Mastering the Art of Optimal Audio Format Selection

How to Choose Best Audio Formats

Benjamin Arango

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

The quality of sound that you hear depends on various factors, and an appropriate audio format is one of them. While each type of acoustic file has its own significance, choosing the best audio format as per the target player, expected audience, and/or supporting videos or images (if any) is something that needs much consideration to offer a flawless listening experience.

With that said, here you will learn about some of the most common sound file types, which among them could be the best audio format according to your requirements, and a couple of important points that you must keep in might while picking an extension for your media preparations.

• Part 1: 10 Most Common Audio Formats
• Part 2: How to Choose Best Audio Format?
• Part 3: Which Audio File Formats Does YouTube Support?
• Part 4: Audio Format in Filmora

Using Filmora to Record & Edit & Save Audio Easily

Wondershare Filmora is a simple yet robust video editing software that allows you to save a video to mp3 easily. Besides, if you want to remove background noise from audio, or change the audio volume or remove unwanted audio parts from the video, you should definitely try Filmora.

---

Part 1: 10 Most Common Audio Formats

Before listing the most common audio file formats, it is important to understand the categories of the sound files. Every audio format that exists belongs to one (or more) category depending on the way it is being created and the characteristics it has.

In a nutshell, there are three major categories, including:

• Uncompressed Audio Format
• Lossless Compressed Audio Format
• Lossy Compressed Audio Format

Below is a brief introduction of each of the classes listed above along with the audio file types that belong to them:

1. Uncompressed Audio Format

Uncompressed audio is the original sound that has been recorded directly from the source in the analog form, and then converted to a digital signal without any modifications or compressions. Because an uncompressed sound is prepared with no retouching or manipulations, it gives an as-is listening experience. Since no compression is done on such a file either, it occupies a remarkably huge amount of space on your storage media.

Some sound files that fall under this category include:

1) Pulse-Code Modulation (PCM)

A PCM file is the digital version of an analog waveform that is created by recording the audio samples, technically known as pulses. The PCM format is mostly used when creating optical media discs, typically the CDs and DVDs.

2) Waveform Audio File Format (WAV)

Generally used on the Windows platform, this audio format is not a file itself but a container that may contain both compressed or uncompressed files. However, in most cases, it is the latter that a WAV file has, and PCM format is one of them.

You may also interest: YouTube to WAV >>

3) Audio Interchange File Format (AIFF)

AIFF is almost identical to WAV format in its characteristics with the only difference that, unlike the latter, it was developed by Apple somewhere in 1988, and works as a container for both compressed and uncompressed audio files. While the compressed version of the format is called AIFF-C, the term Apple Loop is used when the scenario is otherwise. As it is with WAV, even AIFF files mostly contain uncompressed audio, that usually is PCM.

You may also like: Best AIFF to MP3 Converters >>

4) Data Stream Digital (DSD)

Used by Sony and Phillips, DSD is also not a format itself but a container that can store PCM files to provide decent sound quality. However, due to distortions in the composed audio, DSD files are not much in trend.

2. Lossless Compressed Audio Format

Lossless Compressed audio format is a type of file that is compressed using some advanced methods without compromising with the quality of the sound. This means that when played, you experience the same acoustic excellence as that of the source, i.e. uncompressed audio. However, even though the lossless compressed files are comparatively small in size, they still occupy decent amount of space on the hard drive or any other storage media in use.

Some formats that fall under the lossless compressed category include:

1) Free Lossless Audio Code (FLAC)

At around half the size of the source sound file, FLAC offers the original audio quality without removing any acoustic information during compression. Being an opensource and royalty-free audio format, FLAC is even easier to get, and in most cases is used as an alternative to MP3.

Check some of the best FLAC editor programs >>

2) Apple Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC)

Introduced by Apple Inc. and initially released as a proprietary product, ALAC was made royalty-free and opensource in 2011. Even though ALAC files are larger in size when compared to FLAC, the former format is used in iTunes and iOS as the latter isn’t supported by these platforms.

3. Lossy Compressed Audio Format

These are the highly compressed files that occupy significantly less amount of space on your storage media. However, during the compression process, some acoustic information is lost in order to reduce the file size. Nevertheless, if compressed correctly, the deterioration in the quality is almost negligible, and cannot be experienced unless the listener is quite experienced and the source recording is played next to the compressed audio simultaneously.

Some audio formats that fall under the lossy compressed category include:

1) MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 (MP3)

This is one of the most common file types and the best audio format for almost all media types that have sound. An MP3 file is free from the noises of the least significant in the composed audio. In addition, all the acoustic information with the frequency that normal human beings fail to catch (below 20Hz and above 20000Hz) is safely erased during compilation and compression. Furthermore, what makes MP3 the best audio file format is its ability to accommodate with almost all the devices of nearly any platform such as Android, Windows, iOS, Mac, etc.

Check this MP3 editor and convert video to MP3 easily.

2) OGG

This one, again, is not in fact an audio format but is a container for audio that generally stores Vorbis files. Although OGG files are way advanced in terms of sound quality and even offer higher compression ratio when compared with MP3, they are not much in use as many platforms and devices don’t support the format till date.

3) AU

AU is a format by Sun, DEC, and NeXT. It is yet another container that can hold both lossless and lossy files. AU files are mostly used in UNIX.

What’s the difference between common audio file formats like MP3, WAV, and FLAC? Watch the video below to learn more.

---

Part 2: How to Choose Best Audio Format?

If you are a media creator, and are into the business of preparing audio and video content for your clients or directly for the audience, it is imperative to understand what could be the best audio file format to compose the audiovisual files. Here are a few tips that you must keep in mind in this context before proceeding:

• Uncompressed Audio

If the media type you are about to create is expected to be used for further editing before exporting to a different format, using an uncompressed audio format would be best as it offers a smooth and flawless post-production experience without giving much overhead to the processor.

• Lossless Compressed Audio

If your audiences own highly sophisticated audio players with Hi-Fi speaker systems, and they are also good at recognizing and understanding the differences between poor and optimal audio quality, using lossless compressed audio format would be a good choice as it gives decent sound quality in smaller file size.

• Compressed Audio

If you are preparing a media for home users and casual listeners, you can safely use an audio format that has been prepared using a higher compression ratio. In such a scenario, MP3 is the best audio format that not only offers the decent sound quality, it also occupies less amount of space on your storage media, thus enabling you to save more files at a given time.

Part 3: Which Audio File Formats Does YouTube Support?

At the time of this writing, YouTube supports two types of formats namely MPEG-2 and MPEG-4. Although both of these are video containers, they also hold audio files. Details about both these types are as follows:

• MPEG-2
  • Audio Bitrate: 128kbps or above
  • Audio Codec: Dolby AC-3 or MPEG Layer II
• MPEG-4
  • **Video Codec:**264
  • Audio Bitrate: 128kbps or above

Since many people nowadays produce videos in MP4 due to its wide range of supported devices and players and the fact that the container is used by majority of users worldwide, MPEG-4 with audio format could be mostly seen on YouTube.

Part 4: Audio Format in Filmora

Being one of the most versatile post-production tools preferred by many professional editors worldwide, Filmora comes with a variety of audio formats from all the three categories discussed above. Furthermore, Filmora also displays relevant information about each of the file types it offers.

The following table shows a list of formats and the details that Filmora supports:

Video Format	Corresponding Audio Encoder	Audio Type
MP4	Lossy Compressed
WMV	WMA8, WMA9	Uncompressed
AVI	MP3, PCM	Lossy Compressed, Uncompressed
MOV	Lossy Compressed
F4V	Lossy Compressed
MKV	MP3	Lossy Compressed
TS	MPEG-2 Audio	Lossy Compressed
3GP	Lossy Compressed
MPEG-2	MPEG-2 Audio	Lossy Compressed
WEBM	Vorbis	Lossy Compressed

Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

The quality of sound that you hear depends on various factors, and an appropriate audio format is one of them. While each type of acoustic file has its own significance, choosing the best audio format as per the target player, expected audience, and/or supporting videos or images (if any) is something that needs much consideration to offer a flawless listening experience.

With that said, here you will learn about some of the most common sound file types, which among them could be the best audio format according to your requirements, and a couple of important points that you must keep in might while picking an extension for your media preparations.

• Part 1: 10 Most Common Audio Formats
• Part 2: How to Choose Best Audio Format?
• Part 3: Which Audio File Formats Does YouTube Support?
• Part 4: Audio Format in Filmora

Using Filmora to Record & Edit & Save Audio Easily

Wondershare Filmora is a simple yet robust video editing software that allows you to save a video to mp3 easily. Besides, if you want to remove background noise from audio, or change the audio volume or remove unwanted audio parts from the video, you should definitely try Filmora.

---

Part 1: 10 Most Common Audio Formats

Before listing the most common audio file formats, it is important to understand the categories of the sound files. Every audio format that exists belongs to one (or more) category depending on the way it is being created and the characteristics it has.

