Audacity can record live audio through a microphone or mixer, or digitize recordings from other media. With some sound cards, and on any recent version of Windows, Audacity can also capture streaming audio.
- Device Toolbar manages multiple recording and playback devices.
- Level meters can monitor volume levels before, during and after recording. Clipping can be displayed in the waveform or in a label track.
- Record from microphone, line input, USB/Firewire devices and others.
- Record computer playback on Windows Vista and later by choosing “Windows WASAPI” host in Device Toolbar then a “loopback” input.
- Timer Record and Sound Activated Recording features.
- Dub over existing tracks to create multi-track recordings.
- Record at very low latencies on supported devices on Linux by using Audacity with JACK.
- Record at sample rates up to 192,000 Hz (subject to appropriate hardware and host selection). Up to 384,000 Hz is supported for appropriate high-resolution devices on Windows (using WASAPI), Mac OS X, and Linux.
- Record at 24-bit depth on Windows (using Windows WASAPI or Windows DirectSound host), Mac OS X or Linux (using ALSA or JACK host).
- Record multiple channels at once (subject to appropriate hardware).
Audacity Recording Review
Audacity Reviews Cnet Review
Oct 18, 2011 Jump to: Review of free recording software: Audacity and Ardour. Ardour Edit Window. To save the suspense: Ardour comes out on top. Ardour’s complete list of features, audio formats, plugins, window layouts, and mix automation options all make Ardour a much more powerful recording and mixing tool. Audacity, the multi-faceted media application, allows you to record audio from the web (Skype, WhatsApp, or others) or to save system sounds - as well as its primary function, a video player.