[sdiy] Should I repair my Fostex, or should I go HD recording?

[Paul Higgins]

Audacity is my main two-track editor, and I use some fairly high-end 
stuff including Mark of the Unicorn and Arboretum software.  I 
occasionally use Audacity for limited multitrack projects as well, 
usually where I need to spread things out on multiple tracks in order 
to do complex edits.  Audacity comes with a few really useful plugins 
and there is a VST compatibility library as well; that's quite helpful 
if you have some serious $$$ invested in VST plugins.  There is also an 
.mp3 encoder (the LAME library), lots of file conversion capabilities, 
etc.  I think of it as the Swiss Army knife for digital audio.

If you're looking for a more professional DAW-style package for serious 
multitracking (16+ tracks), check out this open-source package:  
<http://ardour.org/>

Another great resource for Linux (and increasingly, Mac OS X) audio is 
run by Dave Phillips, the author of "Linux Music and Sound" 
(unfortunately out of print):  <http://linux-sound.org/>

I really can't say enough about Audacity, not to mention all the 
ancillary packages that work with it (plugins, libraries, etc.).  I 
have no idea why more pro audio and recording people don't know about 
it, especially as it was ported from Linux to Mac OS X a long time ago.

-PRH

On Saturday, Dec 25, 2004, at 17:26 US/Central, Glen wrote:

> I just wanted to mention that there is at least one free piece of 
> software
> which allows you to record/play 8 or more tracks at the same time:
>
> http://audacity.sourceforge.net/
>
> It's not the most elaborate multi-track setup, but it will handle 8 or 
> more
> tracks, and did I mention that it's free?  :)
>
> I figured you might want to play with this for awhile, after 
> purchasing an
> expensive multi-channel audio interface, and while you are saving your
> money for the more expensive professional audio software. I'm not sure 
> why
> people like M-Audio don't bundle this software with their interfaces, 
> or at
> least provide the download link for it.