Adobe Audition vs. Avid Pro Tools

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Adobe Audition
Score 8.6 out of 10
N/A
Adobe offers Audition as part of the Creative Cloud suite, a sound and audio editing and creation application.
$31.49
per month
Pro Tools
Score 8.9 out of 10
N/A
Avid offers Pro Tools, the company's flagship music and audio editing and recording suite.
$29.99
Per User / Per Month
Pricing
Adobe AuditionAvid Pro Tools
Editions & Modules
Audition - Individuals
$31.49
per month
Single App - Business
$33.99
per month
Pro Tools
$29.99
Per User / Per Month
Pro Tools - Ultimate
$79.99
Per User / Per Month
Pro Tools - First
Free
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Adobe AuditionPro Tools
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Adobe AuditionAvid Pro Tools
Considered Both Products
Adobe Audition
Chose Adobe Audition
Adobe Audition is an amazing, well-rounded software. Compared to the much simpler audio editing software Audacity, it is leaps and bounds above. Audacity is a free software that's good for a quick edit here or there. Compared to Audition, though, it's a pretty weak offering. …
Chose Adobe Audition
I mentioned elsewhere, but Audition is a great middle-of-the-road software. I recommend it over free options, but it's a BIG step up if you want to use Pro Tools or other similar software.
Chose Adobe Audition
Audition matches up with the highest quality products on the market. It is better than most with a good price point. Simple to incorporate plug-ins.
Chose Adobe Audition
Although I don't use it NEARLY to it's full capacity, Audition is the clear winner in post-production editing software. Audacity would likely come the closest, but its free. So remember... you get what you pay for. When I export a final track from Protools, I immediately …
Chose Adobe Audition
Adobe Audition is not as intuitive as ProTools, but the fact that it is part of the Adobe Creative Suite makes it far more cost efficient for smaller to medium businesses. It is far superior than Audacity and GarageBand with far more capabilities. We've selected Adobe Audition …
Pro Tools
Chose Avid Pro Tools
I’ve used reaper, FL Studio, sonar, cubase, Reason and Sony’s DAW. Pro Tools is better than all of them. And easier to use. Plus it’s easier to share sessions with other people when you use Pro Tools. Pro Tools is just more intuitive for even beginners to use. It’s just better
Chose Avid Pro Tools
In my opinion, ProTools is the best audio editing tool currently on the market. It's very user-friendly, incredibly intuitive and has so many different functionalities that would take weeks to learn how to use them all and well if you needed them. It is far better suited than …
Best Alternatives
Adobe AuditionAvid Pro Tools
Small Businesses
Descript
Descript
Score 8.4 out of 10
Descript
Descript
Score 8.4 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Audacity
Audacity
Score 8.4 out of 10
Adobe Audition
Adobe Audition
Score 8.6 out of 10
Enterprises
Audacity
Audacity
Score 8.4 out of 10
Adobe Audition
Adobe Audition
Score 8.6 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Adobe AuditionAvid Pro Tools
Likelihood to Recommend
8.8
(32 ratings)
9.7
(10 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.1
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
8.3
(5 ratings)
9.3
(4 ratings)
Support Rating
9.0
(15 ratings)
9.1
(4 ratings)
Online Training
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
6.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
7.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Adobe AuditionAvid Pro Tools
Likelihood to Recommend
Adobe
I would recommend the program if they need to record some VO and already have the Adobe Suite. If they don't use Creative Cloud, I would say there are better programs for audio production on the market. However, the fact that I have it with Adobe Creative Cloud is beneficial and makes me choose it over other programs.
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Avid Technology
Again, Avid Pro Tools is considered the "industry standard" for a reason. The ability to record, mix and edit with such ease is something that I don't find in other DAWs. That may be because I'm a longtime user and so I may be partial. Still, I do use Logic and I'm very familiar with many of the processes in that DAW as well. Avid Pro Tools just does so many of them better and more intuitively. Editing audio in particular is one where Avid Pro Tools has every other DAW beat.
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Pros
Adobe
  • Sound waves - Sound originates in the air, arising from its vibrations. The source of air vibrations can be, for example, a person's vocal cords, a drum or loudspeaker membrane, or guitar strings. These vibrations push nearby molecules together, slightly increasing the air pressure.
  • Bit depth - The bit depth (depth) of digital audio determines the dynamic range for an audio file. When a sound wave is digitized (sampled), each sample is assigned an amplitude value that most closely matches the amplitude of the original sound wave. The higher the bit depth value, the greater the dynamic range, the lower the noise level, and the higher the digital sound quality.
  • Automatic filters and special effects - Adobe Audition includes a suite of new sound effects ranging from circuit-optimized Surround Reverb to a suite of diagnostic effects.
  • Analog Audio: Positive and Negative Voltage - The microphone converts the pressure of sound waves into electrical current: high air pressure becomes a positive voltage, and low pressure becomes negative. As these voltage changes move along the microphone wire, they can be recorded (as changes in magnetic field strength) onto magnetic tape or onto a vinyl record (by resizing the grooves on the disc).
  • High-performance code - Adobe Audition has received a new redesigned code. This means increased speed of audio processing, accurate and smooth sound reproduction during preprocessing, the ability to work with multiple files and audio tracks at the same time, high overall performance.
