Use Mac As Editing Software Rating: 10,0/10 1202 reviews

If you are reading this article it means that you are looking for the perfect audio editing software for Mac that you can use. But, before you blindly follow the list and start downloading all the audio editing software mentioned here, one thing you should keep in mind is your personal requirements. Before you even begin reading this article, you should know what you are looking for. For example, whether you are looking for audio editing software to edit podcasts or something complex enough to help you score a movie.

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You should also keep your budget in mind. No matter how good a software is, the one that you can afford will always serve you better. Finally, you should also keep your skillset in mind and ask yourself whether you are ready to invest time in learning an audio editing software or not. Once you have answered all these questions for yourself, you will be able to find and focus on the software that will help you the most and will not waste time chasing the shiniest audio editing software in the market.

I have tried to structure this article, by keeping all these things in mind. So, you will find the best free audio editing software, the best audio editing software for editing podcasts, best professional audio editing software, and so on and so forth. However, note that all these classifications are not entirely exclusive as most of the audio softwares have features that overlap a lot with each other. At the end of the day, the best audio editing software for you will depend on what you need and feel comfortable working with. With all that said, here is our list of the best audio editing software for Mac that you should use:

  • Adobe Audition: Best Overall Audio Editing Software
  • Logic Pro X: Best DAW Software for Mac
  • Avid Pro Tools First: Best Free Audio Editing Software
  • Audacity: Best Audio Editing Software for Podcasters
  • ocenaudio: Best Audio Editing Software for Beginners
  • RX Post Production Suite 4: Best Audio Post Production Tools
  • Fission: Best Audio Editing Software for Fast and Lossless Audio Editing

Note: While I am focusing this article on macOS operating system, most of these apps work on Windows PC too. The only app that doesn’t work on Windows is the Logic Pro X.

Best Audio Editing Software to Use in 2020

1. Adobe Audition: Best Overall Audio Editing Software

I want to start this list by using the most obvious and best overall audio editing software that the market has to offer. Whether you want to record and edit audio or want to create a background score for your upcoming movie, Adobe Audition can handle all your needs. Not only the software has all the features that you require from an audio editing program but it also has multi-track recording and editing capabilities which is something that we associate with digital audio workstations. Adobe Audition also offers one of the best audio clean-up and restoration tools on the market. It supports a ton of plugins which add even more power to the software. Whether you want to remove noise with precision or add audio effects, you can find plugins for everything here.

My favorite feature of the Adobe Audition is its waveform editing environment which allows you to pinpoint the problems and apply necessary adjustments. Adobe also brings AI enhanced tools which can make your audio editing life easier. For example, there’s an “Auto Ducking” feature which uses Adobe’s AI-based ‘Adobe Sensei’ technology to automatically lower the volume of background track to make the vocals more pronounced. Other features of the app include batch processing of audio files, automatic speech alignment, iXML metadata support, synthesized speech, and more. You will also appreciate the clean and user-friendly UI.

Note that Adobe Audition is a pro audio editing tool so users who have never used an audio editing software before might find it a little difficult at the start. That said, Adobe does provide free tutorials for both beginners and experienced users which should get you started.

Pros:

  • Good User interface
  • Extensive Editing Tools
  • Huge plug-in support
  • Great audio clean-up and restoration tools

Cons:

  • Subscription-based pricing makes it expensive for long-term use
  • Hard for beginners

Supported Platforms: Windows, macOS

Install:Free Trial, $19.99/month

2. Logic Pro X: Best DAW Software for Mac

I love Apple's software products just for the fact that they integrate so well with the hardware. Final Cut Pro X is my favorite video editing tool as it allows me to edit a 4K video on my 2016 MacBook Pro. The experience is the same for Logic Pro X. Despite being one of the best overall audio editing software on the market, it works without any hiccup even on the older generation of MacBook Pros. That said, let's move away from the obvious advantage that Logic Pro X has over other music editing software and talk about its features, starting with its UI. In my opinion, the user interface of Logic Pro X is probably the best among all the software listed on this list. It is clean and every tool that you want to access is accessible with just a few clicks.

Note that while you can use Logic Pro X for just editing audio files for your podcast or any other similar project, you will be under-utilizing the software and it will be hard to justify its cost. Logic Pro X is a proper DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) which is aimed at music producers. It features a varied instrument library covering almost all music genres. What surprises me the most is how close the virtual instruments sound to their real counterpart. Even people with the most discerning ears will be able to tell them apart. What few instruments or music genres it doesn't support can easily be added thanks to its support for plugins and extensive plugins library that is available for anyone to use.

