What is the best audio recording software for Mac users to record audio on Mac computer? How to determine which audio recording software is the best Mac audio recording software? It’s up to personal preferrences. Some Mac users might prefer recording to editing, while others might require a piece of best audio recording software for Mac to edit as well as record. No matter what you need, this post would provide you several best audio recording software for Mac computer. You could freely select the best audio recording app for Mac that meets your needs.
Part 1: 6 Best Audio Recording Software for Mac
The best audio recording software for Mac computers could of course include the ability to recording audio files from multiple sources like computer audio, streaming audio, microphone voice, online radio, etc. The second condition to weigh a Mac audio recorder as the best audio recording app for Mac is the output recording quality.
Jul 01, 2020 Sound Control So Good, It Ought to Be Built In. Control audio on a per-app basis, adjusting the volume and output device for individual apps. Apply an equalizer and other audio effects to any audio on your Mac. Even adjust your Mac's audio device settings and levels instantly, from anywhere. It's all possible right from your menu bar, with. Audio Meter is a Tool for audio level measuring in dB or dB(A) with a wide range of advanced features build in. Audio Meter is freeware (no commercials, no in app purchases, FREE!) (Feel free to donate on our website if you like it) Audio Meter can:. Measure Sound in dB and dB(A). Measure Sound Frequency. Record SPL dB and dB(A). Save/Load Graphs. Export data to OneDrive.
No.1: Leawo Music Recorder for Mac
As the No.1 best audio recording software for Mac, Leawo Music Recorder for Mac could easily record audio of any source and get music for free on Mac. It supports multiple audio sources and audio output formats. This best audio recording app for Mac could record audio from computer including computer audio, streaming audio, online music, radio, etc. and audio input through microphone on Mac. You could use this best audio recording app for Mac to record and save audio on Mac into M4A, MP3 and WAV audios, with output audio Bit Rate and Sample Rate adjustable. What’s more, this best Mac audio recording software could automatically download and add music tags like song artist, album, album artwork, song name, etc. to complete music info. The embedded music tag editor allows people to manually edit music tags. This feature is especially useful for music recording and downloading. If you like, you could directly apply recorded music files to iTunes within this best audio recording software for Mac.
No.2: Audio Recorder Pro
As the best audio recording program for Mac, Audio Recorder Pro acts far more than audio recording. As the best audio recording for Mac, it could record music from YouTube, Napster, Rhapsody, Skype, iChat, microphone audio, etc. and edit recordings afterwards. Like Leawo Music Recorder for Mac, it also provides Mac users with splitter function to split recordings upon time gap.
No.3: Audio Hijack Pro
Audio Hijack Pro is also the best audio recording program for Mac users that prides itself on being able to record audio from any input whatsoever. If you can hear audio, you can record audio Mac OS X. You can even record audio from multiple applications at once – good for recording interviews on Skype, for instance.
Multiple formats are supported, and recording is even crash-protected, so you won’t lose audio if the app crashes whilst recording. A few effects are included, and the interface is impressive.
No.4: Audacity
The open-source program gives users a wide range of options for recording and editing audio, all tied together with a simple interface. And it is the best free audio recording software for Mac users. Everything Audacity offers is free of charge. Compared to other notable DAWs such as ProTools and Sound Forge, Audacity’s layout is very minimalist. There are toolbars for navigating a track, editing it, and mixing. When tracks are loaded, they will appear as waveforms, and users can edit specific sections of a track by highlighting the appropriate section of the waveform. Navigating the interface is easy, although it may take time for new users to figure out what every specific tool does. As far as editing goes, Audacity offers a surprisingly robust set of tools for a free program. Users can adjust pitch, bass, and treble, or normalize noise and add effects like reverb and phasing.
No.5: Ardour
As another best audio recording app for Mac, Ardour lets you record, edit and mix tracks, using an interface that can be professional-enough as well as easy-to-get-used-to at the same time. Ardour can be useful for professionals such as audio engineers, musicians, sound track editors and composers. While Ardour lets audio engineers mix their MIDI projects with ease, the enhanced recording options would do well for musicians and composers. When we consider the features aspect, Ardour has a lot to talk about: support for editing hardware makes everything easier while multi track recording makes sense too. There are advanced options in the editing and mixing section too. For instance, you have Routing, Inline Plugin Control, etc in mixing section. It is to be noted that productivity of Ardour can be made to fit your requirement using certain plug-ins.
No.6: Garageband
Bundled with Apple’s iLife suite of apps, Garageband is best free audio recording software for Mac users to record audio on Mac computer. Everything Audacity has to offer is free of charge. It is a stylish and comprehensive audio recording tool. Although it can’t record from the same versatile array of sources, it has powerful editing features and is well on the way to being a professional tool.
Garageband is particularly good for creating podcasts and ringtones for your iPhone, with advanced support for both included.
Part 2: How to Record Audio on Mac with Leawo Music Recorder for Mac
To help you easily record audio on Mac, we would like to show you how to record audio files on Mac with the best audio recording software for Mac – Leawo Music Recorder for Mac. You could choose to record audio from Mac computer like audio files on local drive, music from video sharing sites or online radio stations, streaming audio, or input audio from your Mac’s microphone.
Leawo Music Recorder
☉ Record any music file from computer stream audio and built-in input audio.
Sound App For Computer
☉ Record music from 1000+ music sites like YouTube, Facebook, Veoh, VEVO, etc.
☉ Schedule music recording via the internal recording task scheduler.
☉ Automatically/manually add and complete music tags like artist, album, cover, genre, etc.
Download and install this Mac audio recording software on your Mac computer and then launch it. Follow the below steps to learn how to record audio on Mac with this best Mac audio recording software.
