The best audio recording software for a Mac makes it easy for you to record both internal system sounds and external audio from your microphone. In this guide, we'll take a look at a selection of sound-recording software for a Mac to help you find the right program to meet your needs.
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Best Mac audio recording software
Movavi Screen Recorder
Best for: users who want to record easily and quickly on a Mac
Price: free trial, $59.95 for a lifetime version
G2 rating: 4.5 out of 5, 50 reviews
Movavi Screen Recorder is an app that you can use on your Macbook to record audio (both internal and external) or video content of your screen. It's some of the best music-recording software for a Mac due to its versatility and ease of use, so you can quickly and simply capture only the audio from your device as needed and save it as an MP3 file. There are also built-in editing tools for you to trim your recording down and cut out unwanted sections before saving.
Key features:
Record audio and video
Capture internal and external sounds
Basic editing tools
Pros:
Very easy to use
A versatile program with many functions
Quick and easy editing
Cons:
Limitations when using a free trial
GarageBand
Best for: users who want to make music on their Mac
Price: free
PCMag rating: 4.5 out of 5
Another great option when you're looking for the best Mac audio recording software is GarageBand. As the name implies, this software is aimed at bands and musicians, and it functions as a fully-featured music creation studio, with a full audio library of instruments and voice presets. It also comes with a plethora of editing tools and features, allowing you to mix, sync, and adjust your tracks as needed.
Key features:
Multi-track recording
A huge library of presets
Can create complete music tracks
Pros:
Ideal for musicians and singers
Syncing tracks is very easy
Lots of editing features
Cons:
Some features are quite complicated
Logic Pro
Best for: users who want a fully-featured music-making studio
Price: free trial, $199 for a full version
PCMag rating: 4.5 out of 5
Logic Pro is another top-rated app to consider when you're looking for the best audio recorder for a Mac. This is a complete, professional-grade recording solution, made exclusively by Apple for the Mac platform, and it comes with everything that you need to make amazing music on your device. With its super sleek interface, integrated Dolby Atmos tools, powerful creative features, and huge collection of plug-ins and sounds, there's a lot you can do with this app.
Key features:
Dolby Atmos tools
Use your iPhone or iPad as a Logic Remote
Huge library of sounds and plug-ins
Pros:
A sleek and attractive interface
Beautifully designed for ease-of-use
Tons of features and sounds
Cons:
Quite a high price for the full version
Aiseesoft Screen Recorder
Best for: users who mostly want to record internal audio
Price: free trial, lifetime license for $49.96
G2 rating: 4.5 out of 5, 2 reviews
Aiseesoft Screen Recorder is a full-featured screen recorder with audio recording capabilities. The program has a unique real-time video encoding technology that produces high-quality video and sound. You can change various preferences for both internal audio and microphone sound.
Key features:
Users can test the microphone and system sound before recording
Hotkeys to improve functionality
Pros:
Noise cancellation and improvement
Free version includes all audio recording functions
Cons:
Less than stellar reports from customer service interaction
QuickTime Player
Best for: users who want a built-in solution for audio recording
Price: free
AlternativeTo rating: 2.5 out of 5
QuickTime Player is a media player that comes built-in with all Mac devices. So, if you choose to use this free music-recording software for a Mac, you won't need to worry about having to download or install any other freeware or audio capture program on your device. Many people use QuickTime for playing media files every day, but it also has hidden recording capabilities and can record your whole screen's video, as well as capture audio.
Key features:
Record video and audio
Playback your recordings in the app
Built-in with every Mac
Pros:
No downloads needed
Super simple to use
Record and play in one app
Cons:
Limited tools
Audio Hijack
Best for: users who want to record and stream live audio
Price: free trial, $64 for a full version
CNET rating: 4.3 out of 5, 42 reviews
Audio Hijack is a Mac-exclusive app that is really good for voice recording on a Macintosh as well as for streaming live audio. Many people use it for online radio purposes or for recording and streaming audio, like podcasts, with their fans and followers around the world. It's got a really sleek and simple interface that doesn't take too long to understand and works well for beginners, and it's an ideal choice if you're looking into the idea of instantly streaming your audio with the world.
Key features:
VoIP recording via Zoom and other apps
Works with live broadcasting
Capture audio from any website
Pros:
Great for beginners
Super for streaming and radio
Very modern and minimalistic interface
Cons:
Many features are locked behind a paywall
Audacity
Best for: users who want a comprehensive audio recorder and editor
Price: free
PCMag rating: 4 out of 5
This is one of the most comprehensive audio recorders available, and it's totally free to use, without any hidden costs or charges. It offers a massive range of features and functions, from noise gates and pitch adjustment to noise reduction when you're recording in spaces with background noise, along with lots of editing, multi-track recording, and much more.
