I’ve used Audacity for a while now to edit podcast and voiceover audio files. It’s powerful software, with hundreds of tools, options, and buttons to fine tune every tone in your MP3, WAV, or other file format. It’s also free! But it comes with a cost: The steep learning curve and tricky user interface make Audacity inaccessible to the average user. Added to that, there doesn’t appear to be simple explainers anywhere for it; I mean, really simple! So I aim to simplify it all for you here.
This blog is comprehensive, yet I believe you’ll find it helpful having all the key info about Audacity in one place. I’ll share some information about the Audacity audio editing software itself, the pros and cons, then go on to explain how to use it easily to fix common issues in your voiceover audio (background noise, big blips like a cough, increasing the volume, snipping). I’ll also share how to get over other hurdles, like converting an M4A file into MP3 so Audacity can work on it!
Here’s the running order of how I simplify Audacity, so feel free to skip to what interests you most:
- What is Audacity? An overview of purpose
- Where to safely download Audacity
- Should I use Audacity? Pros and Cons…
- Audacity Won’t Open M4A Files! Convert M4A to MP3 for FREE!
- Remove background noise or humming
- Remove echo (‘reverb’) to sound less ‘distant’
- Limit peaks of big noises
- Clip and trim your audio to remove unwanted noise or silence
- Amplify to increase volume of quiet audio
- Going further with Audacity
Once you’ve made the edits I describe in sections 5-9, and created yourself a newly-improved audio track, Audacity allows you to export it as an MP3 or any other audio file format. Just use the File > Export Audio option and follow choose your format and save location.
Let me know what you think in the comments, and I hope you find this guidance useful. If you enjoyed or learned anything, please consider buying me a coffee to help keep the content flowing. Here’s my recent video walking you through the top five Audacity edits, then I’ll go through more in the article…
1. What is Audacity?
“Audacity is the world’s most popular audio editing and recording app.” – Official Audacity Website
Audacity is a powerful yet free audio file creation and editing software. That means you can use it both to first record and then refine your audio. As a desktop app, it’s available for Windows, Apple, and Linux computers, but not for iPads, tablets, or smart phones.
Audacity is most useful for podcast production, voiceovers, and even music production. I tend to mainly use if for editing and refining existing ‘spoken word’ material, as per the focus of this blog.
Often, such audio files need cleaning and enhancement, to make them sound less amateur and fuzzy, more like a professional production. That’s because it’s hard to record something perfect from a microphone. Circumstances never seem to allow this in real life outside a Joe Rogan podcast studio! For example, Audacity can fix background noise, unexpected loud sounds, echoes, long pauses, and such.
While having the ability to record audio is useful, most laptops and PCs already have apps to record sound (e.g. on Windows it’s called ‘Sound Recorder’). Audacity is best for editing and improving MP3 or other audio files you already have. Here’s the most common audio-cleaning functions that Audacity can handle (I cover the top 4 and more in this blog):
- Remove Background Noise: Audacity’s noise reduction tool allows effective removal of background noise from recordings without harming your main sound, resulting in clearer and more professional-sounding audio.
- Limit Loud Noises: Did you cough, sneeze, or bump the microphone while recording? One person talking much louder and closer to the mic than another in a podcast? Fear not, these can easily be reduced or even removed entirely.
- Clip and Trim Silence: Easily cut out unwanted sections of audio or silent spots at the start, middle, or end of your audio.
- Reduce Echo (Reverberation): If you’ve recorded yourself at a distance from the mic, or in a big room with lots of echo bouncing off the walls, you’ll notice the distant tannoy-like sound. But this can be removed.
- Equalisation: Allows targeted volume adjustments to different frequencies of your audio for clarity and balance, like enhancing the treble or base. This is more for music production, but can be handy for example to emulate a ‘walkie-talkie’ or ‘at the other end of the phone’ effect to spoken word.
2. Where Can I Safely Download Audacity?
In this age of malware and bloatware, it’s sensible to be sceptical of “free software” you’ve not heard of before and must download from an unfamiliar place. That’s because offering dodgy software for free is one of the sly tactics used by hackers and online criminals.
