How To Replace the Audio Track in a Video [Step by Step]

Video editing is inclusive of editing the audio track. You may be working on background scores, original soundtracks, and different kinds of sound effects. These tasks would need you to edit or replace audio in the video. You may have to mix other audio tracks to have one score. From sound engineering to finely editing every track being mixed, it is an ever expanding and exciting technical niche that will depend largely on a plethora of tools, so in this article, we will let you how to replace audio in video with 2 methods by using Filmora and Windows Movie Maker.

In this article

01 How to replace audio in video with Filmora

02 How to change audio in video with Windows Movie Maker

Part 1: How to replace audio in video with Filmora

The first method, let us explore how you can replace audio in video with Wondershare Filmora.

To begin with, get a free trial copy of Wondershare Filmora .

Try It Free

For Win 7 or later (64-bit)

Try It Free

For macOS 10.12 or later

Step 1. Import file

Open the application and click ‘ Import once you have downloaded and installed Wondershare Filmora. Please search for the relevant video you wish to edit and load it from the hard disk or the specific folder. You can select multiple videos using ‘ctrl’ and clicking on the chosen files.

Step 2. Drag and drop to the video Timeline

The videos selected will be displayed as thumbnails. Choose a video, hit and click without releasing the click and drag the chosen video to the Video Timeline.

Step 3. Remove the original sound of the video

Right-click on it, and you would see the option of “Audio detach.” Click on it, and the audio file will detach from the video file and get added to Music Timeline.

Press “Delete” on your keyboard, and you will get rid of it. You can save this video without the audio, and you would only have the visuals, unimpaired and unaffected in any way, without the sound.

Step 4. Add a new audio track

You can add a new audio track to the video by choosing royalty sound or music from the Filmora library or importing any audio you like.

Part 2: How to change audio in video with Windows Movie Maker

The second method, Apart from replacing audio by Filmora, you can also make it by Windows Movie Maker. Though it is discontinued to develop a new version, you can still use it in Windows 7. Below are the steps to replace audio in Windows Movie Maker .

Step 1: Import video

First, download and run it. Click Add videos and photos to import video.

Step 2: Turn off the original sound

Click Edit tab > Video volume to turn off the sound by draging the slider to the left.

Step 3: Add audio to video

Click Add music to import the targeted music to Windows Movie Maker. You can select Add music or Add music at the current point.

Step 4: Save project

Click the file icon in the top left corner to save the video. Choose Save movie to export the targeted file.

Wondershare Filmora allows you to replace easily and edit the audio in the video

Unfortunately, no application by default on your desktop or laptop, phone, or tablet would get this done. To replace audio in the video, you would need the help of state of the art software. Fortunately, you have Wondershare Filmora at your disposal.

With Wondershare Filmora, you can replace audio in the video, mute audio, detach the audio, and add audio. You can eliminate background noise, organic noise, sound effects, address the sync problem in a video file, and edit the audio in a video without any extensive training or expertise.

• It has a user-friendly interface which makes things simple even for amateurs.
• It supports all common video and audio formats, including WMV, MOV, FLV, MTS, MP4, etc.
• You can move audio, replace it or add new audio to the video without worrying about general loss, which is loss of quality.
• You can export the edited video with the new or edited audio to various devices, including the cloud and social media sites.
• Compatible with Windows (including Windows 8) & Mac OS X (10.6 and above).

Try It Free

For Win 7 or later (64-bit)

Try It Free

For macOS 10.12 or later

02 How to change audio in video with Windows Movie Maker

Part 1: How to replace audio in video with Filmora

The first method, let us explore how you can replace audio in video with Wondershare Filmora.

To begin with, get a free trial copy of Wondershare Filmora .

Try It Free

For Win 7 or later (64-bit)

Try It Free

For macOS 10.12 or later

Step 1. Import file

Open the application and click ‘ Import once you have downloaded and installed Wondershare Filmora. Please search for the relevant video you wish to edit and load it from the hard disk or the specific folder. You can select multiple videos using ‘ctrl’ and clicking on the chosen files.

Step 2. Drag and drop to the video Timeline

The videos selected will be displayed as thumbnails. Choose a video, hit and click without releasing the click and drag the chosen video to the Video Timeline.

Step 3. Remove the original sound of the video

Right-click on it, and you would see the option of “Audio detach.” Click on it, and the audio file will detach from the video file and get added to Music Timeline.

Press “Delete” on your keyboard, and you will get rid of it. You can save this video without the audio, and you would only have the visuals, unimpaired and unaffected in any way, without the sound.

Step 4. Add a new audio track

You can add a new audio track to the video by choosing royalty sound or music from the Filmora library or importing any audio you like.

Part 2: How to change audio in video with Windows Movie Maker

The second method, Apart from replacing audio by Filmora, you can also make it by Windows Movie Maker. Though it is discontinued to develop a new version, you can still use it in Windows 7. Below are the steps to replace audio in Windows Movie Maker .

Step 1: Import video

First, download and run it. Click Add videos and photos to import video.

Step 2: Turn off the original sound

Click Edit tab > Video volume to turn off the sound by draging the slider to the left.

