Audacity vs. Propellerhead Reason

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Audacity
Score 7.5 out of 10
N/A
Audacity is a free and open source audio recording and editing software.N/A
Reason
Score 9.2 out of 10
N/A
Propellerhead Software headquartered in Stockholm offers Reason, the company's flagship digital audio workstation and audio editing application.N/A
Pricing
AudacityPropellerhead Reason
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
AudacityReason
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
AudacityPropellerhead Reason
Best Alternatives
AudacityPropellerhead Reason
Small Businesses
Descript
Descript
Score 8.4 out of 10
Descript
Descript
Score 8.4 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Adobe Audition
Adobe Audition
Score 8.3 out of 10
Adobe Audition
Adobe Audition
Score 8.3 out of 10
Enterprises
Adobe Audition
Adobe Audition
Score 8.3 out of 10
Adobe Audition
Adobe Audition
Score 8.3 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
AudacityPropellerhead Reason
Likelihood to Recommend
7.3
(0 ratings)
8.0
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
10.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
9.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Availability
10.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
10.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
5.0
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
10.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
7.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.0
(0 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
AudacityPropellerhead Reason
Likelihood to Recommend
For just a quick down and dirty audio recording from computer source, Audacity is a no-frills solution that any user can get up and running with quickly without the intimidating functions seen in most standard DAWs. This would be a great tool to start with to record church services, or basic live performances where someone wouldn't want to use a full DAW like Ableton Live or Studio One.
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Thanks to this software we have been able to achieve that all the management of quality control and product life cycle, is carried in a more organized way, in a simple to use system, which does not have such a high learning curve and that everyone in the department knows how to handle it. One of the best software in its category.
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Pros
  • Simple editing of waveforms without much prior knowledge of audio manipulation.
  • The UI is very simple, but also helpfully sparse. This cuts down on the sense of feeling overwhelmed by the task.
  • It does incredibly well with different audio formats and is able to work with all major audio sources.
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  • Huge variety of sounds
  • Easy to jump in
  • Works on it's own, so you don't need another DAW
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Cons
  • easier to grab and re-order tracks, the grab area is small
  • I am constantly zooming in and out to grab a small piece of track; make it easier to grab an audio clip
  • a button to move the focus to the beginning of the tracks
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  • The software is very complete, but it can become saturated with the many tools it has. If you have experience with Salesforce, it will be much easier for you to learn the program.
  • I would find it very useful if the system allowed to integrate other software, apart from Salesforce, so that we could have all the information from the same platform.
  • If the platform would allow local hosting or offline access to its control panel, it would make our work much easier, because sometimes the connection fails, and entering the system is impossible.
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Likelihood to Renew
With no subscription fees unlike other products on the market, I am very confident I will continue using Audacity for my simple audio editing needs. I'm not an expert in audio editing, I'm sure what works for me as a more general user in a public institution would not suit someone more experienced, but I'm very happy with the quality of work I'm able to produce.
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Usability
Audacity is for audio prodcasts only and not for video podcasts. Audacity does not have a transcript development feature. Audacity can not edit using the transcript feature that does not exist. I use another program to develop a transcript and edit using that transcript. Then I move the file into Audacity for final processing.
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Reliability and Availability
Audacity is great for this, it doesn't require a network connection once downloaded, and previous versions of the software are still functional in my experience. I have never experienced the program crashing, lost work, corrupted files, anything of the sort.
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Performance
I have never had issues with speed in Audacity, I don't integrate it with other software but the program runs smoothly even with larger jobs. I haven't measured the CPU while using Audacity, but I imagine it's not high compared to other, more professional or specialized programs in the same category.
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Support Rating
We have not used direct support for Audacity, other than using the information available on their website, which resolved the issues we were experiencing so we had a good experience in that regard. As this is Open Source FREE software, I don't believe there is direct support available. In saying that, it has the following great support options:
  • Online documentation and FAQ
  • Online tutorials covering all functions
  • Online user forums where questions are asked and answered by other users
  • Online wiki with more information
With these options most issues should be able to be resolved to get full use from Audacity.
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I've had to reach out to them very few times over the years, but Propellerhead is prompt and professional when they provide support. The manual and videos for using the product are top notch, and that goes a long way in helping you learn how to use it to its full capacity
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Implementation Rating
Again I found it helpful to write up a step-by-step tutorial for coworkers based on our institution's standard practices. This combined with support from coworkers to answer questions is very effective for simple everyday use of Audacity. The support in-program is minimal but troubleshooting in the internet age is straightforward.
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Alternatives Considered
While the comparison it's really apples-to-apples, since Audacity is only designed for audio editing, and I use other tools like Camtasia and screenflow for both audio and video, the other tools do make it convenient to edit the audio within the same software as I edit the video, rather than having to do both in separate software solutions.
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One thing that sets Reason apart from other DAWs is its ability to be both a DAW and a sampler. Most other DAWs, Ableton included, need a third part sampler in order to actually write music, something akin to Kontakt, for example. Reason is all-in-one - you can do everything with one product and a single purchase.
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Scalability
I feel that Audacity is useful, simple, and suited both to casual users and more advanced use cases. There are options for expanding functionality in complex situations, but the option to not mess with it as a beginner is perfectly fine and suited to most everyday uses in my institution.
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Return on Investment
  • Audacity is completely free, so it has helped us to eliminate the expense of paying for recording software.
  • It is fast and efficient, which helps us save time and generate a great workflow.
  • Even though we have what we need there are some features that cannot be found on Audacity, this affects the quality of our audio in a way.
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  • This software has allowed us to be much more efficient in the quality control and production department, as we were able to create quality products for our customers, with easy-to-use tools and automating tasks, so that the entire process is executed more quickly and efficiently.
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ScreenShots