  • Editing, enhancing and restoring audio - Any professional working with sound dreams of making the source material as close to ideal as possible. For this, special studios are being built with soundproofing, special acoustic form, and equipment. Indeed, if there is such an opportunity, then it is better to record sound in the studio. Even in this case, insignificant noises and unwanted sounds can be received at the input: a click of a switch, a weak background of a poor-quality or punctured cable, or, for example, a defect in human diction, in which some hissing sounds turn into whistling sounds. It is worth going out to record an interview, for example, in an office space - phone calls or conversations in the next room, the noise of the city outside the window, sounds of the door being opened, etc. will be added.
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Avid Technology
  • Variety of plug-ins and the ability to buy 3rd party plug ins and use them well.
  • Recording to multiple tracks, live monitoring while recording, live inserts/sends while recording audio.
  • Pro Tools always creates a backup of your audio file that you can restore at any point in time.
  • Built in metronome, timeline indicators for beat/time.
  • Midi controls/ virtual instruments are fantastic.
Read full review
Cons
Adobe
  • It is a very expensive software, as is all of Adobe's other software.
  • The interface and all the features can be difficult [for] beginners to get the hang of and get used to.
  • When live listening to your recording with effects, there is an unavoidable latency which doesn't help.
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Avid Technology
  • Virtual instrument interfaces are clunky and non-intuitive.
  • Rename/Move session functions should programmatically update subfolder labels.
  • Better, more targeted in-app access/help to the myriad of shortcuts, and scripts already present in PT.
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Likelihood to Renew
Adobe
Adobe Audition is now my primary software choice for all audio production. Since I have invested so much time in learning many of the features, I have no need to adopt another app or platform for the foreseeable future. As an avid Adobe fan, I trust my choice in selecting Audition and have no plans to change
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Avid Technology
No answers on this topic
Usability
Adobe
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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Avid Technology
It’s very easy to use it on a basic level. There is a learning curve for advanced stuff, but if you have a need to learn the advanced features and shortcuts then it’s not too hard. Plus, you’re probably using it to make money then anyway, so it all works out
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Reliability and Availability
Adobe
I’d rate Adobe Audition’s availability as very reliable. It’s almost always available when we need it. We’ve had very few issues with crashes or errors, and no unplanned outages. As long as the system meets the hardware requirements and everything’s kept up to date, it runs smoothly. Any hiccups we’ve had were usually tied to updates or third-party plugins—not the app itself.
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Avid Technology
No answers on this topic
Performance
Adobe
I’d rate Adobe Audition’s performance as strong. Projects load quickly, and editing—whether it's applying effects, scrubbing audio, or rendering—runs smoothly, even with larger files. Exports complete in a reasonable time, especially with solid hardware. It also plays well with other Adobe tools like Premiere Pro without slowing things down. As long as your system meets the specs, performance is fast and stable across the board.
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Avid Technology
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Adobe
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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Avid Technology
I've never contacted Avid for support issues, but Pro Tools is so widely used that its user community can help you solve virtually any issue you encounter, if the issue isn't solved already by a simple Google search. The fact that Pro Tools is such an industry standard means that you can rest assured hardware manufacturers of audio interfaces test their interfaces with Pro Tools to ensure compatibility.
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Online Training
Adobe
Adobe offers a good mix of tutorials, videos, and help articles that cover the basics and some advanced features. It’s easy to follow, especially for beginners. That said, if you're looking for deep dives or very specific use cases, you might need to look beyond Adobe's official resources—forums and third-party videos helped fill in those gaps.
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Avid Technology
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Adobe
Overall, I was pretty satisfied with the implementation. Setting up Adobe Audition was straightforward, especially since it fit well with the other Adobe tools we were already using. There were a few small bumps in getting everyone up to speed, but nothing major. Once we had things configured the way we wanted, it ran smoothly and became part of our regular workflow pretty quickly.
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Avid Technology
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Adobe
Although I don't use it NEARLY to it's full capacity, Audition is the clear winner in post-production editing software. Audacity would likely come the closest, but its free. So remember... you get what you pay for. When I export a final track from Protools, I immediately open it in Audition to make sure it doesn't look "smashed" or that the transients aren't too tall
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Avid Technology
As discussed above, these other products are likely better suited for home audio production, especially based on their integration of software instruments and their surface-level interface and tools. Pro Tools excels as a tool for professionals, who need to move audio along efficiently towards a polished form, especially in the context of vocal production
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Contract Terms and Pricing Model
Adobe
Adobe charges a monthly subscription fee for all its software.
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Avid Technology
No answers on this topic
Scalability
Adobe
I’d rate Adobe Audition’s scalability as strong overall. It works well across different departments—whether it's for podcasting, video production, or training content. Since it’s part of the Adobe Creative Cloud, it’s easy to manage licenses and updates across teams and locations. The only limitation might be that it’s single-user per license, so collaboration isn’t real-time like some cloud tools, but for most audio workflows, that hasn’t been a major issue.
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Avid Technology
No answers on this topic
Professional Services
Adobe
I’d rate the professional services for Adobe Audition as good. When we used them, the team was knowledgeable and helped us set up workflows and troubleshoot issues. While not always necessary for basic use, their support was valuable for more complex needs or training.
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Avid Technology
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Adobe
  • 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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Avid Technology
  • Low cost of entry
  • Being able to network with employers is vital, and saves time and money
  • Add-ons to the main software can be a bit overpriced compared to other DAWs.
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ScreenShots