Recording Audio: Camtasia vs. Audacity

30 replies
I would like to record some audio through a headset microphone. Which program is better to use for doing this: Camtasia or Audacity?

(Or does it not really matter?)
#audacity #audio #camtasia #recording
  • Profile picture of the author Barry Davis
    I used to just use Audacity, but just tried again with Camtasia 6, and Camtasia worked great. I didn't have to change anything.
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  • Profile picture of the author Steven Carl Kelly
    For straight audio only, I use Audacity. Perhaps more out of habit than anything else.
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  • Profile picture of the author Josh Anderson
    Definitely Audacity. Camtasia does not come close in features for audio recording/editing.
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    • Profile picture of the author James Liberty
      Originally Posted by Josh Anderson View Post

      Definitely Audacity. Camtasia does not come close in features for audio recording/editing.
      Josh Anderson has spoken. No further responses are required. :p
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  • Profile picture of the author mudmat
    U mean I can use Camtasia to do audio recording? I didn't know that.. I have been using only Audacity all this while..
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    • Profile picture of the author James Liberty
      Originally Posted by mudmat View Post

      U mean I can use Camtasia to do audio recording? I didn't know that.. I have been using only Audacity all this while..
      Yep... though the posters above really seem to prefer Audacity.
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  • Profile picture of the author wensar
    Does anyone here know how to improve the video sales letter? I used powerpoint, camtasia and audacity all in one to make this video and it came out crappy! I couldn't fix the a volume nor the noise.. yuck! Your advice would be appreciated!
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    • Profile picture of the author WillR
      Originally Posted by wensar View Post

      Does anyone here know how to improve the video sales letter? I used powerpoint, camtasia and audacity all in one to make this video and it came out crappy! I couldn't fix the a volume nor the noise.. yuck! Your advice would be appreciated!
      It depends what is causing the issue. If you have a crap microphone then it doesn't matter what software you use, the audio will still sound like crap.

      If you have a decent microphone and a quiet recording environment then there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to get a nice sounding audio for your video. Sometimes it takes a little playing around with distances and angles to see what microphone position makes your voice sound the best.
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  • Profile picture of the author JeremTheMarketer
    I've heard a lot of good critics about camstasia.
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  • Profile picture of the author Don Schenk
    Audacity if fine for recording. However, it becomes a bit awkward when trying to edit your audio, because Audacity does not let you use the right and left arrows on your keyboad to "scrub" - move forward and backward a little at a time to find your edit points.

    Edited: I am wrong about WavPad not recording. It records just fine, and is much easier to use than Audacity.

    There is a free software called WavPad, that is great for editing, (wrong: but it doesn't record.)

    The two together make a good combination.

    Another audio software to look at is Reaper. Just google it. Reaper is a full-blown commercial recording studio software. It has two different price points depending upon whether you are going to use it in a commercial studio where you are paid to record other people, or just use it for yourself. The "home use" price is only $60, instead of several hundred.

    :-Don
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  • Profile picture of the author Chronic IM
    Hello!

    I have been using Audacity for some long time now and I can tell you it's great to use. Though, I haven't tried Camtasia so I can't give you any reviews. But Audacity is really easy to use and great. I hope that helped you in a way or so.

    Best of Luck!
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  • Profile picture of the author hilarious89
    I have used Cam Studio 2.0 for recording audio. I was actually making a video tutorials using Cam Studio 2.0
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  • Profile picture of the author Velant
    Camtasia only allows you to save audios in one format (Wav) and it costs a few hundred bucks. It really is made for videos. Audicity is FREE and and is more tailored for audios. You can save your recordings in many different formats.
    So if you are after audios only - Audacity is much better choice in all respects.
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  • Profile picture of the author inconf
    I have used audacity, camtasia and now screen flow for mac.

    Audacity is crap in my opinion, difficult to use and set up, i preferred powergramo for my pc!
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  • From my point of view, I would agree with a previous poster and say that for audio, Audicity seems to win all round (free and designed specifically for audio). I have to say I have always found it easy to use.

    I purchased a relatively inexpensize digital voice recorder off ebay and then combined this with Audicity to produce what I regarded as pretty good results.

    Whatever route you go down all the best.

    Andy
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  • Profile picture of the author Serenity090
    Audacity or Wavepad for Voice Recording...
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  • Profile picture of the author Viramara
    I'm using WaveLab.....works great and editing is easy however the voice quality is really depends on microphone.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jerremy
    Yes indeed, WavePad is very easy to use. I used to use it a while back when I started recording voices.
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    ;)

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    • Profile picture of the author rhinocl
      A lot depends on what you want to do with it. I like to use Cam studio (free alternative to Camtasia) to record audio (I reduce the size of the screen capture to 50x50). I just think video is easier to edit. For example if I stumble on a word I can repeat it and cut it out using AviSynth or an NLE (non linear editor e.g. Vegas)
      When I'm done editing I demux the audio and convert it to whatever format I want.
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  • Profile picture of the author Srele
    I would use Audacity, simply because it is more focused towards audio editing and recording.
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  • Profile picture of the author eBayer
    Camtasia..
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  • Profile picture of the author JustinDupre
    I prefer to use Audacity because first its open source and second it's one of the better audio recorder software available.
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  • Profile picture of the author Krisz Rokk
    I use Audacity to record my podcasts. It's a great software, easy to use and it's free.
    Don't forget to download LAME if you decide to work with Audacity
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  • Profile picture of the author Ewan Lumsden
    Banned
    Audacity is meant primarily for audio and Camtasia for screen recording. Audacity gives you lots of more options if you want to customize your voice and tweak settings.
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  • Profile picture of the author pizzatherapy
    I have used Audacity to record and edit a number of audio projects. Some of my earlier audios required lots of heavy editing due to low recording quality which Audacity was able to clean up.

    With Audacity there are a number of editing tools available to you. The problem is there is a learning curve. You really need to test things out to get the most out of it. Some of the tools will allow you to raise the volume as well as basic clean up of static and other background noise.

    I have used the audio tools in Camtasia 7 with some good results. You can do some basic clean up, however the tools are automatic so you don't have a lot of control. I like the fact that you can easily add music intros to fade in and fade out. You can also do some very basic audio editing, when you make a video.

    I have also recorded audio in Audacity and imported it into Camtasia for a number of my projects.

    But for straight audio, I use Audacity.
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  • Profile picture of the author Randall Magwood
    Audacity. Plus you can edit your recording very easily. Add remixes and everything.
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