Step 3: Add audio to video

Click Add music to import the targeted music to Windows Movie Maker. You can select Add music or Add music at the current point.

Step 4: Save project

Click the file icon in the top left corner to save the video. Choose Save movie to export the targeted file.

Wondershare Filmora allows you to replace easily and edit the audio in the video

Unfortunately, no application by default on your desktop or laptop, phone, or tablet would get this done. To replace audio in the video, you would need the help of state of the art software. Fortunately, you have Wondershare Filmora at your disposal.

With Wondershare Filmora, you can replace audio in the video, mute audio, detach the audio, and add audio. You can eliminate background noise, organic noise, sound effects, address the sync problem in a video file, and edit the audio in a video without any extensive training or expertise.

• It has a user-friendly interface which makes things simple even for amateurs.
• It supports all common video and audio formats, including WMV, MOV, FLV, MTS, MP4, etc.
• You can move audio, replace it or add new audio to the video without worrying about general loss, which is loss of quality.
• You can export the edited video with the new or edited audio to various devices, including the cloud and social media sites.
• Compatible with Windows (including Windows 8) & Mac OS X (10.6 and above).

Try It Free

For Win 7 or later (64-bit)

Try It Free

For macOS 10.12 or later

02 How to change audio in video with Windows Movie Maker

Part 1: How to replace audio in video with Filmora

The first method, let us explore how you can replace audio in video with Wondershare Filmora.

To begin with, get a free trial copy of Wondershare Filmora .

Try It Free

For Win 7 or later (64-bit)

Try It Free

For macOS 10.12 or later

Step 1. Import file

Open the application and click ‘ Import once you have downloaded and installed Wondershare Filmora. Please search for the relevant video you wish to edit and load it from the hard disk or the specific folder. You can select multiple videos using ‘ctrl’ and clicking on the chosen files.

Step 2. Drag and drop to the video Timeline

The videos selected will be displayed as thumbnails. Choose a video, hit and click without releasing the click and drag the chosen video to the Video Timeline.

Step 3. Remove the original sound of the video

Right-click on it, and you would see the option of “Audio detach.” Click on it, and the audio file will detach from the video file and get added to Music Timeline.

Press “Delete” on your keyboard, and you will get rid of it. You can save this video without the audio, and you would only have the visuals, unimpaired and unaffected in any way, without the sound.

Step 4. Add a new audio track

You can add a new audio track to the video by choosing royalty sound or music from the Filmora library or importing any audio you like.

Part 2: How to change audio in video with Windows Movie Maker

The second method, Apart from replacing audio by Filmora, you can also make it by Windows Movie Maker. Though it is discontinued to develop a new version, you can still use it in Windows 7. Below are the steps to replace audio in Windows Movie Maker .

Step 1: Import video

First, download and run it. Click Add videos and photos to import video.

Step 2: Turn off the original sound

Click Edit tab > Video volume to turn off the sound by draging the slider to the left.

Step 3: Add audio to video

Click Add music to import the targeted music to Windows Movie Maker. You can select Add music or Add music at the current point.

Step 4: Save project

Click the file icon in the top left corner to save the video. Choose Save movie to export the targeted file.

Wondershare Filmora allows you to replace easily and edit the audio in the video

Unfortunately, no application by default on your desktop or laptop, phone, or tablet would get this done. To replace audio in the video, you would need the help of state of the art software. Fortunately, you have Wondershare Filmora at your disposal.

With Wondershare Filmora, you can replace audio in the video, mute audio, detach the audio, and add audio. You can eliminate background noise, organic noise, sound effects, address the sync problem in a video file, and edit the audio in a video without any extensive training or expertise.

• It has a user-friendly interface which makes things simple even for amateurs.
• It supports all common video and audio formats, including WMV, MOV, FLV, MTS, MP4, etc.
• You can move audio, replace it or add new audio to the video without worrying about general loss, which is loss of quality.
• You can export the edited video with the new or edited audio to various devices, including the cloud and social media sites.
• Compatible with Windows (including Windows 8) & Mac OS X (10.6 and above).

Try It Free

For Win 7 or later (64-bit)

Try It Free

For macOS 10.12 or later

02 How to change audio in video with Windows Movie Maker

Part 1: How to replace audio in video with Filmora

The first method, let us explore how you can replace audio in video with Wondershare Filmora.

To begin with, get a free trial copy of Wondershare Filmora .

Try It Free

For Win 7 or later (64-bit)

Try It Free

For macOS 10.12 or later

Step 1. Import file

Open the application and click ‘ Import once you have downloaded and installed Wondershare Filmora. Please search for the relevant video you wish to edit and load it from the hard disk or the specific folder. You can select multiple videos using ‘ctrl’ and clicking on the chosen files.

Step 2. Drag and drop to the video Timeline

The videos selected will be displayed as thumbnails. Choose a video, hit and click without releasing the click and drag the chosen video to the Video Timeline.

Step 3. Remove the original sound of the video

Right-click on it, and you would see the option of “Audio detach.” Click on it, and the audio file will detach from the video file and get added to Music Timeline.

