Editing sound is something every user needs to do sooner or later, and when looking for recommendations, you will likely end up stuck in a storm of professional tools with prohibitive licenses. In the past we explored several free options for casual edits, but if you prefer a solution that works entirely in the browser, then you should take a closer look at AudioMass, with more than a dozen effects, and support for direct export to MP3, without installing additional software.
For some users, audio editing is their main activity in front of the computer, and they need all the firepower a developer can offer. But in most cases, "editing" does not go beyond removing a "pop" at the end, or increasing the volume of an MP3 file. Personally, I remember Cool Edit Pro with great fondness (later converted to Adobe Audition)... however, it was the equivalent of using a flamethrower to make a campfire.
From a practical point of view, the truth is that we do not need a "professional" audio editor. That gives rise to a much wider selection of software, and of course, lower costs. In fact, there are free editors with a solid set of features, plus an open source profile that enables cross-platform support. That is the case of AudioMass. By working in a browser and using barely 65 kilobytes of JavaScript without strange local dependencies, we can access an environment ready to edit sound without hiccups.
How to edit sound online
Although it does not have any kind of tutorial, AudioMass uses an interface that we definitely consider intuitive. You can start working with sound samples, files available at a URL, or saved on a local drive (drag and drop works very well). The list of effects amounts to 16, among which three equalizers, normalization, "hard limit" for extreme cases, distortion and speed changes stand out. Some of these effects also include very useful presets that help save time.
AudioMass has a frequency analyzer, a spectral analyzer, tempo tools, and an ID3 tag viewer (it is not an editor). Anyone would think that an editor with these features would leave recording functions in the lurch, but that is not the case: If there is a compatible device connected (for example, a microphone with permissions activated in the browser), AudioMass should be able to use it.
When saving our modifications, AudioMass allows keeping local drafts, or export to MP3. This last option has a limitation in its bitrate, and we can only save at 128, 192 or 320 kilobits, without advanced parameters like Joint Stereo or VBR mode. All in all, we are amazed at its ease of use, and most importantly, its performance. Finally, are you a programmer and would you like to see its code? Visit Pantelis Kalogiros' profile on GitHub, and you will find it.
Official site (live): Click here
AudioMass on GitHub: Click here