My favorite music kit is the 'Drummer Kit' plugin which when enabled gives you an AI-enabled drum track (electronic or acoustic) while you add your music on top. Logic Pro X also comes with more than 7000 royalty-free music loops that can automatically conform to the tempo and key of your project. There's also support for patches which allow you to quickly load complex multichannel sounds. There are features like 'Smart Tempo' which automatically manages tempo across all the content in your project, Flex Time and Flex Pitch, Track Alternatives, automation, audio effects, music notation, and more.

The only problem with Logic Pro X is it cost. I think for people who are even going to use 10% of the features of Logic Pro X, the cost is justifiable. It's a onetime fee, after which the software is yours. There's no hidden charges and no subscription. That said, if you just want to use it for normal audio editing this will be an overkill, especially when there are a ton of good options out there.

Pros:

  • Flawless integration with Mac hardware and operating system
  • A complete DAW
  • Drummer Kit
  • Over 7000 royalty-free track loops
  • Beautiful user interface
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Cons:

  • High upfront costs make it inaccessible to many prospective users

Supported Platforms: macOS

Install:$199.99

3. Avid Pro Tools First: Best Free Audio Editing Software

Avid Pro Tools First is the free version of 'Avid Pro Tools', a professional grade audio editing software, costing upwards of $500 and used by filmmakers and TV professionals to produce and score music for movies and TV shows. While the 'Avid Pro Tools First' is a toned down version of its paid counterpart, it is more than enough for most of the users. It brings a fast 64-bit audio recording and mixing engine along with a variety of session templates with preloaded instrumental tracks covering most genres so that you can start creating your music as soon as you get familiar with the software.

It brings professional grade editing tools. From editing the MIDI tracks to adjusting tempo to fixing pitch and time, Avid Pro Tools First can handle everything. The software also comes with Avid's Xpand!2 virtual instruments and UVI Workstation 3 sample player, thus giving you access to royalty free loops and beats. This free version even comes with 23 utility plugins allowing you to shape your music just the way you want to. Recording your own music or audio is as simple as connecting your mic or instrument and hitting the record button.

When recording audio, you can take advantage of the loop recording feature which allows you to record multiple takes and then use the one that you like the most. The software is also great for people who like to collaborate with others. If you buy Avid's cloud subscription ($4.99/month), your work will be saved on the cloud. You can then share it with your colleagues to work together. In fact, even the free version which we are discussing here allows you to share up to three projects with other users. So, as you can see, you are getting a ton of professional grade features inside an app made for professionals which are used by the industry leaders and you don't have to pay a penny. That's a deal that I cannot refuse and neither should you.

Pros

  • Professional grade editing tool for free
  • Free online sync for up to three projects
  • Royalty free track loops

Cons

  • Steep learning curve
  • Costs a lot to upgrade to the pro version

Supported Platforms: Windows, macOS

Install:Free

4. Audacity: Best Audio Editing Software for Podcasters

Not everyone needs a complete digital audio workstation. In fact, 90% of people who are looking for an audio editing software are looking for a simple program which can help them carry out basic audio editing such as trimming, noise reduction, voice modulation, background score addition, and so on. Whether you are a YouTube or a podcaster or someone who just needs to edit audio for home videos, all of the above-mentioned audio editing software will be a bit of overkill. you need a piece of software which not only enables you to perform these essential editing actions but also which is easy to learn use. For that use case scenario, Audacity is the best tool on the market.

Don't get me wrong, you can use Audacity as a DAW (especially now that it supports MIDI import) but in my views, it's not meant for that. It's simple and approachable UI makes it best for users who don't want to spend months learning an audio editing software. It is an open-source and free audio editing tool which brings a simple and interactive user interface with all the essential tools that you will need. From recording your audio clips to editing it using cut, trim, copy, and paste tools, to using audio effects, generators, and analyzers, Audacity can handle everything. Since Audacity is popular, it is also supported by a host of plugin developers allowing you to find plugins for almost anything that you might need for your project.

Despite being open-source and free, Audacity sees new updates on a fairly regular basis so you are not left using a software of the past. Just recently, Audacity was updated to support the dark mode on macOS Mojave and it looks great. There's also the new spectrogram view which allows you to pinpoint the problems and edit them accordingly. My favorite thing about Audacity is that it will take you just a couple of hours on YouTube to learn the basics and start your editing journey. That alone makes Audacity far more approachable than any other audio editing software.

