Whether it's creating a ringtone from your favorite song or creating a mix of songs for the party or to listen to music in a personalized way, with effective and simple audio editing software you can create all kinds of changes, even in a professional way. Choosing an audio editing solution would be quite difficult, given the different capabilities each tool possesses and given the costs of some professional programs.We then discover the best audio editing software, each suitable for unique purposes, which are free. In this list of best free programs to edit audio files which can be recordings or music tracks, highlighting the main features of each of them, allowing us to get the right tool for your particular use.
1) The main program that everyone should have installed on their computer even just to perform trivial operations such as cutting or raising the volume of a song is the programma audio editor Audacity (a viable alternative to the best of audio manipulation programs, namely Adobe Audition).
Con Audacity (free and opensource for Windows and Mac) it's possible process any audio file, see its wave structure, and then perform editing operations such as cutting or eliminating noise or noise. Its operation is very simplified by the interface that can be used easily with the mouse, selecting the parts to be modified or cut and applying the desired filter or effect. There are options for change the pitch and speed of playing music, fade effects audio, accessories for clean up a recording of noises, bass enhancements and more. Obviously it's a program that can be thoroughly understood by those familiar with the technical jargon of audio but it's also great for making simple edits.
Audacity is also useful for audio recording from a microphone or other sources that you can connect to your computer's sound card.
If you have the right tools, it can even handle the recording of 16 channels at once. The program is extensible so, if not a feature is not found, most likely you can add it through a plugin that will have to be searched for. Overall, Audacity therefore presents a simple interface (although as a program it is very complex), a lot of effects and a great ability to record from external audio sources. The flaws are the lack of an easy-to-understand user manual and a plugin repository to integrate all the more advanced features.
Audacity is a program that I have often mentioned in this blog in other guides such as:
- Record music from LP disc or cassette
- Delete the voice from a song
- Cut, split and merge mp3 music, audio and music tracks
- Transcribe an audio recording under dictation.
2) Wavepad, from NCH Software, is a simpler audio editing program, an intuitive yet professional solution. You can use the tool for creating a music mix by mixing different tracks and create professional music through recording and various advanced and standard features. WavePad offers support for almost all popular audio formats, such as MP3, WAV, VOX, GSM, WMA, OGG, AAC, etc. For example, WavePad offers functions such as copying audio parts, inserting effects of music parts into another, cropping, and many effects.
With WavePad you can also have fun at edit music and songs thanks to a Sound Library that is a collection of sound effects, gingles and samples of music that can be freely downloaded in a click or two and used to enhance a recording. The program is free to download, although the free version has some limitations compared to the paid full version.
3) Wave Editor, free and derived from the powerful Nero burning software, is a simple program to edit audio files with the wave view, useful for cutting and joining parts, applying effects and filters, removing vocals, editing music to create ringtones and others simple operations.
4) WaveShop is a fantastic and easy to use free and open source audio editor for Windows, even portable and without installation.
This software allows you to import an audio file in a supported format (MP3, OGG, MPC, WAV, AIFF, AAC and some others) and then edit it using the timeline which makes it easy to remove a particular part from the audio file or merge multiple tracks into one. . In addition to normal audio editing, there are effects and tools that allow you to amplify the sound, use the fade, normalize the volume and then also use additional plugins with audio filters.
5) SoundEditor it's free, opensource, but it only allows you to edit Wave (WAV) audio files only
6) Jokosher is another free and open source audio editor for Windows that allows you to edit audio files in MP3, OGG, WAV formats and with a timeline. You can combine audio files into a sequence or use overlapping tracks to mix multiple audio tracks, split an audio file, or cut / copy part of the audio and paste it elsewhere on the track. You can add musical instrument sounds to your audio file such as electric bass, acoustic guitar, harmonica, saxophone, trumpet, keyboard and others. Changes can be saved freely, recorded from the PC and also from the microphone.
7) Linux MultiMedia Studio, now known as LMMS, is audio editor software for Windows as well, which can be a superb alternative to FL Studio (paid) or Adobe Audition, completely free. LMMS offers a huge number of amazing features as a whole, including FX Mixer, Automation Editor, MIDI keyboard support, some built-in audio effects and tools, and compatibility with some standards in digital music production and editing. The LMMS user interface is truly professional and the availability of plug-ins can bring more productivity.
