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Audacity 1.2.0 Released

Posted by timothy on from the cross-platform-and-smooth dept.

mbrubeck writes "After almost two years of development, the free cross-platform sound editor Audacity has released a new stable version for Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows. Audacity 1.2 has major improvements including professional-quality dithering and resampling, and new pitch- and speed-changing effects. Our previous stable release was announced on Slashdot in June 2002. More recently, Audacity was presented at this year's CodeCon in San Francisco."

6 of 329 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Hopefully studio costs going down by m00nun1t · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Software is a trivial cost in the grand scheme of things. Mixing desks, monitors, amps, sound proofing, mics, and of course rent & engineer fees are far more.

    For example, you can get a top of the line recording package such as Logic Audio for around $1000. However, a decent vocal microphone such as a Neumann U87 will set you back around $3000.

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  2. Re:Linux On The Desktop by Underholdning · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'd like to see linux on the desktop as much as the next guy, but I really don't see why this program, albeit great, helps. Linux on the desktop will not happen until my mother can install linux. She can install Win XP, but she's not even close to installing a standard Debian. Since Audacity is cross platform, it really doesn't give linux any edge at all.

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    Underholdning.info
  3. Good, but not good enough by djtrialprice · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I know that it depends on what you want to use it for, but I don't think Audacity is actually useful for "live recording" i.e. listening to something and concurrently recording alongside it.

    I do have to admit that it is a great piece of software with loads of features but when I do some multitrack recording with my full duplex, 24-bit, DMX 6Fire soundcard: I expect good results. I don't expect a latency of about half a second. That's the bottom line - until that problem is addressed I can't swap Audacity for CoolEdit Pro, or Cakewalk. As a user and supporter of GPL stuff, that's what I really want to do.

    I guess sometimes there really is a reason why software *can* rightly cost hundreds of thousands of $$$s.

  4. Windows, too by Evil+Grinn · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Audacity is also pretty darn useful on Windows. It fills a niche between Windows' built-in sound recorder program (that will only record one minute) and more advanced non-free (in any sense of the word) apps. I am not aware of another free sound editor for Windows with the features of Audacity.

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    where there's fish, there's cats
  5. Re:Hopefully studio costs going down by blackmonday · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'm a huge fan of open source tools, but there's just no software out there to compete with the big boys. Audacity is great as a learning tool, but you'll never find it in a professional recording studio. Steinberg's Cubase and Nuendo, and Digi's Pro Tools, and Apple's Logic division are not worrying about the free competition yet.

    And OK I'm not trolling here, but Audacity is just not that great. I tried using it to record a simple demo, and I just didn't find it useful. I'm glad its open source and it'll surely improve, but the simple free program that came with my Mac to record audio is better. Seriously. Ultimately maybe Audacity will kick Pro Tools' ass, but I just don't see it coming yet.

  6. Re:Audacity Rocks by croddy · · Score: 4, Insightful
    I've spent many long hours working in Peak and in Audacity, and not only is Audacity more stable, but the interface is a whole lot faster and more intuitive.

    and Peak and SoundEdit 16 don't support LADSPA plugins. Audacity does.

    kudos, Dominic et al! along with Samba, LADSPA, and Ardour, your software has been critical in all the recording I've done recently.