In a nutshell, there are three major categories, including:

• Uncompressed Audio Format
• Lossless Compressed Audio Format
• Lossy Compressed Audio Format

Below is a brief introduction of each of the classes listed above along with the audio file types that belong to them:

1. Uncompressed Audio Format

Uncompressed audio is the original sound that has been recorded directly from the source in the analog form, and then converted to a digital signal without any modifications or compressions. Because an uncompressed sound is prepared with no retouching or manipulations, it gives an as-is listening experience. Since no compression is done on such a file either, it occupies a remarkably huge amount of space on your storage media.

Some sound files that fall under this category include:

1) Pulse-Code Modulation (PCM)

A PCM file is the digital version of an analog waveform that is created by recording the audio samples, technically known as pulses. The PCM format is mostly used when creating optical media discs, typically the CDs and DVDs.

2) Waveform Audio File Format (WAV)

Generally used on the Windows platform, this audio format is not a file itself but a container that may contain both compressed or uncompressed files. However, in most cases, it is the latter that a WAV file has, and PCM format is one of them.

You may also interest: YouTube to WAV >>

3) Audio Interchange File Format (AIFF)

AIFF is almost identical to WAV format in its characteristics with the only difference that, unlike the latter, it was developed by Apple somewhere in 1988, and works as a container for both compressed and uncompressed audio files. While the compressed version of the format is called AIFF-C, the term Apple Loop is used when the scenario is otherwise. As it is with WAV, even AIFF files mostly contain uncompressed audio, that usually is PCM.

You may also like: Best AIFF to MP3 Converters >>

4) Data Stream Digital (DSD)

Used by Sony and Phillips, DSD is also not a format itself but a container that can store PCM files to provide decent sound quality. However, due to distortions in the composed audio, DSD files are not much in trend.

2. Lossless Compressed Audio Format

Lossless Compressed audio format is a type of file that is compressed using some advanced methods without compromising with the quality of the sound. This means that when played, you experience the same acoustic excellence as that of the source, i.e. uncompressed audio. However, even though the lossless compressed files are comparatively small in size, they still occupy decent amount of space on the hard drive or any other storage media in use.

Some formats that fall under the lossless compressed category include:

1) Free Lossless Audio Code (FLAC)

At around half the size of the source sound file, FLAC offers the original audio quality without removing any acoustic information during compression. Being an opensource and royalty-free audio format, FLAC is even easier to get, and in most cases is used as an alternative to MP3.

Check some of the best FLAC editor programs >>

2) Apple Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC)

Introduced by Apple Inc. and initially released as a proprietary product, ALAC was made royalty-free and opensource in 2011. Even though ALAC files are larger in size when compared to FLAC, the former format is used in iTunes and iOS as the latter isn’t supported by these platforms.

3. Lossy Compressed Audio Format

These are the highly compressed files that occupy significantly less amount of space on your storage media. However, during the compression process, some acoustic information is lost in order to reduce the file size. Nevertheless, if compressed correctly, the deterioration in the quality is almost negligible, and cannot be experienced unless the listener is quite experienced and the source recording is played next to the compressed audio simultaneously.

Some audio formats that fall under the lossy compressed category include:

1) MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 (MP3)

This is one of the most common file types and the best audio format for almost all media types that have sound. An MP3 file is free from the noises of the least significant in the composed audio. In addition, all the acoustic information with the frequency that normal human beings fail to catch (below 20Hz and above 20000Hz) is safely erased during compilation and compression. Furthermore, what makes MP3 the best audio file format is its ability to accommodate with almost all the devices of nearly any platform such as Android, Windows, iOS, Mac, etc.

Check this MP3 editor and convert video to MP3 easily.

2) OGG

This one, again, is not in fact an audio format but is a container for audio that generally stores Vorbis files. Although OGG files are way advanced in terms of sound quality and even offer higher compression ratio when compared with MP3, they are not much in use as many platforms and devices don’t support the format till date.

3) AU

AU is a format by Sun, DEC, and NeXT. It is yet another container that can hold both lossless and lossy files. AU files are mostly used in UNIX.

What’s the difference between common audio file formats like MP3, WAV, and FLAC? Watch the video below to learn more.

---

Part 2: How to Choose Best Audio Format?

If you are a media creator, and are into the business of preparing audio and video content for your clients or directly for the audience, it is imperative to understand what could be the best audio file format to compose the audiovisual files. Here are a few tips that you must keep in mind in this context before proceeding:

• Uncompressed Audio

If the media type you are about to create is expected to be used for further editing before exporting to a different format, using an uncompressed audio format would be best as it offers a smooth and flawless post-production experience without giving much overhead to the processor.

• Lossless Compressed Audio

If your audiences own highly sophisticated audio players with Hi-Fi speaker systems, and they are also good at recognizing and understanding the differences between poor and optimal audio quality, using lossless compressed audio format would be a good choice as it gives decent sound quality in smaller file size.

• Compressed Audio

If you are preparing a media for home users and casual listeners, you can safely use an audio format that has been prepared using a higher compression ratio. In such a scenario, MP3 is the best audio format that not only offers the decent sound quality, it also occupies less amount of space on your storage media, thus enabling you to save more files at a given time.

Part 3: Which Audio File Formats Does YouTube Support?

At the time of this writing, YouTube supports two types of formats namely MPEG-2 and MPEG-4. Although both of these are video containers, they also hold audio files. Details about both these types are as follows:

• MPEG-2
  • Audio Bitrate: 128kbps or above
  • Audio Codec: Dolby AC-3 or MPEG Layer II
• MPEG-4
  • **Video Codec:**264
  • Audio Bitrate: 128kbps or above

Since many people nowadays produce videos in MP4 due to its wide range of supported devices and players and the fact that the container is used by majority of users worldwide, MPEG-4 with audio format could be mostly seen on YouTube.

Part 4: Audio Format in Filmora

Being one of the most versatile post-production tools preferred by many professional editors worldwide, Filmora comes with a variety of audio formats from all the three categories discussed above. Furthermore, Filmora also displays relevant information about each of the file types it offers.

The following table shows a list of formats and the details that Filmora supports:

Video Format	Corresponding Audio Encoder	Audio Type
MP4	Lossy Compressed
WMV	WMA8, WMA9	Uncompressed
AVI	MP3, PCM	Lossy Compressed, Uncompressed
MOV	Lossy Compressed
F4V	Lossy Compressed
MKV	MP3	Lossy Compressed
TS	MPEG-2 Audio	Lossy Compressed
3GP	Lossy Compressed
MPEG-2	MPEG-2 Audio	Lossy Compressed
WEBM	Vorbis	Lossy Compressed

Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

The quality of sound that you hear depends on various factors, and an appropriate audio format is one of them. While each type of acoustic file has its own significance, choosing the best audio format as per the target player, expected audience, and/or supporting videos or images (if any) is something that needs much consideration to offer a flawless listening experience.

With that said, here you will learn about some of the most common sound file types, which among them could be the best audio format according to your requirements, and a couple of important points that you must keep in might while picking an extension for your media preparations.

• Part 1: 10 Most Common Audio Formats
• Part 2: How to Choose Best Audio Format?
• Part 3: Which Audio File Formats Does YouTube Support?
• Part 4: Audio Format in Filmora

Using Filmora to Record & Edit & Save Audio Easily

Wondershare Filmora is a simple yet robust video editing software that allows you to save a video to mp3 easily. Besides, if you want to remove background noise from audio, or change the audio volume or remove unwanted audio parts from the video, you should definitely try Filmora.

---

Part 1: 10 Most Common Audio Formats

Before listing the most common audio file formats, it is important to understand the categories of the sound files. Every audio format that exists belongs to one (or more) category depending on the way it is being created and the characteristics it has.

In a nutshell, there are three major categories, including:

• Uncompressed Audio Format
• Lossless Compressed Audio Format
• Lossy Compressed Audio Format

Below is a brief introduction of each of the classes listed above along with the audio file types that belong to them:

1. Uncompressed Audio Format

Uncompressed audio is the original sound that has been recorded directly from the source in the analog form, and then converted to a digital signal without any modifications or compressions. Because an uncompressed sound is prepared with no retouching or manipulations, it gives an as-is listening experience. Since no compression is done on such a file either, it occupies a remarkably huge amount of space on your storage media.

Some sound files that fall under this category include:

1) Pulse-Code Modulation (PCM)

A PCM file is the digital version of an analog waveform that is created by recording the audio samples, technically known as pulses. The PCM format is mostly used when creating optical media discs, typically the CDs and DVDs.

2) Waveform Audio File Format (WAV)

Generally used on the Windows platform, this audio format is not a file itself but a container that may contain both compressed or uncompressed files. However, in most cases, it is the latter that a WAV file has, and PCM format is one of them.

