What users are saying about

Audition vs Audacity

Audition
Top Rated
56 Ratings
Audacity
Top Rated
51 Ratings

Audition

Top Rated
56 Ratings
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Score 8.9 out of 100

Based on 56 reviews and ratings

Audacity

Top Rated
51 Ratings
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Score 8.6 out of 100

Based on 51 reviews and ratings

Highlights

Adobe Audition and Audacity are both Audio Editing tools available for use for sound and audio editing, as well as general sound (or more typically music) creation and production.

One key difference between Adobe Audition and Audacity is their price. While Audacity is a free, open-source product, Adobe Audition is not. However, users of Adobe Audition may enjoy taking advantage of bundles with other Adobe products that help make up for the cost of the software.

Features

Adobe Audition features support audio cleanup, restoration, and editing for both files with video and those without. Users can also record, edit, and integrate music clips into existing sound files. Another key feature of Adobe Audition includes sound quality enhancement, and file repair and restoration.

As an open-source tool, Audacity is popular due to its function as a sound recording tool. However, it fully supports sound editing and rearranging, including the ability to save sound files in different sound quality formats. It also features several plugins for adaptability. Audacity is also a solid choice for converting sound files into various other types.

Both Adobe Audition and Audacity can have steep learning curves, especially for new audio editing users. A key difference between the two is that Adobe Audition can support video whereas Audacity cannot.

Limitations

Common criticisms of Adobe Audition relate to its usability, with many saying its user interface is not very conducive to the audio editing experience. Others also say that it could be more feature-rich, and doesn’t appear to be on Adobe’s list of priorities compared to other creative tools.

As an open-source tool, Audacity can be a bit difficult in terms of improvements or support. Users find running into issues and solving them to be a rough experience. Others also dislike the need for using plug-ins to accomplish more advanced tasks.

Pricing

As previously mentioned, Audacity is available for download on-demand, completely free.

Adobe Audition is available as a standalone product for $20.99/mo. However, for $52.99/mo users can purchase Adobe Audition alongside 20+ other Adobe creative tools such as Photoshop, Illustrator, etc. as an affordable bundle.

Provided by the TrustRadius Research Team

Published on September 4, 2020

Likelihood to Recommend

Audition

If all you want to accomplish is shortening a track, Audition is overkill. There are likely more approachable products for basic sound editing. If you already have the Adobe Creative Suite, however, or have a need for a product with a seemingly endless array of tools, features, and effects, Audition is for you. As a plus, it plays well with other Creative Suite apps, such as After Effects. The more I use it, the more I fall in love with it. While my prior editing solution worked well, you would find me kicking and screaming if you pulled me away from Audition. If you are still unsure, Adobe offers a seven-day trial so you can test it for yourself and see if it meets your needs. I recommend you already have a track in mind you want to edit before you begin the trial, instead of just downloading it to "play." You'll have a much better appreciation of its scope and power with real-world use.

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Nathan Roberts | TrustRadius Reviewer
Nathan Roberts
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Audacity

Overall Audacity is a great program for audio editing in a wide range of uses. It is quick and easy to start using it for basic tasks but has the functions to do more advanced tasks with a little understanding of the interface. Audacity has many editing options available and a wide range of keyboard and mouse shortcuts so anyone using it professionally would be able to navigate it quickly and efficiently.It is available on the three main computer platforms, Windows, MacOS and Linux, and being open source software it has the source available for those that want to change it and make the product better. Audacity is a small download and small install meaning start up is quick, and running multiple instances is possible and doesn't hog machine resources.The only time I think it may not be suitable is for complete novices that may need a program with less options or features as the amount of options, switches, and sliders in Audacity could be confusing for them.

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Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Verified User
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Pros

Audition

  • Integration with the rest of the Adobe Creative Suite, primarily its compatibility with Premiere Pro
  • Full visibility of the entire audio file(s) and how they are edits
  • Large Variety of plug-ins
  • Adaptive Recording inputs
  • Essential sound and categorizing audio in multi-track mode

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Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Verified User
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Audacity

  • 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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Jarem Atkinson | TrustRadius Reviewer
Jarem Atkinson
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Cons

Audition

  • More presets: Audition has a pretty solid library of sound effect presets, but could stand to add more to increase the ability and efficiency of the software.
  • Help guide: it would be great, especially for newer users, if Audition implemented a help guide that could walk you through how to accomplish certain tasks.
  • User interface: Audition could benefit from having more customization options to adapt to specific user preferences.

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Joshua Hipp | TrustRadius Reviewer
Joshua Hipp
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Audacity

  • Audacity has changed some icons recently for certain editing functions and that can be confusing for users and support
  • The interface isn't the worst I have seen but the UI isn't exactly enjoyable on Mac or PC
  • Some of the functionality can quickly feel overwhelming to a new user, pointing toward help documentation the first time an advanced tool is used would be appreciated

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Paul Weber | TrustRadius Reviewer
Paul Weber
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Usability

Audition

Audition 6.0
Based on 1 answer
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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Todd Dodge | TrustRadius Reviewer
Todd Dodge
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Audacity

No score
No answers yet
No answers on this topic

Support Rating

Audition

Audition 7.7
Based on 20 answers
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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Jonah Dempcy | TrustRadius Reviewer
Jonah Dempcy
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Audacity

Audacity 7.9
Based on 17 answers
The best support comes from communities and blog posts, but there really is no authoritative answer for anything. You basically have to wing it. However, since there's no financial barrier to entry, everyone is creating their own help documents so you're bound to find a solution.

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Tamar Weinberg | TrustRadius Reviewer
Tamar Weinberg
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Alternatives Considered

Audition

Audacity is free, but with fewer features. So it depends what you're trying to do. If you want simple audio editing, don't need to do a lot, and are freelancing, then Audacity is probably better suited for you. If you're a business and need to do a lot of audio editing, then Adobe Audition is probably better suited for you.

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Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Verified User
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Audacity

Audacity holds its own against the leading industry competitor software, Audition. For free software, it is incredible the range of options and features that you can find in the paid alternative. Audacity allows us to roll out the software to large teams and get them up to speed in a matter of days, where everyone is on the same page. They can install the software on work and home computers and have access anywhere.

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Samuel Lyons | TrustRadius Reviewer
Samuel Lyons
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Return on Investment

Audition

  • 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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Nathan Roberts | TrustRadius Reviewer
Nathan Roberts
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Audacity

  • I was able to make loops of my music to sell on royalty-free music sites years before I had my Mac Pro.
  • Able to quickly edit music and other audio tracks on a PC without having to purchase a separate program, allowing us to upload more creative videos without having to spend extra money.

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Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Verified User
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Pricing Details

Audition

General

Free Trial
Yes
Free/Freemium Version
—
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
—
Entry-level set up fee?
No

Audition Editions & Modules

Edition
Audition - Individuals$31.491
Single App - Business$33.991
  1. per month
Additional Pricing Details
—

Audacity

General

Free Trial
—
Free/Freemium Version
—
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
—
Entry-level set up fee?
No

Audacity Editions & Modules

—
Additional Pricing Details
—

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