WavePad

Pros

• A free version to use
• Tons of different effects
• Integrates seamlessly with Mac
• Updates frequently

Cons

• Doesn’t accept a lot of extensions
• Can run sluggish at times

A free audio editor that can give even beginners professional results by providing them with a long list of tools to easily use

An Overview of WavePad

A lot of people swear by an audio editing program like Audacity, but many Mac users prefer the WavePad program even more. WavePad is an audio editor that can make quick work out of very tough tasks, featuring hundreds of different features and filters that can turn bland, boring audio into professional quality audio files.

NCH Software released WavePad for a variety of platforms. This particular version is specifically for Mac OS X, and it is available for free. The current version is 9.51, so this means that the program actually updates quite regularly and rolls out new features that users can employ to edit their audio files.

What WavePad Is and What It Does

WavePad is a very simple audio editor with some very complex features. While easy enough to learn and use, there are simply hundreds of different features and effects that one can use to fine-tune their audio files. One of the best parts about this program is its very simple, user-friendly interface. You can intuitively figure out how to add files, and find the different features and effects to edit.

So, overall, you’re dealing with a simplistic piece of software that also happens to be quite powerful. It supports a range of audio formats, including WAV, MP3, VOX, GSM, AIF, AU, OGG and FLAC. One of the only downsides is that it doesn’t support other formats, though there are plugins available that might help.

Features of WavePad

The feature list is incredibly long and deals primarily in the different effects you can add. For starters, you can amplify your audio, add echo, tweak your bass and treble, change the pitch, speed and tone, and so much more. You can also run a noise reduction profile and really clean things up. You can take some basic audio and have it sounding like studio quality.

If you’re still the type who uses CDs and likes to burn your own music, you can cut out the middle-man media player and just rip your creations straight to a CD. Other than that, you can save in different formats to the directory of your choosing, which makes everything easy to track.

Pros and Cons of WavePad

Pros

• A free version to use
• Tons of different effects
• Integrates seamlessly with Mac
• Updates frequently

Cons

• Doesn’t accept a lot of extensions
• Can run sluggish at times