Audacity
The development team behind Audacity keeps making it better. Audacity recently updated to version 1.2.4, which includes a handful of bug fixes and minor feature enhancements over the previous version. Most of the enhancements are minor interface improvements rather than any serious feature enhancements. If you want to try new features, take the beta version of Audacity 1.3 for a spin. For creating and editing audio clips, Audacity is the most affordable place to start. It offers all the basic features a multitrack editor should include, without bloating the software with features you might never use. Unlimited extendibility via VST plugins creates the foundation for comprehensive audio editing. Mac OS X and Linux compatibility make this the only truly cross-platform audio editing solution on the market. Recent updates add a VU meter to the toolbar and expose more commonly used features via convenient buttons. Each track now boasts separate pan and gain controls, for optimal mixing during post production. Normalize, Compressor, and Repeat functions are a vital part of core functionality. Previewing of effects prior to applying them to an audio track saves time having to undo changes. Audacity supports 16-bit, 24-bit and 32-bit audio. [Windows 9x/2k/XP $0.00]
New in 1.2.4:
The File menu now includes a list of recent files.
The "Generate Silence" effect now prompts for a length.
Audacity is now built with Vorbis 1.1, which features better encoding quality and file compression.
Dragging sound files into the Audacity window now works on Mac OS X and Linux, as well as Windows. (Before, it worked only on Windows.)
Better support for certain audio devices on Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger"
The "View History" window can now discard old undo levels to save disk space on Windows. (This previously worked only on Linux and Mac.)
"Preferences" command is now in Edit menu.
"Plot Spectrum" command is now in Analyze menu.
Audacity 1.2.4 Release Notes