LMMS is definitely one of the best free programs for Mixing music on PC like a DJ.
8) FLStudio is a giant in the audio editor landscape, a professional program, perfect for music professionals. This tool is a music production environment that packs all the functionality you need to compose, arrange, record, edit, mix and master professional-quality music. You can notice the complexity of this tool from the moment it is first opened, with all the features neatly grouped into categories and the bottom looking like a professional artist's studio. The Trial version is free and has no time limit to be used, it includes all functions and can also export to WAV or MP3. The very big limitation is that you cannot reopen saved projects.
9) Music Editor free it's one of those programs that stands out from the crowd.
The authors have not dedicated the program to experts only so there are tutorials that guide even beginners to audio editing. The interface is based on a ribbon that is also nice to see (while the others are always very ugly graphically) and it is easier to use. You can select a part of the wave, right-click and choose the operation to perform from those available in the menu. The classic effects and audio editing tools are all there: amplification, normalization, equalizers, reverb, echo, reverse listening, frequency conversion and others. Music Editor free is also capable of burning audio CDs and converting tracks from CD to MP3. The program cannot be extended through plug-ins, but audio editing beginners and those who just want to cut music or edit it to create a cell phone ringtone can easily use it and learn audio processing techniques.
10 ) Ocenaudio is one of the best free cross-platform audio editor we've ever used. The user interface is simple in appearance and easy to understand, you can add a file for editing by dragging it from a folder directly to Ocenaudio, or from the File tab. The View tab, is where the user can change the appearance of the edit screen, from waveform to spectral view or to a mix of spectral and waveform. Editing audio is not just about cutting and pasting, but adding effects to add sounds that are included in the program. In the Effects tab you can choose from the many options in the list where there is also one for the reduction of background noise. In the Preferences tab there are options to change the Ocenaudio theme and other aspects of the user interface and also to change the recording and playback device.
11 ) Ardor is a digital audio workstation that allows you to record, edit and mix tracks, using an interface that can be professional and easy to use at the same time, to record, edit and mix audio even from external sources. Ardor can be useful for sound engineers, musicians, soundtrack composers, and electronic music.
12 ) Free Audio Editor is a powerful tool for editing and enhancing audio files that according to the official description is considered the number 1 free audio editing software. After reviewing the full list of features, we feel this statement is by no means exaggerated. Free Audio Editor allows you to edit audio files using the traditional waveform view or frequency-based spectral display to quickly isolate and remove unwanted noise. You can select and edit audio files with millisecond precision, remove imperfections from the audio such as hissing, hissing, buzzing or other noises, including vocal breathing.
13 ) Wavosaur it is a completely free program, a little different from the others.
It is indeed a small one portable program consisting of a single executable with a size of 560 KB. Due to such lightness it is not surprising that Wavosaur's interface is very spartan and the buttons are small. The applicable effects are the simplest and most commonly requested by non-professional users who need a basic audio editor but it is among the simplest programs for cutting, splitting and joining mp3 music, audio and music tracks. In addition, Wavosaur also offers amazing features, various processing modes, the ability to use different skins and advanced features such as batch processing capability, file export via third party software and much more. Wavosaur also has VST support.
14 ) Hya Wave Web App, is a web application, to edit an audio track on the fly or cut music without having to download a program. This site doesn't even require you to register an account, it's all free and you just need to upload an audio file to the page to see it split into waves and work on it.
If you want something more, below i best paid professional software per l'editing Audio:
- Adobe Audition, with Adobe Creative Cloud subscription of 30 Euro per month (the most used by professionals)
- SoundForge by Magix, at 60 Euros.
- Steinberg Cubase, from 100 Euros.
- PreSonus Studio One, $ 85.
- Lexis Audio Editor (app per Windows 10 a 7 Euro).
In another article, the list of Free Music Making Programs (Windows and Mac).
Best free audio editors to edit music and recordings