But is Audacity safe to download and use? Having used Audacity for a year or two now, I can confirm that it is legit! I’ve successfully installed it on my great value laptop PC with no issues. It works very well for me to refine and improve podcast style audio and voiceovers. Just be sure to get it from the right website!
Here’s how to download the real Audacity software and where from in just three simple steps:
- Head over to Audacity’s website (www.audacityteam.org) and specifically their download page.
- Choose your Operating System (OS) from Windows, Mac, or Linux. Go for the recommended option for simplicity, unless you know better of course.
- The process to install from there is easy, just follow the installation wizard defaults.
Now let’s explore the pros and cons of Audacity and whether it’s right for your needs…
3. Should I Use Audacity? Pros and Cons…
Despite being free and powerful audio editing software, it’s not all milk and honey with Audacity. Like everything in life, nothing perfect comes for free! But free it is, and awesome when you get your head around it.
In short, if you’re recording and editing spoken word or ambient sound effects, it’ll be right up your street and does the job. But if I was a professional musician, I’d probably decide on paying for something like Adobe’s Audition (currently £22 / month) or Apple’s Logic Pro (currently £200 one-off) for recording and editing sound. They just seem more pleasing to work with, are still affordable, and are made by two trusted powerhouses of the creative digital industry.
But here’s the pros and cons of Audacity expanding upon the graphic above in more detail. As most people like bad news first, let’s get the downsides out of the way:
CON: There is a very steep learning curve, especially if you are unfamiliar with sound production terminology. Very few of the options and settings make sense to a musical layperson who doesn’t for example know the difference between ‘echo’ and ‘reverb’, what ‘wet’ or ‘dry’ sounds are, or what ‘gain’ or ‘normalise’ mean. The inbuilt user manual is also difficult to follow or find things in. Luckily though, there’s plenty of support out there from enthusiastic users, like this blog!
CON: The interface is unpleasant and outdated. It feels very technical to work with, I imagine the configuration of buttons on the Apollo 11 moon lander might be similar. Further, it has the pixelated, grey/blue, crudely apportioned screen area reminiscent of Windows 1995 and similar 1990s – 2000s era software. Functional and not pleasing to work with. But then again, technical geniuses creating fantastic tools aren’t known for their aesthetic design and ergonomics prowess; that’s generally a different skillset. That’s why technically inept people like me exist to explain things simply!
CON: As an open-source product, there’s no official Audacity support or helpdesk. But there is a helpful support community area with lots of videos/articles and set out far more intuitively than the inbuilt Audacity User Manual.
CON: Not all audio formats are supported (M4A, WMA, AMR), without the complexity of downloading additional ‘plugins’. There are easy ways around this though, as I explain in section 4.
CON: Not available for iOS or Android. As a desktop-only app, you can’t use Audacity on your phone or tablet devices. But it is compatible for laptops and PCs using Windows, macOS, or even Linux.
CON: Limited support for Virtual Studio Technology (VST) plugins. Unlike some paid audio editing software, Audacity’s support for VST plugins is somewhat limited. While some are covered, users may encounter compatibility issues or find the process of installing them cumbersome. So music professionals will probably want to opt for a paid app, especially made for the music industry.
Some real, honest downsides exist to Audacity, having learned to use the tool myself. But that’s not to slate it, because there’s many positives which far outweigh these downsides…
PRO: It’s ******* FREE!! Who cares about any of the cons really, when those generous technical wizards have created a free app to allow anyone to create better audio!
PRO: Wide range of powerful features to edit and refine your audio. This is great for technical audio experts, where Audacity packs a punch in terms of sophisticated features. From basic audio editing tasks like cutting, copying, and pasting to advanced functionalities such as noise reduction, pitch correction, and multi-track editing. But for the layperson, this sophistication is unintuitive complexity, and feels like feature-overload. A bit like trying to create an awesome dashboard in Excel when you’ve just opened it up for the first time.
