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Best audio recording apps for Windows
Computers can be used for a lot of things, and among them, you can use a computer to record audio, video, and more. Recording audio on Windows is a fairly simple process for anyone, but there are a few apps out there that offer some great tools for specific needs.
So whether you're just recording your thoughts, a podcast, or music, here are some of the best audio recording apps you can get on Windows 11.
Audacity
The top pick for a reason
No name in the audio recording game is as prominent as Audacity, and there's good reason for it. This free app offers an incredible range of tools for recording and mixing audio at no cost to you. it's a very versatile tool that lets you easily record multiple tracks and combine them together, change audio levels, loop parts of a track, and much more. It even supports recording the audio output from your PC, too, which is very neat.
In addition to the built-in features, Audacity is backed by a large ecosystem of plug-ins, too, including some AI-powered ones for things like noise reduction.
Audio production can get very complex very quickly, but Audacity manages to present all of its features in a UI that's fairly easy to get acquainted with. Anyone can get started with it and learn more advanced tools as they go, which isn't always easy to accomplish. No matter who you are, Audacity is a great place to start.
Adobe Audition
A great tool for Creative Cloud users
Audacity is fantastic free tool for audio work, but what if you're willing to pay for more advanced tools? Well, Adobe Audition may be for you. A major benefit of Audition right off the bat is that it comes included in Adobe's Creative Cloud suite, so if you already happen to be paying for Photoshop or Premiere Pro, this is just another tool in the arsenal, and you may not have to pay anything extra depending on your plan.
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Much like Audacity, Audition offers a ton of tools for recording and mixing audio, and even more of them at that. You can record multiple tracks with different inputs for each one and apply all kinds of filters and effects to enhance the quality of your sound. Things like noise reduction, de-hummers, and more are built right into Audition, so it's a great tool to have for something like a podcast or recording a video. In fact, Audition lets you open video files to edit their audio tracks, too, so it can be the first step in your video production workflow as well before you go into the video editing software.
Like many of Adobe's apps, Audition also comes with some tutorials built right in, so even if you're new to audio mixing and you don't know where to start, you should be able to find your way. Audition is fairly pricy, and so is Adobe Creative Cloud in general, but this is a great tool to have.
Windows Sound Recorder
For the basic stuff
Here we have something for the more basic users. If all you want is a simple recording tool to save your thoughts, the Windows Sound Recorder in Windows 11 is actually a pretty solid tool, especially compared to the version on Windows 10.
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Get started with recording audio on your PC
The Sound Recorder app lets you choose the audio input device you want to record with, and you can also change the format and audio quality of the recording. That's about all there is to it, but if you're just a novice making a video for the first time or you just want to be able to test a microphone or something, this tool will do the trick just fine, and it's included right in Windows 11. If you somehow don't have it, you can download it below.
Reaper
For advanced music production
If you really want to get into the weeds of audio production, thenReaper may be the app for you. This is a much more advanced and complex audio recording and editing tool that offers tons of options and features to help you create audio content. It's not a free app, but you can try it for up to 60 days at no cost, and the license is a one-time payment which includes major updates for quite some time, so it's a more palatable business model than Adobe's.
Reaper is incredibly complex, and it shows in the UI, with a lot of elements inundating the screen right form the start. it can definitely be intimidating, but there's a lot of power here. In addition to separate tracks, each track can have multiple lanes for different takes or alternate versions of a track, and you can even composite different lanes to create one perfect track based on different takes. The app also supports a ton of plug-ins and audio effects, and in addition to standard audio devices, it can directly recognize all kinds of MIDI hardware, making it perfect for recording digital instruments.
There is a ton here, and Reaper is a genuinely user-friendly tool with a ton of guides available on the official website to help you get started. Plus, it's a cross-platform tool, and even on Windows, it's already working of support for Arm devices, which is currently in beta.
FL Studio
A great alternative
If Reaper isn't quite doing it for you, another great option in this field is FL Studio. Conceptually, this app is very similar to the one above, meaning it's specifically designed for music production, and it's a very popular choice at that.
In addition to recording audio, FL Studio offers a ton of instruments and effects you can use to produce your music tracks. Of course, you can have virtually unlimited tracks to create just the right sound, along with features like stem separation for tracks that have multiple instruments, so you can easily separate vocals from drums and guitars, and work with them separately. It also comes with some sample sounds and other content you can browser and add to your tracks.
FL Studio also has a huge plug-in ecosystem, including free and paid plug-ins. Some editions of the program give you access to all the existing plug-ins (but not ones released after your purchase), expanding your arsenal that much more. The free edition of FL Studio doesn't actually support audio recording, though, meaning you need to pay up for that specific feature.
There are options for everyone
Regardless of your use case, there are some great options here for your audio recording needs. Something as basic as the Windows Sound Recorder may be all you need to record your sound clips, podcasts, or whatever you need, but if you want to dive deeper and use more advanced tools, then Audacity is probably the way to go.
Professionals with more money to spend may want to look at tools like Adobe Audition or Reaper for a proper setup, but this isn't a necessity for everyone.
How to record your screen in Windows 11
Screen recording in Windows 11 can be accomplished in a few relatively easy ways. Our guide can walk you through each process, step by step.