Comparison of free software for audio
This list of free software for audio lists notable free and open source software for use by sound engineers, audio producers, and those involved in sound recording and reproduction.
Audio analysis
See also: Spectrum analyzer
| Name | Creator | Linux? | OS X? | Unix? | Windows? | Note | License |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BRP-PACU | Yes | Yes | Dual channel FFT tool for equalization of sound systems using the transfer function. | GPL | |||
| Praat | Paul Boersma and David Weenink of the University of Amsterdam | Yes | Yes | Yes | A program for the analysis of speech in phonetics. | GPL | |
| Sonic Visualiser | Centre for Digital Music at Queen Mary, University of London | Yes | Yes | Yes | GPL | ||
| WaveSurfer | Yes | Yes | Yes | Permissive free software |
Converters
See also: List of audio conversion software
| Name | Creator | Linux? | OS X? | Unix? | Windows? | Note | License |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FFmpeg | Fabrice Bellard | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Audio & video. | GPL or LGPL |
| fre:ac | Robert Kausch | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | formerly BonkEnc | GPL |
| Libav | Libav team | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Audio & video. | GPL or LGPL |
| MPlayer | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Audio & video. | GPL | |
DJ software
| Name | Creator | Linux? | OS X? | Unix? | Windows? | Note | License |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mixxx | Mixxx Development Team | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | GPL | |
| Xwax | Mark Hills | Yes | No | No | No | GPL | |
Modular systems
| Name | Creator | Linux? | OS X? | Unix? | Windows? | Note | License |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Integra Live | Birmingham Conservatoire | No | Yes | No | Yes | GPL | |
| Libvisual | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | LGPL | ||
| SynFactory | No | No | No | Yes | GPL | ||
| VisualAp | Yes | Yes | Yes | GPL | |||
Distributions and other platforms
Various projects have formed to integrate the existing free software audio packages.
| Name | Creator | Description | Note | License |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AVLinux | Linux distribution | various | ||
| dyne:bolic | Linux distribution | various | ||
| Musix GNU+Linux | Linux distribution | various | ||
| Planet CCRMA | set of packages (in RPM format) | |||
| Ubuntu Studio | Linux distribution | various | ||
Players
| Logo | Component | GUI | Programming language | Database | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Amarok | Qt | C++ | MySQL | Linux / macOS / Windows |
 |
aTunes | Java | |||
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Aqualung | GTK+ | C | no database | |
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Audacious | GTK+ | C | no database | Linux & Windows |
 |
Banshee | GTK+ | C# | SQLite | |
| Beep Media Player | GTK+ | C | no database | ||
 |
Clementine | Qt | C++ | SQLite3 | Linux / macOS / Windows |
 |
Exaile | GTK+ | Python | Pickle | Linux / macOS / Windows |
 |
Guayadeque | wxWidgets | C++, C | wxSQLite3 | |
 |
JuK | Qt | C++ | ||
 |
Miro | WebKit in GTK+/Cocoa | Python | ? | |
| Muine | Mono | C# | no database | can use GStreamer and xine | |
 |
Nightingale | XULRunner | C++ | SQLite? | fork of Songbird, with Linux support |
 |
Quod Libet | GTK+ | Python | Pickle | Linux / macOS / Windows |
 |
qmmp | Qt | C++ | no database | |
 |
Rhythmbox | GTK+ | C | not GNU Data Access | |
 |
Songbird | XULRunner | C++ | SQLite? | support for Linux was dropped |
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Tomahawk | Qt | C++ | SQLite | |
| XMMS | GTK+ | C++ | no database | ||
| XMMS2 | C | SQLite |
Programming languages
Many computer music programming languages are implemented in free software. See also the comparison of audio synthesis environments.
| Name | Creator | Linux? | OS X? | Unix? | Windows? | Note | License |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Csound | Csound community, Barry Vercoe | Yes | Yes | No? | Yes | LGPL | |
| ChucK | Ge Wang, Perry Cook | Yes | Yes | No? | Yes | GPL | |
| Nyquist | Computer Music Project at Carnegie Mellon University, Roger B. Dannenberg | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
| Pure Data | Pd Community, Miller Puckette | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | BSD-like | |
| SuperCollider | SuperCollider community, James McCartney | Yes | Yes | Yes? | Yes | GPL |
Radio broadcasting
See also streaming below.
| Name | Creator | Linux? | OS X? | Unix? | Windows? | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Airtime | Sourcefabric | Yes | No | No | Successor to Campcaster | |
| Campcaster | Sourcefabric | Yes | No | No | ||
| OpenBroadcaster | OpenBroadcaster | Yes | No | ? | No | |
Recording and editing
The following packages are digital audio editors.
