What's the best software for audio editing? Does your choice of software affect your audio quality?

And how do you pick the right one?

Let's work through all of these in this email.

First, let's clear up one thing: the audio editing software itself plays no role in your audio quality.

Your audio won't sound good just because you chose a particular software. There's much more that goes into audio quality than the tool you use.

With that in mind, let's look at some of the popular audio editing software today — and where each one fits in your workflow.

Audacity

Let's start with Audacity. You're most likely using it already, since my Master Editor YouTube channel is mainly focused on it.

The main advantage of Audacity is that it's free. The second advantage is that it's very easy to use.

You might not feel that it's easy. But once you compare it with other audio software, you'll see just how simple it really is.

Ten years ago, many professional voice actors built their entire editing careers around Audacity.

But it does have shortcomings. The main one is that it isn't very stable, and it doesn't work well with third-party plugins.

If you don't already know, third-party plugins are an essential part of professional-level editing. There are advanced plugins for things like noise reduction, removing mouth clicks, and shaping the tone of your voice.

Unfortunately, the current official version of Audacity (3.7.8 at the time of writing) doesn't support these third-party plugins well.

So while Audacity 3.7+ is great for getting started, it may not be enough when you're aiming for professional-quality audio.

This is exactly what Audacity 4.0 aims to fix — the stability problem and the plugin support.

I run a 4-class training on Audacity 4.0 for audiobook narration and voice-over. You can check it out here:
Audacity 4.0 Master Class

Adobe Audition

So what's the best alternative to Audacity 3.7+ today? Without a doubt, Adobe Audition.

Audition has an interface similar to Audacity, but it's far more feature-rich, which also makes it more complex. It takes real effort to learn.

But it's very stable, and it works very well with third-party plugins.

Audition is built mainly for spoken-word recording and editing. So if you do audiobooks, voice-over, podcasts, or content-creation voice work, it's a safe choice you can rely on long term.

For the last 22 years, it has looked pretty much the same — and it's expected to stay that way.

The catch: it requires a monthly subscription. And if you use Audition, make sure you learn it well — otherwise you'll miss out on many of the powerful features it offers.

I have courses and presets for in-depth Audition training in my Adobe Audition Bundle:
Adobe Audition Bundle

And if you already know Audacity, my Audacity-to-Audition migration class helps you make the move faster and more easily:
Audacity → Adobe Audition Migration

Reaper

Audacity and Audition aren't the only options. There's also Reaper, used by many professional voice-over artists.

Reaper has a one-time cost instead of Audition's subscription. But it has a steeper, stricter learning curve. It's stable, like Audition — but the technical skill it demands is quite high.

Here's why so many pros use it: many people come to voice-over from a background in music or song production. They start with Reaper for music, and when they move into voice-over, they keep using it because they already know it.

I don't have any training or courses on Reaper yet. But if it interests you, just reply "Reaper" and I'll make some videos on it.

TwistedWave

Finally, there's a more niche option: TwistedWave. It's not widely used in voice-over, but it's very popular among audiobook narrators.

It was built with audiobook narration in mind, so its workflow is very streamlined for that — from recording all the way through proofreading.

I don't have videos on it, but I offer a personalized training service, Easy Audiobook Narration, that includes TwistedWave training:
Easy Audiobook Narration

So, which should you choose?

I've only covered these four, but there are plenty of other options out there.

You can start with whichever one suits you — the important thing is to learn it properly and use it effectively.

Audio editing is a technical skill. You have to learn the basics and practice.

Once you can honestly assess your own technical ability, you can keep improving toward high-quality audio.

If you have any questions, just reply to this email.

— Akhtar
Master Editor