Pros:

  • Free and open-source
  • Approachable and simple user interface
  • Doesn't require you to do a Ph.D. to start editing
  • Large and helping online community

Cons:

  • If you are the right target audience, I don't think there are any cons

Supported Platforms: Windows, macOS, and Linux

Install:Free

5. ocenaudio: Best Audio Editing Software for Beginners

Just like Audacity, ocenaudio is a free and open-source audio editing software that brings a simple to understand user interface. If for some reason Audacity is doesn't feel right to you or you just want to check out other audio editing software before settling on one, ocenaudio should be next on your list. Just like Audacity, ocenaudio features a clean editing environment which makes it easy for beginners to get started. In fact, as far as looks are concerned, ocenaudio looks more modern than Audacity.

Coming to the features, ocenaudio brings all the basic audio recording and editing features. You can just connect a microphone and press the record button and start recording. When you are editing, you can access all the tools including track selection, track cutting and splitting, copy and paste, multi-trackediting and more. Just like Audacity, ocenaudio supports real-time preview for applied effects. Users can not only apply native effects but also use VST (Virtual Studio Technology) plugins to import effects which are not included with the software.

Like Audacity, ocenaudio also supports the spectrogram view. You can use it to analyze the spectral content of your audio signal for getting a better understanding of all the problems.ocenaudio is also good at handling big files. Even after uploading files which were multiple GB in size, the software didn't hiccup. I have a 2016 13-inch MacBook Pro, so it's not even that I was using it on a powerful machine like an iMac.

While ocenaudio is a good audio editing program, there is one big problem with the software that will turn many users off. The app doesn’t support multi-track editing which makes it useless for many users including me. I have so much fun when using this program and I prefer it over audacity both for its UI and speed. However, the missing support for multi-track editing means that I cannot use this app for my work. Another drawback of this app is that it lacks is a thriving online community.

You won’t find many online video tutorials on this one. If your work involves multi-track editing, you won’t be using ocenaudio. That said, for users who are just getting started with audio editing and doesn’t require a multi-track editing program, this is the best free audio editing software on the market right now.

Pros:

  • Free and open-source
  • Modern looking UI
  • Easy for beginners
  • Support for VST Plugins
  • Can easily handle large audio files

Cons:

  • Multi-track editing not supported
  • Not many quality video tutorials available

Supported Platforms: Windows, macOS, and Linux

Install:Free

6. RX Post Production Suite 4: Best Audio Post Production Tools

iZotope RX Post Production Suite 4 is without a doubt the best post-production tools available for audio editors. iZotope has been leading the industry when it comes to refining audio for decades now and no other company comes even close to it. The latest version 4 update has made its tools even more potent when it comes to editing audio. The suite comprises of multiple tools namely RX 7 Advanced, Dialogue Match, Neutron 3 Advanced, Stratus 3D, Symphony 3D, Insight 2, and RX Loudness Control. Each tool serves a specific purpose and combined they can fulfill all your post-production audio editing needs.

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Starting with the RX 7 Advanced, it brings a powerful repair assistant that can automatically recognize noise, clippings, clicks, hums, and more and remove them with a click. Dialogue Match automatically learns and match the sonic character of dialogue recording. Neutron 3 is a professional tool for building great mixes. It brings a “Mix Assistance” which can listen to all the tracks in your mix and gives you a balanced starting point. Similarly, the rest of the tools in the suite bring features to tackle a specific part of audio post-production.

But only the power of tools is not what iZotope known for, it’s also known for the way it presents the tools. All the tools work in a highly visual way, giving you a good look at the problems and what you can do to solve them. Just look at the screenshots above, and see how audio is represented in a detailed way. That said, all this power comes at a cost as if there’s one thing more that iZotope is known for, it’s for its pro pricing. If your work revolves around fixing audio and audio post-production, these tools can save you so much time while delivering a better product that you can justify the price. However, if you are someone who is just looking to get into audio editing, it will be hard to swallow the bill.

Pros:

  • Best audio production tools on the market
  • Best noise removal
  • Available as plugin for your favorite audio editing software
  • Repair and salvage lost audio
  • Automatic audio processing tools make it easy to use

Cons:

  • Cost is too high

Supported Platforms: Windows and macOS

Install:$1844

7. Fission: Best Audio Editing Software for Fast and Lossless Audio Editing

If you find all of the above audio editing software to be too complex then check out Fission. It’s a simple audio editing software that focuses on providing a fast and lossless audio editing environment. You get quick access to all the audio editing tools. You can join, cut, and trim audio, edit audio metadata, use the batch converter to convert multiple audio files at once, and more. I love that it supports multiple file formats and you can easily edit and convert files to MP3, AAC, Apple Lossless, FLAC, AIFF, or WAV.

