The 7 Best Audio Recording Software for Quality Output

Adobe Audition is excellent for all users who want to record audio tracks for their music, podcasts, interviews, voice-overs, and other projects.

The audio recording software also has a broad collection of editing features for audio restoration and mixing work on your recorded audio.

As one of the best recording software for Windows and Mac users, Adobe Audition has a multitrack recording workflow that gives you a lot of flexibility and control. You can also record multiple tracks at once.

Features

• Ability to set gain levels appropriate for each track and then set individual EQ levels and processing treatments
• Excellent main vocals isolation
• Background noise removal features
• Option to add sound effects and loop tracks to your audio files to add style and substance and turn your audio recordings into professionally sounding ones
• Saves your voice and audio files in multiple audio formats, including mp3, WAV, AICC, WMA, and WMP

Cons

Adobe is great for professional audio recording. However, as an audio editing software, it can be quite overwhelming, especially for beginners.

That’s not to say it’s not a good audio editing software, but the audio recorder software is just so robust that you’ll need some time to explore and maximize its features.

Moreover, there’s also the problem of not being able to open MIDI files on Adobe Audition. Apart from that, it’s one of the best audio recording software.

Pricing

Here are Adobe Audition’s pricing plans.

• Monthly plan - $31.49 monthly (You can cancel anytime with no fee)
• Yearly plan (billed monthly) - $20.99 monthly (fees apply if you cancel)
• Yearly plan (prepaid upfront) - $239.88 yearly

Logic Pro is one of the most powerful tools for audio recording. It’s also one of the best music recording software because of all the music recording and editing tools that help you make professional-sounding tracks.

The voice recording software hosts all sorts of automation to help you save time and energy when recording audio for music, podcasts, and voice-overs.

Features

• Flex time and pitch feature that lets you efficiently fix issues in post-production
• A host of automation you can fully utilize when recording audio
• Quick swipe management for better comping to quickly compare takes and select the best one for perfect recordings
• Additional recording functionality, including Quick Punch-In, Autopunch, advanced recording commands, and automatic coloring
• Step input recording to manually enter MIDI events instead of recording in real-time
• Virtual instruments, including piano and drummer roll interfaces

Cons

Logic Pro is great, but it’s pricey upfront as it holds a $199 price tag. But because it’s a one-off purchase, you save money over the long term as there are no monthly subscriptions.

And then there’s the issue of the sound recording software only being available on a Mac.

Plus, the program is quite powerful compared to other audio recording software, so it will take up a lot of processing power and storage.

Logic Pro requires the latest macOS or iOS versions, 6 GB of storage for the program, and 72 GB for the entire sound library.

If you’re planning to use it only for audio recording, the software could be a bit of an overkill.

Pricing

Logic Pro is available for a one-off price of $199. You can try it out for free for 90 days.

Ardour is an audio editing and recording software that appeals to many composers, audio engineers, podcasters, radio producers, soundtrack editors, and musicians. You can use it to record audio with relative ease.

The free audio recording software is an open-source product born out of the collaborative effort of musicians and programmers to come up with the best software for recording audio.

Features

• Open source code to customize features and capabilities with the help of a programmer
• Flexible input monitoring options that can handle recordings with individual monitor buttons
• Set the punch-in and out points on the free recording software in many ways and combine your tracks with a loop playback
• Stop and forget feature that lets you get rid of bad recordings and free up storage instantly

Cons

Ardour is excellent for audio recording but lacks substantially on the audio editing front. You can use it to edit audio files, but it won’t be as polished and easy to use as other programs.

Because it's a free recording software, expect that the technical support won’t be as good. However, there is a supportive user community that’s ready to share knowledge and best practices.

Pricing

As an open-source software, Ardour is available for free.

Despite the tool's simplicity, WavePad is one of the best free audio recording tools.

It packs advanced features and capabilities for audio recording and mixing. You’ll definitely end up with really great-sounding audio content with WavePad.

Features

Wavepad has a customizable toolbar to remove and configure tools on the audio recorder to fit your preference and convenience. This allows you to personalize your workflow.

