Recording Software Update: Realtime Effects In Audacity

A new version of the popular Audacity recording software came out recently. It has some beneficial updates including a big change: implementation of Realtime Effects on individual tracks.

It has been interesting to see Audacity’s development since it was acquired by MUSE last year. Audacity continues to be widely used by voice actors. Many choose to use it as a main working environment or may keep it as an alternative recording option should there be some calamity with their regular software. I’ve continued to keep a copy handy in order to help voice actors refine their workflows.

Although I prefer to use different recording software for my go-to working environment, it’s important to note that no audio software records “better” than any other – it’s always about the interface. As long as it makes sense to you and doesn’t get in the way of efficient studio operations, your recording software is doing its job. 

The new Audacity version 3.2.0 rollout continues the makeover of the graphic design, but also makes a major addition in terms of Effects functionality.

Audacity 3.2.0 gets an Interface Upgrade

In previous versions, Audacity’s visual interface has seemed a touch dated. The buttons were slightly chunky and the graphics a bit clunky. It reminded me of recording applications from “back in the day” (when we used to call applications “programs” and they came on disks that you purchased …) It was due for a bit of a refresh. 

The new 3.2.0 version (shown above) seems to have generally simplified the application layout onscreen, cleaned up the buttons and in general made it a bit more visually appealing. I prefer running Audacity in “Dark” mode (which you can change in Preferences/Settings > Interface >Theme). But even the “Classic” is a bit easier on the eyes. One thing to be aware of when first opening Audacity version 3.2.0, existing layouts will be reset, so you will have to reposition any meters or palette positions which you changed. 

Audacity Interface Provides Two New Buttons

Audacity’s Share Audio Button

“Share Audio” allows direct sharing from Audacity to Audio.com – a MUSE-owned property which they say is “an early stage audio-sharing platform currently in beta-stage of product development. Created by musicians, producers & technologists from Muse Group (Audacity, Ultimate-Guitar, Musescore) we’re dedicated to providing technical solutions that help you further your creativity by helping you upload, share and collaborate on your audio creations.”  At this point, it’s probably not directly applicable for voiceover, but it may hint at a direction MUSE wants to pursue. There are some FAQs and more information on that site. 

Audacity’s Audio Setup Button cleans things up

“Audio Setup” finally aggregates the mishmash of options for audio I/O settings, nesting “Playback Device”, “Recording Device” and others underneath the visible button. This nicely cleans up all the different pull-down menus found in previous versions that often caused users to accidentally switch settings mid project. 

Unfortunately, little has changed in terms of rendering the audio waveforms within the tracks themselves. Hopefully, you have already changed from the default “Linear” system to a dB scale on the tracks. Since we deliver voiceover audio using the dB scale, it makes sense to work that way. You can play with the vertical range detail under Preferences/Settings. While it won’t match the detailed proportions of the efficient waveform editors found in Twisted Wave, Adobe Audition, or even Ocenaudio, expanding the vertical window and testing different vertical scaling can make things work better.

Audacity’s v 3.2.0 Big Change: “Realtime Effects”

Audacity version 3.2.0 provides a significant change in the way Effects can be applied. (Just to be clear – the previous method of applying Effects from the menu still works). Prior to this development, any Effects you applied were chosen from the pull-down menu and actively applied to the audio selected in the track. This is sometimes referred to as “Destructive” processing, as using an Effect directly changes the underlying audio. While you could always “Undo” the applied Effect, once the file is Saved, it will lock down those changes and you cannot reverse them.

With Realtime Effects, the original audio is being played back “through” the Effect. The original audio does not actually get altered. The Effects change what you hear in playback. This relies upon the CPU in your computer to actively process the audio while playing it back. It’s similar to the “Preview” function used when applying Effects from the menu.

This is similar to the way that Effects are applied in other multitrack recording systems such as ProTools, Reaper, or Studio One. The underlying audio is not directly changed, in this case it can be called “Nondestructive Processing,” which can be helpful for experimenting with multiple Effects to obtain a specific result. Note – actual “Edits” (deletions, cutting, pasting) are still destructive in Audacity. 

You can also drag the Effects to change the order in which they are applied. And you can easily turn individual Effects on or off in the Realtime Effects Stack to see if things are better off without them. 

Currently, Realtime Effects only work with AU, VST3, LV2 or LADSPA plug-ins. The first two are likely to be the ones voice actors are familiar with. (AU = MacOS, VST3 are cross-platform). More info at the AudacityTeam site. That means that Nyquist plug-ins (Audacity’s proprietary plug-in format) do not function with Realtime Effects. You must still apply those destructively through the Effects menu

The first time you run 3.2.0, Audacity should scan your computer to see what is available. This can take a few minutes. I had mixed luck with this – which is one of the reasons you don’t necessarily want to be an early adopter of new features. The first scan only gave a small subset of my plug-ins. Opening it later, I found that all had vanished.  This seems to be related to having multiple versions of Audacity on the same computer (which I maintain so I can match client setups – there’s no real reason for most to do this). 

Missing Effects? Rescan Your System

You can find any missing Effects by running a rescan through >EFFECTS >Plugin Manager and then choosing “Rescan.” The scanning process actually crashed a few times on my Intel Mac Mini (a good reason to share your Crash Reports), but finally had a clean run. Those subsequent rescans then found more Effects on my system. For example, the first scan did not pick up any of my EQ or Filtering Plug-ins. It had missed all of the Apple AU Filters and the always useful TDR NOVA EQ. There didn’t seem to be any pattern to what it missed or picked up. Hopefully that will be addressed in a future version.

The BIG Question: Should You Update?

My rule of thumb with any software is to wait until the third revision of any major change – in this case Audacity 3.2.2. That would give the developers the chance to squash the bugs and smooth out performance. At this point, I’d let others play with this version. It gets back to the challenge of running your own studio. If our studio is down, we can’t work. Unless I absolutely need to use a feature, I’m going to delay updating as long as what I’m using works reliably. 

Certainly, if you want to tinker a bit and get a feel for the new features, it’s a very positive addition to this popular recording software. You can rename the earlier version or use the “Portable” option which Audacity supplies.

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