Press “Delete” on your keyboard, and you will get rid of it. You can save this video without the audio, and you would only have the visuals, unimpaired and unaffected in any way, without the sound.

Step 4. Add a new audio track

You can add a new audio track to the video by choosing royalty sound or music from the Filmora library or importing any audio you like.

Part 2: How to change audio in video with Windows Movie Maker

The second method, Apart from replacing audio by Filmora, you can also make it by Windows Movie Maker. Though it is discontinued to develop a new version, you can still use it in Windows 7. Below are the steps to replace audio in Windows Movie Maker .

Step 1: Import video

First, download and run it. Click Add videos and photos to import video.

Step 2: Turn off the original sound

Click Edit tab > Video volume to turn off the sound by draging the slider to the left.

Step 3: Add audio to video

Click Add music to import the targeted music to Windows Movie Maker. You can select Add music or Add music at the current point.

Step 4: Save project

Click the file icon in the top left corner to save the video. Choose Save movie to export the targeted file.

Wondershare Filmora allows you to replace easily and edit the audio in the video

Unfortunately, no application by default on your desktop or laptop, phone, or tablet would get this done. To replace audio in the video, you would need the help of state of the art software. Fortunately, you have Wondershare Filmora at your disposal.

With Wondershare Filmora, you can replace audio in the video, mute audio, detach the audio, and add audio. You can eliminate background noise, organic noise, sound effects, address the sync problem in a video file, and edit the audio in a video without any extensive training or expertise.

• It has a user-friendly interface which makes things simple even for amateurs.
• It supports all common video and audio formats, including WMV, MOV, FLV, MTS, MP4, etc.
• You can move audio, replace it or add new audio to the video without worrying about general loss, which is loss of quality.
• You can export the edited video with the new or edited audio to various devices, including the cloud and social media sites.
• Compatible with Windows (including Windows 8) & Mac OS X (10.6 and above).

Try It Free

For Win 7 or later (64-bit)

Try It Free

For macOS 10.12 or later

Navigating Through the Maze: Choosing Top-Tier Audio Formats Explained

How to Choose Best Audio Formats

Benjamin Arango

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

The quality of sound that you hear depends on various factors, and an appropriate audio format is one of them. While each type of acoustic file has its own significance, choosing the best audio format as per the target player, expected audience, and/or supporting videos or images (if any) is something that needs much consideration to offer a flawless listening experience.

With that said, here you will learn about some of the most common sound file types, which among them could be the best audio format according to your requirements, and a couple of important points that you must keep in might while picking an extension for your media preparations.

• Part 1: 10 Most Common Audio Formats
• Part 2: How to Choose Best Audio Format?
• Part 3: Which Audio File Formats Does YouTube Support?
• Part 4: Audio Format in Filmora

Using Filmora to Record & Edit & Save Audio Easily

Wondershare Filmora is a simple yet robust video editing software that allows you to save a video to mp3 easily. Besides, if you want to remove background noise from audio, or change the audio volume or remove unwanted audio parts from the video, you should definitely try Filmora.

---

Part 1: 10 Most Common Audio Formats

Before listing the most common audio file formats, it is important to understand the categories of the sound files. Every audio format that exists belongs to one (or more) category depending on the way it is being created and the characteristics it has.

In a nutshell, there are three major categories, including:

• Uncompressed Audio Format
• Lossless Compressed Audio Format
• Lossy Compressed Audio Format

Below is a brief introduction of each of the classes listed above along with the audio file types that belong to them:

1. Uncompressed Audio Format

Uncompressed audio is the original sound that has been recorded directly from the source in the analog form, and then converted to a digital signal without any modifications or compressions. Because an uncompressed sound is prepared with no retouching or manipulations, it gives an as-is listening experience. Since no compression is done on such a file either, it occupies a remarkably huge amount of space on your storage media.

Some sound files that fall under this category include:

1) Pulse-Code Modulation (PCM)

A PCM file is the digital version of an analog waveform that is created by recording the audio samples, technically known as pulses. The PCM format is mostly used when creating optical media discs, typically the CDs and DVDs.

2) Waveform Audio File Format (WAV)

Generally used on the Windows platform, this audio format is not a file itself but a container that may contain both compressed or uncompressed files. However, in most cases, it is the latter that a WAV file has, and PCM format is one of them.

You may also interest: YouTube to WAV >>

3) Audio Interchange File Format (AIFF)

AIFF is almost identical to WAV format in its characteristics with the only difference that, unlike the latter, it was developed by Apple somewhere in 1988, and works as a container for both compressed and uncompressed audio files. While the compressed version of the format is called AIFF-C, the term Apple Loop is used when the scenario is otherwise. As it is with WAV, even AIFF files mostly contain uncompressed audio, that usually is PCM.

You may also like: Best AIFF to MP3 Converters >>

4) Data Stream Digital (DSD)

Used by Sony and Phillips, DSD is also not a format itself but a container that can store PCM files to provide decent sound quality. However, due to distortions in the composed audio, DSD files are not much in trend.

