TechRadar Verdict
Packed with mastering tools, this free audio editor makes it easy to tackle several large files at once without overwhelming new users.
Pros
- +
Clear interface
- +
Good selection of filters
- +
Useful spectrogram and file analysis
Cons
- -
Not open source
- -
No support for effect stacks
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Update: This review is for an older version.
For the latest release, see our Ocenaudio audio editor 2022 review
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It might not be as feature-packed as Audacity, but Ocenaudio is an excellent free audio editor for podcasters and home musicians.
Where to download: https://www.ocenaudio.com/
Type: Audio editor
Developer: The Ocenaudio Development Team
Operating system: Windows, Mac, Linux
Version: 3
Making and editing recordings with Ocenaudio is simple, and the software makes frugal use of system resources so even large files won’t cause it to freeze or crash (a problem that’s all too common with free media apps).
Ocenaudio comes with a selection of built-in filters, and supports VST plugins so you can add even more. It’s not open source though, so unlike Audacity, there’s no way to tinker with its code if it doesn’t meet your exact requirements.
User experience
Ocenaudio has a less intimidating interface than Audacity, but is still a hugely powerful audio editor. Your currently open files are displayed in a list on the left, and the selected one will appear as a waveform on the left-hand side. It’s worth noting that, unlike many free audio editors, Ocenaudio has properly labelled axes rather than an arbitrary indication of volume. There’s also a spectrogram option, which shows you much more detail about audio properties.
Most free audio editors only let you cut and clip tracks, but Ocenaudio also lets you copy and paste sections of audio, and apply effects and filters. Copying and pasting only takes a couple of seconds – even if the file is several hours long – and encoding and filtering happens in the background so it doesn’t disturb your work. Unfortunately there’s no way to stack filters then edit and rearrange them later, but then again Audacity doesn’t offer this as an option either.
If you want to make the same change to several parts of the file, you can make multiple selections and edit them together as a batch. For easier organization, you can also turn parts of the file into labelled ‘regions’, which can be edited individually or looped.
If you’re looking for an advanced audio editor, but Audacity looks overwhelming, Ocenaudio is the tool for you. It might become premium software at some point, so make the most of it while you can.
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