Choosing Audio Editing Software: Reaper vs Adobe Audition

After my recent email about moving from Audacity to Adobe Audition, several people asked:
“What if I don’t want to use Adobe Audition? What about Reaper, TwistedWave, Pro Tools, or something else?”

Great question. But let’s break this down because there are two different decisions here.

First: Why People Leave Audacity

Audacity is a fantastic starting point. It’s free, easy to use, and gets the job done for basic voice editing and narration.

Many successful voice artists and audiobook narrators began their journey on Audacity.

But as you move toward more serious, professional work, things change.

Audacity struggles with large or complex projects. It crashes more often. And it doesn’t offer real-time processing very well or a workflow that keeps up with demanding sessions.

Part of the reason is its development history. Audacity was originally maintained by an open-source community. It’s now owned and developed by MuseGroup.

While it's still free and open source, the direction and changes are now led by a company, and those changes can be frequent and disruptive.

When you’re working professionally, sudden instability is the last thing you want.

That’s the main reason many people start with Audacity but eventually move on.

Second: Choosing Between Paid Software (Audition, Reaper, TwistedWave…)

Now let’s talk about the decision between paid software.

Once you enter the world of commercial tools—like Adobe Audition, Reaper, TwistedWave, Logic Pro, or Pro Tools—the conversation shifts.

These are all stable, professional-grade applications. None of them crash randomly or change dramatically overnight. You’re paying for reliability.

So, how do you choose?

It often comes down to usability and learning resources.

For example, Adobe Audition is widely used in the voice-over, audiobook, and podcasting world. That means it’s easier to find tutorials, presets, support, and workflows specifically designed for voice work.

Reaper is another great choice—but it has a steeper learning curve. It's more flexible and customizable, but also more overwhelming when you're just getting started.

And because it has a smaller user base in the voice world, it’s harder to find beginner-friendly training focused on narration or VO.

Software like Pro Tools and Ableton Live is built more for music production, so they come with extra features (and complexity) that aren't always helpful for simple voice-based projects.

That said, once you spend time inside any software, it will start to feel comfortable. If you’ve already used one for months or years, switching isn’t as hard as it seems—because the core audio editing principles stay the same.

Your Skill Is More Important Than Your Software

What matters most is not the software—it’s what you do with it.

Learn one tool well. Understand how audio works. Practice your workflow.

Then, if you ever want to switch later, you’ll be able to do it easily.

If You Choose Adobe Audition…

If Adobe Audition feels like the right fit for you, I’ve got two powerful resources:

Adobe Audition Bundle – A complete voice-over & audiobook editing system:
https://shop.master-editor.com/products/adobe-audition-bundle-beginner-to-advanced-guaranteed

Audacity to Adobe Audition Migration Workshop (Replay) – Watch how to move from Audacity to Audition with clarity:
https://www.patreon.com/master_editor/shop/audacity-to-adobe-migration-workshop-now-1889430

No software is perfect. But if you’re serious about audio, one thing is certain:
Eventually, stability and flexibility become essential.

And when they do, you’ll know it’s time to move beyond Audacity.