2. Lossless Compressed Audio Format

Lossless Compressed audio format is a type of file that is compressed using some advanced methods without compromising with the quality of the sound. This means that when played, you experience the same acoustic excellence as that of the source, i.e. uncompressed audio. However, even though the lossless compressed files are comparatively small in size, they still occupy decent amount of space on the hard drive or any other storage media in use.

Some formats that fall under the lossless compressed category include:

1) Free Lossless Audio Code (FLAC)

At around half the size of the source sound file, FLAC offers the original audio quality without removing any acoustic information during compression. Being an opensource and royalty-free audio format, FLAC is even easier to get, and in most cases is used as an alternative to MP3.

Check some of the best FLAC editor programs >>

2) Apple Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC)

Introduced by Apple Inc. and initially released as a proprietary product, ALAC was made royalty-free and opensource in 2011. Even though ALAC files are larger in size when compared to FLAC, the former format is used in iTunes and iOS as the latter isn’t supported by these platforms.

3. Lossy Compressed Audio Format

These are the highly compressed files that occupy significantly less amount of space on your storage media. However, during the compression process, some acoustic information is lost in order to reduce the file size. Nevertheless, if compressed correctly, the deterioration in the quality is almost negligible, and cannot be experienced unless the listener is quite experienced and the source recording is played next to the compressed audio simultaneously.

Some audio formats that fall under the lossy compressed category include:

1) MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 (MP3)

This is one of the most common file types and the best audio format for almost all media types that have sound. An MP3 file is free from the noises of the least significant in the composed audio. In addition, all the acoustic information with the frequency that normal human beings fail to catch (below 20Hz and above 20000Hz) is safely erased during compilation and compression. Furthermore, what makes MP3 the best audio file format is its ability to accommodate with almost all the devices of nearly any platform such as Android, Windows, iOS, Mac, etc.

Check this MP3 editor and convert video to MP3 easily.

2) OGG

This one, again, is not in fact an audio format but is a container for audio that generally stores Vorbis files. Although OGG files are way advanced in terms of sound quality and even offer higher compression ratio when compared with MP3, they are not much in use as many platforms and devices don’t support the format till date.

3) AU

AU is a format by Sun, DEC, and NeXT. It is yet another container that can hold both lossless and lossy files. AU files are mostly used in UNIX.

What’s the difference between common audio file formats like MP3, WAV, and FLAC? Watch the video below to learn more.

---

Part 2: How to Choose Best Audio Format?

If you are a media creator, and are into the business of preparing audio and video content for your clients or directly for the audience, it is imperative to understand what could be the best audio file format to compose the audiovisual files. Here are a few tips that you must keep in mind in this context before proceeding:

• Uncompressed Audio

If the media type you are about to create is expected to be used for further editing before exporting to a different format, using an uncompressed audio format would be best as it offers a smooth and flawless post-production experience without giving much overhead to the processor.

• Lossless Compressed Audio

If your audiences own highly sophisticated audio players with Hi-Fi speaker systems, and they are also good at recognizing and understanding the differences between poor and optimal audio quality, using lossless compressed audio format would be a good choice as it gives decent sound quality in smaller file size.

• Compressed Audio

If you are preparing a media for home users and casual listeners, you can safely use an audio format that has been prepared using a higher compression ratio. In such a scenario, MP3 is the best audio format that not only offers the decent sound quality, it also occupies less amount of space on your storage media, thus enabling you to save more files at a given time.

Part 3: Which Audio File Formats Does YouTube Support?

At the time of this writing, YouTube supports two types of formats namely MPEG-2 and MPEG-4. Although both of these are video containers, they also hold audio files. Details about both these types are as follows:

• MPEG-2
  • Audio Bitrate: 128kbps or above
  • Audio Codec: Dolby AC-3 or MPEG Layer II
• MPEG-4
  • **Video Codec:**264
  • Audio Bitrate: 128kbps or above

Since many people nowadays produce videos in MP4 due to its wide range of supported devices and players and the fact that the container is used by majority of users worldwide, MPEG-4 with audio format could be mostly seen on YouTube.

Part 4: Audio Format in Filmora

Being one of the most versatile post-production tools preferred by many professional editors worldwide, Filmora comes with a variety of audio formats from all the three categories discussed above. Furthermore, Filmora also displays relevant information about each of the file types it offers.

The following table shows a list of formats and the details that Filmora supports:

Video Format	Corresponding Audio Encoder	Audio Type
MP4	Lossy Compressed
WMV	WMA8, WMA9	Uncompressed
AVI	MP3, PCM	Lossy Compressed, Uncompressed
MOV	Lossy Compressed
F4V	Lossy Compressed
MKV	MP3	Lossy Compressed
TS	MPEG-2 Audio	Lossy Compressed
3GP	Lossy Compressed
MPEG-2	MPEG-2 Audio	Lossy Compressed
WEBM	Vorbis	Lossy Compressed

Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

The quality of sound that you hear depends on various factors, and an appropriate audio format is one of them. While each type of acoustic file has its own significance, choosing the best audio format as per the target player, expected audience, and/or supporting videos or images (if any) is something that needs much consideration to offer a flawless listening experience.