For quick edits, you can also use Fission’s smart split feature which automatically cuts audio files based on silence. Other features include gain adjustment, cue sheet support, volume normalization, and more. Fission is made by Rogue Ameba, a company that is well known in the Mac community for making splendid audio products, and Fission is no different. If you don’t want to invest time in learning audio editing and want a quick and easy-to-use tool, this is the one to get.

Pros:

  • Best for quick editing jobs
  • Supports lossless editing
  • Supports multiple file formats
  • Batch processing

Cons:

  • No pro editing features presence

Supported Platforms: Windows, macOS, and Linux

Best Audio Editing Software: Final Thoughts

There are many other pro-level DAW software on the market which have not made the list as I have no experience in music production. The article is for audio editing software and I have tried to keep my list to reflect that. The only reason I have mentioned Logic Pro X is that I know some users will be looking for a DAW software here and for them it’s going to be useful. If you are just working with spoken audio and want a free editing app, very few apps can beat Audacity and hence it's on the list.

But I love the user interface and speediness of ocenaudio and hence it made the list too. I guess what I am trying to say is that every person has their own specific requirements and the software you choose will depend on that. I have chosen the seven apps that will meet the needs of 90% of users reading this article. If you want something more specific and don’t know where to look, drop requirements in the comments section below and at the least, I will guide you in the right direction.

Do you want to make sure your video stands out on YouTube? Then you will want to perform several post-production tasks such as:

  • Adding, rearranging, or removing sections of a video
  • Creating transitions
  • Applying video enhancements such as adding filters and color correction
  • Branding your video with logo, call-to-action, and contact information

Editing raw video footage and preparing it for distribution requires using third-party applications.

Below are several of the best video editing software options on the market today to help you create a YouTube video to wow your audience.

Nero Video

A low-priced video editor well suited for beginners, Nero Video offers a wide range of special features including keyframing functions and multitrack timeline.

Other features include:

  • Easily transfer image and video files from external hard drives, mobile devices, USB sticks, HD-4K cameras, and camcorders to the Nero Media library.
  • Store and access video assets from OneDrive online to save storage space on your computer.
  • Add video effects such as slow-motion titles, audio filters, old film, and keyframe animations.
  • Customize pre-built movie templates.

Nero Video is regularly priced at $49.99, but occasionally runs special discounts. It is an excellent piece of software for video editing newbies but lacks the speed and functionality of more expensive products.

iMovie

iMovie is free video editing software for YouTube for iOS and macOS. It’s well-suited for beginners who don’t want to spend money and are not familiar with more advanced editing apps.

For Mac users who want to perform simple edits, this free built-in video editor could be all you need.

Quickly choose clips, add titles, effects, and music to create 4K high-quality finished video products. Other features include:

  • Adding credits and animated titles from dozens of styles
  • Customizing text size, color, font, and formatting
  • Giving your video a cinematic touch by choosing from creative filters
  • Changing the speed of shots or using split-screen effects
  • Recording your voice, using built-in sound effects, or adding a smart track

iMovie offers both basic and advanced editing functionalities and is the go-to tool for Mac users. It also has a mobile app to edit videos from mobile devices.

Movie Maker Pro

Movie Maker Pro is the Windows alternative to iMovie. It’s a free YouTube video editor that provides basic features such as joining, trimming, text captioning, transition effects, image filtering, and adding background music.

If you want a simple editor for your Windows video projects, Movie Maker Pro is an excellent place to start. For more features, you can upgrade to the Pro version.

Movavi Video Editor Plus

For those who want to share emotions through video, Movavi Video Editor is a useful free tool for beginners using Mac or Windows.

You can upload files from any device to add to your video project.

Movavi also comes with an intro mode to create special introductions for your videos and other built-in effects and features including:

  • Use colors and filters to add an artistic event
  • Add animated transitions to spice up your movie
  • Apply animated titles for emphasis
  • Crop and rotate video clips

Add some pizzazz to your video using features such as pan and zoom, video stabilization, and stylization.

The free version of this software adds a watermark to your videos. If you want to remove the watermark, you can upgrade to the paid version for only $39.95.

HitFilm Express

Hitfilm Express is a free visual effects and video editing app for YouTube. It works with Mac and Windows and is ideal for YouTubers, beginners, students, and others with a tight budget.

