Pro Tools has been the industry standard recording program for over two decades. The program was developed by the Avid media company as part of its suite of creative applications. Pro Tools includes hundreds of audio plugins and presets to jump start a project. Users can record an unlimited number of audio tracks within the program. Audio engineers can adjust every aspect of audio tracks through the programs host of editing tools. Pro Tools can have a steep learning curve and first-time musicians or engineers should look to other programs before purchasing this program.
FL Studio, also known as Fruity Loops Studio, has become very popular with musicians and producers over the first decade of the 21st century. FL Studio gained notoriety for its ease of use and simple user interface. Unlike some other recording programs, FL Studio includes hundreds of preset drum samples and software instruments. Many electronic DJ producers use FL Studio to create audio loops from its host of samples. The program can connect with any MIDI interface or controller.
Audacity is an open-source recording application developed in the early 2000s. The application became popular because of its bare-bones approach to audio recording. The application includes only basic audio-editing tools and users are limited to recording up to a dozen tracks per project. Audacity users typically just want to record their audio as quickly as possible to produce "demo" recordings. Audacity cannot record MIDI instruments or connect to MIDI interface. The program can export an audio project to MP3 or WAV format, making it ideal for capturing live performances.
Ableton Live is a professional recording program designed for both the PC and Mac platforms. Ableton takes a different approach than programs like Pro Tools and FL Studio, which arrange the audio production process in a linear start-to-finish fashion. Ableton Live instead has users create small audio tracks and then assemble those tracks as a whole song later in production. Ableton Live has become popular with electronic DJs because the program allows them to insert drum samples or synthesizer parts while mixing a song simultaneously.