Key features:
Multi-track recording
Tons of editing tools
Export in MP3, WAV, or other popular formats
Pros:
A comprehensive editor and recorder
Lots of features for clearer sound
Simple to get started with
Cons:
Tricky to master due to the huge range of features
Ableton Live
Best for: users who want to create the best quality music
Price: free trial, a premium version from $99
PCMag rating: 4 out of 5
Ableton Live is a fluid and fast music creation suite which essentially gives users their own fully-functioning music studio inside their Mac devices. It offers a ton of features to help you capture the crispest and best quality audio, either with your voice or with instruments, and then add feeling and life to your music with editing tools and enhancements. The only downside is that you'll need to spend quite a lot of cash on one of the premium upgrades to get the full selection of Ableton Live features.
Key features:
Take comping and linked-track editing
Advanced editing tools
A huge range of enhancements
Pros:
A comprehensive music studio app
Incredible quality audio
Make any track sound better
Cons:
Very expensive to unlock all features
MuLab
Best for: users who want an attractive UI for audio recording
Price: free trial, $73 for a full version
MusicRadar rating: 3 out of 5
MuLab from MuTools is another music creation and audio recording app for a Mac. It has a colorful and attractive user interface and a lot of useful features, including MUX Modular, which is a special synth, sampler, and effect engine. With the power of the MUX Modular, creating, recording, and editing audio becomes very easy.
Key features:
Multi-track recording and editing
Modular architecture for ease-of-use
Lots of editing tools
Pros:
Sleek and colorful UI
Easy to use for music creation
Powerful effects engine
Cons:
Some features are missing
Apowersoft Audio Recorder for Mac
Best for: users who want a simple audio recorder for Mac
Price: free
Apowersoft rating: 4.5 out of 5
Next up, we have Apowersoft Audio Recorder for Mac. This simple tool is useful for recording audio from your Mac in lossless quality, preserving the crispness and clarity of every sound. It can be used to record voices, calls, conferences, meetings, commentaries, and music, too, offering both internal and external audio capture.
Key features:
Capture internal and external audio
10+ languages
Lightweight app
Pros:
Completely free to use
Perfect for beginners
Lots of language options
Cons:
Lacks features compared to other recording programs
Ardour
Best for: users who want to enhance and edit every detail of their audio
Price: free
G2 rating: 4.1 out of 5, 11 reviews
Next up, we have Ardour, another top-quality audio capture app you can use on your Mac. This app is popular with singers, musicians, and other artists and creators, as it can help you bring out the very best in your recordings. It comes with many different enhancement tools and editing features to let you adjust and improve each little detail of your tracks, turning a simple and basic recording into something that sounds truly professional and impressive.
Key features:
Drag and drop UI
Editing tools to trim, adjust, and enhance
Multi-track recording
Pros:
Sleek and modern interface
A huge range of editing tools
Great for musicians
Cons:
Takes time to get set up
Reaper
Best for: users who want a secure and stable audio recording solution
Price: free trial, a premium version from $60
PCMag rating: 4 out of 5
Reaper is an audio recording and audio protection application. It supports multi-track audio and MIDI recording, as well as editing, processing, and mixing, with a wide range of tools and functions to play around with. Supporting lots of different kinds of hardware and digital formats, this app is famed for its versatility and can be used by anyone from teachers recording lectures to musicians preparing a new album.
Key features:
Multi-track audio and MIDI capture
64-bit internal processing
Support for thousands of plug-ins and add-ons
Pros:
Very versatile program
Compatible with lots of hardware
Create audio in many formats
Cons:
Free trial is 60 days only
Piezo
Best for: users who want to capture app and browser audio
Price: free trial, $25 for a full version
MacUpdate rating: 4.2 out of 5, 14 reviews
Piezo is a fun little app that is designed to look like an old-fashioned radio. It's designed with aesthetics and simplicity in mind, perfect for recording audio from applications like Skype and browsers like Safari and Chrome. You can record in both MP3 and AAC format, as desired, and it really couldn't be any easier to set up and start using.
Key features:
One-click recording
A range of recording presets
Capture audio from apps and browsers
Pros:
Really simple to use
Fun and attractive design
Multiple formats
Cons:
Lacks features
Macsome Audio Recorder
Best for: users who want to capture calls and conferences
Price: free trial, $29.95 for a full version
CNET rating: 3.5 out of 5, 2 reviews
Compatible with the latest versions of macOS, Macsome Audio Recorder is a Mac-exclusive audio capture app to record audio from apps like Skype, iTunes, and internet browsers. It can also record external audio from microphones and other connected hardware, so it's a good choice for capturing calls and conferences. It saves in MP3 or AAC format, with various options for file size, audio quality, and more.