You may also interest: YouTube to WAV >>

3) Audio Interchange File Format (AIFF)

AIFF is almost identical to WAV format in its characteristics with the only difference that, unlike the latter, it was developed by Apple somewhere in 1988, and works as a container for both compressed and uncompressed audio files. While the compressed version of the format is called AIFF-C, the term Apple Loop is used when the scenario is otherwise. As it is with WAV, even AIFF files mostly contain uncompressed audio, that usually is PCM.

You may also like: Best AIFF to MP3 Converters >>

4) Data Stream Digital (DSD)

Used by Sony and Phillips, DSD is also not a format itself but a container that can store PCM files to provide decent sound quality. However, due to distortions in the composed audio, DSD files are not much in trend.

2. Lossless Compressed Audio Format

Lossless Compressed audio format is a type of file that is compressed using some advanced methods without compromising with the quality of the sound. This means that when played, you experience the same acoustic excellence as that of the source, i.e. uncompressed audio. However, even though the lossless compressed files are comparatively small in size, they still occupy decent amount of space on the hard drive or any other storage media in use.

Some formats that fall under the lossless compressed category include:

1) Free Lossless Audio Code (FLAC)

At around half the size of the source sound file, FLAC offers the original audio quality without removing any acoustic information during compression. Being an opensource and royalty-free audio format, FLAC is even easier to get, and in most cases is used as an alternative to MP3.

Check some of the best FLAC editor programs >>

2) Apple Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC)

Introduced by Apple Inc. and initially released as a proprietary product, ALAC was made royalty-free and opensource in 2011. Even though ALAC files are larger in size when compared to FLAC, the former format is used in iTunes and iOS as the latter isn’t supported by these platforms.

3. Lossy Compressed Audio Format

These are the highly compressed files that occupy significantly less amount of space on your storage media. However, during the compression process, some acoustic information is lost in order to reduce the file size. Nevertheless, if compressed correctly, the deterioration in the quality is almost negligible, and cannot be experienced unless the listener is quite experienced and the source recording is played next to the compressed audio simultaneously.

Some audio formats that fall under the lossy compressed category include:

1) MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 (MP3)

This is one of the most common file types and the best audio format for almost all media types that have sound. An MP3 file is free from the noises of the least significant in the composed audio. In addition, all the acoustic information with the frequency that normal human beings fail to catch (below 20Hz and above 20000Hz) is safely erased during compilation and compression. Furthermore, what makes MP3 the best audio file format is its ability to accommodate with almost all the devices of nearly any platform such as Android, Windows, iOS, Mac, etc.

Check this MP3 editor and convert video to MP3 easily.

2) OGG

This one, again, is not in fact an audio format but is a container for audio that generally stores Vorbis files. Although OGG files are way advanced in terms of sound quality and even offer higher compression ratio when compared with MP3, they are not much in use as many platforms and devices don’t support the format till date.

3) AU

AU is a format by Sun, DEC, and NeXT. It is yet another container that can hold both lossless and lossy files. AU files are mostly used in UNIX.

What’s the difference between common audio file formats like MP3, WAV, and FLAC? Watch the video below to learn more.

---

Part 2: How to Choose Best Audio Format?

If you are a media creator, and are into the business of preparing audio and video content for your clients or directly for the audience, it is imperative to understand what could be the best audio file format to compose the audiovisual files. Here are a few tips that you must keep in mind in this context before proceeding:

• Uncompressed Audio

If the media type you are about to create is expected to be used for further editing before exporting to a different format, using an uncompressed audio format would be best as it offers a smooth and flawless post-production experience without giving much overhead to the processor.

• Lossless Compressed Audio

If your audiences own highly sophisticated audio players with Hi-Fi speaker systems, and they are also good at recognizing and understanding the differences between poor and optimal audio quality, using lossless compressed audio format would be a good choice as it gives decent sound quality in smaller file size.

• Compressed Audio

If you are preparing a media for home users and casual listeners, you can safely use an audio format that has been prepared using a higher compression ratio. In such a scenario, MP3 is the best audio format that not only offers the decent sound quality, it also occupies less amount of space on your storage media, thus enabling you to save more files at a given time.

Part 3: Which Audio File Formats Does YouTube Support?

At the time of this writing, YouTube supports two types of formats namely MPEG-2 and MPEG-4. Although both of these are video containers, they also hold audio files. Details about both these types are as follows:

• MPEG-2
  • Audio Bitrate: 128kbps or above
  • Audio Codec: Dolby AC-3 or MPEG Layer II
• MPEG-4
  • **Video Codec:**264
  • Audio Bitrate: 128kbps or above

Since many people nowadays produce videos in MP4 due to its wide range of supported devices and players and the fact that the container is used by majority of users worldwide, MPEG-4 with audio format could be mostly seen on YouTube.

Part 4: Audio Format in Filmora

Being one of the most versatile post-production tools preferred by many professional editors worldwide, Filmora comes with a variety of audio formats from all the three categories discussed above. Furthermore, Filmora also displays relevant information about each of the file types it offers.

The following table shows a list of formats and the details that Filmora supports:

Video Format	Corresponding Audio Encoder	Audio Type
MP4	Lossy Compressed
WMV	WMA8, WMA9	Uncompressed
AVI	MP3, PCM	Lossy Compressed, Uncompressed
MOV	Lossy Compressed
F4V	Lossy Compressed
MKV	MP3	Lossy Compressed
TS	MPEG-2 Audio	Lossy Compressed
3GP	Lossy Compressed
MPEG-2	MPEG-2 Audio	Lossy Compressed
WEBM	Vorbis	Lossy Compressed

Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

The quality of sound that you hear depends on various factors, and an appropriate audio format is one of them. While each type of acoustic file has its own significance, choosing the best audio format as per the target player, expected audience, and/or supporting videos or images (if any) is something that needs much consideration to offer a flawless listening experience.

With that said, here you will learn about some of the most common sound file types, which among them could be the best audio format according to your requirements, and a couple of important points that you must keep in might while picking an extension for your media preparations.

• Part 1: 10 Most Common Audio Formats
• Part 2: How to Choose Best Audio Format?
• Part 3: Which Audio File Formats Does YouTube Support?
• Part 4: Audio Format in Filmora

Using Filmora to Record & Edit & Save Audio Easily

Wondershare Filmora is a simple yet robust video editing software that allows you to save a video to mp3 easily. Besides, if you want to remove background noise from audio, or change the audio volume or remove unwanted audio parts from the video, you should definitely try Filmora.

---

Part 1: 10 Most Common Audio Formats

Before listing the most common audio file formats, it is important to understand the categories of the sound files. Every audio format that exists belongs to one (or more) category depending on the way it is being created and the characteristics it has.

In a nutshell, there are three major categories, including:

• Uncompressed Audio Format
• Lossless Compressed Audio Format
• Lossy Compressed Audio Format

Below is a brief introduction of each of the classes listed above along with the audio file types that belong to them:

1. Uncompressed Audio Format

Uncompressed audio is the original sound that has been recorded directly from the source in the analog form, and then converted to a digital signal without any modifications or compressions. Because an uncompressed sound is prepared with no retouching or manipulations, it gives an as-is listening experience. Since no compression is done on such a file either, it occupies a remarkably huge amount of space on your storage media.

Some sound files that fall under this category include:

1) Pulse-Code Modulation (PCM)

A PCM file is the digital version of an analog waveform that is created by recording the audio samples, technically known as pulses. The PCM format is mostly used when creating optical media discs, typically the CDs and DVDs.

2) Waveform Audio File Format (WAV)

Generally used on the Windows platform, this audio format is not a file itself but a container that may contain both compressed or uncompressed files. However, in most cases, it is the latter that a WAV file has, and PCM format is one of them.

You may also interest: YouTube to WAV >>

3) Audio Interchange File Format (AIFF)

AIFF is almost identical to WAV format in its characteristics with the only difference that, unlike the latter, it was developed by Apple somewhere in 1988, and works as a container for both compressed and uncompressed audio files. While the compressed version of the format is called AIFF-C, the term Apple Loop is used when the scenario is otherwise. As it is with WAV, even AIFF files mostly contain uncompressed audio, that usually is PCM.

You may also like: Best AIFF to MP3 Converters >>

4) Data Stream Digital (DSD)

Used by Sony and Phillips, DSD is also not a format itself but a container that can store PCM files to provide decent sound quality. However, due to distortions in the composed audio, DSD files are not much in trend.

2. Lossless Compressed Audio Format

Lossless Compressed audio format is a type of file that is compressed using some advanced methods without compromising with the quality of the sound. This means that when played, you experience the same acoustic excellence as that of the source, i.e. uncompressed audio. However, even though the lossless compressed files are comparatively small in size, they still occupy decent amount of space on the hard drive or any other storage media in use.

