There is a huge range of open source free audio software available for Linux which is both mature and feature-laden. Linux has all the tools needed to be a serious contender in music production without a user having to venture into the commercial software world. Linux is a superior platform for professional audio production: rock solid, efficient, and you don’t get fleeced for software licenses. Software that creates music can often be expensive.
Linux also sports a wide range of useful audio tools. This article examines audio analyzers. This type of software lets you visualize audio spectrum for real-time signals. Some of the programs also lets you analyze amplitude and phase spectrum as well. Also, you can visualize audio spectrum in FFT spectrum, 2D spectrogram, Octave spectrum, etc. modes.
This type of software is useful for audio/multimedia researchers, developers, composers, and performers. They help you analyze an audio signal to understand the characteristics of this signal (fundamental, harmonics, feedback, etc.), to describe the source/room/receiver behaviour (reverberation, gain peaks, etc.), or to make adjustments in the preprocessing (room equalization).
We also include software that lets you identify songs.
Here’s our verdict summarized in one of our legendary ratings chart.
Let’s explore the 17 audio analyzers at hand. For each title we have compiled its own portal page, providing a screenshot of the software in action, a full description with an in-depth analysis of its features, together with links to relevant resources.
| Audio Analyzers | |
|---|---|
| Sonic Visualiser | View and analyse the contents of music audio files |
| projectM | Music visualizer originally based on Milkdrop |
| Spek | Acoustic spectrum analyser |
| Friture | Visualize and analyze live audio data in real-time with rolling 2D spectrogram |
| SongRec | Open source Shazam client |
| Cava | Cross-platform audio visualizer |
| sndpeek | Real-time audio visualization tool (animated, 3D) |
| Mousai | Simple application that can identify songs similar to Shazam |
| Cavalier | Audio visualizer based on Cava |
| FMIT | Graphical utility for tuning musical instruments |
| Cavasik | Fork of Cavalier |
| GLava | OpenGL audio spectrum visualizer |
| Music Radar | Simple application that can identify songs similar to Shazam |
| rtspeccy | Real time spectrum analyzer |
| cli-visualizer | Command line visualizer for MPD, ALSA and PulseAudio |
| audioprism | Spectrogram tool for PulseAudio and WAV files |
| shaq | Bare-bones CLI client for Shazam |
This article has been revamped in line with our recent announcement.
 Read our complete collection of recommended free and open source software. Our curated compilation covers all categories of software. The software collection forms part of our series of informative articles for Linux enthusiasts. There are hundreds of in-depth reviews, open source alternatives to proprietary software from large corporations like Google, Microsoft, Apple, Adobe, IBM, Cisco, Oracle, and Autodesk. There are also fun things to try, hardware, free programming books and tutorials, and much more. |