Audio Hosts

[West R Lee]

I'm curious as to what audio hosts alternatives there are to "Audacity"? I'm having serious trouble even getting Audacity to even open these days, and I'm wondering if there is a user friendly alternative? For those who record at home, what do you use, and why?

West

 

[chazmo]

I've used soundcloud.com, Jim. At least if that's what you're asking... as to where to store your songs so people can listen to them. If you're asking about editing software, I don't have any suggestions as I haven't done that. The Spire Studio device I have used to record has some editing capability.

 

[West R Lee]

I've used soundcloud.com, Jim. At least if that's what you're asking... as to where to store your songs so people can listen to them. If you're asking about editing software, I don't have any suggestions as I haven't done that. The Spire Studio device I have used to record has some editing capability.

I think I used a misnomer there Charlie, I think I'm referring to a "DAW", or Digital Audio Workstation. You know, where you record, have an equilizer and can edit your recording? My mistake. And yes, I may have to use Soundcloud as a host as Soundclick doesn't seem as user friendly as it once was. You may be able to sense that I'm a bit tech challenged. It's why I need a "user friendly" DAW.

West

 

[GAD]

Audacity got taken over or something and is no longer what it once was which is very sad to me. I still use an older version.

If you want real pro-tools-like power, then Reaper is probably the best thing going these days. It's free to evaluate and $60 for non-commercial license.

 

[Cougar]

You may be able to sense that I'm a bit tech challenged. It's why I need a "user friendly" DAW.

There are no user friendly DAWs, lol, but that's because they're so loaded with capabilities. But for straightforward recording and multitracking, you really need to figure out only a few things you need to do for audio recording. So you do have a USB audio interface (like focusrite scarlett)?

I use Cubase Elements, a somewhat stripped down version of Cubase but plenty capable for anything I do. I wouldn't say it's all that user friendly, but once you figure out the few things you need, it's no problem. Of course, I haven't used it quite a while, so I'll have to figure it out again. Dang!

 

[GAD]

Are you running Windows? On a Mac Garage Band is about the most user-friendly thing I've ever seen.

 

[West R Lee]

There are no user friendly DAWs, lol, but that's because they're so loaded with capabilities. But for straightforward recording and multitracking, you really need to figure out only a few things you need to do for audio recording. So you do have a USB audio interface (like focusrite scarlett)?

I use Cubase Elements, a somewhat stripped down version of Cubase but plenty capable for anything I do. I wouldn't say it's all that user friendly, but once you figure out the few things you need, it's no problem. Of course, I haven't used it quite a while, so I'll have to figure it out again. Dang!

Yes sir, I have the Scarlett 2i2 3rd Gen. Thanks, I'll look at it.

West

 

[West R Lee]

Are you running Windows? On a Mac Garage Band is about the most user-friendly thing I've ever seen.

Yes GAD......old Windows 10 I think. Do they make "Garage Band" for Windows?

West

 

[Midnight Toker]

Audacity got taken over or something and is no longer what it once was which is very sad to me. I still use an older version.

If you want real pro-tools-like power, then Reaper is probably the best thing going these days. It's free to evaluate and $60 for non-commercial license.

tis a shame, and I too use an older version. Great for loading in ripped wav files of studio multitracks I have of some very well know albums to have fun mixing them myself.

As for home recording, I'm still old school. Have a small Allen and Heath mixer, a full rack of FX, and an early Fostex 8 ch digital recorder.

 

[GAD]

Yes GAD......old Windows 10 I think. Do they make "Garage Band" for Windows?

Nope. I'm not familiar with anything even like it, either.

 

[JohnW63]

I think I had a thread about this. Most interfaces come with some Lite version of a DAW, but I've always had trouble getting my input channel to do what I wanted. I've run a small Yamaha TF1 and an older analog 16 channel mixer for our school district graduations, so the concepts are clear, but the software I've tried isn't so clear.

 

[fronobulax]

Audacity got taken over or something and is no longer what it once was which is very sad to me. I still use an older version.

Would you elaborate please, including, if possible, when this happened and what features the new stewards added or removed that made it of less utility to you? Thank you.

