Here’s the Deal

Audacity vs SAWStudio

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When comparing Audacity vs SAWStudio, the Slant community recommends Audacity for most people. In the question“What are the best DAWs? ” Audacity is ranked 21st while SAWStudio is ranked 38th. The most important reason people chose Audacity is:

Audacity is available for free on Windows, Mac OS, and Linux with source code available [here](http://audacityteam.org/download/source).

Specs

PlatformsWindows, Linux, Mac

CompatibilityWindows

Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking

Common Questions

What are the best DAWs?

Pros

Pro
Free, open source and cross-platform

Audacity is available for free on Windows, Mac OS, and Linux with source code available here.

Pro
Well maintained

Audacity is constantly updated.

Pro
Great community backing it

Pro
Great for vocal track editing

Pro
Reliable

Rarely crashes.

Pro
Incredibly fast and small since much of the code is written in assembly

It weighs just over 5 MB while sill being full-featured.

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Cons

Con
Not seen as a full DAW

Audacity doesn't have the capabilities of popular DAWs and generally isn't considered to be good option.

Con
Doesn't retain audio integrity

Audacity uses destructive editing, meaning applying effects, cutting, etc is non-reversable after you've saved a project.

Con
No real time effects

Users are unable to change effects in real time with Audacity. If effects are to be changed, no sound can be playing or recording.

Con
Unable to use Synthesizers / virtual instruments

You can only use effect plugins or record live with this DAW.

Con
No native 64-bit version, therefore does not support 64-bit VST plugins

Audacity is available only as a 32-bit application, therefore even when running on 64-bit machines, it only supports 32-bit VST plugins unless they are converted to 32-bit using an application such as JBridge.