The intuitive split-and-mix functions also help to further improve your audio recording workflow.

It also comes with a set of audio editing capabilities, including over 20 filters and tons of effects to polish your audio recording. Some effects include distortion, reverb, amplification, fade-out, and a sound equalizer.

Cons

WavePad is excellent when you record and mix audio. However, exporting can be challenging as they take significantly longer than most expect.

It also isn’t the best audio editing software as it lacks multitrack mixing and batch processing functions, which could slow down your post-processing workflow.

Pricing

Here are Wavepad’s pricing plans.

• A free plan
• WavePad Sound Editor (Standard edition) - $60 one-time payment
• WavePad Sound Editor (Master’s edition) - $99 one-time payment

This free audio recording software has one of the most extensive libraries of audio effects and loops, making it great for people who want to build demos for fun.

You can choose from all sorts of electronic sounds to create music as much as you like.

Features

• Easy-to-use multitrack recording dashboard that lets you record voice and instruments relatively easily
• Massive library of audio loops and free audio effects to add life to your demos and recordings
• Virtual instruments with excellent sound quality, especially a virtual keyboard and drumset to add electronic accompaniment to your track
• A free audio recorder that connects with multiple audio inputs and easily records sound alongside your virtual instruments or other audio files
• Adds tracks and individually mixes audio files with the audio recorder, then exports them in various formats for publishing and distribution.

Cons

While Garageband is the best program for recording music for fun, the free software is probably not the best option for professional music production.

And although the vocal recording software can capture high-quality audio clips, there are many limitations to its editing capabilities.

However, it’s a great resource if you’re a starting musician building EPs or a podcaster.

Lastly, Garageband may be the best free audio recording software for Apple products, but it’s available only to Mac users.

Pricing

This free audio recording software is free for all Mac users.

Riverside is one of the best audio recording software for remote interviews and recordings. They’re perfect for creating video interviews, panel discussions, and podcast guestings.

Features

Cloud-Based Recording
Because Riverside is a cloud-based recording software, you can also store your recordings online. All files will securely live in your Riverside account.

But if you’d like to take out your recordings, you can also do so by downloading them into your device.

Invite Links
These provide an easy way to invite guests to a recording session on the audio recording software and record audio content. You just copy the join link and share it with your team or guests.

High-Resolution Video Recording
This is an excellent option if you’re recording a webinar, video podcast episode, or training video for your team.

Computer Screen Sharing and Recording
This feature is handy if you want to share slides or demonstrate something on your computer.

Live Streaming Capabilities
Riverside isn’t just an audio recorder software; you can also stream live to your social media platforms.

This allows you to build and engage a social media following by providing value through talk shows, tutorials, and other forms of valuable content.

Cons

Riverside is a cloud-based platform and doesn’t work when you don’t have an internet connection. You’ll have to be connected to use its services and features to the full extent.

Pricing

Here are Riverside.fm’s pricing plans:

• Free - Up to 2 hours of recording one-off
• Standard - $19 monthly (5 hours of recording per month)
• Pro - $29 monthly (15 hours of recording per month)

For more monthly recording hours, you can contact Riverside’s sales team for custom plans.

Audacity is also an open-source program born out of the collaboration of many users and experts who have helped make the software the solution it is today.

It has an array of audio mixing, recording, and publishing tools, making it a highly flexible option. Because it’s free, many people begin their recording journey with this software.

Features

• Can be used to record live audio through a microphone or mixer, or digitize recordings from other media
• A selection of LADSPA, LV2, VST, and Audio Unit (macOS) effects
• Support for LADSPA, LV2, Nyquist, VST, and Audio Unit effect plug-in
• A spectrogram view mode to visualize and select frequencies
• Ability to import, edit, and combine sound files
• Ability to export recordings in various audio formats, including multiple files at once

Cons

As a voice recording program, Audacity does the job exceptionally well. However, on the editing side, there are many limitations.

Because Audacity is a free open-source program, it currently does not offer telephone or email support. You can, however, access community pages to ask other users your burning questions.

Pricing

Audacity is available for free. However, you can pay extra for third-party upgrades and features to improve your experience.