Express Scribe vs. WavePad

It has a free trial, which is very nice if someone just needs temporary access to use, and it's not an expensive program overall. It may not be the most robust program available, but it gets the job done at a good price point. It might not be the best if you need something that allows transcriptionists to collaborate (i.e., working on the same file at the same time).

Incentivized

Highly recommended for voice over recording and editing. Great for splicing together several different recorded files to create a final track. Our voice over talent typically sends us their unedited recordings with multiple recordings of the script. Then we can listen to the different versions to select the best fit for our client. We just select the sections we like and copy them into a new file, then continue to add the sections until we have the final voice over. It is easy to tighten up or stretch out the recording to better fit our timeline.

We have not used WavePad for recording live music so not sure how well it is suited for that. If you need multi-track editing you will need another product. MixPad makes a nice companion.

Incentivized

• Cost efficient - This is a fairly low-cost transcription software that can be downloaded quickly via web
• Easy to use - New users can get the hang of this software pretty quickly
• Customizable - Foot pedal controls and other preferences can be set based on what feels intuitive to the user

Incentivized

• Voice recording is our most used function. It is simple and straight forward. We have trained non-technical voice over talent to use it.
• The cleanup tools have saved us from having to go out and rerecord some bad original recordings.
• Being able to cut out sections of recordings and insert a different audio piece is a great time saver.

Incentivized

• Interface - The look and feel of the software is quite dated and could use a refresh
• Enhancing audio - When we need to manipulate an audio file to try to enhance it (amplifying, for example), we have to use another program to do so
• Hotkeys - Setting up hotkeys may not be as intuitive for new users as would be ideal

Incentivized

• WavePad only works with a single audio track. NCH does offer MixPad for multi-track editing. We also use MixPad occasionally to mix background music with voice.

Incentivized

An important product for our production of customer ads.

Incentivized

Easily handles basic audio recording and editing. Advanced editing features are there but if you don't already understand audio editing you will need to watch some of the provided videos to learn how to use the tools.

Incentivized

Phone support is not available.

Incentivized

It is a simple product to start using.

Incentivized

We ran across WavePad years ago and used it for some simple music file edits. Cutting out some parts to make it fit better into the time slot. Audacity was recommended by a friend and we installed it and give it a brief try. We didn't find anything bad about it but came back to WavePad.

Incentivized

• Very few 'inaudibles' (spots where we're unable to decipher what was said)
• Transcribing allows analysts to read scripts rather than listen to audio files, which saves time and money
• Low cost of software

Incentivized

• We are able to work with local voice-over talent and amateurs and that allows us to keep our cost low to our clients.
• WavePad is so inexpensive that is pays for itself on the first project. The Master's edition is less than $100 and the standard edition is less than $50.

Incentivized