You can use more than 180 special effects, 3D editing, and professional VFX tools to create gaming videos, films, and other video content.

One of the most helpful features included with HitFilm is the available tutorial videos to help you with your video editing projects.

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For more experienced video editors looking for advanced editing functionality, HitFilm has a Pro Software Store and an Express Add-on Store.

Avidemux

Avidemux is a free video editor available for Mac, Windows, and Linux.

It is designed for simple video editing tasks such as cutting, encoding, flipping and rotating clips, adding subtitles, adjusting colors and brightness levels, and filtering. However, it doesn’t allow for audio editing.

Although the learning curve is a little steep, you can check with the extensive wiki that will help you accomplish what you want to do.

Shotcut

Shotcut is an open-source video editor that works on multiple platforms. It’s also free.

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The user interface is intuitive and uncomplicated. Shotcut supports hundreds of video and audio formats. There are no imports required, which means native editing.

Software

You can choose from advanced special effects and a vast assortment of filters to customize your video. Shotcut supports webcam, audio, and screen capture as well as resolutions up to 4K.

One of the most helpful features of Shotcut for YouTube video editing is the tutorials it offers, something not usually available with open-source software.

Blender

Blender is a free open source program for Linux, Windows, and Mac operating systems. Besides being a video editor, Blender is also a 3D animation suite.

Some of the video editing features include speed control, filters, transitions, and layer adjustments.

The editing dashboard has 32 tracks for adding video elements to create very complex and compelling videos. This is not the best option for beginner video editors because its functionality can be overwhelming. It also doesn’t offer a mobile version.

However, for more experienced editors, you can create amazing and complicated videos without watermarks for any purpose, including for commercial use.

VSDC Video Editor

VSDC is a free Windows video editing program where you can edit and create all types of videos.

Use advanced video effects such as color correction, overlay text, multi-color Chroma Key, and object transformation. VSDC supports most major video and audio formats such as HD, DVD, and GoPro videos.

It also includes audio effects such as sound normalization and volume correction. An added benefit is that the full set of features for VSDC are free and doesn’t leave a watermark.

Machete Video Editor Lite

A simple and easy-to-use free video editor is Machete Video Editor Lite (the free version of Machete).

The lite version is designed for simple and quick video edits such as cutting, copying, moving, saving, and pasting. However, it only supports WMV and AVI video format.

Jul 23, 2018  Run iOS apps on Mac or Windows PC with iPadian. Here, we are going to talk about iPadian. It is the Adobe air-based iOS simulator for Mac/Windows PC. After you install iPadian, you won’t be able to access the App Store and get the apps you want. This simulator has its own store, and while there are many great apps, the choice is limited. IOS emulator is useful for running iOS or iPhone applications that are not compatible with the PC operating system. For example, you cannot run Android apps on windows or MAC because the operating systems differ. But we have emulators like BlueStacks which will create a virtual environment for running Android apps on windows. Similarly, there. The app is free and it is very easy to use. The interface is so simple that it can be used by almost anyone. The App.io is available on both platforms; you can use it as iOS emulator for Mac and for Windows. When you look at App.io you will see that the developers mainly focused on the simplicity of the emulator. For a very small set of niche cases, Simulator is the best option for running an iOS app on a Mac. The problem is that it needs to be your app - in the sense that you developed it or at. Gow rto emulate an ios app on mac pc.

You can’t edit audio files in Machete lite, but you can remove sound files from video files. Newbie video editors will appreciate the intuitive interface and ease-of-use.

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Lightworks

Lightworks is an advanced video editor for Mac, Windows, and Linux. It is so powerful that it has been used to edit films such as Pulp Fiction, Road to Perdition, and The Wolf of Wall Street.

Some of the robust features that come with Lightworks include:

  • Intuitive user interface for timeline editing and trimming
  • Access to royalty-free video and audio content
  • Low-resolution proxy workflows for 4K
  • Exports videos for Vimeo and YouTube in SD/HD, up to 4K

You can choose the free or the pro version of lightworks. The main difference between the two besides the price is the availability of more features in pro.

However, the free version is still feature-rich, supports multi-cam editing, and provides more than 100 effects.

Which is the Best Video Editing Software for YouTube Videos?

To choose the best video editor for your specific needs, consider your operating system, budget, level of expertise, and the amount of time you are willing to put into learning.

The sooner you get started using a video editor, the faster you will sharpen your video skills and produce amazing videos.