From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This
comparison of free software for audio
lists notable
free and open source software
for use by sound engineers, audio producers, and those involved in sound recording and reproduction.
Audio analysis
[
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Converters
[
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DJ software
[
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Distributions and other platforms
[
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Various projects have formed to integrate the existing free software audio packages.
Modular systems
[
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Notation
[
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Players
[
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Name
|
GUI
|
Programming language
|
Database
|
Linux
?
|
macOS
?
|
Unix
?
|
Windows
?
|
Notes
|
License
|
Amarok
|
Qt
|
C++
|
MySQL
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
|
Unstable
|
Inactive since 2018
|
GPL-2.0-or-later
|
aTunes
|
Swing
|
Java
|
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
|
GPL-2.0-or-later
|
Audacious
|
GTK
/
Qt
|
C
|
|
Yes
|
|
|
Yes
|
|
BSD 2-Clause
|
Banshee
|
GTK+
|
C#
|
SQLite
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
|
Yes
|
Inactive since 2014
|
MIT
|
Clementine
|
Qt
|
C++
|
SQLite3
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
|
Yes
|
Inactive since 2016
|
GPL-3.0-or-later
|
DeaDBeeF
|
GTK+
|
C
,
C++
,
Objective-C
,
Assembly
|
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
|
Yes
|
|
GPLv2
,
zlib
|
Exaile
|
GTK
|
Python
|
Pickle
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
|
Yes
|
|
GPL-2.0-or-later
|
Guayadeque
|
wxWidgets
|
C++
,
C
|
SQLite3
|
Yes
|
|
|
|
Development ceased as of September 29, 2023
|
GPL-3.0-or-later
|
JuK
|
Qt
|
C++
|
|
Yes
|
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Linux (KDE)
|
GPL-2.0-or-later
|
Miro
|
WebKit
in
GTK
/
Cocoa
|
Python
|
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
|
Yes
|
Discontinued in 2013
|
GPL-2.0-or-later
|
Muine
|
GTK#
|
C#
|
|
Yes
|
|
|
|
Can use
GStreamer
and
xine
|
GPL-2.0-or-later
|
Nightingale
|
XULRunner
|
C++
|
SQLite
?
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
|
Yes
|
Discontinued fork of Songbird, with
Linux
support
|
GPL v2
,
MPL
,
BSD
|
Quod Libet
|
GTK
|
Python
|
Pickle
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
|
Yes
|
|
GPL-2.0-or-later
|
qmmp
|
Qt
|
C++
|
|
Yes
|
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
|
GPL-2.0-or-later
|
Rhythmbox
|
GTK
|
C
|
|
Yes
|
|
Yes
|
|
Not
GNU Data Access
|
GPL-2.0-or-later
|
Sayonara Player
|
Qt
|
C++
|
|
Yes
|
|
Yes
|
|
|
GPL-3.0-or-later
|
Songbird
|
XULRunner
|
C++
|
SQLite
?
|
Unofficial
|
Yes
|
Unofficial
|
Yes
|
Abandoned, final release on February 4, 2013
|
GPL v2
with exceptions,
Android
client closed source
|
Tomahawk
|
Qt
|
C++
|
SQLite
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
|
Yes
|
Abandoned, final release on April 15, 2015
|
GPL-3.0-or-later
|
XMMS
|
GTK+
|
C++
|
|
Yes
|
|
Yes
|
|
Discontinued in 2007
|
GPL-2.0-or-later
|
Programming languages
[
edit
]
Many
computer music programming languages
are implemented in free software. See also the
comparison of audio synthesis environments
.
Radio broadcasting
[
edit
]
See also
streaming
below.
Recording and editing
[
edit
]
The following packages are
digital audio editors
.
Softsynths
[
edit
]
Streaming
[
edit
]
These programs are for use with
streaming audio
.
Technologies
[
edit
]
Name
|
Creator
|
Linux
?
|
macOS
?
|
Unix
?
|
Windows
?
|
Note
|
License
|
Advanced Linux Sound Architecture
(ALSA)
|
|
Yes
|
|
|
|
the
sound card
driver and management system in the
Linux kernel
|
GPL-2.0-or-later
LGPL-2.1-or-later
|
aRts
|
|
Yes
|
|
|
|
an audio programming API and
sound server
for general desktop, no longer in development
|
GPL
|
DSSI
|
|
Yes
|
|
|
|
a plugin architecture for
software synthesizers
|
LGPL-2.1-or-later
|
GStreamer
|
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
a graph-based multimedia framework
|
LGPL-2.1-or-later
|
JACK Audio Connection Kit
(JACK)
|
JACK Team,
Paul Davis
|
Yes
|
Yes (JACK OS X)
|
|
Yes (jackdmp)
|
a
sound server
for integration of general and low-latency pro audio applications, including
timebase
transport
|
GPL-2.0-or-later
LGPL-2.1-or-later
|
Linux Audio Developers Simple Plugin API
(LADSPA)
|
|
Yes
|
|
|
|
a plugin architecture for
digital signal processing
|
LGPL-2.1-or-later
|
Open Sound System
|
|
Yes
|
|
Yes
|
|
a
sound card
management and driver system for
Unix
operating systems
|
BSD-2-Clause
CDDL-1.0
GPL-2.0-only
Proprietary
(formerly)
|
PipeWire
|
Wim Taymans
|
Yes
|
|
Yes (FreeBSD)
|
|
a media daemon, unifying
JACK Audio Connection Kit
,
PulseAudio
, and
GStreamer
|
MIT License
|
PortAudio
&
PortMidi
|
Ross Bencina
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
|
Yes
|
a cross-platform, open-source C language library for real-time audio & midi I/O
|
MIT License
|
PulseAudio
|
|
Yes
|
Yes
|
Yes (Solaris, FreeBSD, NetBSD)
|
Yes
|
a
sound server
for general desktop and multihost LAN applications
|
LGPL-2.1-or-later
|
sndio
|
|
Yes
|
No
|
Yes (FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD)
|
No
|
sound
and
MIDI
server
|
ISC
|
Trackers
[
edit
]
These music sequencer programs allow users to arrange notes (pitch-shifted sound samples) on a timeline: see
tracker (music software)
.
Other
[
edit
]
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]