PRO: Being open-source software means that more technically astute users have access to its source code, fostering a community-driven environment for improvements and customisations.
PRO: Cross-platform compatibility. Whether you’re using Windows, macOS, or Linux, Audacity has you covered. Its compatibility across multiple operating systems ensures accessibility for a diverse user base. You can also export files to any audio format.
PRO: It’s fantastic for cleaning up and enhancing spoken word. I know, because I’ve tried this, removing echo, removing noise, making things louder, and other audio imperfections derived from not recording things in an expensive studio.
PRO: Stability seems good. I’ve not encountered issues so far, dealing with files over an hour long. Though I can’t vouch for more complex projects with more audio channels to them.
4. M4A, WMA, AMR Files Not Supported in Audacity
Through my use and interaction with Audacity, I’ve learned it doesn’t recognise or export to the default file type for recordings made on Apple devices: M4A. It’s the same situation for the WMA and AMR audio file formats. Here’s the two options you have of getting round this issue:
OPTION 1: Download and install the sidecar ‘FFmpeg’ plugin to Audacity
For Audacity to handle these extra audio file types, you need to download the FFmpeg plugin. This is an unfortunate yet necessary hurdle, as Audacity describes this is due to patent limitations. The above link takes you to the FFmpeg installer page, including a video explaining more.
OPTION 2: Convert audio files using ‘Convertio’ first
After some research on free online audio file convertors, I settled on a site called Convertio. This is a completely FREE tool to convert any audio file (under 100MB) into any other audio format.
With Convertio, you simply upload (or drag and drop) your audio recording and choose what you want it converted to. Then let Convertio do its thing and the file is ready to download. For example, upload your M4A, convert it to MP3, then download and use the MP3 file in Audacity.
Convertio also converts other file types too, like video, images, and documents, just in case this might be helpful for you. What a handy site to know about… you’re welcome!
So now you’ve got a useable file into Audacity (File > Open), let’s start making it sound better. The first port of call for most is clearing up any background noise…
5. Removing Background Noise in Audacity
Golden Unwritten RULE of Audio Editing: ALWAYS use headphones to listen to your audio and fine tune your edits. Your inbuilt laptop or PC speakers are not accurate enough to differentiate the changes well. You can get decent headsets on Amazon for £20 or less, so there really is no excuse. If you don’t edit your audio like this, I’ll assume you polish your shoes with a toilet brush and one hand over your eyes!
It’s not always possible to create clean-sounding audio at the point of recording. Background noise or humming can easily encroach, distracting listeners from your main content. This noise can arise from distant traffic, swishing wind, air conditioning, or even the electrical hum of your laptop charging! Either way, it’s quicker and easier to just remove it in Audacity, rather than spending £££ and hours (or weeks!) trying to perfect your audio recording setup.
The following two images show you what background noise looks like on your audio file before (red) and after (green) applying the simple steps I describe below. Note that you can drag the bottom of your audio viewing pane down, to widen the view of your blue amplitude line. This helps better visualise the noise which is otherwise hard to see.
So now here’s how to remove noise in Audacity in just two simple steps. I’ll then highlight these visually on the Noise Reduction tool options menu below and share a video walkthrough…
Step 1: Sample a section which has the noise.
- Select noisy bit: Select a specific section (click and drag) that has only the background noise to sample, 1-2 seconds will suffice.
- Go to Noise Reduction tool: In the top menu bar, go to Effect > Noise Removal and Repair > Noise Reduction.
- Click ‘Get Noise Profile’ button in the pop-up ‘Noise Reduction’ settings, highlighted in screenshot below. Now Audacity knows what bit you don’t like!
Step 2: Apply noise reduction settings to all of audio.
- Select entire audio: In the top menu bar, go to Select > All (or use keyboard shortcut Ctrl A).
- Go back to Noise Reduction tool: In the top menu bar, go to Effect > Noise Removal and Repair > Noise Reduction.
- Apply settings: As highlighted below, Noise reduction (dB) should be between 12-16 for most purposes, Sensitivity around 6, and Frequency smoothing 3-4. Tweak according to your audio needs, using the preview button to hear what it’s doing before applying the effect. Make sure Noise is checked on Reduce.