With that said, here you will learn about some of the most common sound file types, which among them could be the best audio format according to your requirements, and a couple of important points that you must keep in might while picking an extension for your media preparations.

• Part 1: 10 Most Common Audio Formats
• Part 2: How to Choose Best Audio Format?
• Part 3: Which Audio File Formats Does YouTube Support?
• Part 4: Audio Format in Filmora

Using Filmora to Record & Edit & Save Audio Easily

Wondershare Filmora is a simple yet robust video editing software that allows you to save a video to mp3 easily. Besides, if you want to remove background noise from audio, or change the audio volume or remove unwanted audio parts from the video, you should definitely try Filmora.

---

Part 1: 10 Most Common Audio Formats

Before listing the most common audio file formats, it is important to understand the categories of the sound files. Every audio format that exists belongs to one (or more) category depending on the way it is being created and the characteristics it has.

In a nutshell, there are three major categories, including:

• Uncompressed Audio Format
• Lossless Compressed Audio Format
• Lossy Compressed Audio Format

Below is a brief introduction of each of the classes listed above along with the audio file types that belong to them:

1. Uncompressed Audio Format

Uncompressed audio is the original sound that has been recorded directly from the source in the analog form, and then converted to a digital signal without any modifications or compressions. Because an uncompressed sound is prepared with no retouching or manipulations, it gives an as-is listening experience. Since no compression is done on such a file either, it occupies a remarkably huge amount of space on your storage media.

Some sound files that fall under this category include:

1) Pulse-Code Modulation (PCM)

A PCM file is the digital version of an analog waveform that is created by recording the audio samples, technically known as pulses. The PCM format is mostly used when creating optical media discs, typically the CDs and DVDs.

2) Waveform Audio File Format (WAV)

Generally used on the Windows platform, this audio format is not a file itself but a container that may contain both compressed or uncompressed files. However, in most cases, it is the latter that a WAV file has, and PCM format is one of them.

You may also interest: YouTube to WAV >>

3) Audio Interchange File Format (AIFF)

AIFF is almost identical to WAV format in its characteristics with the only difference that, unlike the latter, it was developed by Apple somewhere in 1988, and works as a container for both compressed and uncompressed audio files. While the compressed version of the format is called AIFF-C, the term Apple Loop is used when the scenario is otherwise. As it is with WAV, even AIFF files mostly contain uncompressed audio, that usually is PCM.

You may also like: Best AIFF to MP3 Converters >>

4) Data Stream Digital (DSD)

Used by Sony and Phillips, DSD is also not a format itself but a container that can store PCM files to provide decent sound quality. However, due to distortions in the composed audio, DSD files are not much in trend.

2. Lossless Compressed Audio Format

Lossless Compressed audio format is a type of file that is compressed using some advanced methods without compromising with the quality of the sound. This means that when played, you experience the same acoustic excellence as that of the source, i.e. uncompressed audio. However, even though the lossless compressed files are comparatively small in size, they still occupy decent amount of space on the hard drive or any other storage media in use.

Some formats that fall under the lossless compressed category include:

1) Free Lossless Audio Code (FLAC)

At around half the size of the source sound file, FLAC offers the original audio quality without removing any acoustic information during compression. Being an opensource and royalty-free audio format, FLAC is even easier to get, and in most cases is used as an alternative to MP3.

Check some of the best FLAC editor programs >>

2) Apple Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC)

Introduced by Apple Inc. and initially released as a proprietary product, ALAC was made royalty-free and opensource in 2011. Even though ALAC files are larger in size when compared to FLAC, the former format is used in iTunes and iOS as the latter isn’t supported by these platforms.

3. Lossy Compressed Audio Format

These are the highly compressed files that occupy significantly less amount of space on your storage media. However, during the compression process, some acoustic information is lost in order to reduce the file size. Nevertheless, if compressed correctly, the deterioration in the quality is almost negligible, and cannot be experienced unless the listener is quite experienced and the source recording is played next to the compressed audio simultaneously.

Some audio formats that fall under the lossy compressed category include:

1) MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 (MP3)

This is one of the most common file types and the best audio format for almost all media types that have sound. An MP3 file is free from the noises of the least significant in the composed audio. In addition, all the acoustic information with the frequency that normal human beings fail to catch (below 20Hz and above 20000Hz) is safely erased during compilation and compression. Furthermore, what makes MP3 the best audio file format is its ability to accommodate with almost all the devices of nearly any platform such as Android, Windows, iOS, Mac, etc.

Check this MP3 editor and convert video to MP3 easily.

2) OGG

This one, again, is not in fact an audio format but is a container for audio that generally stores Vorbis files. Although OGG files are way advanced in terms of sound quality and even offer higher compression ratio when compared with MP3, they are not much in use as many platforms and devices don’t support the format till date.

3) AU

AU is a format by Sun, DEC, and NeXT. It is yet another container that can hold both lossless and lossy files. AU files are mostly used in UNIX.

What’s the difference between common audio file formats like MP3, WAV, and FLAC? Watch the video below to learn more.

---

Part 2: How to Choose Best Audio Format?

