When comparing SADie 6 vs Audacity, the Slant community recommends Audacity for most people. In the question“What are the best DAWs? ” Audacity is ranked 21st while SADie 6 is ranked 55th. 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
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro The Trim Editor enables impossible edits
Pro Easy to learn
Wonderful editing.
Pro An exellent Mastering DAW
Very intuitive. Crazy to learn. They continually upgrade the system since 1995.
Pro The MasterWAV function is a game changer
Makes making individual WAS stupidly simple. Helps ease the workflow.
Pro Good for multiple inputs
This DAW supports multitrack editing, which allows the recording of many inputs simultaneously.
Pro Customized iZotope bundle
iZotope is a very respected audio tech company that makes great plugins. SADie 6 is now bundled with a customized iZotope program that has 9 functions. Many of these functions are standard, but other are harder to find, such as pitch-shift, exciter, widener,and analogue delay.
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
Cons
Con Windows only
SADie 6 is only compatible with Windows OS.
Con No MIDI functionality
SADie 6 is geared towards mastering and radio/TV production, so there is no MIDI input.
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.