Adobe Audition vs. GarageBand

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Audition
Score 8.9 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
GarageBand
Score 9.0 out of 10
N/A
Apple offers GarageBand, a digital audio workstation packaged with its operating system.
$199.99
Pricing
Adobe AuditionGarageBand
Editions & Modules
Audition - Individuals
$31.49
per month
Single App - Business
$33.99
per month
Logic Pro (GarageBand Premium)
$199.99
Garageband for Mac
Free
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
AuditionGarageBand
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details——
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Adobe AuditionGarageBand
Considered Both Products
Audition
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 …
Chose Adobe Audition
There are many different options available for audio editing tools in a variety of costs, from free (Audacity and GarageBand) to paid (Logic Pro X). Adobe Audition offers significantly more tools and effects processing than the free options and a better, cross platform, …
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
Audacity is a free and open-source alternative to Adobe Audition. We have used both softwares and can tell you that Audacity has some good features but not even close to Adobe Audition. However, Audacity is completely free and Adobe Audition is really expensive, which kind of …
GarageBand
Chose GarageBand
GarageBand isn't the most powerful audio editing tool on the market, but for a free tool to Apple users... you can't go wrong.

This tool has all the features a beginning user would ever need... and more! It's no Adobe platform, but if you're testing an idea or trying something …
Chose GarageBand
Adobe Audition is another great audio editing/recording software, in fact it is much better compared to GarageBand and has much more effects. However, it has a pretty large price tag while GarageBand is completely free. Also, Adobe Audition has a very steep learning curve which …
Top Pros
Top Cons
Best Alternatives
Adobe AuditionGarageBand
Small Businesses
Descript
Descript
Score 9.2 out of 10
Descript
Descript
Score 9.2 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Audacity
Audacity
Score 8.5 out of 10
Audition
Audition
Score 8.9 out of 10
Enterprises
Audacity
Audacity
Score 8.5 out of 10
Audition
Audition
Score 8.9 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Adobe AuditionGarageBand
Likelihood to Recommend
9.1
(28 ratings)
10.0
(8 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Usability
6.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
7.8
(14 ratings)
9.4
(3 ratings)
User Testimonials
Adobe AuditionGarageBand
Likelihood to Recommend
Adobe
So, starting off, Cool Edit Pro is NOT a replacement for Adobe Audition. I used to use Cool Edit Pro and there is a world of difference in quality and ability. I use Adobe Audition for post-production editing. it it very well suited for that application. Truncate, fade, add a second or 2 of silence at the end or beginning, save as MP3 or almost any other format a client would want to receive the file in
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Apple
Honestly, switching to Garage Band from Audacity for my podcast was a game-changer in the editing. I can do it so much faster with the tools that are available in editing--especially when you are dealing with more than one track to edit. I also think Garage Band could be fantastic for recording a whole album initially before sending it to be mastered elsewhere. And I think Garage Band could be perfect for sync music licensing because it's still relatively easy to use!
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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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Apple
  • Easy and simple interface that can be used by anyone.
  • The visual audio levels are great and help to clean out all the impurities in an audio.
  • Comes freely built in with all Mac computers, which are widely used.
  • Very user-friendly and intuitive at the same time.
  • GarageBand can be self-taught with no experience.
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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Apple
  • Can't save the preferences for the tracks such as turning off reverb etc.
  • Project files are large, a 30-minute podcast episode with only 4 tracks is typically around 1 GB
  • Auto feature to silence guest not talking
  • Optimize for podcasters (I use the old version 6 as new versions hasn't had podcast options)
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Likelihood to Renew
Adobe
It is a solid product that has served us well.
Read full review
Apple
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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Apple
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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Apple
I have never tried it. It's just simple, and you should be able to navigate most of it via self-exploration and Apple Help.
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Alternatives Considered
Adobe
I mentioned earlier that I used software from Sony before moving to Audition. I really liked the Sony solution, but when I moved to Audition I found a lot more power and surprisingly, an easier-to-use solution. Working with the timeline in Audition is more intuitive for me. Audition has more effects than the Sony product had and the interface is better organized. Plus, Audition's workspace can be customized in ways I never figured out how to do in the Sony product.
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Apple
I have used Adobe Audition before but found it to be hard to learn. Some of the features were very nice but too much for what I needed to justify the price. GarageBand is perfect for my needs and it came free with my Mac laptop. That is the best deal in town!
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Return on Investment
Adobe
  • Audition makes Audio editing/production so efficient that we're able to produce audio more rapidly than with any other software.
  • The option to save in multiple file formats, and to save session files, makes it easy to go back and make edits to completed projects with just a few clicks.
  • All versions of Audition work well together, so whether you have the latest version or an older one, you can pick up any session file and edit as needed.
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Apple
  • Amazing value
  • Very easy to get started
  • For novices and professionals alike
  • Loops library is simply awesome
  • Export capabilities very effective to share tracks
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