Software & Apps Backup & Utilities 40 40 people found this article helpful Free Audio Tools for Editing Music and Sound Recordings Polish your podcasts and tune up your tunes with one of five free audio editors by Mark Harris Writer Mark Harris is a former writer for Lifewire who wrote about the digital music scene and streaming music services in an easy to understand, no-nonsense manner. our editorial process Mark Harris Updated on August 21, 2019 Hero Images / Getty Images Backup & Utilities Design Cryptocurrency MS Office Windows Linux Google Drive Apps File Types Backup & Utilities View More Tweet Share Email The market for audio-editing tools feels like a maze filled with dead-ends. The market is saturated with programs that either cost a ton of money—think, for example, of Adobe Audition—or programs that haven't been maintained in many years. A good audio-editing program for editing music or podcasts, recording sound, or remixing tunes features several essential tools: Basic audio editingApplication of effectsAbility to work with different audio formats It's always best to record clean audio from the get-go, to reduce your post-processing rework. But for those times when you have no choice but to edit an audio file, we've pulled together a list of five free programs to help you edit your audio with professional flair. 01 of 03 Audacity (Windows, Mac, and Linux) Audacity What We Like Highly extensible. Works with a wide variety of formats and operating systems. What We Don't Like Interface looks outdated. Changes to a track affect original file, so they can’t be undone. Audacity remains one of the most popular free audio editors on the market. The program features excellent editing features, plus it ships with dozens of plugins and the capacity to load more. In addition to its editing capability, Audacity works as a multitrack recorder, too. This feature can be useful if you want to record live audio or convert vinyl records and cassette tapes to digital audio. It's compatible with a wide range of audio formats, including MP3, WAV, AIFF, and OGG Vorbis. Download Audacity 02 of 03 Wavepad Sound Editor (Windows, Mac, Android, Kindle) Image © NCH Software What We Like Advanced tools such as speech synthesis, voice changer, and spectral analysis. Easy to use. Editing is non-destructive (can be reversed). What We Don't Like Can be slow in rendering effects. Can’t record from more than one source at a time without MixPad (an additional app). Wavepad Sound Editor is a feature-rich program that supports a good selection of file formats, including MP3, WMA, WAV, FLAC, OGG, and RealAudio. Use Wavepad Sound Editor for reducing noise, clicks, and pops, and for adding effects like echo and reverb. The program offers spectral analysis, speech synthesis, and batch processing—and the editing process is inherently nondestructive, so your risk of corrupting the original data is reduced. The program ships with all the familiar, basic tools for editing audio files, but it can also import VST plugins (Windows only) to extend its capabilities—but that feature is only available if you upgrade to the Master's version. Download Wavepad Sound Editor 03 of 03 Power Sound Editor Free (Windows) Power Media What We Like Intuitive interface. Lots of sound effects and manipulation tools. What We Don't Like Ads during setup process. Significant resource consumption. This great-looking audio editor offers a lot of functionality. It features a broad set of effects—more than 25 built-in, including some rare noise-reduction tools as voice breath reduction, which is useful for cleaning up voice recordings. Power Sound Editor Free offers high-quality recording, audio extraction from videos or YouTube streams, and support for a large number of input audio formats. The downside to this program is that the free version only allows you to save your processed files as Wave files—but it does allow you to convert afterward. Upgrading to the deluxe version does away with this two-step process and unlocks additional features. The installer for this program also contains extra, unrelated software. If you don't want these apps installed on your system, click the decline button for each one. Download Power Sound Editor Free Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Email Address Sign up There was an error. Please try again. You're in! Thanks for signing up. There was an error. Please try again. Thank you for signing up. Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit