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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    FL Studio

    Score9.8 out of 10
    N/ABelgian studio Image-Line Software offers FL Studio, the company's digital audio workstation (DAW) and audio editing application.

    $99

    Per License

    WaveLab

    Score9 out of 10
    N/ASteinberg Media Technologies headquartered in Hamburg offers WaveLab, an audio editing application.N/A
    Pricing
    FL StudioWaveLab
    Editions & Modules
    Fruity
    $99.00
    Per License
    Producer
    $199.00
    Per License
    Signature Bundle
    $299.00
    Per License
    All Plugins
    $899.00
    Per License
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    FL StudioWaveLab
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Best Alternatives
    FL StudioWaveLab
    Small Businesses
    Descript
    Score8.5 out of 10
    Descript
    Score8.5 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Adobe Audition
    Score9 out of 10
    Adobe Audition
    Score9 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Adobe Audition
    Score9 out of 10
    Adobe Audition
    Score9 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    FL StudioWaveLab
    Likelihood to Recommend
    10.0
    (3 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Usability
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    FL StudioWaveLab
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Image-Line Software
    I would recommend FL Studio for anyone who wants to get their hands on music making or even just recording audio for videos. I would suggest making the somewhat small investment and trying it out, you could end up with a career from it. For beginners I would definitely suggest watching online courses/tutorials as they helped me a lot and it will for you as well. Also, I would recommend using third party plugins which will help in fine tuning your projects and overall produce much better music/recordings. FL Studio is well suited for businesses and personal use to make music. I would confidently say that its one of the best DAW to start making music.
    Incentivized
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    Steinberg Media Technologies
    WaveLab is well-suited when you want to apply a lot of VST FX processing to audio, or do a real-time recording and be able to hear how the FX processing sounds as you're recording. It is an excellent tool for recording in the studio. However, it lacks the sophisticated multitrack capabilities you find in a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW), instead of focusing on the features of an audio editor. It is also great for quickly opening, editing, and saving a lot of files because of how fast it is.
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    Pros
    Image-Line Software
    • Midi sequencing
    • Built in audio processing and VST instruments
    • Audio mixing
    • Music creation
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    Steinberg Media Technologies
    • Realtime FX Chain - This is the big one for me. I always had both WaveLab and Sound Forge (along with some other audio editing programs, and using Pro Tools at school). Of the two, I preferred Sound Forge for its user interface and hotkeys, but I preferred WaveLab for its realtime FX. The ability to easily chain FX together and tweak them on the fly while the audio is playing is enormous for me.
    • Speed - Quite simply, saving a huge file in WaveLab is orders of magnitude faster than in Sound Forge. To this day, I don't know why that is, but it's just faster. Opening and saving files is a breeze in WaveLab, while in some other audio editing programs, it can take 30 seconds or a minute for a large file.
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    Cons
    Image-Line Software
    • The recording process can somewhat be confusing and inefficient.
    • FL Studio has a confusing routing, for example to use return tracks for reverbs, you will have to click numerous buttons to get that done.
    • FL Studio has a somewhat steep learning curve, which can demotivate beginners.
    • FL Studio's auto-saving feature is a bit late, which can ruin your project if you rely on it.
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    Steinberg Media Technologies
    • User Interface and Hotkeys - I've always struggled with the UI in WaveLab, and even after all these years, I am just much faster in Sound Forge. I used to have a job as an audio editor, where I edited hundreds of hours of interviews. By using the "Mark" feature, I could easily cut out silence, "ums" and "ahs," and other audio artifacts in Sound Forge. I struggled to do the same in WaveLab but was never able to work even a fraction as quickly.
    • Built-In Audio Processing - I much prefer Sound Forge's built-in audio tools like time-stretching, normalization, compression, and so on. WaveLab has many of the same tools, but I have not found them to be as easy to use, and in some cases, nonexistent (relying instead on a VST plugin).
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    Usability
    Image-Line Software
    I gave it the above rating because it is an incredible software for music creators and even though it might be hard to use at first, but once you get the hang of it, you will never be troubled again, and in all honesty, nothing comes easy life, especially if one yearns to become good at. Same applies with FL Studio. In conclusion, it is a great software.
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    Steinberg Media Technologies
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Image-Line Software
    No answers on this topic
    Steinberg Media Technologies
    I have never contacted Steinberg, so I am not sure how responsive they are. Still, I've watched countless tutorials on audio editing and mastering in WaveLab, so I am pleased with the level of support available from the online community of users. It is a much-loved program among audio industry professionals, and there are all sorts of great tutorials, tips, and tricks available online.
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    Alternatives Considered
    Image-Line Software
    In selecting this software, we investigated and considered others. We found that FL Studio had a good price point and the life time free version updates made it a one time purchase.
    In terms of functionality, the most similar software solutions are Ableton Live, Logic Pro X and Propellerhead Reason.
    Of these the most cost effective for us was Ableton Live and FL Studio with Propellerhead Reason being a slightly different product.
    We found that FL studio had a wider feature set and was more suited to our use, where as Ableton Live would be better if live music performance was a requirement, in our case it was not.
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    Steinberg Media Technologies
    I am relatively agnostic about what audio software I use. I still use WaveLab to this day, 21 years later, for applications where I want to apply effects chains and tweak them in real-time. Sound Forge even can't do this for some reason. But when I have a lot of editing to do, I'll typically open Sound Forge instead, because I prefer the workflow of using the "M" hotkey to mark the audio as it's playing, and then quickly skip through markers and edit out audio artifacts. When I'm recording a vocalist, however, if I am not using a Digital Audio Workstation (like Ableton Live), then I do prefer WaveLab. I can apply VST effects in real-time to the audio coming in through the sound card input and playing back in their headphones.
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    Return on Investment
    Image-Line Software
    • Like I mentioned beforehand, it is slightly expensive but if you think of it, it is a lifetime investment.
    • FL Studio is also essential to have if one wishes to create music of their own or background songs because that way, you won't have to pay someone to create music for you.
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    Steinberg Media Technologies
    • Positive Impact - Ability to rapidly edit audio for EPUB3 ebooks and interviews.
    • Positive Impact - Being able to hear in realtime how audio effects chains will sound, and to save commonly-used effects chains.
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