As an added tip, try checking the Residue box before hitting the Preview button. This allows you to listen to a preview of exactly what will be removed, so you can ensure only noise (and not too much voice!) is being removed. Once happy, put the radio button back on Reduce before applying the effect, or you’ll be left with just the noise!
And finally, to round off my noise-reduction in Audacity support for you, here’s my dedicated YouTube tutorial on quickly removing background noise using Audacity, if you prefer to watch along…
6. Reduce Echo / Reverb in Audacity
If you’ve recorded yourself at a distance from the mic, or in a big room, or with lots of echo bouncing off the walls, you’ll notice a distant tannoy-like sound. Looking online and on YouTube for explainers how to do this proved fruitless, so I initially recorded my own video how-to after learning the basics. Since then, I honed my skills further to share with you the best settings to use, because they’re not intuitive or in the factory pre-sets.
So here are the steps to remove echo (aka ‘reverb’) in your audio file with Audacity, making it sound like you’re nearer the mic and less distant and tinny…
- Go to Effect > Delay and Reverb > Reverb.
- As per settings in image above, minimise Room Size, Pre Delay, and Reverberance. Maximise Damping (these four are most important).
- Reduce Wet Gain more than Dry Gain, reduce latter only very slightly (-1 or -2).
- Leave Stereo Width at 100% and check box unchecked.
- Preview your changes (with headphones!!) and if happy, click Apply.
In my recent video (see intro section), I cover a range of Audacity audio fixes and improvements. Skip to 21:00 minutes for where I walk you through how to reduce reverb (echo).
Important note: It might seem obvious, but it’s not written anywhere that all these reverb settings are what Audacity will emulate, not correct for. For example, if you select a large room size, echo and reverb will be ADDED to your audio file to make it sound like you were in a big room!
7. Using the Limiter to Reduce Loud Noises
The limiter tool comes into play when you have occasional loud bursts of big amplitude, whereas the rest is relatively quiet. The below screengrab previews a piece of audio where this is particularly bad in several spaces…
These harsh bursts can arise for example from someone speaking closer to the mic than others, a cough or sneeze, or even accidentally scratching or tapping the mic directly (as happened above). Either way, such bursts sound unpleasant and amateurish to your audience. Also, if the rest of your track is quiet, you can’t amplify the rest of your track effectively, as the +/- 1 amplitude peaks are already being maxed out.
Let’s now bring these peaks down using Audacity’s smart Limiter tool in just a two main steps…
STEP 1: Select audio and open Limiter tool.
- Select the audio to fix (select all, or a particular section you want to target).
- In the top menu, go to Effect > Noise Removal and Repair > Limiter.
STEP 2: Choose correct settings (see screenshot below).
- Choose Soft Limit.
- Decide on your Limit to (dB) volume adjuster (between -4 to -8 is a good range, but use the Preview button to fine tune).
- Leave other defaults the same, take off ‘Make-up Gain’, then click Apply.
Of course, you can preview before applying changes, allowing you to fine-tune any adjustments to the need of your audio file. As another comparison tip, try out the top menu Edit > Undo / Redo option, to compare the whole thing before and after (rather than just the 5 seconds of ‘preview’).
Here’s my video walkthrough of this tool, skipped already to the 10:00 minute mark for you where I go through it in 2 minutes. It’s part of my more extensive video embedded under section 6 already, where I explain and fix multiple common issues in Audacity.
If you’re feeling more like a pro and getting confident with Audacity, you might want to refine the dynamic range of your audio more delicately with the compression tool. Here’s a useful article I found for you (by a sound expert no less!) explaining the Limiter vs. Compressor tools, differences, and when to use each.
8. Clipping and Snipping Your Audio
Another option to remove torrid ‘peak’ noises described in the preceding section is to snip it out altogether. Snipping / clipping / trimming (whatever you want to call it) is a handy tool in Audacity, allowing you to remove snippets of the track entirely. This is also handy for removing long pauses in speech, maintaining a positive ‘tempo’.
