Adobe Audition vs. Audacity

I would recommend the program if they need to record some VO and already have the Adobe Suite. If they don't use Creative Cloud, I would say there are better programs for audio production on the market. However, the fact that I have it with Adobe Creative Cloud is beneficial and makes me choose it over other programs.

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For just a quick down and dirty audio recording from computer source, Audacity is a no-frills solution that any user can get up and running with quickly without the intimidating functions seen in most standard DAWs. This would be a great tool to start with to record church services, or basic live performances where someone wouldn't want to use a full DAW like Ableton Live or Studio One.

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• Sound waves - Sound originates in the air, arising from its vibrations. The source of air vibrations can be, for example, a person's vocal cords, a drum or loudspeaker membrane, or guitar strings. These vibrations push nearby molecules together, slightly increasing the air pressure.
• Bit depth - The bit depth (depth) of digital audio determines the dynamic range for an audio file. When a sound wave is digitized (sampled), each sample is assigned an amplitude value that most closely matches the amplitude of the original sound wave. The higher the bit depth value, the greater the dynamic range, the lower the noise level, and the higher the digital sound quality.
• Automatic filters and special effects - Adobe Audition includes a suite of new sound effects ranging from circuit-optimized Surround Reverb to a suite of diagnostic effects.
• Analog Audio: Positive and Negative Voltage - The microphone converts the pressure of sound waves into electrical current: high air pressure becomes a positive voltage, and low pressure becomes negative. As these voltage changes move along the microphone wire, they can be recorded (as changes in magnetic field strength) onto magnetic tape or onto a vinyl record (by resizing the grooves on the disc).
• High-performance code - Adobe Audition has received a new redesigned code. This means increased speed of audio processing, accurate and smooth sound reproduction during preprocessing, the ability to work with multiple files and audio tracks at the same time, high overall performance.
• Editing, enhancing and restoring audio - Any professional working with sound dreams of making the source material as close to ideal as possible. For this, special studios are being built with soundproofing, special acoustic form, and equipment. Indeed, if there is such an opportunity, then it is better to record sound in the studio. Even in this case, insignificant noises and unwanted sounds can be received at the input: a click of a switch, a weak background of a poor-quality or punctured cable, or, for example, a defect in human diction, in which some hissing sounds turn into whistling sounds. It is worth going out to record an interview, for example, in an office space - phone calls or conversations in the next room, the noise of the city outside the window, sounds of the door being opened, etc. will be added.

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• Audacity has a wide variety of controls and capabilities for editing, making it a very robust tool for audio editing.
• Even though it's a robust tool, it is very easy to use to get many basic things done in audio editing. The learning curve is small.
• Love that audacity is free! What else could you ask for? There really is no reason not to use it.

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• It is a very expensive software, as is all of Adobe's other software.
• The interface and all the features can be difficult [for] beginners to get the hang of and get used to.
• When live listening to your recording with effects, there is an unavoidable latency which doesn't help.

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• Although the UI is very simple, it's not great to look at. Making the program more exciting visually would be a great plus.
• The functionality has never been lacking for what it is, but has also not seen major additions in a long time.
• The support base of the community is truly impressive, but is also very intimidating to wade through. Having better standardized help avenues would be a benefit to new users.

Adobe Audition is now my primary software choice for all audio production. Since I have invested so much time in learning many of the features, I have no need to adopt another app or platform for the foreseeable future. As an avid Adobe fan, I trust my choice in selecting Audition and have no plans to change

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With no subscription fees unlike other products on the market, I am very confident I will continue using Audacity for my simple audio editing needs. I'm not an expert in audio editing, I'm sure what works for me as a more general user in a public institution would not suit someone more experienced, but I'm very happy with the quality of work I'm able to produce.

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It isn't easy to just jump in and learn the program, though most of Adobe products aren't easy to use the first time around. They UI is not friendly, and it is cumbersome and intimidating when you first try it. For simple audio changes, it seems to difficult to use, but for the more advanced audio work, it's the perfect solution.

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Audacity is decently user friendly, while any questions generally have to be answered by externally searching for tutorials or other users encountering the same issue, it is still straightforward, simple, and easily resolved. It's installable on any type of computer, compact, and easy to install. Beginners may have a harder time, but once you know what you're doing, it's very easy to use.

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I’d rate Adobe Audition’s availability as very reliable. It’s almost always available when we need it. We’ve had very few issues with crashes or errors, and no unplanned outages. As long as the system meets the hardware requirements and everything’s kept up to date, it runs smoothly. Any hiccups we’ve had were usually tied to updates or third-party plugins—not the app itself.