Some formats that fall under the lossless compressed category include:

1) Free Lossless Audio Code (FLAC)

At around half the size of the source sound file, FLAC offers the original audio quality without removing any acoustic information during compression. Being an opensource and royalty-free audio format, FLAC is even easier to get, and in most cases is used as an alternative to MP3.

Check some of the best FLAC editor programs >>

2) Apple Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC)

Introduced by Apple Inc. and initially released as a proprietary product, ALAC was made royalty-free and opensource in 2011. Even though ALAC files are larger in size when compared to FLAC, the former format is used in iTunes and iOS as the latter isn’t supported by these platforms.

3. Lossy Compressed Audio Format

These are the highly compressed files that occupy significantly less amount of space on your storage media. However, during the compression process, some acoustic information is lost in order to reduce the file size. Nevertheless, if compressed correctly, the deterioration in the quality is almost negligible, and cannot be experienced unless the listener is quite experienced and the source recording is played next to the compressed audio simultaneously.

Some audio formats that fall under the lossy compressed category include:

1) MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 (MP3)

This is one of the most common file types and the best audio format for almost all media types that have sound. An MP3 file is free from the noises of the least significant in the composed audio. In addition, all the acoustic information with the frequency that normal human beings fail to catch (below 20Hz and above 20000Hz) is safely erased during compilation and compression. Furthermore, what makes MP3 the best audio file format is its ability to accommodate with almost all the devices of nearly any platform such as Android, Windows, iOS, Mac, etc.

Check this MP3 editor and convert video to MP3 easily.

2) OGG

This one, again, is not in fact an audio format but is a container for audio that generally stores Vorbis files. Although OGG files are way advanced in terms of sound quality and even offer higher compression ratio when compared with MP3, they are not much in use as many platforms and devices don’t support the format till date.

3) AU

AU is a format by Sun, DEC, and NeXT. It is yet another container that can hold both lossless and lossy files. AU files are mostly used in UNIX.

What’s the difference between common audio file formats like MP3, WAV, and FLAC? Watch the video below to learn more.

---

Part 2: How to Choose Best Audio Format?

If you are a media creator, and are into the business of preparing audio and video content for your clients or directly for the audience, it is imperative to understand what could be the best audio file format to compose the audiovisual files. Here are a few tips that you must keep in mind in this context before proceeding:

• Uncompressed Audio

If the media type you are about to create is expected to be used for further editing before exporting to a different format, using an uncompressed audio format would be best as it offers a smooth and flawless post-production experience without giving much overhead to the processor.

• Lossless Compressed Audio

If your audiences own highly sophisticated audio players with Hi-Fi speaker systems, and they are also good at recognizing and understanding the differences between poor and optimal audio quality, using lossless compressed audio format would be a good choice as it gives decent sound quality in smaller file size.

• Compressed Audio

If you are preparing a media for home users and casual listeners, you can safely use an audio format that has been prepared using a higher compression ratio. In such a scenario, MP3 is the best audio format that not only offers the decent sound quality, it also occupies less amount of space on your storage media, thus enabling you to save more files at a given time.

Part 3: Which Audio File Formats Does YouTube Support?

At the time of this writing, YouTube supports two types of formats namely MPEG-2 and MPEG-4. Although both of these are video containers, they also hold audio files. Details about both these types are as follows:

• MPEG-2
  • Audio Bitrate: 128kbps or above
  • Audio Codec: Dolby AC-3 or MPEG Layer II
• MPEG-4
  • **Video Codec:**264
  • Audio Bitrate: 128kbps or above

Since many people nowadays produce videos in MP4 due to its wide range of supported devices and players and the fact that the container is used by majority of users worldwide, MPEG-4 with audio format could be mostly seen on YouTube.

Part 4: Audio Format in Filmora

Being one of the most versatile post-production tools preferred by many professional editors worldwide, Filmora comes with a variety of audio formats from all the three categories discussed above. Furthermore, Filmora also displays relevant information about each of the file types it offers.

The following table shows a list of formats and the details that Filmora supports:

Video Format	Corresponding Audio Encoder	Audio Type
MP4	Lossy Compressed
WMV	WMA8, WMA9	Uncompressed
AVI	MP3, PCM	Lossy Compressed, Uncompressed
MOV	Lossy Compressed
F4V	Lossy Compressed
MKV	MP3	Lossy Compressed
TS	MPEG-2 Audio	Lossy Compressed
3GP	Lossy Compressed
MPEG-2	MPEG-2 Audio	Lossy Compressed
WEBM	Vorbis	Lossy Compressed

Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Benjamin Arango

Investigating the Pinnacle of Sound Design Software: Assessing the Merits of MAGIX Samplitude

These days, the importance of having a good Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) in your music production arsenal cannot be understated. With the ever-expanding demand for better-quality music, the competition in the DAW market is fierce. However, there is one excellent DAW standing out from the music production market - MAGIX Samplitude.

Samplitude is a music production software, first released in 1992 by the German company MAGIX. This DAW is available for 32/64-bit Windows 10/11 and has a wide range of features that make it suitable for both beginner and experienced music producers. When you search for an appropriate DAW for your music production, you possibly have seen this music production software many times. And you may wonder: is MAGIX Sampltitude really that good?

In this MAGIX Samplitude review, we will discuss its numerous features. By the end, you’ll have a good idea of whether or not this music software is worth your time and money.

Part 1. What Is MAGIX Samplitude?

MAGIX Samplitude is a digital audio workstation that lets you create, edit, and produce professional-quality audio recordings. Since its release, the software has evolved into the most popular DAW among music producers and audio engineers. We will show you its history which demonstrates its fast development in recent 30 years below.

History of Samplitude’s Development

The first version of Samplitude was created for the Amiga platform, and since then, it has become a staple in the music production industry. Today, Samplitude is used by some of the world’s top producers for creating and editing unique musical sounds.

Here’s a quick history timeline of MAGIX Samplitude:

• 1992: MAGIX Samplitude is released.
• 1995: Samplitude released version for Microsoft Windows 3.1
• 1998: Samplitude 2496 version is released with a new interface and improved workflow and supports 24-bit recording with sample rates of up to 96 kHz.
• 2002: Samplitude Professional is released, aimed at professional producers and engineers.
• 2005: Samplitude version 8.0 was released.
• 2006: Samplitude 9.0 was presented with a de-esser, advanced dual CPU support, and VSTi manager.
• 2011: Samplitude Pro X with 64-bit system requirement. Since its release, the Pro X version has been further upgraded into Pro X2, Pro X3, Pro X4, Pro X5, Pro X6, and Pro X7.

The Difference Between Samplitude Pro X’s Three Versions

As presented above, the newest version of Samplitude is Pro X which offers three popular versions for purchase, each with its own unique set of specifications and features:

• Samplitude Pro X: This DAW version includes 47 virtual instruments and the main features.
• Samplitude Pro X Suite: This version comes with all the Samplitude Pro X7 features, a copy of the audio editor Sound Forge Pro 11 audio editor, a 70 GB soundset for independent instruments, and five additional VSTs.
• Samplitude Pro X365: A subscription-based version that includes all the Samplified Pro X7 features, a Spectra Layers Pro 5, and a visual, audio editor spectral analysis.

Part 2. MAGIX Samplitude Review

As we have mentioned in the beginning, MAGIX Samplitude is a perfect and great choice for both beginner and advanced users. Then what features make it?

Below we’ve provided a quick review of MAGIX Samplitude to give you a better idea of the software.

Price

MAGIX Samplitude is available for purchase from the MAGIX website. The Pro X7 version costs $299.00 as a one-time purchase, the Pro X365 costs $14.99/month, and the Suite edition costs $419.00.

Features

• The Core Feature Set: MAGIX Samplitude Pro X7 features include up to 384kHz 32-bit recording, advanced MIDI editing, 999 tracks, virtual instrument support, ultra-low-latency recording, non-destructive audio editing, and 256 physical inputs.

• The Object Editor: The Object Editor provides control over your plug-ins and can assign EQ and time/pitch settings to your clips to make the automation process easier. You can also easily cut and record your audio recordings.

• Amplitude Bundles Melodyne 4 Essential: Samplitude Pro X7 supports Melodyne 4 Essential with ARA technology that helps with pitch correction on a single track without sending it out and back in again.

• Virtual Instruments: The software comes with 47 virtual instruments (both classic and modern), spurring musicians on to new ideas for creating ethereal musical sounds.
• The Mixer View: Samplitude offers a mixer view that appears in a separate window, making it easy to access the built-in parametric EQ and plug-ins.
• Vocal Recording Correction: The software offers the Vocal Tune 2 feature to quickly correct your voice recordings. Additionally, you can adjust your audio recordings in detail using the pitch curves and practical waveform display.
• A Faster Workflow With ARA2 Support: The new ARA2-compatible plug-ins allow you to edit audio files faster and more efficiently. You can create seamless clip borders, perform multiple tasks at the same time on different tracks, and work with the interface more intuitively.