If you are a media creator, and are into the business of preparing audio and video content for your clients or directly for the audience, it is imperative to understand what could be the best audio file format to compose the audiovisual files. Here are a few tips that you must keep in mind in this context before proceeding:

• Uncompressed Audio

If the media type you are about to create is expected to be used for further editing before exporting to a different format, using an uncompressed audio format would be best as it offers a smooth and flawless post-production experience without giving much overhead to the processor.

• Lossless Compressed Audio

If your audiences own highly sophisticated audio players with Hi-Fi speaker systems, and they are also good at recognizing and understanding the differences between poor and optimal audio quality, using lossless compressed audio format would be a good choice as it gives decent sound quality in smaller file size.

• Compressed Audio

If you are preparing a media for home users and casual listeners, you can safely use an audio format that has been prepared using a higher compression ratio. In such a scenario, MP3 is the best audio format that not only offers the decent sound quality, it also occupies less amount of space on your storage media, thus enabling you to save more files at a given time.

Part 3: Which Audio File Formats Does YouTube Support?

At the time of this writing, YouTube supports two types of formats namely MPEG-2 and MPEG-4. Although both of these are video containers, they also hold audio files. Details about both these types are as follows:

• MPEG-2
  • Audio Bitrate: 128kbps or above
  • Audio Codec: Dolby AC-3 or MPEG Layer II
• MPEG-4
  • **Video Codec:**264
  • Audio Bitrate: 128kbps or above

Since many people nowadays produce videos in MP4 due to its wide range of supported devices and players and the fact that the container is used by majority of users worldwide, MPEG-4 with audio format could be mostly seen on YouTube.

Part 4: Audio Format in Filmora

Being one of the most versatile post-production tools preferred by many professional editors worldwide, Filmora comes with a variety of audio formats from all the three categories discussed above. Furthermore, Filmora also displays relevant information about each of the file types it offers.

The following table shows a list of formats and the details that Filmora supports:

Video Format	Corresponding Audio Encoder	Audio Type
MP4	Lossy Compressed
WMV	WMA8, WMA9	Uncompressed
AVI	MP3, PCM	Lossy Compressed, Uncompressed
MOV	Lossy Compressed
F4V	Lossy Compressed
MKV	MP3	Lossy Compressed
TS	MPEG-2 Audio	Lossy Compressed
3GP	Lossy Compressed
MPEG-2	MPEG-2 Audio	Lossy Compressed
WEBM	Vorbis	Lossy Compressed

Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

The quality of sound that you hear depends on various factors, and an appropriate audio format is one of them. While each type of acoustic file has its own significance, choosing the best audio format as per the target player, expected audience, and/or supporting videos or images (if any) is something that needs much consideration to offer a flawless listening experience.

With that said, here you will learn about some of the most common sound file types, which among them could be the best audio format according to your requirements, and a couple of important points that you must keep in might while picking an extension for your media preparations.

• Part 1: 10 Most Common Audio Formats
• Part 2: How to Choose Best Audio Format?
• Part 3: Which Audio File Formats Does YouTube Support?
• Part 4: Audio Format in Filmora

Using Filmora to Record & Edit & Save Audio Easily

Wondershare Filmora is a simple yet robust video editing software that allows you to save a video to mp3 easily. Besides, if you want to remove background noise from audio, or change the audio volume or remove unwanted audio parts from the video, you should definitely try Filmora.

---

Part 1: 10 Most Common Audio Formats

Before listing the most common audio file formats, it is important to understand the categories of the sound files. Every audio format that exists belongs to one (or more) category depending on the way it is being created and the characteristics it has.

In a nutshell, there are three major categories, including:

• Uncompressed Audio Format
• Lossless Compressed Audio Format
• Lossy Compressed Audio Format

Below is a brief introduction of each of the classes listed above along with the audio file types that belong to them:

1. Uncompressed Audio Format

Uncompressed audio is the original sound that has been recorded directly from the source in the analog form, and then converted to a digital signal without any modifications or compressions. Because an uncompressed sound is prepared with no retouching or manipulations, it gives an as-is listening experience. Since no compression is done on such a file either, it occupies a remarkably huge amount of space on your storage media.

Some sound files that fall under this category include:

1) Pulse-Code Modulation (PCM)

A PCM file is the digital version of an analog waveform that is created by recording the audio samples, technically known as pulses. The PCM format is mostly used when creating optical media discs, typically the CDs and DVDs.

2) Waveform Audio File Format (WAV)

Generally used on the Windows platform, this audio format is not a file itself but a container that may contain both compressed or uncompressed files. However, in most cases, it is the latter that a WAV file has, and PCM format is one of them.

You may also interest: YouTube to WAV >>

3) Audio Interchange File Format (AIFF)

AIFF is almost identical to WAV format in its characteristics with the only difference that, unlike the latter, it was developed by Apple somewhere in 1988, and works as a container for both compressed and uncompressed audio files. While the compressed version of the format is called AIFF-C, the term Apple Loop is used when the scenario is otherwise. As it is with WAV, even AIFF files mostly contain uncompressed audio, that usually is PCM.