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Audacity is great for this, it doesn't require a network connection once downloaded, and previous versions of the software are still functional in my experience. I have never experienced the program crashing, lost work, corrupted files, anything of the sort.

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I’d rate Adobe Audition’s performance as strong. Projects load quickly, and editing—whether it's applying effects, scrubbing audio, or rendering—runs smoothly, even with larger files. Exports complete in a reasonable time, especially with solid hardware. It also plays well with other Adobe tools like Premiere Pro without slowing things down. As long as your system meets the specs, performance is fast and stable across the board.

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I have never had issues with speed in Audacity, I don't integrate it with other software but the program runs smoothly even with larger jobs. I haven't measured the CPU while using Audacity, but I imagine it's not high compared to other, more professional or specialized programs in the same category.

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I have not contacted support but given the large amount of users, I have no doubt that most problems can be solved fairly easily. A cursory search for known issues in Adobe Audition yields a support website with many workarounds posted by the official Audition team. They seem responsive and eager to continue fixing bugs and improving the application, which I take as a sign that their support is top notch, as I would expect from my experience using other Adobe products.

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We have not used direct support for Audacity, other than using the information available on their website, which resolved the issues we were experiencing so we had a good experience in that regard. As this is Open Source FREE software, I don't believe there is direct support available. In saying that, it has the following great support options:

• Online documentation and FAQ
• Online tutorials covering all functions
• Online user forums where questions are asked and answered by other users
• Online wiki with more information

With these options most issues should be able to be resolved to get full use from Audacity.

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Adobe offers a good mix of tutorials, videos, and help articles that cover the basics and some advanced features. It’s easy to follow, especially for beginners. That said, if you're looking for deep dives or very specific use cases, you might need to look beyond Adobe's official resources—forums and third-party videos helped fill in those gaps.

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Overall, I was pretty satisfied with the implementation. Setting up Adobe Audition was straightforward, especially since it fit well with the other Adobe tools we were already using. There were a few small bumps in getting everyone up to speed, but nothing major. Once we had things configured the way we wanted, it ran smoothly and became part of our regular workflow pretty quickly.

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Again I found it helpful to write up a step-by-step tutorial for coworkers based on our institution's standard practices. This combined with support from coworkers to answer questions is very effective for simple everyday use of Audacity. The support in-program is minimal but troubleshooting in the internet age is straightforward.

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Although I don't use it NEARLY to it's full capacity, Audition is the clear winner in post-production editing software. Audacity would likely come the closest, but its free. So remember... you get what you pay for. When I export a final track from Protools, I immediately open it in Audition to make sure it doesn't look "smashed" or that the transients aren't too tall

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All of the DAW's listed above are great for scoring to picture, which is something Audacity doesn't do. But it's an excellent standalone audio editor, which is a vital tool in any studio. It's very easy to transfer the clip, make the changes, and import it back into your session.

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Adobe charges a monthly subscription fee for all its software.

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I’d rate Adobe Audition’s scalability as strong overall. It works well across different departments—whether it's for podcasting, video production, or training content. Since it’s part of the Adobe Creative Cloud, it’s easy to manage licenses and updates across teams and locations. The only limitation might be that it’s single-user per license, so collaboration isn’t real-time like some cloud tools, but for most audio workflows, that hasn’t been a major issue.

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I feel that Audacity is useful, simple, and suited both to casual users and more advanced use cases. There are options for expanding functionality in complex situations, but the option to not mess with it as a beginner is perfectly fine and suited to most everyday uses in my institution.

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I’d rate the professional services for Adobe Audition as good. When we used them, the team was knowledgeable and helped us set up workflows and troubleshoot issues. While not always necessary for basic use, their support was valuable for more complex needs or training.

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• Since I already have the Adobe Creative Suite, Audition is a sunk cost. But since I have it and it fits my needs perfectly, I don't have to purchase a separate product, which saves me money.
• Since Audition looks and feels like the other apps in the Creative Suite, it's that much more approachable if you already use Photoshop, After Effects, etc. While that obviously doesn't substitute for training, users of other Adobe apps should feel right at home.
• Even if I didn't have the Creative Suite, I would still buy Audition. At $20/mo, it's still the product I would want to perform audio editing.

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• Audacity is completely free, so it has helped us to eliminate the expense of paying for recording software.
• It is fast and efficient, which helps us save time and generate a great workflow.
• Even though we have what we need there are some features that cannot be found on Audacity, this affects the quality of our audio in a way.

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