Minimum System Requirements

To run MAGIX Samplitude smoothly, your computer must meet the following minimum system requirements:

• Windows: 8 or 10.
• Processor: Intel Dual-core processor with 1.5 GHz.
• RAM: 2 GB for 32-bit and 4 GB for 64-bit.
• Storage Space: 2 GB of free hard disk space.
• Sound Card: Must be compatible with ASIO.
• Graphic Card: Onboard, minimum 1280 x 768 resolution.

Review on the Third-Party Website

Samplitude has been well-received by critics on the platforms like PCMag, Softexia, and Top Ten Reviews, with many praising its ease of use, powerful features, and great sound quality.

However, the software has not received any ratings or scores on the G2, a well-known software review platform. This means the users have yet to review MAGIX Samplitude Pro X7 on this platform.

Part 3. Video - MAGIX Samplitude Pro X7, Testing the Features

To help you better understand the features of MAGIX Samplitude Pro X7, we prepared a video which tests the functions. You can watch it to better make the decision whether Samplitude Pro X7 worths your time and money.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxzjnWRvfrk

Conclusion

MAGIX Samplitude is advanced audio software with almost every element you can think of when it comes to editing music. All in all, the software has an impressive scope and can prove to be a versatile tool if you are a multi-instrument musician looking to produce your own music in various styles.

In this article, we’ve provided an in-depth review of MAGIX Samplitude Pro X7 to help you understand the program in detail. We discussed what the software is, its history, and the difference between its latest three versions.

Additionally, we explored the pricing plan of MAGIX Samplitude Pro X and its various features. We hope you found this review helpful in deciding whether or not to purchase this software.

Free Download For Win 7 or later(64-bit)

Free Download For macOS 10.14 or later

Free Download For macOS 10.14 or later

REAPER Recording Software Features, Reviews and Tutorial

DAW stands for Digital Audio Workstation. It is where you can record, edit, mix or even master your music. You always need good DAW software to help you with the job to produce music or live recording musicians.

A good DAW software must have a multi-track audio recording , virtual instruments, MIDI sequencer, excellent mixing capabilities, and plug-in processor hosting. The software is found for all major operating systems such as Linux , Windows, and Mac. If you want to learn more about DAW, then stay with us. The article will discuss in detail REAPER Recording Software.

In this article

01 What Is REAPER Recording Software?

02 How to Download and Install REAPER Software?

03 Tutorial for Using REAPER Recording Software

Part 1. What Is REAPER Recording Software?

Recording software like REAPER records computer audio is used to produce music, edit it, transform, and customize your music. With REAPER Recording Software , you can record multi-layer audio and MIDI in various formats. REAPER has the easiest interface that allows you to drag and drop to import, split, move and do many other tasks.

This is just one feature of REAPER that sounds very interesting. In this section, we will talk about more of its features.

1. Record and Edit

You can easily record the audio and (MIDI) Musical Instrumental Digital Interface with REAPER recording software. It lets you edit and customize everything. You can record and edit things limitlessly. When it comes to recording, it’s not at all difficult for REAPER software to record various instruments or vocals.

2. Mixing

Initially, the mixer might seem inflexible, but in reality, REAPER has a lot to offer you. It has great automated capabilities for instrument and effect parameters. It doesn’t matter if you are working because you can still bounce or freeze tracks while working.

The mixer is very flexible. With REAPERs mixer, you just have to drag and drop your recordings so that you can create tracks, and also, you can customize the arrangements by moving the portions.

3. Interface

While looking at the interface, you might question yourself about how to use its interface. Some people love to learn about new things, such as the REAPER Recording Software. Whereas, some people seem least interested because the half-empty interface is not intuitive to them.

Whereas, the best thing about its interface is that you can customize it. REAPER allows you to add different wallpapers and layouts to your software interface.

4. Strong Stability

REAPER Recording Software has very strong stability. This is one of its strongest features as compared to other competitors. The RAM is rarely affected by the load time and the used resources. Moreover, the software offers a wide range of languages. You can select your desired language to run the software.

Part 2. How to Download and Install REAPER Software?

REAPER is a Digital Audio Workstation. The perfect platform where you can manipulate and transform your audio. With REAPER Record Computer audio, you can work efficiently in a resource-friendly studio with saving your time. Stay tuned if you plan to learn more about its pricing and requirements.

Pricing of REAPER Software

A reaper is a brilliant software. It has a 60-day trial period. REAPER costs $60 in total to register. It has complete MIDI sequencing. You can also get a discounted license if REAPER is the best private option for you or has commercial usage. You can set the equal license key on every computer for someone with multiple computers.

System Requirements

The recording software has uncountable features. REAPER software facilitates its users at every level by giving the best audio manipulating platform. The best thing about REAPER Recording Software is its compatibility with different operating systems. Let us add more to your knowledge on this.

Windows

REAPER software is available for Windows 7, 8, 10, XP, and Vista. The version of REAPER for Windows is 6.42. This is for Windows 64-bit whereas, a download package is also available for Windows 32-bit.

macOS

For macOS 64-bit, REAPER has a 6.42 version. This version is compatible with macOS 10.5 – 10.14. Whereas, for macOS 10.15+, the available version of REAPER is 6.42 with a 15MB file size.

Linux

REAPER Recording Software is also compatible with Linux x86_64. The REAPER version is 6.42 with an 11 MB file size. This version can also work on AMD64 64-bit.

Downloading and Installing REAPER

Now that REAPER Record Computer Audio has impressed you a lot. You must be thinking about how to download it. If this is on your mind, then we got you. Allow us to share its steps that will guide you to download the software easily.

Step 1: To install REAPER software, first of all, visit its official website. Then locate and head over to its download section.

Step 2: Click on ‘Download REAPER from the download section.’ For Windows users, they can download the Windows installation package. At the same time, Linux and macOS users can select their installation packages.

Step 3: Lastly, after you have downloaded your systems compatible installation package, you simply have to run it and then install it according to your respective operating system.

Part 3. Tutorial for Using REAPER Recording Software

After its attractive features and detailed downloading procedure, it is finally the time to talk about its works. This section of the article will explain to you more about REAPER Recording Software as we are now going to present a tutorial on how to use the software.

Understand the Layout

Understanding and knowing the layout of your software before you start working on it is essential. The crucial components of REAPER software include the Timeline, Arrangement Window, Track Panel, Toolbar, and lastly, Transport.

The Arrangement window holds all the added items. The items are played from left to right order, similar to their timeline arrangement. You can also zoom in and out. Then comes the transport toolbar, which holds the functions to stop, rewind, play, fast forward, adjust the timeline speed, etc. The toolbar holds all the toggle buttons. You can also customize your toolbar.

New Track Creation

For creating a new track on REAPER, go to the Track menu and hit Insert New Track. A track is like another layer to your audio. Multiple layers and tracks make your work complex yet interesting as you can play all the different tracks at the same time. By double-clicking in the Track Control Panel, you can set a name for the added track.

Audio Hardware Settings for Audio Recording

It is best suggested always to check your audio hardware settings before you start to record, edit or mix with REAPER Recording Software. Your primary focus should be on the recording device’s devices should be set as Input Device, whereas the listening device should be set as the Output Device.

For this, you have to select Preferences from the Options menu. A window will appear in front of you, the REAPER Preference window. You have to select the correct Input and Output devices from the dropdown menu from this window.

Arm your Track

Arming your track is very important. For this, head over to the Track Control Panel, and next to your track name, hit the red circle. If you have various tracks, you should solo this track and mute the other tracks.

As soon as the track is armed, a Gain Meter will activate on the side. From this, you can check if you have properly set the microphone or not. This could be tested by tapping on the microphone.

Record

After all, the hardware settings are done, and your track is armed, it’s time to start the recording. For that, just tap on the Record button in the Transport toolbar. A yellow line in the timeline will indicate the end of the recording.

To end the recording, tap on the Stop button from the Transport Toolbar. Lastly, REAPER Recording Software will ask you to save the file. In case you don’t want it, you can also delete it.

Create and Manipulate Clips

Things like manipulation get a lot easier if you split the clips in REAPER. From the items menu, you have to select the option of Split Item on Cursor. This divides your clip into two clips on each side of the cursor. You can also remove the clips by going to the Items Menu. From there, you just have to hit the Remove Item option, or else, simply press the Delete key on your keyboard.

Removing clips will create a gap in the arrangement window that can be filled by dragging forward the remaining clip.

Volume Adjustments – Normalize

By double-clicking on the item or by selecting ‘Item Properties’ from a right-click, you can normalize the item. A new window will appear as Media Item Properties, from where you have to locate the Volume Settings and then select the option of Normalize.

If your item is already loud, then nothing will happen, but if it is not, then the slider will change from 0.00 dB showing an increase in the volume. Lastly, hit the ‘Apply’ or ‘OK’ button to imply the changes.

