Tracktion Corporation released Waveform Free 13, the latest version of the industry-leading free digital audio workstation.
The world of free DAWs has surprisingly little competition. Sure, you’ve got the old stalwarts and reliable standbys like GarageBand, LMMS, and Cakewalk (which was discontinued).
Tracktion’s Waveform has been an inviting alternative for years, and version 13 has just gone live. So, what has changed compared to 12.5 Free? Let’s take a second to highlight some of the new features in the latest release.
Waveform 13 Free brings some modularity to the fray with the addition of expansion packs. These aren’t free by any means, but they do allow you to tailor your experience with the DAW to your liking.
You’ve got options for recording, DJing, video editing and time syncing, MIDI, and some synth packs. At $50 a pop, these aren’t cheap, but you still retain the core functionality of the DAW without them.
Waveform 13 Free also has content packs, which are a steadily growing market for some DAWs like FL Studio.
You’ll find samples and construction kits for techno, live drums, DnB, and even orchestral works. Like the expansion packs, these are free additions.
Despite leaning toward the paid side of things, Waveform 13 Free is a fully functional DAW without the additions. You might have to do a little extra legwork to get the intended results, but that sure beats paying for it.
No matter what version you’re using, you can still load VST, VST3, and AU plugins if you choose. This greatly expands your options, especially if you’re considering alternative sequencers like Stochas.
Waveform 13 Free wouldn’t be my first choice for doing some work, but that’s because I’m already settled into a workflow. It is a fine choice for users looking for something different or just getting started.
As with all previous Waveform releases, Tracktion supports Windows and Mac computers. You can also run Waveform 13 Free on Linux, with Ubuntu 20.04 being the latest version tested.
If you’d prefer to go on a super small scale, then there is a binary for the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B. But at that point, you can also consider using a portable DAW on your tablet or mobile phone.
Download: Waveform Free 13
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6 Comments
Adam
onWith addition like abletons clips for 50$ its a no brainer. You got clips, sampler, synth and drum sequencer with modular type of building racks (instead of many$$$ max enable in abletons suite) for less than full licence of reaper. That is full entry level DAW to look for. Where even I long time user of ableton stuff consider to switch right now.
Numanoid
onWow, pushing $50 Ableton clips, that is the future of Waveform free :-(
Ilia
onWhy did they remove “Return cursor to start position when play stops” option?
Can’t find it anymore and it is crucial to my workflow :/
Dom
onYou need to right click on the time line at the top
Adam
onHome key works like that altho they’ve removed shortcut for rewind to start and took away option to asign one -weird thing.
Numanoid
onNobody digs updates that much, if Waveforms v12 free was good, v13 is just this years model, switching it around like it was a Rubik’s cube
A producer want to spend time making hit records, not spending time relearning what was a familiar interface