Audio Editing Software Review

If you are one of the world’s true music lovers, you probably prefer to have full control over every last note in your collection – whether it is the music you make yourself or the music you buy. With the right audio editing software, that's what you will have.

There really is no reason to settle. The best music editing software allows you to create, restore, edit, record and convert music – all in one interface. Even if you have never used audio editing software, these products make it relatively easy to get started. Once you get the hang of it, you will be creating your own original music or restoring all of your old favorites like a pro.

Here are some basic features you can expect with the best audio editing software:

• Create – With easy-to-use editing software, even an amateur can create unique voice and music mixes for an internet radio station, website, PowerPoint presentation and personal use.
• Restore – Advanced filters and other tools within top audio editing software applications can restore the sound of aged LPs and damaged audio recordings. You can also filter out background noise, static and other unwanted noise.
• Edit – Audio editing software includes many editing tools, including cut-and-paste options and the ability to edit and tag media information.
• Record –You can record your favorite podcasts, internet radio stations and other types of streaming audio. You can also pull audio from video and audio files, CDs, DVDs and even your computer's sound card so that you can listen to and edit them on your computer or a portable device.
• Convert – Most applications convert file formats so that you can enjoy your music using the most convenient player. You can convert WMA, WAV and OGG files to MP3s so that you can enjoy them on your iPod, for instance.

We are continually researching, reviewing and ranking the top audio editing software available so that you'll know which applications will give you the latest and greatest features, tools and additions at your fingertips. We have included articles on audio editing software, along with reviews of each product, including our top three picks – MAGIX Music Maker, NCH WavePad and AVS Audio Editor. Our side-by-side comparison of audio editing software will help you quickly determine which application is best suited to meet your individual audio editing needs.

Audio Editing Software: What to Look For

We look for products that will help you complete a wide range of projects, whether you're working with streaming audio, making arrangements for your MP3 player, restoring sound files, creating audio for your website or burning a CD of your band's music. We prefer products that offer a large number of preset effects and filters for beginners, as well the capacity for advanced users to make specific manipulations with a high quality equalizer, a mixer and various processors.

Below are the criteria we used to evaluate each application:

Audio Editing
All good software contains play, record, cut, copy, paste and other functions, but this criterion looks beyond the essential editing tools to include things such as equalizers, processors, mixers, preset effects, filters and analyzing tools like the waveform and spectrogram.

Filters/Effects
We looked for applications with a wide variety of preset filters and effects that can be used to create exactly the sound you want, including tools like band pass, invert, flange, echo, cross-fade, reverb, chorus, stretch and many more.

Recording/Burning
The best applications capture audio from files, a computer's sound card and from downloaded CDs, as well as from outside sources such as a line-in from an audio source, MIDI device or microphone. As a bonus, it is also helpful if the product includes burning software so that you can use your CD or DVD burner to save and share your edited files. To be the most compatible, the product must be able to work with and convert to many file formats, including the various WAV file types, Windows Media Audio (WMA), AIFF (used by Apple) and MP3 files.

Ease of Use
All key features of the product should be easy to find and use. It is accommodating if the product contains preset effects and filters that you can access via dropdown menus or icons, as well as mouse zooms, right-click edits and unlimited undos. Fast recorders that search for sound cards or streaming audio automatically are also handy.

Help/Support
This type of software can be tricky for inexperienced audio editors and non-professional mixers to master. Comprehensive help and support should be obtainable through FAQs, direct contact with technical support, user forums, help pages and other documentation, and are necessary when you use this type of software.

For great prices, flexibility and easy-to-use audio editing software, use our side-by-side comparison to check out the best applications we found.

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