NCH WavePad Masters Edition Review

Full review

This software allows you to both make and edit music, voice, and almost any other conceivable audio track. With built-in audio effects such as amplify, include, normalize, envelope, reverb, echo, and reverse, WavePad makes simple work of most audio mastering tasks.

It is also capable of batch processing, enabling you to speed through more tedious jobs. Compared to other audio editing software titles, WavePad represents solid value for money, making it an obvious choice for our gold award.

Setup

During set-up, you will be asked to select any additional or complementary software titles such as MixPad, Express CD burner & ripper, or Switch audio converter. However, none of these are necessary to use the program.

The installation itself is a very straightforward process. Within a few clicks, you are ready to start editing. We found no issues with installation during tests on our Windows 10 laptop.

Audio editing

The usual varieties of sound effects/editing tools are included with WavePad such as insert silence, fade, cross-fade, crop, copy and echo. What's different about WavePad is the ease with which you can execute these functions. Complicated dialog boxes that are a hallmark of most professional audio editing suites have been replaced with simple, automatic adjustment settings. During our testing, we found the learning curve much gentler than other audio editing software titles such as Sony Sound Forge.

If you are a would-be sound engineer or a more advanced user, it is well worth exploring beyond the software presets. There are plenty of advanced settings built in that justify its usefulness for more complex audio editing as well.

Audio recording

WavePad has an excellent built-in wave recorder with features such as voice activation. The program can also record directly off the internet through your sound card and NCH is constantly increasing supported file formats through regular updates.

Features

WavePad includes the standard features set such as cut, copy and paste parts of a recording as well as insert silence, fade in/out, and auto-trim. It also supports stereo or mono, sample rates from 6000 to 96000Hz and includes a convenient CD ripper.

It allows you to create computer-generated speech from any text you enter into the editor, known as text-to-speech. Your computer must have a speech engine installed to access this feature (already installed on most Windows and Apple Mac machines). We found the text-to-speech function highly entertaining during testing.

Ease of use

NCH has managed to create an audio editor that any Windows or Mac user will feel instantly comfortable with. With its easy to find editing options and familiar layout, WavePad is fast, efficient, and - the most user-friendly audio editor that we've tested.

Help & support

NCH provides an extensive FAQ section on their website, help files, and several user forums that answer most questions. The help files cover everything from general audio concepts through to frequency and sample rates.

However, full technical support is pretty pricey. NCH uses a pre-pay, tiered technical support model that starts with a Silver package (this includes up to 3 emails, 10 minutes each and must be used within 30 days), to Gold and Platinum support levels with matching price tags.

Overall

Despite the pricey technical support packages, we think NCH WavePad Masters Edition represents excellent value for money. Since there are quite a few active user forums, help files, and a FAQ section available on their website, it seems unlikely that you would need to pay for additional support anyway. NCH has managed to create an audio editor that will appeal to both the novice and expert alike - making WavePad our top choice.