Audio Software

Audio Players, Organizers & Podcatchers

Audacious is probably my favorite simple audio player. It supports GTK and Winamp classic skins, and playlists. It's an efficient player that won't bog down your system or drain your battery.

gmusicbrowser is a basic music player and organizer that can be extended using plugins. It features customizable layouts and mass-tagging and mass-renaming of files.

Amarok, part of the KDE Project, is a very versatile player. It can automatically download album information from Wikipedia. It supports Internet Radio streaming via the Jamendo service, MP3tunes music upload/downloads, and access to the Magnatune music store, where you can purchase DRM-free music from independent artists. It's also a Podcatcher and has limited support for iPod and portable media device syncing.

Banshee, more of a GNOME-oriented player, sports a variety of features. It automatically downloads album cover artwork from various sources, supports Internet Radio streaming, and features access to the Amazon MP3 store. It's a podcatcher, integrated with the Miro Guide, and has limited support for iPod and portable media device syncing.

Clementine is a fork of Amarok and sports many features. It will download album cover artwork from Amazon and last.fm, features built-in Internet radio streaming from a variety of sources and allows you to upload/download music from several services and can convert/transcode many audio formats. It is a podcatcher and has some limited support for iPod and portable media device syncing. It also features tabbed playlists, lyrics and artist biographies and photos, and sports a nifty Visualizer.

Miro follows the all-in-one philosophy of doing things. It is a podcatcher, integrated with the Miro Guide, which features a wide collection of podcasts. It will also play the music on your PC, convert/transcode many audio/video formats and has built-in support for the Amazon MP3 store. It is also a BitTorrent client.

Rhythmbox, part of the GNOME Project, is a versatile player with support for plugins. It can download album cover artwork, supports Internet radio streaming via Jamendo and other services and has built-in support for the Magnatune music store. It is a podcatcher and has some limited support for iPod and portable media device syncing.

Exaile is not as popular as other actively-developed music players, but it supports many of the same features, including downloading album cover art and Internet radio streaming. It also supports tabbed and smart playlists.

gPodder is a lean, dedicated podcatcher.

Audio Editing Software

Audacity is a very flexible, yet simple, cross-platform audio recording and editing application. It is used by many podcasters and features a plugin architecture to extend its capabilities.

Audio Composition Software

Ardour is a complex and feature-full audio and MIDI recording and editing application with plugin support. It is aimed at audio engineers, musicians, soundtrack editors and composers.

Rosegarden is "a music composition and editing environment based around a MIDI sequencer that features a rich understanding of music notation and includes basic support for digital audio." It is touted as easy to learn and use and targeted at "composers, musicians, music students, and small studio or home recording environments".

LMMS is fully-featured application made by musicians for composing music. It includes built-in instruments, has MIDI support and can be enhanced through plugins.

Qtractor is a non-destructive Audio/MIDI multi-track sequencer.

ZynAddSubFX is a "software synthesizer capable of making a countless number of instruments"

BEAST is not named for an animal nor Biblical revelations. It stands for "Better Audio System" and is a music composition and modular synthesis application.

Disc Jockey Software

xwax is a hardware-independent, standalone Digital Vinyl System designed for both beat mixing and scratch mixing.

Mixxx is an integrated DJ application with advanced controls, MIDI support and Timecode Vinyl Control. It uses the xwax code for vinyl control.