Key features:
Save in MP3 or AAC
Capture internal or external audio
Adjust file size, quality, etc.
Pros:
Easy to use
A lightweight and simple application
Useful for recording online calls
Cons:
Free trial is limited to 3-minute recordings
AudioNote
Best for: users who want to create educational audio content
Price: $14.99
Mac App Store rating: 4.3 out of 5, 37 reviews
AudioNote is a powerful tool that is perfect for students and teachers. With this app, users can record lectures and meetings and at the same time take notes linked to audio. Additionally, AudioNote offers some handy tools: users can add drawings or photos to the notes. Overall, the app can be very helpful since it combines an audio recorder and a notes app, so you don’t need to switch between two different apps.
Key features:
Combines audio recording with note-taking
Capture audio and connect it to written notes
Connect to text, drawings, photos, or diagrams
Pros:
Ideal for education
A very unique way of creating content
Lightweight and easy to use
Cons:
Has very specific usage cases
Avid Pro Tools
Best for: users who want to record audio collaboratively
Price: free trial, a premium version from $299
PCMag rating: 4.5 out of 5
Like GarageBand and similar apps, Avid Pro Tools is mostly a music creation app. It's designed to help aspiring musicians record and edit their tracks with ease, offering a range of musical instrument sounds and presets that you can experiment with and combine in different ways to make music. It also offers live broadcast options and cloud collaboration to work with bandmates in different locations.
Key features:
A huge sound library
Track presets for voice and instruments
Cloud collaboration
Pros:
Great for bands working together
Lots of useful presets to play around with
Intuitive user interface
Cons:
A steep learning curve
How to choose sound-recording software for a Mac
What is the best professional audio software compatible with Mac OS X? If you're still not sure which program to choose, here are some of the most important factors to think about:
Ease-of-use: any program you use should be easy and intuitive. If you're a total beginner in the world of audio recording, a simple and basic app will be just right. If you have more experience, an advanced app might be what you need.
Features: some audio recorders are very simple and can only record system sounds or external audio, but others have dozens of features like multi-track recording, audio editing, mixing, and much more. Find one with all the key features you need to use.
Price: it's important to find a Mac audio recorder within your budget. There are some free, open-source options out there, as well as premium apps that need to be paid for on a one-off or recurring basis. Usually, premium apps will have more features and functionality.
Support: check to see what kind of user support is available for the app you plan to use, like tutorials, guides, live chat, and email support. This may be useful if you find yourself dealing with a bug or problem and need help fixing it.
How to record audio on a Mac with Movavi Screen Recorder
Follow these steps to learn how to record audio with Movavi Screen Recorder:
First, you need to download and install the Mac version of Movavi Screen Recorder.
Download Movavi Screen Recorder for MacOnce the program has been installed, run it and then click the Screen Recording button on the control panel.
Click on the System Audio and Microphone icons, as needed, to adjust which audio stream is captured.
Click the REC button to start the recording process and Stop to finish.
Make any edits required and then click Export and choose MP3 to save only the audio of your recording.
Summary
Hopefully, this guide has given you plenty of options to choose from the next time you're looking for the best audio recording software on a Mac. Remember to always choose an app that matches your budget, meets your skill level, and provides the features and functions you need when recording Mac audio.
Movavi Screen Recorder
Frequently asked questions
What is good audio recording software for a Mac?
Here are some of the best audio recording apps on a Mac:
Movavi Screen Recorder
GarageBand
Audio Hijack
Audacity
Ableton Live
Apowersoft Audio Recorder for Mac
Ardour
Macsome Audio Recorder
Read our full article for even more great tools to use.
What's better than GarageBand for a Mac?
You can check out these apps:
Audio Hijack
Audacity
Ableton Live
How can I record audio on my Mac for free?
You can do this with Movavi Screen Recorder:
Download and install the app.
Configure the settings to record system and/or external audio.
Start recording by clicking the REC button.
Click Export to save as MP3 when you're done.
To learn more, read the detailed guide by following the link below:
Does a Mac have recording software?
Mac users have two good built-in options to record audio – QuickTime and Voice Memos – that make use of the built-in microphone and can work with external audio hardware. Alternatively, you can try out Movavi Screen Recorder – a feature-rich and powerful solution for a Mac to record sound with a free trial period.
What is the best software for voice recording on a Macintosh?
Here’re some of the best apps to record voice on a Mac:
Movavi Screen Recorder
GarageBand
Logic Pro
QuickTime Player
Audio Hijack
See other useful how-to guides
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