| Name | Creator | Linux? | OS X? | Unix? | Windows? | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ardour | Paul Davis | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | multi-track audio recorder |
| Audacity | Dominic Mazzoni | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | multi-track audio recorder |
| Ecasound | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes limited support through Cygwin | audio recorder | |
| Gnome Wave Cleaner | Jeff Welty | Yes | No | No | audio editor | |
| Jokosher | Jokosher community | Yes | No | Yes | multi-track audio editor | |
| LMMS | Tobias Doerffel | Yes | Yes as of 0.4.0 with Qt4 | Yes | Free cross-platform alternative to commercial programs like FL Studio, which allow customers to produce music with a computer. | |
| MusE | Yes | No | No | MIDI sequencer | ||
| Qtractor | Yes | No | No | A non-destructive multi-track audio and MIDI Workstation (DAW) | ||
| Rosegarden | Yes | No | No | MIDI sequencer and multi-track recorder | ||
| SoX | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | command-line multi-track audio editor/processor | |
| Sweep | Conrad Parker | Yes | No | Yes | No | |
| Traverso DAW | Remon Sijrier | Yes | Yes | Yes | multi-track audio recorder and editor | |
| WaveSurfer | Centre for Speech Technology at KTH | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
Softsynths
See also: Software synthesizer
| Name | Creator | Linux? | OS X? | Unix? | Windows? | Note | License |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FluidSynth | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | SoundFont player/renderer | LGPL | |
| TiMidity++ | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | GPL | ||
| Yoshimi | Alan Calvert | Yes | No | No | Forked from ZynAddSubFX in 2009 | GPL | |
| ZynAddSubFX | Paul Nasca | Yes | Yes | Yes | OS X version is limited | GPL | |
Streaming
These programs are for use with streaming audio.
| Name | Creator | Linux? | OS X? | Unix? | Windows? | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Firefly Media Server | Yes | Yes | Yes | streams music to DAAP clients like iTunes and Rhythmbox | ||
| Icecast | Yes | Yes | Yes | a broadcast server, serves audio signals to clients over the HTTP protocol | ||
| PeerCast | Yes | Yes | Yes | a peercasting tool | ||
| VideoLAN | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | media and server programs for video and audio streaming | |
Technologies
| Name | Creator | Linux? | OS X? | Unix? | Windows? | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Advanced Linux Sound Architecture (ALSA) | Yes | the sound card driver and management system in the Linux kernel | ||||
| aRts | Yes | an audio programming API and sound server for general desktop, no longer in development | ||||
| DSSI | Yes | a plugin architecture for software synthesizers | ||||
| GStreamer | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | a graph-based multimedia framework | |
| JACK Audio Connection Kit (JACK) | JACK Team, Paul Davis | Yes | Yes (JACK OS X) | Yes (jackdmp) | a sound server for integration of general and low-latency pro audio applications, including timebase transport | |
| Linux Audio Developers Simple Plugin API (LADSPA) | Yes | a plugin architecture for digital signal processing | ||||
| Open Sound System | Yes | Yes | a sound card management and driver system for Unix operating systems | |||
| PulseAudio | Yes | Yes | Yes(Solaris, FreeBSD, NetBSD) | Yes | a sound server for general desktop and multihost LAN applications |
Trackers
These music sequencer programs allow users to arrange notes (pitch-shifted sound samples) on a timeline: see tracker (music software).
| Name | Creator | Linux? | OS X? | Unix? | Windows? | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MilkyTracker | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Also runs on various other platforms including Windows Mobile, PlayStation and AmigaOS 4. | |
| OpenMPT | Olivier Lapicque | No | No | No | Yes | released as free software in 2004 |
| Psycle | No | No | No | Yes | a tracker combined with modular capabilities | |
| SoundTracker | Yes | No | Yes | No | Fast Tracker clone |
Other
| Name | Creator | Linux? | OS X? | Unix? | Windows? | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gnaural | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Binaural beat and pink noise generator | |
| GNU LilyPond | Han-Wen Nienhuys and Jan Nieuwenhuizen | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | a music engraving program |
| MuseScore | Werner Schweer | Yes | Yes | Yes | a WYSIWYG scorewriter with midi playback and audio export | |
| Hydrogen | Yes | Yes | Partial | Partial | an advanced drum machine | |
| Impro-Visor | Bob Keller | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | lead sheet notation, jazz improvisation, auto-accompaniment |
| Levelator | The Conversations Network | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Tool that uses a compressor, normalizer and limiter to normalize volume levels in audio recordings of public talks. |
| libsndfile | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | library for reading and writing many sound formats | |
See also
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