavosaur can import wav, mp3, aiff, 8svx and raw binary files. Basic features: cut, copy, paste, mix, trim/crop, normalize, fade in/out, mute, change volume, invert, vocal remover, channel convert, resample, pitch shift. Advanced features: loop points support, markers, analysis tools: 2D & 3D frequency spectrum, statistics, sonogram, and snthesis generators. Wavosaur provides a virtual rack for VST plugins effects, you can set up a chain of VST effects, tweak and listen to your processed audio in real-time. Wavosaur provides also a batch processor. It can also be controlled by a MIDI control surface. The development is active and many features will be added in the next releases.

For a lightweight, portable audio editor, Wavosaur has a lot going for it, starting with ASIO and VST compatibility and including recording, editing, batch conversion, audio analysis, looping, and real-time effects processing and resampling. Wavosaur is also MIDI-compatible, and its commands can be triggered and controlled by external MIDI devices. Though a compact 768KB in size, Wavosaur packs some advanced features, too, such as volume envelope analysis and editing, slicing, auto-slice, and waveform generator. It handles most media file types, accepts plug-ins, incorporates high-quality spectral displays, and has plenty of support, including a user forum, tutorials, and skins. Recent updates include new VST and rack visualizations. Wavosaur is portable freeware (donationware) for Windows 2000 to 7.

Since Wavosaur is a portable tool, you'll need to extract its compressed executable and README files. We suggest creating a new folder on your desktop or some memorable place since you'll also need to keep the configuration files with the program. Wavosaur's busy toolbar, gray tones, and slider levers add up to a distinct resemblance to a word processor, which is a familiar sight to many users and makes Wavosaur quick and easy to start up with, though Web-based Help resources and tutorials are available, too. We started by loading a variety of audio file types. Wavosaur opened nearly all the files, though not everything (like WMA files, for instance). But of course, Wavosaur specializes in large files like WAVs. Both pro and amateur users will be pleased to know that Wavosaur uses the nearly standard format of twin spectral displays, easy selection of start and endpoints, and a wide range of effects and processing tools. With ASIO direct monitoring via an external soundcard, Wavosaur's sound quality was excellent.

Wavosaur's businesslike face might not win many beauty contests, though we find its plain gray wrapper a nice break from the ubiquitous white fonts on black backgrounds (plus you can re-skin it if you don't agree). Pro studio integration via ASIO, VST, and MIDI compatibility simply set Wavosaur above the crowd, though it's as flexible and easy to use as much less capable tools, too, including some premium programs.

LMMS (64-bit)

LMMS is a free cross-platform alternative to a commercial program like FL Studio, which allows you to produce music with your computer. This includes the creation of melodies and beats, the synthesis and mixing of sounds, and arranging of samples. LMMS can also connect to any of your MIDI devices and allow you to perform live, all in a user-friendly and modern interface.

Cubase

Cubase is one of the most powerful music creation software packages in the world. With its unrivaled range of flexible tools, you can create any kind of music quickly and intuitively. It comes packed with a wide range of virtual instruments, effects, and thousands of sounds. Whether you're a professional composer or a music production beginner, Cubase provides you with everything you need for turning your ideas into music.

WavePad Masters Edition

WavePad Masters Edition by NCH Software is a full-featured music editing program for Windows PC computer. WavePad allows you to create and edit music and other audio recordings. You can duplicate sections of recordings and add echo, amplification, noise reduction and other effects

Audacity Portable

Audacity Portable is the Audacity audio editor packaged as a portable app, so you can take your audio files along with everything you need to edit and record on the go. You can place it on your USB flash drive, iPod, portable hard drive or a CD and use it on any computer, without leaving any personal information behind.

Audacity Portable is a powerful and free audio file editor for MP3s, WAVs, and other formats. You can remove long intros, extract clips, and change the pitch, tempo, and other parameters of your song files or any audio recording. But, as the name indicates, Audacity Portable is completely portable, which means it runs as soon as you click the program's executable file without having to be installed. You can carry Audacity Portable with you on a USB drive, iPod, smartphone, or any portable storage device and run it on any Windows PC without leaving permanent traces behind. The latest release of Audacity Portable includes Windows 8 compatibility.

We clicked the program file, and the familiar Audacity interface opened, as did the Welcome to Audacity screen with its links to a Quick Help feature as well as a Manual, Wiki, and Forum. If you haven't used Audacity before, these resources explain it all, and other users stand ready to answer any question you can pose. But your best bet may be to do what we did when we were new to Audacity: Load a file and start tinkering. Thanks in part to Audacity Portable's busy but attractive and logical layout, that's a surprisingly easy thing to do. We started by loading a WAV we'd recorded from an LP. Audacity Portable's expandable spectral view let us zoom in to remove lead-in groove noise as well as select tracks for extracting and converting. Though portable, this program has plenty of options, features, and extras, including a long menu of effects as well as tools to analyze recordings and generate test tones, noise, and even silence.

We've had nothing but the excellent performance from the freeware programs rendered portable by PortableApps, and Audacity Portable is no exception. Though it's not installed at startup, Audacity Portable even detected our various digital audio devices, interfaces, and outputs, including two external sound cards and both mono and stereo inputs. Audacity Portable lets you take audacious audio editing wherever you go.

FL Studio

FL Studio is a music production system. All you need in one package to compose, arrange, record, edit, mix, and master professional quality music. Features includes audio editing and manipulation, interface and plug-in parameters automation, use in other DAWs, live performance, mix and remix audio, multi-track recording, record and play MIDI input, sequencing and arranging, synth and effect plug-in hosting. Other features include multi-touch support, play-list, linking includes MIDI input port, play-list and piano roll, right click data entry, plug-in picker, mixer, and play truncated notes in clips restores notes overlapping slice points in pattern clips.

With a new name and a new interface, FL Studio is reestablishing its place as a full-featured and affordable audio-production program. Competition in the world of all-in-one music-creation suites has grown considerably since Fruity Loops first started breaking beats.

The photo-realistic mixing-board interface, littered with small, unlabeled icons and burdened with a confusing file browser, makes the learning curve steeper than it should be. Once you clear that hurdle, though, this enjoyable product will have you making music in no time. The Fruityslicer makes short work of chopping up breaks, and the simple step-based drum machine lets you create your own. You can bind FL Studio to other programs via VSTi and DXi plug-ins. A full selection of software instruments is included so you can start playing immediately. All the usual suspects are there, from vintage, buzzy, analog imitators to wacky sound effects and generic voice samples.

FL Studio offers a tremendous value for what you get. Comparable products cost nearly twice as much. FL Studio's quirky sound generators and interoperability make it a great addition to any studio. Be warned, though: several versions of FL Studio are available, so more features are included as the price goes up.