Freeware Pharmacy

Of all the digital audio formats, MP3 is still the most widespread and widely supported. Car stereos, DVD players, and any portable audio player worth its weight in gold can play MP3s. While the format may not have the best technical audio quality, it still sounds pristine at proper bitrates. LAME is by far the best MP3 encoder on the block.

There are a few good freeware audio converters out there, but none handles more formats than BonkEnc. It pulled way ahead of the pack in the latest snapshot builds, which added support for a bunch of formats I've never heard of (that's a good thing) as well as it's first proper 64-bit build.

A Digital Audio Workstation (DAW), or sequencer, is the heart of your computer music rig. There is a different DAW for every personality, and the right DAW will help you compose and produce better. For years, the game was limited to a few major players (Cubase, ProTools, etc.), but finally some top-notch freeware has landed.

Under this broad category you'll find tools to help with the pre- and post-production of computer audio recording. Everyone manages and mangles their tracks and samples in different ways, so I've collected a variety of the best audio tools available.

The computer music industry was instantly revolutionized when Steinberg's VST technology was introduced in Cubase more than 10 years ago. Now there are thousands and thousands of free VST instruments (VSTi) and effects roaming the internet - the tricky part is finding the best ones out there.