You may also like: Best AIFF to MP3 Converters >>

4) Data Stream Digital (DSD)

Used by Sony and Phillips, DSD is also not a format itself but a container that can store PCM files to provide decent sound quality. However, due to distortions in the composed audio, DSD files are not much in trend.

2. Lossless Compressed Audio Format

Lossless Compressed audio format is a type of file that is compressed using some advanced methods without compromising with the quality of the sound. This means that when played, you experience the same acoustic excellence as that of the source, i.e. uncompressed audio. However, even though the lossless compressed files are comparatively small in size, they still occupy decent amount of space on the hard drive or any other storage media in use.

Some formats that fall under the lossless compressed category include:

1) Free Lossless Audio Code (FLAC)

At around half the size of the source sound file, FLAC offers the original audio quality without removing any acoustic information during compression. Being an opensource and royalty-free audio format, FLAC is even easier to get, and in most cases is used as an alternative to MP3.

Check some of the best FLAC editor programs >>

2) Apple Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC)

Introduced by Apple Inc. and initially released as a proprietary product, ALAC was made royalty-free and opensource in 2011. Even though ALAC files are larger in size when compared to FLAC, the former format is used in iTunes and iOS as the latter isn’t supported by these platforms.

3. Lossy Compressed Audio Format

These are the highly compressed files that occupy significantly less amount of space on your storage media. However, during the compression process, some acoustic information is lost in order to reduce the file size. Nevertheless, if compressed correctly, the deterioration in the quality is almost negligible, and cannot be experienced unless the listener is quite experienced and the source recording is played next to the compressed audio simultaneously.

Some audio formats that fall under the lossy compressed category include:

1) MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 (MP3)

This is one of the most common file types and the best audio format for almost all media types that have sound. An MP3 file is free from the noises of the least significant in the composed audio. In addition, all the acoustic information with the frequency that normal human beings fail to catch (below 20Hz and above 20000Hz) is safely erased during compilation and compression. Furthermore, what makes MP3 the best audio file format is its ability to accommodate with almost all the devices of nearly any platform such as Android, Windows, iOS, Mac, etc.

Check this MP3 editor and convert video to MP3 easily.

2) OGG

This one, again, is not in fact an audio format but is a container for audio that generally stores Vorbis files. Although OGG files are way advanced in terms of sound quality and even offer higher compression ratio when compared with MP3, they are not much in use as many platforms and devices don’t support the format till date.

3) AU

AU is a format by Sun, DEC, and NeXT. It is yet another container that can hold both lossless and lossy files. AU files are mostly used in UNIX.

What’s the difference between common audio file formats like MP3, WAV, and FLAC? Watch the video below to learn more.

---

Part 2: How to Choose Best Audio Format?

If you are a media creator, and are into the business of preparing audio and video content for your clients or directly for the audience, it is imperative to understand what could be the best audio file format to compose the audiovisual files. Here are a few tips that you must keep in mind in this context before proceeding:

• Uncompressed Audio

If the media type you are about to create is expected to be used for further editing before exporting to a different format, using an uncompressed audio format would be best as it offers a smooth and flawless post-production experience without giving much overhead to the processor.

• Lossless Compressed Audio

If your audiences own highly sophisticated audio players with Hi-Fi speaker systems, and they are also good at recognizing and understanding the differences between poor and optimal audio quality, using lossless compressed audio format would be a good choice as it gives decent sound quality in smaller file size.

• Compressed Audio

If you are preparing a media for home users and casual listeners, you can safely use an audio format that has been prepared using a higher compression ratio. In such a scenario, MP3 is the best audio format that not only offers the decent sound quality, it also occupies less amount of space on your storage media, thus enabling you to save more files at a given time.

Part 3: Which Audio File Formats Does YouTube Support?

At the time of this writing, YouTube supports two types of formats namely MPEG-2 and MPEG-4. Although both of these are video containers, they also hold audio files. Details about both these types are as follows:

• MPEG-2
  • Audio Bitrate: 128kbps or above
  • Audio Codec: Dolby AC-3 or MPEG Layer II
• MPEG-4
  • **Video Codec:**264
  • Audio Bitrate: 128kbps or above

Since many people nowadays produce videos in MP4 due to its wide range of supported devices and players and the fact that the container is used by majority of users worldwide, MPEG-4 with audio format could be mostly seen on YouTube.

Part 4: Audio Format in Filmora

Being one of the most versatile post-production tools preferred by many professional editors worldwide, Filmora comes with a variety of audio formats from all the three categories discussed above. Furthermore, Filmora also displays relevant information about each of the file types it offers.

The following table shows a list of formats and the details that Filmora supports:

Video Format	Corresponding Audio Encoder	Audio Type
MP4	Lossy Compressed
WMV	WMA8, WMA9	Uncompressed
AVI	MP3, PCM	Lossy Compressed, Uncompressed
MOV	Lossy Compressed
F4V	Lossy Compressed
MKV	MP3	Lossy Compressed
TS	MPEG-2 Audio	Lossy Compressed
3GP	Lossy Compressed
MPEG-2	MPEG-2 Audio	Lossy Compressed
WEBM	Vorbis	Lossy Compressed

Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango

Mar 27, 2024• Proven solutions

The quality of sound that you hear depends on various factors, and an appropriate audio format is one of them. While each type of acoustic file has its own significance, choosing the best audio format as per the target player, expected audience, and/or supporting videos or images (if any) is something that needs much consideration to offer a flawless listening experience.

