The following tables compare general and technical information between a number of Multitrack recording programs. Please see the individual products articles for further information.
General
Basic general information about the software: creator/company, license/price etc.
This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. |
Multitrack recorder | Creator | Cost (USD) | Software license | External Hardware Required |
---|---|---|---|---|
Pro Tools | Digidesign | Proprietary | Digidesign components - Minimum c. $200 | |
Tracktion | Mackie | $99 / $249 | Proprietary | |
Garageband | Apple | $79 with iLife, or free with a new Mac | Proprietary | |
Logic Express/Studio | Apple | $199 / $499 | Proprietary | |
n-Track | Fasoft | $54 / $79 | Proprietary | |
FL studio | Image Line Software | $49 / $99 / $149 / $361 | Proprietary | |
Cubase | Steinberg | $199 / $499 / $999 | Proprietary | |
Ardour | Ardour | Free | GNU GPL | |
Audacity | Audacity | Free | GNU GPL | |
Kristal | Kreatives | Free | Proprietary | |
Jokosher | Jokosher | Free | GNU GPL | |
Traverso | Traverso | Free | GNU GPL | |
Rosegarden | Rosegarden | Free | GNU GPL | |
Qtractor | Qtractor | Free | GNU GPL | |
Mixcraft | Acoustica | $50 | Proprietary | |
Sonar | Cakewalk | $139 / $369 / $619 / $719 | Proprietary | |
REAPER | Cockos | "Uncrippled unexpiring shareware" / $50 Non-commercial / $225 Commercial License | Proprietary | |
Live | Ableton | $499 | Proprietary | |
RiffWorks | Sonoma Wire Works | Free / $129 | Proprietary |
Operating system and plugin support
The operating systems and plugin types the software can run natively (without emulation).
Microsoft Windows | Mac OS X | Linux | Rewire | JACK | VST | LADSPA | LV2 | DSSI | RTAS | AU | DXi | MAS | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pro Tools | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No |
Tracktion | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
Garageband | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Partial (via converter) | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No |
Logic Express/Studio | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Partial (via converter) | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No |
FL studio | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No |
n-Track | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
Cubase | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | Terminated (SX3.1) | No |
Ardour | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | No | |
Audacity | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | |
Jokosher | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | |
Traverso | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | ||
Rosegarden | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | ? | Yes | No | No | No | No |
Qtractor | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | No |
Mixcraft | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | Yes[1] | No |
Sonar | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No |
REAPER | Yes | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No |
RiffWorks | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
File format support
The various file types the software can read/write.
OMF | AAF | MIDI | WAV | MP3 | AAC | Ogg | REX2 | Others | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pro Tools | Yes [2] | Yes [2] | Yes | Yes | Yes (with license) | Yes ( 7.4) | AIFF | ||
Tracktion | No [3] | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes [4] | Yes [5] | Yes | |
GarageBand | No | No | Yes[6] | Yes | Yes | ||||
Logic Express/Studio | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | |||
FL Studio | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | ||
N-Track | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | AIFF, FLAC, WMA, EDL |
Cubase | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes [7] | ||
Ardour | No [8] | No [9] | |||||||
Audacity | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | |
Jokosher | No | No | |||||||
Traverso | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | FLAC, WavPack | |||
Rosegarden | No | No | |||||||
Qtractor | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | AIFF, CAF, HTK, IFF/8SVX, MAT4/5, PAF, PVF, RAW, SD2, SDS, SF, VOC, W64, XI |
Mixcraft | No | No | Yes[10] | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | AIFF (import only) |
Sonar | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | W64, CAF, SD2, FLAC, AU | |||
REAPER | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | FLAC, WavPack, Monkey's Audio | |
RiffWorks | No | No | No | Yes [5] | No | No | Yes [5] | Yes |