It’s really easy to snip and trim your audio file, there’s just two steps:
- Select the section of the audio you want to remove (click and drag)
- On the top menu bar, choose Edit > Delete.
That’s it! Even better, you can do this to any point of your audio, at the beginning, end, or right in the middle somewhere. Audacity nicely and seamlessly bunches the track back together for you (in other editing apps, you often have to splice together the remaining pieces again).
9. Increase Audio Volume with Amplify Tool
You may find that your audio is rather quiet. This tends to happen if you’ve recorded at a distance from the mic, or the microphone is on a less sensitive setting. If so, you can make it louder with the simple Amplify tool in Audacity.
The sampled piece of audio above is a prime example, with most of the waveform near the middle line (0). We want to move the blue amplitude volume levels from its current typical range in the red zone (+/- 0.3) out to the green zone (+/- 0.7). This gives a decent volume for the listener, while sounding more professional and less ‘distant’.
Note: If your audio is generally very quiet but also has massive peaks, you’ll need to first use the Limiter tool before amplifying (section 7 of this blog)
There are occasional volume peaks already exceeding the +/- 0.5 amplitude level. If you’re a perfectionist, you can reduce these first by applying a subtle Limiter (e.g. -2 or -3 dB), as per the Limiter steps I showed you in section 7 above. But otherwise, it’s good to go, so let’s crank this baby up with Audacity’s amplification tool…
- First, ensure you’ve selected all the audio (or the bit you want to make louder).
- Then in the top menu, choose Effect > Volume and Compression > Amplify.
- In the popup Amplification window, nudge down Audacity’s proposed Amplification (dB) level by about 10-20%. E.g. if Audacity proposed to amplify by 6 dB, bring it down to 5 or so.
- Preview the sound (with headphones!!) to make sure you’ve added enough loudness, but not gone overboard.
- Finally, leave other stuff alone, leave the Allow Clipping box unchecked, and click Apply.
Your blue squiggly amplitude line should now extend towards the bounds of the audio track; around the green range is nice and not too overbearing. That means your audience will no longer be straining to hear you with their volume cranked up, then be shocked to the core when suddenly a properly produced advert or something else comes on their speakers after you!
10. Going Further with Audacity…
In conclusion, Audacity remains a versatile and powerful tool for audio editing, offering a plethora of features and functionalities to suit various needs. While it may have its drawbacks, its accessibility, affordability, and robust feature set make it a compelling choice for both beginners and seasoned professionals alike.
If you want to move beyond a beginner understanding of this fantastic, free audio editing software, here’s some bonus pointers for you.
- Audacity Reference Manual: Browse the reference manual for the inbuilt explanation of functions and features. However, being set out like an antiquated Wikipedia page, it’s not the most intuitive to navigate and explanations don’t always make sense to an audio laymen.
- Audacity Tutorials: View a selective range of tutorials on completing common tasks or edits.
- How to Use Audacity: Explanation of all the features and functions, depending on what you plan to do with your audio and explained in steps.
- Online Forum: Pitch your problems and questions to thousands of enthusiastic users of Audacity online, or browse answers for questions already raised which may be similar to your current situation.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this comprehensive review and overview of Audacity to help professionalise your audio clips. I’m passionate about compiling valuable insights and sharing knowledge. If you’ve benefitted from or appreciate it, and can afford to, I invite you to contribute a coffee for my efforts. Your generous support helps fuel my knowledge-sharing efforts and keeps the inspiration for new content flowing.
Kind Regards, Adrian
I hope this guidance supports your ambitions on Audacity and saves time! Subscribe to my blog and EATO YouTube channel for more useful info. Liking the content? Please like and share with friends and colleagues who may also find it useful. If so inclined, supporting my work helps keep free content flowing. Want fantastic, time-saving templates or dashboards tailored to you and your business? Then please get in touch to arrange a bespoke quote. Finally, please feel free to leave your feedback below, including what tutorials or templates you’d like created.