Freesound Forums

Is Audacity the best free software to edit audio or there is any other more?

There are others out there, but I do personally like Audacity. Be nicer if it would sync up with other software though. Also, if it exported the individual files linearly, rather than how it does it. I took my stuff to the studio, and now it's going to take ages to get it all into place.

However, it is a fantastic program for free, and that's my only gripe. What other great software can people suggest?

I don't use anything else than Audacity and Acid Pro 4.0 to cut my samples, and that's just cause I'm more used to Acid than Audacity, because Audacity is WAY better. I don't know of a better program.

Simon_Lacelle
I don't use anything else than Audacity and Acid Pro 4.0 to cut my samples, and that's just cause I'm more used to Acid than Audacity, because Audacity is WAY better. I don't know of a better free program.

I corrected your statement with the word in bold.

I think Traverso is free:

http://traverso-daw.org/

It has multi track editing. Might be up your alley.

soundhead
I think Traverso is free:

http://traverso-daw.org/

It has multi track editing. Might be up your alley.

It is indeed free, but Audacity is a much better program in my opinion. I don't do a lot of work in Audacity, as most of my work is done in Cubase, but if I need to quickly edit a clip, Audacity is the way to go.

For just audio clip editing Audacity probably is better but the one thing Traverso seems to have on it is multi track editing. But I've barely used either program so I could be wrong.

soundhead
For just audio clip editing Audacity probably is better but the one thing Traverso seems to have on it is multi track editing. But I've barely used either program so I could be wrong.

You may be right, though Audacity really does do multi-track editing also. It just doesn't do it all that well. One thing I found a little comical about Traverso is that one of the big features of this program is that it uses keyboard commands. Whoop-dee-doo!! I guess they're not exactly marketing for pros, are they?

Hi,

tweeterdj
One thing I found a little comical about Traverso is that one of the big features of this program is that it uses keyboard commands. Whoop-dee-doo!! I guess they're not exactly marketing for pros, are they?

What do you exactly mean by this? Just curious

remon
Hi,

tweeterdj
One thing I found a little comical about Traverso is that one of the big features of this program is that it uses keyboard commands. Whoop-dee-doo!! I guess they're not exactly marketing for pros, are they?

What do you exactly mean by this? Just curious

What I mean is that any program you can find to edit or record sounds used in a professional environment (I'm thinking of ProTools, Cubase, Cool Edit, Vegas, Sound Forge, Audition, etc.) will have tons of keyboard shortcuts, and the only way to successfully make money at using these programs is to use the keyboard shortcuts. If you're only using your mouse, you're wasting time, and time is money in the studio. Even Audacity, which is powerful but probably the simplest editing program out there, has some keyboard shortcuts. You still use your mouse a lot, but if you learn the keys, you will be a lot quicker at editing.

Ah ok, thanks for the explanation.

When you've used Traverso you'll find out that it's shortcuts are more then 'just' shortcuts, it's more like playing a video game

For example, dragging things around is done by the D key [D], but moving an audioclip with [D] to it's next snap position can be done by holding the D key and using the arrow keys or the keys left/right of D.
The same holds for moving markers.

You can also hold more then one key at a time, or press/release 2 keys. The most fun thing is that the keys are sensitive for the position of the mouse, that is, the object below the mouse is the one that is 'active'.

Anyways, I really like the concept, it makes boring and slow operations really fast and fun to do!

Audacity is by far the best freeware audio editor I have ever used. It's interface is a bit bulky but it's easy to use. It has all the features that I need, and with the VST plugin, I can extend this program even further!
Ozzy.

remon

When you've used Traverso you'll find out that it's shortcuts are more then 'just' shortcuts, it's more like playing a video game

Well that kinda proves my point, don't it? :wink:

remon

For example, dragging things around is done by the D key [D], but moving an audioclip with [D] to it's next snap position can be done by holding the D key and using the arrow keys or the keys left/right of D.
The same holds for moving markers.

In Cubase, though, dragging things is done by clicking and dragging, how is using the D key easier? and you can drag it to the next snap position, same for markers. Seems to be no difference to me.

tweeterdj

remon

When you've used Traverso you'll find out that it's shortcuts are more then 'just' shortcuts, it's more like playing a video game

Well that kinda proves my point, don't it? :wink:

tweeterdj
In Cubase, though, dragging things is done by clicking and dragging, how is using the D key easier? and you can drag it to the next snap position, same for markers. Seems to be no difference to me.

