Linux contains far less bloatware and fancy bells and whistles compared to Windows or Mac, and as a result, it is a much leaner OS. If you’re just beginning to delve into audio, Audacity is a good option to get the hang of the basics. It supports LADSPA and VST plugins, but support for VST instruments (VSTi) is not present.Īudacity is a simple program that can be used for quick audio recording or editing without the need for advanced mixing and editing capabilities.
It is developed and maintained by a group of volunteers and is available free of cost for Linux, Windows, and macOS systems.Īudacity provides the usual array of effects and editing capabilities, although its feature set is not really meant to rival a fully-fledged professional DAW.
Bitwig Studio (Paid)Īudacity is a free and open-source audio software that has been around since 1999. If you do like using Ardour, then you are encouraged to support the development 2. Harrison Console’s flagship DAW Mixbus uses Ardour as its core engine and expands upon it with Harrison’s own DSP and console-like workflow. The best option is to get the most up-to-date ‘ready to run’ program, but you will have to either pay via subscribing, where you will receive software updates for as long as you stay subscribed, or a single payment, where you get access to the software along with minor version updates.Īrdour supports all sophisticated DAW functions like multitrack recording and editing, latency compensation, external controllers, and even features transport control functionality to interact with other programs to enable functions like video scoring.Īrdour supports plugins in formats like LADSPA, LV2, and native Linux VST.
You can get Ardour for free either by building it yourself (this can be complex and time consuming) or by just installing the binary if it’s available on the package repository of the distro that you’re using, though the software will often be a bit out of date, but still generally very usable. It was authored by Paul Davis, who also developed the JACK sound server API, which is the backbone of Linux-based professional audio.
Users can even build Ardour for their specific hardware and study or modify the source code freely. You will also find powerful features such as "persistent undo", multi-language support, and destructive track punching modes that aren't available on other platforms.Ardour is a professional-grade open-source DAW for Linux. Ardour supports a wide range of audio-for-video features such as video-synced playback and pullup/pulldown sample rates. Ardour has a completely flexible "anything to anywhere" routing system, and will allow as many physical I/O ports as your system allows. This means implementing all the "hard stuff" that other DAWs ( even some leading commercial apps ) handle incorrectly or not at all. If you've been looking for a tool similar to ProTools, Nuendo, Pyramix, or Sequoia, you might have found it.Ībove all, Ardour strives to meet the needs of professional users.
You can produce your own CDs, mix video soundtracks, or just experiment with new ideas about music and sound.Īrdour capabilities include: multichannel recording, non-destructive editing with unlimited undo/redo, full automation support, a powerful mixer, unlimited tracks/busses/plugins, timecode synchronization, and hardware control from surfaces like the Mackie Control Universal. You can use it to record, edit and mix multi-track audio.