 

[Ross]

I'm another Mac/Garage Band user. Several of my Windows-using friends use Reaper.
I also use a Scarlett 2i2 as a digitizing interface - it's a great little device!

 

[DougH]

I'm curious as to what audio hosts alternatives there are to "Audacity"? I'm having serious trouble even getting Audacity to even open these days, and I'm wondering if there is a user friendly alternative? For those who record at home, what do you use, and why?

West

Thanks for this inquiry. I thought the problem was me. I used Audacity for quite awhile with no problems until the program stopped letting me access. Too bad, it was fun while it lasted.

 

[West R Lee]

Thanks for this inquiry. I thought the problem was me. I used Audacity for quite awhile with no problems until the program stopped letting me access. Too bad, it was fun while it lasted.

Yes it was Doug. Now I'm thinking I was just beginning to scratch the surface with what I was able to do with Audacity, and now I'm going to have to learn how to use an entirely new DAW. It is a bit comforting learning that there are others having trouble with Audacity, and it's not just me.

West

 

[GAD]

Would you elaborate please, including, if possible, when this happened and what features the new stewards added or removed that made it of less utility to you? Thank you.

Audacity was bought by the Cyprus-based firm Muse Group in April 2021. Loads of people complaining about Audacity since then in all sorts of was from poor performance to I’m not using this spyware” ever since.

Audio editor Audacity denies spyware accusation

An update to the privacy policy of the free software, used by 100 million people, has caused alarm.

www.bbc.com

I still use Audacity but I haven’t updated it since probably 2019. But then I am firmly against updating all software all the time.

 

[Ross]

I still use Audacity but I haven’t updated it since probably 2019. But then I am firmly against updating all software all the time.

When I bought my Mac in 2012 I also bought Logic (the Mac equivalent of ProTools), version 9. About one month later Logic 10 was released.
I'm still using Logic 9, with the version of the Mac OS that came with the computer. Everything works just fine.

 

[GAD]

When I bought my Mac in 2012 I also bought Logic (the Mac equivalent of ProTools), version 9. About one month later Logic 10 was released.
I'm still using Logic 9, with the version of the Mac OS that came with the computer. Everything works just fine.

There are very valid reasons to update with security being the biggest, but it's been a long time since MacOS has enticed me with new features. In fact the more they "upgrade" the look and feel the less I like the changes they make.

 

[beinhard]

Audacity was bought by the Cyprus-based firm Muse Group in April 2021. Loads of people complaining about Audacity since then in all sorts of was from poor performance to I’m not using this spyware” ever since.

Audio editor Audacity denies spyware accusation

An update to the privacy policy of the free software, used by 100 million people, has caused alarm.

www.bbc.com

I still use Audacity but I haven’t updated it since probably 2019. But then I am firmly against updating all software all the time.

I am also still using an older Audacity version. It works well when a full DAW is not needed.
For bigger works Harrison Mixbus is nice, but not free. Mixbus is based on Ardour which is free and open-source.

There were several forks of Audacity after the controversy.
Most of those forks seem to have converged into a new project: Tenacity

(for those who don't speak software: a fork is a copy of source code used as basis for new development in a different direction. The ability to do this is is one of the many nice aspects of open source software)

My understanding is that the goal of Tenacity was to get rid of the issues people were unhappy about in Audacity and then continue to improve the product.
I have not yet tried Tenacity so can't say if it is successful, but there is development activity so at least there is hope.

beinhard

 

[GAD]

I am also still using an older Audacity version. It works well when a full DAW is not needed.
For bigger works Harrison Mixbus is nice, but not free. Mixbus is based on Ardour which is free and open-source.

There were several forks of Audacity after the controversy.
Most of those forks seem to have converged into a new project: Tenacity

(for those who don't speak software: a fork is a copy of source code used as basis for new development in a different direction. The ability to do this is is one of the many nice aspects of open source software)

My understanding is that the goal of Tenacity was to get rid of the issues people were unhappy about in Audacity and then continue to improve the product.
I have not yet tried Tenacity so can't say if it is successful, but there is development activity so at least there is hope.

beinhard

Interesting! Thanks for that - I had no idea about Tenacity.