Fade in/out

With the Media Properties, you can also adjust a Fade in and a Fade out. For this, you simply have to set an end time for the Fade in, whereas a start time is entered for Fade out. Hit the ‘Ok’ or ‘Apply’ button to apply the changes.

From the Arrangement window, fades can be adjusted. For adjusting the fades, hover with your mouse over the red line. You will see a newly shaped cursor. Just drag on the timeline to play and adjust the Fade with this new cursor.

Automate Changes

With REAPER, you can also automate changes in track parameters. We will guide about automation from Track Envelopes. From Track Control Panel, hit the Trim option. A new Envelopes window will open at this point from where you have to check the Volume box.

A new Volume Track will open up. Here, you have to set new Envelope points. That could be done by holding the shift key, right-clicking on the point, and then selecting Create New Point. A green circle will indicate the new point.

By dragging the Envelope point, you can also adjust the volume. Dragging it towards the top will increase the volume, whereas dragging it towards the bottom will eventually decrease.

Finalize the Audio – Render

After all the above steps have been completed to set the order and adjust your desired volume, the last step comes to render your project file. For that, move to the File menu and select the ‘Render’ option. A window will be opened as ‘Render to File.’ Now, from the dropdown menu, select your desired Output Format.

Lastly, hit the Render 1 File button, and then REAPER will export your project. You can immediately listen to it by selecting the ‘Launch File’ option.

Concluding Thoughts

This article is everything you need to learn about REAPER Recording Software. The article that started from an introduction on DAW took you on a roller coaster ride. Everything about REAPER software has been shared.

We hope that this article helps you in all possible ways. The attractive features impress you, and its pricing and system specifications increase your knowledge. Along with that, the shared tutorial will guide you thoroughly on how to use it.

02 How to Download and Install REAPER Software?

03 Tutorial for Using REAPER Recording Software

Part 1. What Is REAPER Recording Software?

Recording software like REAPER records computer audio is used to produce music, edit it, transform, and customize your music. With REAPER Recording Software , you can record multi-layer audio and MIDI in various formats. REAPER has the easiest interface that allows you to drag and drop to import, split, move and do many other tasks.

This is just one feature of REAPER that sounds very interesting. In this section, we will talk about more of its features.

1. Record and Edit

You can easily record the audio and (MIDI) Musical Instrumental Digital Interface with REAPER recording software. It lets you edit and customize everything. You can record and edit things limitlessly. When it comes to recording, it’s not at all difficult for REAPER software to record various instruments or vocals.

2. Mixing

Initially, the mixer might seem inflexible, but in reality, REAPER has a lot to offer you. It has great automated capabilities for instrument and effect parameters. It doesn’t matter if you are working because you can still bounce or freeze tracks while working.

The mixer is very flexible. With REAPERs mixer, you just have to drag and drop your recordings so that you can create tracks, and also, you can customize the arrangements by moving the portions.

3. Interface

While looking at the interface, you might question yourself about how to use its interface. Some people love to learn about new things, such as the REAPER Recording Software. Whereas, some people seem least interested because the half-empty interface is not intuitive to them.

Whereas, the best thing about its interface is that you can customize it. REAPER allows you to add different wallpapers and layouts to your software interface.

4. Strong Stability

REAPER Recording Software has very strong stability. This is one of its strongest features as compared to other competitors. The RAM is rarely affected by the load time and the used resources. Moreover, the software offers a wide range of languages. You can select your desired language to run the software.

Part 2. How to Download and Install REAPER Software?

REAPER is a Digital Audio Workstation. The perfect platform where you can manipulate and transform your audio. With REAPER Record Computer audio, you can work efficiently in a resource-friendly studio with saving your time. Stay tuned if you plan to learn more about its pricing and requirements.

Pricing of REAPER Software

A reaper is a brilliant software. It has a 60-day trial period. REAPER costs $60 in total to register. It has complete MIDI sequencing. You can also get a discounted license if REAPER is the best private option for you or has commercial usage. You can set the equal license key on every computer for someone with multiple computers.

System Requirements

The recording software has uncountable features. REAPER software facilitates its users at every level by giving the best audio manipulating platform. The best thing about REAPER Recording Software is its compatibility with different operating systems. Let us add more to your knowledge on this.

Windows

REAPER software is available for Windows 7, 8, 10, XP, and Vista. The version of REAPER for Windows is 6.42. This is for Windows 64-bit whereas, a download package is also available for Windows 32-bit.

macOS

For macOS 64-bit, REAPER has a 6.42 version. This version is compatible with macOS 10.5 – 10.14. Whereas, for macOS 10.15+, the available version of REAPER is 6.42 with a 15MB file size.

Linux

REAPER Recording Software is also compatible with Linux x86_64. The REAPER version is 6.42 with an 11 MB file size. This version can also work on AMD64 64-bit.

Downloading and Installing REAPER

Now that REAPER Record Computer Audio has impressed you a lot. You must be thinking about how to download it. If this is on your mind, then we got you. Allow us to share its steps that will guide you to download the software easily.

Step 1: To install REAPER software, first of all, visit its official website. Then locate and head over to its download section.

Step 2: Click on ‘Download REAPER from the download section.’ For Windows users, they can download the Windows installation package. At the same time, Linux and macOS users can select their installation packages.

Step 3: Lastly, after you have downloaded your systems compatible installation package, you simply have to run it and then install it according to your respective operating system.

Part 3. Tutorial for Using REAPER Recording Software

After its attractive features and detailed downloading procedure, it is finally the time to talk about its works. This section of the article will explain to you more about REAPER Recording Software as we are now going to present a tutorial on how to use the software.

Understand the Layout

Understanding and knowing the layout of your software before you start working on it is essential. The crucial components of REAPER software include the Timeline, Arrangement Window, Track Panel, Toolbar, and lastly, Transport.

The Arrangement window holds all the added items. The items are played from left to right order, similar to their timeline arrangement. You can also zoom in and out. Then comes the transport toolbar, which holds the functions to stop, rewind, play, fast forward, adjust the timeline speed, etc. The toolbar holds all the toggle buttons. You can also customize your toolbar.

New Track Creation

For creating a new track on REAPER, go to the Track menu and hit Insert New Track. A track is like another layer to your audio. Multiple layers and tracks make your work complex yet interesting as you can play all the different tracks at the same time. By double-clicking in the Track Control Panel, you can set a name for the added track.

Audio Hardware Settings for Audio Recording

It is best suggested always to check your audio hardware settings before you start to record, edit or mix with REAPER Recording Software. Your primary focus should be on the recording device’s devices should be set as Input Device, whereas the listening device should be set as the Output Device.

For this, you have to select Preferences from the Options menu. A window will appear in front of you, the REAPER Preference window. You have to select the correct Input and Output devices from the dropdown menu from this window.

Arm your Track

Arming your track is very important. For this, head over to the Track Control Panel, and next to your track name, hit the red circle. If you have various tracks, you should solo this track and mute the other tracks.

As soon as the track is armed, a Gain Meter will activate on the side. From this, you can check if you have properly set the microphone or not. This could be tested by tapping on the microphone.

Record

After all, the hardware settings are done, and your track is armed, it’s time to start the recording. For that, just tap on the Record button in the Transport toolbar. A yellow line in the timeline will indicate the end of the recording.

To end the recording, tap on the Stop button from the Transport Toolbar. Lastly, REAPER Recording Software will ask you to save the file. In case you don’t want it, you can also delete it.

Create and Manipulate Clips

Things like manipulation get a lot easier if you split the clips in REAPER. From the items menu, you have to select the option of Split Item on Cursor. This divides your clip into two clips on each side of the cursor. You can also remove the clips by going to the Items Menu. From there, you just have to hit the Remove Item option, or else, simply press the Delete key on your keyboard.

Removing clips will create a gap in the arrangement window that can be filled by dragging forward the remaining clip.

Volume Adjustments – Normalize

By double-clicking on the item or by selecting ‘Item Properties’ from a right-click, you can normalize the item. A new window will appear as Media Item Properties, from where you have to locate the Volume Settings and then select the option of Normalize.

If your item is already loud, then nothing will happen, but if it is not, then the slider will change from 0.00 dB showing an increase in the volume. Lastly, hit the ‘Apply’ or ‘OK’ button to imply the changes.

Fade in/out

With the Media Properties, you can also adjust a Fade in and a Fade out. For this, you simply have to set an end time for the Fade in, whereas a start time is entered for Fade out. Hit the ‘Ok’ or ‘Apply’ button to apply the changes.

From the Arrangement window, fades can be adjusted. For adjusting the fades, hover with your mouse over the red line. You will see a newly shaped cursor. Just drag on the timeline to play and adjust the Fade with this new cursor.

Automate Changes

With REAPER, you can also automate changes in track parameters. We will guide about automation from Track Envelopes. From Track Control Panel, hit the Trim option. A new Envelopes window will open at this point from where you have to check the Volume box.

