FL Studio is great for quick audio editing, where you need to quickly make an edit to a song or add a new part to an existing song. Due to the included audio processing plugins, there is no need to purchase more to increase the software's capability. These features lend it to "out of the box" solutions, where quick implementation with no hidden costs is important. For serious audio editing and mix down, FL Studio is not well suited, as it is designed to be a good all round music creation software, rather than a dedicated audio editor.
Highly recommended for voice over recording and editing. Great for splicing together several different recorded files to create a final track. Our voice over talent typically sends us their unedited recordings with multiple recordings of the script. Then we can listen to the different versions to select the best fit for our client. We just select the sections we like and copy them into a new file, then continue to add the sections until we have the final voice over. It is easy to tighten up or stretch out the recording to better fit our timeline.
We have not used WavePad for recording live music so not sure how well it is suited for that. If you need multi-track editing you will need another product. MixPad makes a nice companion.
WavePad only works with a single audio track. NCH does offer MixPad for multi-track editing. We also use MixPad occasionally to mix background music with voice.
I gave it the above rating because it is an incredible software for music creators and even though it might be hard to use at first, but once you get the hang of it, you will never be troubled again, and in all honesty, nothing comes easy life, especially if one yearns to become good at. Same applies with FL Studio. In conclusion, it is a great software.
Easily handles basic audio recording and editing. Advanced editing features are there but if you don't already understand audio editing you will need to watch some of the provided videos to learn how to use the tools.
Audacity is a free open-source software that is only for recording and editing some audio, while FL Studio on the other hand allows you to create your own music, record your audio, edit your audio and many other features all for a small price. FL Studio has way more effects pre-sets than Audacity. Even though Audacity's recording features can come close to FL Studio, there are many other factors that led to me opting to invest in FL Studio. Many other music producers also recommended FL Studio; therefore, that's what I chose. I have used both software for almost 2 years each, first being Audacity and then I decided to get FL Studio and have been using it for all my audio recording, editing and music making ever since.
We ran across WavePad years ago and used it for some simple music file edits. Cutting out some parts to make it fit better into the time slot. Audacity was recommended by a friend and we installed it and give it a brief try. We didn't find anything bad about it but came back to WavePad.
Like I mentioned beforehand, it is slightly expensive but if you think of it, it is a lifetime investment.
FL Studio is also essential to have if one wishes to create music of their own or background songs because that way, you won't have to pay someone to create music for you.
We are able to work with local voice-over talent and amateurs and that allows us to keep our cost low to our clients.
WavePad is so inexpensive that is pays for itself on the first project. The Master's edition is less than $100 and the standard edition is less than $50.