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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Audacity

    Score7.5 out of 10
    N/AAudacity is a free and open source audio recording and editing software.N/A

    WavePad

    Score10 out of 10
    N/AWavePad is an audio editing application from NCH Software headquartered Greenwood Village, Colorado.

    $39.95

    per user

    Pricing
    AudacityWavePad
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    Standard Edition
    $39.95
    per user
    Master's Edition
    $69.95
    per user
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    AudacityWavePad
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    AudacityWavePad
    Considered Both Products
    Audacity
    No answer on this topic
    NCH Software
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    100%
    Would buy again
    19 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    19 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    19 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    94%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    17 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    19 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    User Ratings
    AudacityWavePad
    Likelihood to Recommend
    7.3
    (25 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Usability
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Availability
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    5.0
    (11 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Configurability
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    AudacityWavePad
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Audacity
    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.
    Incentivized
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    NCH Software
    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.
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    Audacity
    • Audacity has a wide variety of controls and capabilities for editing, making it a very robust tool for audio editing.
    • Even though it's a robust tool, it is very easy to use to get many basic things done in audio editing. The learning curve is small.
    • Love that audacity is free! What else could you ask for? There really is no reason not to use it.
    Incentivized
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    NCH Software
    • Voice recording is our most used function. It is simple and straight forward. We have trained non-technical voice over talent to use it.
    • The cleanup tools have saved us from having to go out and rerecord some bad original recordings.
    • Being able to cut out sections of recordings and insert a different audio piece is a great time saver.
    Incentivized
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    Cons
    Audacity
    • 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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    NCH Software
    • 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.
    Incentivized
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    Likelihood to Renew
    Audacity
    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.
    Incentivized
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    NCH Software
    An important product for our production of customer ads.
    Incentivized
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    Usability
    Audacity
    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.
    Read full review
    NCH 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.
    Incentivized
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    Reliability and Availability
    Audacity
    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.
    Incentivized
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    NCH Software
    No answers on this topic
    Performance
    Audacity
    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.
    Incentivized
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    NCH Software
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Audacity
    No answers on this topic
    NCH Software
    Phone support is not available.
    Incentivized
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    Implementation Rating
    Audacity
    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.
    Incentivized
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    NCH Software
    It is a simple product to start using.
    Incentivized
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    Alternatives Considered
    Audacity
    No answers on this topic
    NCH Software
    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.
    Incentivized
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    Scalability
    Audacity
    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.
    Incentivized
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    NCH Software
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    Audacity
    • 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.
    Incentivized
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    NCH Software
    • 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.
    Incentivized
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    ScreenShots

    WavePad Screenshots

    Screenshot of WavePad includes a sound recorder that supports auto-trim and voice activated recording.Screenshot of The full Sound Effects Library comes with WavePad Master's edition and gives you access to 800 SFX files and 200 music files that you can add to ringtones, podcasts, movie soundtracks, and more.Screenshot of Audio Effects include Amplify, Normalize, Equalizer, Envelope, Reverb, Echo, Reverse, Noise Reduction, Sample Rate Conversion and more.