SoundCraft 0.4.0

SoundCraft is a free, open-source audio workstation for recording, editing and mixing, built as an alternative to Avid Pro Tools.

It follows the Edit and Mix window workflow audio engineers already know, with no subscription, no account and no iLok.

Its developers call it pre-alpha, close to a first alpha, so it is one to explore rather than trust with a paid session yet.

What SoundCraft Actually Does - in Plain Terms

A digital audio workstation, or DAW, records several tracks of audio, lets you edit and arrange them, and mixes them down to one finished file. SoundCraft copies the Pro Tools layout so engineers moving over can find their way.

• Edit window. Shuffle, Slip, Spot and Grid modes, fades and crossfades, clip gain, and playlists with comping lanes for picking the best take.
• Mix window. Ten inserts and ten sends per track, busses, aux inputs, VCAs, master faders and meters with peak hold.
• Recording. Punch in and out, pre and post-roll, loop recording with a playlist per take, and autosave with recovery.
• MIDI. A piano roll, step input, quantize, a score editor, and MIDI file import and export.
• Automation. Volume, pan, sends and plugin settings recorded in Write, Touch, Latch and Trim modes.

Plugins and Formats

It ships with its own EQs, compressors, reverbs, delays and synths, and loads CLAP and VST3 plugins, plus Audio Units on Mac. Any processor can also be applied offline, AudioSuite style.

It imports WAV, AIFF, FLAC, MP3, Ogg, AAC and ALAC, plus the audio from MP4 and MOV video. Bounces go out as WAV, AIFF or FLAC at up to 32-bit float, with dither, normalisation and a loudness reading in LUFS.

Which File to Download

The SoundCraft download page has an installer and a portable zip for 64-bit and 32-bit Windows, plus macOS and Linux builds. Most PCs want the 64-bit MSI installer.

Who Should Look Elsewhere

The tell is the job. For cutting a podcast, cleaning a voice recording or trimming a song, a simple audio editor gets you there faster than a full DAW.

• Audacity is the free standard for recording and editing single files.
• ocenaudio is the lighter, friendlier editor for quick fixes.
• REAPER is the mature, affordable DAW for multitrack work you need to rely on today.
• mp3DirectCut cuts MP3 files without re-encoding them.

Part of the Craft Family

SoundCraft comes from the ArtCraft team, which also builds FilmCraft for video editing and EffectCraft for motion graphics. SoundCraft can decode H.264 and ProRes video, so it can score and mix audio against picture from those apps.

Tools That Pair Well With It

For a bounce that needs to become an MP3 or another format, our free online audio converter works in the browser. Kid3 then adds the title, artist and cover art to the finished files.

Equalizer APO corrects your speakers or headphones system-wide, so your mixes are not shaped by a coloured playback chain. The Audio Editors category has the rest.

Quick questions

Download SoundCraft 0.4.0 and see how its studio layout feels, or be the first to tell us how you got on.