Step 1: Set Audio Source
Click the little microphone icon on the interface to enter the 'Audio Source' window, where you need to choose either 'Record Built-in Audio' option or 'Record Computer Audio' according to your needs. For audio from computer, choose the latter one. For audio recording from microphone, choose the former one. It could perform as the best voice recording software for Mac to record vocie and sound from microphone on Mac.
Step 2. Set output
Go to 'Leawo Music Recorder > Preferences > Format' to set the output format from MP3 Audio, WAV Audio and W4A Audio. If you need, you could change the audio parameters like bit rate and sample rate. After that, go to 'Preferences > General' to set output directory.
Step 3. Start to record audio on Mac
With all settings done, return to the main interface. Get source audio files ready. Then click the red 'Start' button to start recording audio before you play back audio file or input voice/sound through microphone. If you only need to record a clip of the source audio file, play the audio file first and then click the red button at the point you want to record. Stop at any point you want by clicking the red button again.
Step 4. Edit audio tags
As mentioned above, Leawo Music Recorder for Mac is able to automatically download and add music tags if you’re recording music on Mac computer. But you could still adjust audio tags by entering 'Library > All Recordings' to choose the audio recording and right click it to select 'Edit Music Tags' option. You could change audio tags like recording title, artist, and genre.
For Windows computer, please turn to Leawo Music Recorder to record audio on Windows computer with ease.
While every Mac device comes with a microphone that’s built into the product, you’ll also find another port for audio input and output—the headphone jack. That is, of course, until Apple decides to make it a pricy add-on feature!
Until that time comes, however, you can use this port to connect line-in audio input devices like external microphones to your Mac. macOS allows you to switch the purpose of the headphone jack to accept input devices, as well as set any attached device as the default input device.
Here’s how to use audio line-in audio input devices on macOS.
What Is Line In Audio?
A line-in audio jack on a device allows you to input sounds to that device. This is in contrast to the typical audio-out (or line-out) jack, which you might use to play sounds from your PC on external devices like a speaker system.
You may also have a mic-in jack on your PC. This is typically a weaker version of a normal line-in jack, as the input levels on a mic are usually at a much lower level than other types of input devices like audio amplifiers. Standard line-in jacks can also be labeled mic-in—there isn’t much difference between them.
On a Mac, you don’t really need to worry about the distinction, either way. Older Mac devices had a separate line-in jack for you to use for all audio input devices (including external microphones) and an audio-out jack for headphones and speakers. This has been reduced to a single, switchable jack in modern Macs that allows you to use either.
You’ll need to use macOS’ System Preferences menu to tell macOS to use this audio port for sound input, rather than an internal device like your built-in mic.
Using Line In Audio Input Devices On macOS
As we’ve mentioned, modern Mac devices only have a single audio jack that you can use for input and output devices alike. To use it for line-in audio input, you’ll need to access your macOS System Preferences.
- To do this, click the Apple icon in the top-left of your Mac display. From there, click System Preferences. You can also click the System Preferences icon from the Dock to launch it instead.
- In the System Preferences window, click the Sound icon to enter your sound settings on macOS.
- By default, the Sound window will default to the Output tab. You’ll want to click on the Input tab to change your audio line-in settings.
- To start using your line-in device, you’ll need to switch to this as your audio input device in the Input tab. This may look different, depending on your model of Mac device. On a 2019 MacBook, for instance, an external microphone is detected using the Microphone port, but this may be listed as an Audio line-in port on older devices.
macOS may also have switched to this device automatically, but if it hasn’t, click on the device to select it in your Select a device for sound input list.
Adjusting Line In Audio Input Devices On macOS
With your external audio line-in input device activated, you can begin using it. However, before you do that, you may wish to adjust the volume, as well as other settings such as the audio sample rates.
The input volume settings are shown just beneath the Select a device for sound input list in your Sound settings menu. You can access this by clicking the Apple icon > System Preferences > Sound > Input.
- The Input volume slider allows you to change the volume of your inputted sound. Reducing the volume on an external microphone, for instance, would reduce how loud any recorded sound would be. Use your trackpad or mouse to move the slider left to reduce the volume or right to increase it. Any detected sounds will appear in visual form in the Input level bar below it.
- You can also use the Audio MIDI Setup app to make more advanced changes to your external audio input devices. This is a core macOS app, which you can find by clicking the Launchpad icon on your Dock, clicking the Other folder, then pressing the Audio MIDI Setup icon to launch the app.
- To change your audio line-in settings, click the external device in the list on the left of the Audio MIDI Setup screen.
Mac Audio App That Levels Sound Effect
- To the right, you’ll see various audio options. You can change the audio sample rate (shown in hertz) under the Format drop-down menu. You can also change the input volume of your device here, under the Master Stream section. Use your mouse or trackpad to move the slider left to decrease or right to increase.
You’ll be able to see the current volume value (listed in decibels), as well as the input volume (a decimal figure, up to a maximum of 1) next to the Master volume slide for your device.
Mac Sounds Download
You may also have additional controls and settings available to you, depending on the type of device you’re using. Certain audio input devices may also come with their own control software, allowing you to further calibrate your input settings.
Using External Devices on Modern macOS Devices
There’s no guarantee that the headphone jack will remain a built-in feature in future Macs, but while it’s still there, you can use it to connect external audio input devices without needing an expensive adapter. You might want to use it to record using two different microphones in GarageBand, for instance.
You can also use the line-in audio jack to record an instrument in macOS. If you’re interested in music production, the sky’s the limit. Let us know your uses for external audio line-in devices in the comments section below.