If you’re here reading this, chances are you’re trying to get into audio editing. Whether it’s for audio editing of your YouTube videos, a hopeful future in the movie industry as the next Hans Zimmer, a career in music production and editing, or just for creating some sick ringtones for your phone, an audio editing software is going to be at the very heart of your setup. So today, we have rounded up the 15 best audio editing software for your Mac or Windows computer.

Choosing a good audio editing software or a digital audio workstation (DAW) can be quite a daunting task, what with the variety of software available out there. Some are free, some bring in additional features, some are specific to a particular operating system and what not. So, in order to help you figure out where you should invest your time and money, we’ve dredged through the various audio editing software to find the best ones, the crème de la crème if you will. So, here are 15 best audio editing software you can check out.

  • Adobe Audition
  • Logic Pro X
  • Audacity
  • Reaper
  • FL Studio
  • Ableton Live
  • Cubase
  • Presonus Studio One
  • Hindenburg Pro
  • Ardour
  • Avid Pro Tools
  • Magix Sequoia
  • Sound Forge
  • WavePad
  • GoldWave

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.

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.

Cons:

Availability: Windows and macOS

Price: Free trial available; subscription starts at $20.99 per month

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.

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.

Cons:

  • Mac only
  • Quite expensive at $199
  • Can be overwhelming if you’ve never used Garageband before.

Availability: macOS only

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.

Availability: Windows, macOS, and Linux

Check out Audacity

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.

Pros:

Availability: Windows, macOS, and Linux (experimental)

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.

  • Loaded with features
  • Amazing for music production, not just editing audio.
  • VST support so you can basically use any 3rd party plugin.

Availability: Windows and macOS

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.

  • 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.

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.

Check out Cubase

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.

  • Too many features to keep a track of.
  • Capable of automatically identifying chords from your music.
  • Has a plugin scanner to ensure safe operation

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.

Price: 30 day free trial; pricing starts at $95

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.

11. Avid Pro Tools

I don’t think there are too many audio editing software packages that can match Avid Pro Tools’ prowess of being both feature-packed and intuitive. The software probably has the cleanest audio editing interface which can comfortably fit into any workflows. And with fast 64-bit recording and mixing engine to boot, it’s also quite good at boosting productivity.

Availability: Windows and macOS

12. Magix Sequoia

If a one-stop platform loaded with high-end tools is what you are after, Magix’s Sequoia can be the right answer to your needs. What gives this audio editing software an edge over many other counterparts is the ability to excel in all the major aspects including audio production, post-production, broadcasting, and mastering. It offers highly proficient features for source destination cut and multi-synchronous cut which enables you to combine a variety of concert recordings into one with ease. And with the seamless collaboration at the disposal, it helps music creators to work with their team in sync during post-production.

  • Highly efficient features for source destination cut and multi-synchronous cut
  • Robust audio engine
  • Seamless collaboration
  • Powerful object editor

Availability: Windows 

Sound Forge is a digital audio editing software that offers high-end tools for professionals, but is easy enough to be used by amateurs and enthusiasts. There are multiple versions of Sound Forge in the market currently. The first one is Sound Forge Pro 14, while the other one is Sound Forge Audio Studio 15. There’s also a Sound Forge Pro Suite with more bells and whistles. Sound Forge is a very well known digital audio editor and offers recording, audio editing, audio mastering and processing.

The Pro/ Pro Suite is designed for professionals and offers multi-channel or multi-track recording, voice activity detection using artificial intelligence, Disc Description Protocol export, and more, while the Audio Studio is aimed at enthusiasts and provides tools to record, edit, restore and master songs and audio files with professional effects.

  • Impressive list of features for experienced audio editors.
  • Intuitive UI

Availability: Windows and Mac

WavePad Audio editor is a full-featured professional audio and music editing software for Windows and Mac. One of the best audio editors for enthusiasts and amateurs, it has a highly intuitive interface which ensures anyone can use it with ease. The program not only lets you record and edit music, voice and other audio, but also enables you to cut, copy and paste parts of recordings, as well as add effects like echo, amplification and noise reduction.

WavePad is largely used as a wav or mp3 editor, but it also supports a number of other file formats, including vox, gsm, wma, real audio, au, aif, flac, ogg, and more. WavePad Audio Editor is available for free to non-commercial users, and it comes with most of the features of the full version, which includes additional effects for professional sound engineers.

  • Free version includes wide range of features
  • Easy-to-use for beginners and amateurs
  • Inexpensive full-featured app for professionals

Availability: Windows, Mac, Android, iOS

GoldWave is a digital audio editor from Canadian software firm, GoldWave Inc. Aimed largely at beginners and amateur enthusiasts, it offers everything from voice and stream recording and editing to sophisticated audio processing, restoration, enhancements, analysis, and conversions.

It also offers more than 40 different audio effects, including echoes, reverbs, flangers, censorship beeps and much more. You can also remaster old vinyl or tape recordings with this software. It also offers noise reduction and pop/click filters to clean up the audio by removing buzz, hiss, crackle and clicks. There’s also a Spectrum Filter for precise control over frequency and tone.

  • Affordable pricing for the features on offer
  • Easy-to-use
  • Customizable

Availability: Windows, Android and iOS

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 Acoustica Basic Edition which brings all the basic features in the free package.
  • There’s MP3 cutter if you’re only looking to cut audio files into smaller pieces.
  • There’s Audio Joiner which works completely online so you don’t even have to download an app.
  • Finally, there’s Apple’s Garage Band, which did more to democratize music production than any other software. It comes for free with macOS and is a highly efficient software for getting started with music recording, editing and post-production.

There are obviously more of these software, but for your basic needs these should prove plentiful. You can also check out AudioTool 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.

Q. What audio software do professionals use?

The audio editing software of choice for professionals depends on the platform they use and the budget they have. Folks who record audio for an YouTube channel can use something as straightforward as Audacity, while Hollywood sound engineers typically use Avid’s Pro Tools. It is the industry standard DAW that you’ll find in almost every high-end professional studio. Some of the other popular software for professionals include Apple’s Logic Pro X, FL Studio and Adobe Audition.

There are a lot of audio workstations that have a relatively easier learning curve compared to the high-end pro tools. For Windows users, BandWalk’s Cakewalk is one of the best DAW for beginners. It is free and offers a full suite of features that are easy to use for novice users. Another major contender for that title is Reaper, which is a fully-functioning DAW with a 64-bit internal audio processing engine that supports media in almost format at any bit depth and sample rate. It isn’t free, but the money is well worth it.

Unlike Mac, Windows does not come with a powerful built-in audio editor. The most used audio editing software on Windows is Audacity – a free and open source (FOSS) program that comes with a wide range of features and is surprisingly easy-to-use. Another application that you can use is WavePad, which also offers a large set of features for free. Even the paid version of the program is relatively affordable, even for beginners.

The definition of the ‘best’ audio editing software depends on your needs, your platform, your willingness to learn and your budget. If money was no object and you’re a pro at audio editing (or a steep learning curve doesn’t scare you), Avid’s Pro Tools, FL Studio, Adobe Audition and Logic Pro X will be right there at the top.

Q. What is the easiest audio recording software to use?

For beginners and amateurs, the best audio editing software is Audacity on Windows and Garage band for Mac users. Neither costs a dime, and both offer a wide range of features within an intuitive, easy-to-use interface. If you’re looking for the best audio editing software on mobile, you can check out our list of best audio editing apps on Android.

So now that you know about the 15 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.