Recording. Audacity can record live audio through a microphone or mixer, or digitize recordings from other media.
Device Toolbar manages multiple recording and playback devices;
Level meters can monitor volume levels before, during and after recording. Clipping can be displayed in the waveform or in a label track;
Record from microphone, line input, USB/Firewire devices and others;
Timer Record and Sound Activated Recording features;
Dub over existing tracks to create multi-track recordings;
Record at very low latencies on supported devices on Linux by using Audacity with JACK;
Record at sample rates up to 192,000 Hz (subject to appropriate hardware and host selection). Up to 384,000 Hz is supported for appropriate high-resolution devices on Windows (using WASAPI), Mac OS X, and Linux;
Record at 24-bit depth on Windows (using Windows WASAPI or Windows DirectSound host), Mac OS X or Linux (using ALSA or JACK host);
Record multiple channels at once (subject to appropriate hardware).
Export/Import. Import, edit, and combine sound files. Export your recordings in many different file formats, including multiple files at once.
Import and Export WAV, AIFF, MP3, AU, FLAC and Ogg Vorbis files;
Import and export all formats supported by libsndfile such as GSM 6.10, 32-bit and 64-bit float WAV, RF64, and U/A-Law;
Import MPEG audio (including MP2 and MP3 files) using libmad;
Import raw (headerless) audio files using the “Import Raw” command;
Create WAV or AIFF files suitable for burning to audio CD;
Import and export Opus, AC3, M4A/M4R (AAC) and WMA with the optional FFmpeg library (this also supports import of audio from video files).
Sound Quality:
Audacity supports 16-bit, 24-bit and 32-bit (floating point) samples (the latter is Audacity’s default setting and preserves samples in excess of full scale);
Sample rates and formats are converted using high-quality resampling and dithering;
Tracks with different sample rates or formats are converted automatically in real time;
These settings can be managed in Quality preferences.
Plugins:
Support for LADSPA, LV2, Nyquist, VST and Audio Unit effect plugins;
Effects written in the Nyquist programming language can be easily modified in a text editor – or you can even write your own plugin;
Experimental Modules that extend the functionality of Audacity.
Edit:
Easy editing with Cut, Copy, Paste and Delete;
Find the spot to edit easily with scrubbing and seeking or Timeline Quick-Play;
Unlimited sequential Undo (and Redo) in the session to go back any number of steps;
Edit and mix large numbers of tracks;
Multiple clips are allowed per track;
Label tracks with selectable Sync-Lock Tracks feature for keeping tracks and labels synchronized;
Draw Tool to alter individual sample points;
Envelope Tool to fade the volume up or down smoothly;
Automatic Crash Recovery in the event of abnormal program termination.
Effects:
Generate tones, silence, noise, instruments or rhythm track;
Change the pitch without altering the tempo;
Change the tempo without altering the pitch;
Noise Reduction to remove static, hiss, hum or other constant background noises;
Alter frequencies with Equalization, Bass and Treble, High-Pass, Low-Pass and Notch Filter effects;
Filter a frequency selection created in Spectrogram view or Spectral Selection Toolbar using spectral edit effects;
Adjust volume with Compressor, Amplify, Normalize, Fade In/Out, Studio Fade Out, Crossfade Clips, Crossfade Tracks and Adjustable Fade effects;
Reduce or Isolate Vocals given suitable stereo tracks (vocal reduction produces a stereo result);
Create voice-overs for podcasts or DJ sets using Auto Duck effect;
