Overview
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| Audacity | Audition | Ardour | Descript | GarageBand | Hindenburg | Logic Pro X | ProTools | Reaper | Samplitude | |
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| operating systems | Linux, macOS, Windows | macOS, Windows | Linux, macOS, Windows | macOS, Windows | macOS | macOS, Windows | macOS | Linux, macOS, Windows | Windows | |
| cost | free | 31.50 USD/month, 240 USD/year |
free | 0-14 USD/month | free | 95 USD, 375 USD*, 120 USD/year* |
200 USD | 60 USD, 225 USD |
400 USD | |
| complexity | low | low | low | medium | high | high | high | |||
| non-destructive |  |
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| multi-track recording | |
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| import/open sessions from | aup | – | aaf, dat (StarTrack), nhsx, ptf, ptx, sesx, xml (Final Cut Pro) | aaf | aaf, ptf, ptx | edl (Samplitude), rpp | aaf, edl (Samplitude), omf, vip | |||
| export/save sessions to | aup | aaf, eel (Samplitude), fcpxml, sesx, xml (Premiere) | aaf*, adl, nhsx | ptf, ptx | edl (Samplitude), rpp, txt (Vegas EDL) | aaf, edl (Samplitude), omf, vip | ||||
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text-based interface | clipboard | ||||||||
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works only with English audio | no color coding |
* Pro version
native session formats are bolded
Details
Descript
Descript follows a concept that is entirely different from all other DAWs. All audio gets transcribed by the software and then edited based on the transcript: deleting words in the text also deletes them from the audio. It is possible to produce episodes entirely in Descript, but more advanced users will want to export their sessions from Descript to another DAW at some point in the process.
Hindenburg
What distinguishes Hindenburg from other DAWs is that it is made primarily for journalists, not musicians. It is great for producing straightforward radio segments and podcast episodes, however lacks some features for more complex productions.