A new Volume Track will open up. Here, you have to set new Envelope points. That could be done by holding the shift key, right-clicking on the point, and then selecting Create New Point. A green circle will indicate the new point.

By dragging the Envelope point, you can also adjust the volume. Dragging it towards the top will increase the volume, whereas dragging it towards the bottom will eventually decrease.

Finalize the Audio – Render

After all the above steps have been completed to set the order and adjust your desired volume, the last step comes to render your project file. For that, move to the File menu and select the ‘Render’ option. A window will be opened as ‘Render to File.’ Now, from the dropdown menu, select your desired Output Format.

Lastly, hit the Render 1 File button, and then REAPER will export your project. You can immediately listen to it by selecting the ‘Launch File’ option.

Concluding Thoughts

This article is everything you need to learn about REAPER Recording Software. The article that started from an introduction on DAW took you on a roller coaster ride. Everything about REAPER software has been shared.

We hope that this article helps you in all possible ways. The attractive features impress you, and its pricing and system specifications increase your knowledge. Along with that, the shared tutorial will guide you thoroughly on how to use it.

02 How to Download and Install REAPER Software?

03 Tutorial for Using REAPER Recording Software

Part 1. What Is REAPER Recording Software?

Recording software like REAPER records computer audio is used to produce music, edit it, transform, and customize your music. With REAPER Recording Software , you can record multi-layer audio and MIDI in various formats. REAPER has the easiest interface that allows you to drag and drop to import, split, move and do many other tasks.

This is just one feature of REAPER that sounds very interesting. In this section, we will talk about more of its features.

1. Record and Edit

You can easily record the audio and (MIDI) Musical Instrumental Digital Interface with REAPER recording software. It lets you edit and customize everything. You can record and edit things limitlessly. When it comes to recording, it’s not at all difficult for REAPER software to record various instruments or vocals.

2. Mixing

Initially, the mixer might seem inflexible, but in reality, REAPER has a lot to offer you. It has great automated capabilities for instrument and effect parameters. It doesn’t matter if you are working because you can still bounce or freeze tracks while working.

The mixer is very flexible. With REAPERs mixer, you just have to drag and drop your recordings so that you can create tracks, and also, you can customize the arrangements by moving the portions.

3. Interface

While looking at the interface, you might question yourself about how to use its interface. Some people love to learn about new things, such as the REAPER Recording Software. Whereas, some people seem least interested because the half-empty interface is not intuitive to them.

Whereas, the best thing about its interface is that you can customize it. REAPER allows you to add different wallpapers and layouts to your software interface.

4. Strong Stability

REAPER Recording Software has very strong stability. This is one of its strongest features as compared to other competitors. The RAM is rarely affected by the load time and the used resources. Moreover, the software offers a wide range of languages. You can select your desired language to run the software.

Part 2. How to Download and Install REAPER Software?

REAPER is a Digital Audio Workstation. The perfect platform where you can manipulate and transform your audio. With REAPER Record Computer audio, you can work efficiently in a resource-friendly studio with saving your time. Stay tuned if you plan to learn more about its pricing and requirements.

Pricing of REAPER Software

A reaper is a brilliant software. It has a 60-day trial period. REAPER costs $60 in total to register. It has complete MIDI sequencing. You can also get a discounted license if REAPER is the best private option for you or has commercial usage. You can set the equal license key on every computer for someone with multiple computers.

System Requirements

The recording software has uncountable features. REAPER software facilitates its users at every level by giving the best audio manipulating platform. The best thing about REAPER Recording Software is its compatibility with different operating systems. Let us add more to your knowledge on this.

Windows

REAPER software is available for Windows 7, 8, 10, XP, and Vista. The version of REAPER for Windows is 6.42. This is for Windows 64-bit whereas, a download package is also available for Windows 32-bit.

macOS

For macOS 64-bit, REAPER has a 6.42 version. This version is compatible with macOS 10.5 – 10.14. Whereas, for macOS 10.15+, the available version of REAPER is 6.42 with a 15MB file size.

Linux

REAPER Recording Software is also compatible with Linux x86_64. The REAPER version is 6.42 with an 11 MB file size. This version can also work on AMD64 64-bit.

Downloading and Installing REAPER

Now that REAPER Record Computer Audio has impressed you a lot. You must be thinking about how to download it. If this is on your mind, then we got you. Allow us to share its steps that will guide you to download the software easily.

Step 1: To install REAPER software, first of all, visit its official website. Then locate and head over to its download section.

Step 2: Click on ‘Download REAPER from the download section.’ For Windows users, they can download the Windows installation package. At the same time, Linux and macOS users can select their installation packages.

Step 3: Lastly, after you have downloaded your systems compatible installation package, you simply have to run it and then install it according to your respective operating system.

Part 3. Tutorial for Using REAPER Recording Software

After its attractive features and detailed downloading procedure, it is finally the time to talk about its works. This section of the article will explain to you more about REAPER Recording Software as we are now going to present a tutorial on how to use the software.

Understand the Layout

Understanding and knowing the layout of your software before you start working on it is essential. The crucial components of REAPER software include the Timeline, Arrangement Window, Track Panel, Toolbar, and lastly, Transport.

The Arrangement window holds all the added items. The items are played from left to right order, similar to their timeline arrangement. You can also zoom in and out. Then comes the transport toolbar, which holds the functions to stop, rewind, play, fast forward, adjust the timeline speed, etc. The toolbar holds all the toggle buttons. You can also customize your toolbar.

New Track Creation

For creating a new track on REAPER, go to the Track menu and hit Insert New Track. A track is like another layer to your audio. Multiple layers and tracks make your work complex yet interesting as you can play all the different tracks at the same time. By double-clicking in the Track Control Panel, you can set a name for the added track.

Audio Hardware Settings for Audio Recording

It is best suggested always to check your audio hardware settings before you start to record, edit or mix with REAPER Recording Software. Your primary focus should be on the recording device’s devices should be set as Input Device, whereas the listening device should be set as the Output Device.

For this, you have to select Preferences from the Options menu. A window will appear in front of you, the REAPER Preference window. You have to select the correct Input and Output devices from the dropdown menu from this window.

Arm your Track

Arming your track is very important. For this, head over to the Track Control Panel, and next to your track name, hit the red circle. If you have various tracks, you should solo this track and mute the other tracks.

As soon as the track is armed, a Gain Meter will activate on the side. From this, you can check if you have properly set the microphone or not. This could be tested by tapping on the microphone.

Record

After all, the hardware settings are done, and your track is armed, it’s time to start the recording. For that, just tap on the Record button in the Transport toolbar. A yellow line in the timeline will indicate the end of the recording.

To end the recording, tap on the Stop button from the Transport Toolbar. Lastly, REAPER Recording Software will ask you to save the file. In case you don’t want it, you can also delete it.

Create and Manipulate Clips

Things like manipulation get a lot easier if you split the clips in REAPER. From the items menu, you have to select the option of Split Item on Cursor. This divides your clip into two clips on each side of the cursor. You can also remove the clips by going to the Items Menu. From there, you just have to hit the Remove Item option, or else, simply press the Delete key on your keyboard.

Removing clips will create a gap in the arrangement window that can be filled by dragging forward the remaining clip.

Volume Adjustments – Normalize

By double-clicking on the item or by selecting ‘Item Properties’ from a right-click, you can normalize the item. A new window will appear as Media Item Properties, from where you have to locate the Volume Settings and then select the option of Normalize.

If your item is already loud, then nothing will happen, but if it is not, then the slider will change from 0.00 dB showing an increase in the volume. Lastly, hit the ‘Apply’ or ‘OK’ button to imply the changes.

Fade in/out

With the Media Properties, you can also adjust a Fade in and a Fade out. For this, you simply have to set an end time for the Fade in, whereas a start time is entered for Fade out. Hit the ‘Ok’ or ‘Apply’ button to apply the changes.

From the Arrangement window, fades can be adjusted. For adjusting the fades, hover with your mouse over the red line. You will see a newly shaped cursor. Just drag on the timeline to play and adjust the Fade with this new cursor.

Automate Changes

With REAPER, you can also automate changes in track parameters. We will guide about automation from Track Envelopes. From Track Control Panel, hit the Trim option. A new Envelopes window will open at this point from where you have to check the Volume box.

A new Volume Track will open up. Here, you have to set new Envelope points. That could be done by holding the shift key, right-clicking on the point, and then selecting Create New Point. A green circle will indicate the new point.

By dragging the Envelope point, you can also adjust the volume. Dragging it towards the top will increase the volume, whereas dragging it towards the bottom will eventually decrease.

Finalize the Audio – Render

After all the above steps have been completed to set the order and adjust your desired volume, the last step comes to render your project file. For that, move to the File menu and select the ‘Render’ option. A window will be opened as ‘Render to File.’ Now, from the dropdown menu, select your desired Output Format.