Ah yeah, I should have tried to explain more clearly. The thing is that when people read 'shortcut' probably most of them think it will be about pressing some key or something like CTRL + S for save.

In Traverso it's more advanced, the example with the D key was only explanotary, since the same will hold for other keys.
When 'holding' the D key to move the audioclip around, pressing an arrow key will make it jump to the nearest snap position!

I don't know about 'old fashioned shortcut keys' that involve keeping a key(s) pressed, another example is the G key, for Gain.
Any object that is below the mouse cursor that has a Gain variable can be adjusted by just pressing the G key.
G is thus central for Gain, pressing it twice will reset the Gain of the object, keeping it down and using the arrow keys, or the keys left/right of it will in/decrement the Gain value for very precise editing etc.
While holding a key down (holding action) like pressing the G key or D for either Gain or Dragging, hitting the Escape key will cancel the action, and the Gain or position will revert to the old one.

Last but not least, using the D or G key instead of the mouse left button lowers the burden of the right hand, the only thing the right hand has to do is moving the mouse (and much less mouse moving is needed too!), which lowers risk of RSI and makes for easier and precise editing.

You probably allready knew about all this, so it was mainly meant to let other people know that the concept in Traverso is much more powerfull then just shortcut keys.

The keys (including the mouse buttons) can be programmed to whatever key(s) sequence you like, it's done in a simple to read xml file

Have fun!

I've used audacity (but not much) and it works fine. I looked at traverso; it looked pretty.... and couldn't help but notice that remon was an administrator in the forums.... and that he apparently hasn't uploaded or downloaded anything on freesound... . . . .

remon

tweeterdj

remon

When you've used Traverso you'll find out that it's shortcuts are more then 'just' shortcuts, it's more like playing a video game

Well that kinda proves my point, don't it? :wink:

tweeterdj
In Cubase, though, dragging things is done by clicking and dragging, how is using the D key easier? and you can drag it to the next snap position, same for markers. Seems to be no difference to me.

Ah yeah, I should have tried to explain more clearly. The thing is that when people read 'shortcut' probably most of them think it will be about pressing some key or something like CTRL + S for save.

In Traverso it's more advanced, the example with the D key was only explanotary, since the same will hold for other keys.
When 'holding' the D key to move the audioclip around, pressing an arrow key will make it jump to the nearest snap position!

I don't know about 'old fashioned shortcut keys' that involve keeping a key(s) pressed, another example is the G key, for Gain.
Any object that is below the mouse cursor that has a Gain variable can be adjusted by just pressing the G key.
G is thus central for Gain, pressing it twice will reset the Gain of the object, keeping it down and using the arrow keys, or the keys left/right of it will in/decrement the Gain value for very precise editing etc.
While holding a key down (holding action) like pressing the G key or D for either Gain or Dragging, hitting the Escape key will cancel the action, and the Gain or position will revert to the old one.

Last but not least, using the D or G key instead of the mouse left button lowers the burden of the right hand, the only thing the right hand has to do is moving the mouse (and much less mouse moving is needed too!), which lowers risk of RSI and makes for easier and precise editing.

You probably allready knew about all this, so it was mainly meant to let other people know that the concept in Traverso is much more powerfull then just shortcut keys.

The keys (including the mouse buttons) can be programmed to whatever key(s) sequence you like, it's done in a simple to read xml file

Have fun!

Alright, well it seems to be a pretty good little program, no matter how many sounds you've uploaded, remon. Thanks for bringing it to our attention! Glad to see you don't mind defending it a bit, either!

Hehe, and I even didn't bring it to your attention, and I'm glad it's not mandatory to have sounds uploaded to be able to post here

I won't normally promote my little application, this forum post just got my attention and I hoped to be able to inform the original poster a bit more!

Have a nice day,

Remon

Audacity is the best Open Source editor I've run across so far. I like it a lot. There are other free wave editors out there though and some may be more useful for specific jobs than others. Another free editor that comes to mind is TWE ( http://www.yamahasynth.com/download/twe.html ) There was a list of free wave editors posted to the pdsongs mailing list on Yahoo Groups a while back.

I like Audacity,

You can do many stuff to your samples.
I downloaded the latest version yesrterday.

And if you download the Plugins too........Wooo!