Lastly, hit the Render 1 File button, and then REAPER will export your project. You can immediately listen to it by selecting the ‘Launch File’ option.

Concluding Thoughts

This article is everything you need to learn about REAPER Recording Software. The article that started from an introduction on DAW took you on a roller coaster ride. Everything about REAPER software has been shared.

We hope that this article helps you in all possible ways. The attractive features impress you, and its pricing and system specifications increase your knowledge. Along with that, the shared tutorial will guide you thoroughly on how to use it.

02 How to Download and Install REAPER Software?

03 Tutorial for Using REAPER Recording Software

Part 1. What Is REAPER Recording Software?

Recording software like REAPER records computer audio is used to produce music, edit it, transform, and customize your music. With REAPER Recording Software , you can record multi-layer audio and MIDI in various formats. REAPER has the easiest interface that allows you to drag and drop to import, split, move and do many other tasks.

This is just one feature of REAPER that sounds very interesting. In this section, we will talk about more of its features.

1. Record and Edit

You can easily record the audio and (MIDI) Musical Instrumental Digital Interface with REAPER recording software. It lets you edit and customize everything. You can record and edit things limitlessly. When it comes to recording, it’s not at all difficult for REAPER software to record various instruments or vocals.

2. Mixing

Initially, the mixer might seem inflexible, but in reality, REAPER has a lot to offer you. It has great automated capabilities for instrument and effect parameters. It doesn’t matter if you are working because you can still bounce or freeze tracks while working.

The mixer is very flexible. With REAPERs mixer, you just have to drag and drop your recordings so that you can create tracks, and also, you can customize the arrangements by moving the portions.

3. Interface

While looking at the interface, you might question yourself about how to use its interface. Some people love to learn about new things, such as the REAPER Recording Software. Whereas, some people seem least interested because the half-empty interface is not intuitive to them.

Whereas, the best thing about its interface is that you can customize it. REAPER allows you to add different wallpapers and layouts to your software interface.

4. Strong Stability

REAPER Recording Software has very strong stability. This is one of its strongest features as compared to other competitors. The RAM is rarely affected by the load time and the used resources. Moreover, the software offers a wide range of languages. You can select your desired language to run the software.

Part 2. How to Download and Install REAPER Software?

REAPER is a Digital Audio Workstation. The perfect platform where you can manipulate and transform your audio. With REAPER Record Computer audio, you can work efficiently in a resource-friendly studio with saving your time. Stay tuned if you plan to learn more about its pricing and requirements.

Pricing of REAPER Software

A reaper is a brilliant software. It has a 60-day trial period. REAPER costs $60 in total to register. It has complete MIDI sequencing. You can also get a discounted license if REAPER is the best private option for you or has commercial usage. You can set the equal license key on every computer for someone with multiple computers.

System Requirements

The recording software has uncountable features. REAPER software facilitates its users at every level by giving the best audio manipulating platform. The best thing about REAPER Recording Software is its compatibility with different operating systems. Let us add more to your knowledge on this.

Windows

REAPER software is available for Windows 7, 8, 10, XP, and Vista. The version of REAPER for Windows is 6.42. This is for Windows 64-bit whereas, a download package is also available for Windows 32-bit.

macOS

For macOS 64-bit, REAPER has a 6.42 version. This version is compatible with macOS 10.5 – 10.14. Whereas, for macOS 10.15+, the available version of REAPER is 6.42 with a 15MB file size.

Linux

REAPER Recording Software is also compatible with Linux x86_64. The REAPER version is 6.42 with an 11 MB file size. This version can also work on AMD64 64-bit.

Downloading and Installing REAPER

Now that REAPER Record Computer Audio has impressed you a lot. You must be thinking about how to download it. If this is on your mind, then we got you. Allow us to share its steps that will guide you to download the software easily.

Step 1: To install REAPER software, first of all, visit its official website. Then locate and head over to its download section.

Step 2: Click on ‘Download REAPER from the download section.’ For Windows users, they can download the Windows installation package. At the same time, Linux and macOS users can select their installation packages.

Step 3: Lastly, after you have downloaded your systems compatible installation package, you simply have to run it and then install it according to your respective operating system.

Part 3. Tutorial for Using REAPER Recording Software

After its attractive features and detailed downloading procedure, it is finally the time to talk about its works. This section of the article will explain to you more about REAPER Recording Software as we are now going to present a tutorial on how to use the software.

Understand the Layout

Understanding and knowing the layout of your software before you start working on it is essential. The crucial components of REAPER software include the Timeline, Arrangement Window, Track Panel, Toolbar, and lastly, Transport.

The Arrangement window holds all the added items. The items are played from left to right order, similar to their timeline arrangement. You can also zoom in and out. Then comes the transport toolbar, which holds the functions to stop, rewind, play, fast forward, adjust the timeline speed, etc. The toolbar holds all the toggle buttons. You can also customize your toolbar.

New Track Creation

For creating a new track on REAPER, go to the Track menu and hit Insert New Track. A track is like another layer to your audio. Multiple layers and tracks make your work complex yet interesting as you can play all the different tracks at the same time. By double-clicking in the Track Control Panel, you can set a name for the added track.

Audio Hardware Settings for Audio Recording

It is best suggested always to check your audio hardware settings before you start to record, edit or mix with REAPER Recording Software. Your primary focus should be on the recording device’s devices should be set as Input Device, whereas the listening device should be set as the Output Device.

For this, you have to select Preferences from the Options menu. A window will appear in front of you, the REAPER Preference window. You have to select the correct Input and Output devices from the dropdown menu from this window.

Arm your Track

Arming your track is very important. For this, head over to the Track Control Panel, and next to your track name, hit the red circle. If you have various tracks, you should solo this track and mute the other tracks.

As soon as the track is armed, a Gain Meter will activate on the side. From this, you can check if you have properly set the microphone or not. This could be tested by tapping on the microphone.

Record

After all, the hardware settings are done, and your track is armed, it’s time to start the recording. For that, just tap on the Record button in the Transport toolbar. A yellow line in the timeline will indicate the end of the recording.

To end the recording, tap on the Stop button from the Transport Toolbar. Lastly, REAPER Recording Software will ask you to save the file. In case you don’t want it, you can also delete it.

Create and Manipulate Clips

Things like manipulation get a lot easier if you split the clips in REAPER. From the items menu, you have to select the option of Split Item on Cursor. This divides your clip into two clips on each side of the cursor. You can also remove the clips by going to the Items Menu. From there, you just have to hit the Remove Item option, or else, simply press the Delete key on your keyboard.

Removing clips will create a gap in the arrangement window that can be filled by dragging forward the remaining clip.

Volume Adjustments – Normalize

By double-clicking on the item or by selecting ‘Item Properties’ from a right-click, you can normalize the item. A new window will appear as Media Item Properties, from where you have to locate the Volume Settings and then select the option of Normalize.

If your item is already loud, then nothing will happen, but if it is not, then the slider will change from 0.00 dB showing an increase in the volume. Lastly, hit the ‘Apply’ or ‘OK’ button to imply the changes.

Fade in/out

With the Media Properties, you can also adjust a Fade in and a Fade out. For this, you simply have to set an end time for the Fade in, whereas a start time is entered for Fade out. Hit the ‘Ok’ or ‘Apply’ button to apply the changes.

From the Arrangement window, fades can be adjusted. For adjusting the fades, hover with your mouse over the red line. You will see a newly shaped cursor. Just drag on the timeline to play and adjust the Fade with this new cursor.

Automate Changes

With REAPER, you can also automate changes in track parameters. We will guide about automation from Track Envelopes. From Track Control Panel, hit the Trim option. A new Envelopes window will open at this point from where you have to check the Volume box.

A new Volume Track will open up. Here, you have to set new Envelope points. That could be done by holding the shift key, right-clicking on the point, and then selecting Create New Point. A green circle will indicate the new point.

By dragging the Envelope point, you can also adjust the volume. Dragging it towards the top will increase the volume, whereas dragging it towards the bottom will eventually decrease.

Finalize the Audio – Render

After all the above steps have been completed to set the order and adjust your desired volume, the last step comes to render your project file. For that, move to the File menu and select the ‘Render’ option. A window will be opened as ‘Render to File.’ Now, from the dropdown menu, select your desired Output Format.

Lastly, hit the Render 1 File button, and then REAPER will export your project. You can immediately listen to it by selecting the ‘Launch File’ option.

Concluding Thoughts

This article is everything you need to learn about REAPER Recording Software. The article that started from an introduction on DAW took you on a roller coaster ride. Everything about REAPER software has been shared.

We hope that this article helps you in all possible ways. The attractive features impress you, and its pricing and system specifications increase your knowledge. Along with that, the shared tutorial will guide you thoroughly on how to use it.

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