With that said, here you will learn about some of the most common sound file types, which among them could be the best audio format according to your requirements, and a couple of important points that you must keep in might while picking an extension for your media preparations.

• Part 1: 10 Most Common Audio Formats
• Part 2: How to Choose Best Audio Format?
• Part 3: Which Audio File Formats Does YouTube Support?
• Part 4: Audio Format in Filmora

Using Filmora to Record & Edit & Save Audio Easily

Wondershare Filmora is a simple yet robust video editing software that allows you to save a video to mp3 easily. Besides, if you want to remove background noise from audio, or change the audio volume or remove unwanted audio parts from the video, you should definitely try Filmora.

---

Part 1: 10 Most Common Audio Formats

Before listing the most common audio file formats, it is important to understand the categories of the sound files. Every audio format that exists belongs to one (or more) category depending on the way it is being created and the characteristics it has.

In a nutshell, there are three major categories, including:

• Uncompressed Audio Format
• Lossless Compressed Audio Format
• Lossy Compressed Audio Format

Below is a brief introduction of each of the classes listed above along with the audio file types that belong to them:

1. Uncompressed Audio Format

Uncompressed audio is the original sound that has been recorded directly from the source in the analog form, and then converted to a digital signal without any modifications or compressions. Because an uncompressed sound is prepared with no retouching or manipulations, it gives an as-is listening experience. Since no compression is done on such a file either, it occupies a remarkably huge amount of space on your storage media.

Some sound files that fall under this category include:

1) Pulse-Code Modulation (PCM)

A PCM file is the digital version of an analog waveform that is created by recording the audio samples, technically known as pulses. The PCM format is mostly used when creating optical media discs, typically the CDs and DVDs.

2) Waveform Audio File Format (WAV)

Generally used on the Windows platform, this audio format is not a file itself but a container that may contain both compressed or uncompressed files. However, in most cases, it is the latter that a WAV file has, and PCM format is one of them.

You may also interest: YouTube to WAV >>

3) Audio Interchange File Format (AIFF)

AIFF is almost identical to WAV format in its characteristics with the only difference that, unlike the latter, it was developed by Apple somewhere in 1988, and works as a container for both compressed and uncompressed audio files. While the compressed version of the format is called AIFF-C, the term Apple Loop is used when the scenario is otherwise. As it is with WAV, even AIFF files mostly contain uncompressed audio, that usually is PCM.

You may also like: Best AIFF to MP3 Converters >>

4) Data Stream Digital (DSD)

Used by Sony and Phillips, DSD is also not a format itself but a container that can store PCM files to provide decent sound quality. However, due to distortions in the composed audio, DSD files are not much in trend.

2. Lossless Compressed Audio Format

Lossless Compressed audio format is a type of file that is compressed using some advanced methods without compromising with the quality of the sound. This means that when played, you experience the same acoustic excellence as that of the source, i.e. uncompressed audio. However, even though the lossless compressed files are comparatively small in size, they still occupy decent amount of space on the hard drive or any other storage media in use.

Some formats that fall under the lossless compressed category include:

1) Free Lossless Audio Code (FLAC)

At around half the size of the source sound file, FLAC offers the original audio quality without removing any acoustic information during compression. Being an opensource and royalty-free audio format, FLAC is even easier to get, and in most cases is used as an alternative to MP3.

Check some of the best FLAC editor programs >>

2) Apple Lossless Audio Codec (ALAC)

Introduced by Apple Inc. and initially released as a proprietary product, ALAC was made royalty-free and opensource in 2011. Even though ALAC files are larger in size when compared to FLAC, the former format is used in iTunes and iOS as the latter isn’t supported by these platforms.

3. Lossy Compressed Audio Format

These are the highly compressed files that occupy significantly less amount of space on your storage media. However, during the compression process, some acoustic information is lost in order to reduce the file size. Nevertheless, if compressed correctly, the deterioration in the quality is almost negligible, and cannot be experienced unless the listener is quite experienced and the source recording is played next to the compressed audio simultaneously.

Some audio formats that fall under the lossy compressed category include:

1) MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 (MP3)

This is one of the most common file types and the best audio format for almost all media types that have sound. An MP3 file is free from the noises of the least significant in the composed audio. In addition, all the acoustic information with the frequency that normal human beings fail to catch (below 20Hz and above 20000Hz) is safely erased during compilation and compression. Furthermore, what makes MP3 the best audio file format is its ability to accommodate with almost all the devices of nearly any platform such as Android, Windows, iOS, Mac, etc.

Check this MP3 editor and convert video to MP3 easily.

2) OGG

This one, again, is not in fact an audio format but is a container for audio that generally stores Vorbis files. Although OGG files are way advanced in terms of sound quality and even offer higher compression ratio when compared with MP3, they are not much in use as many platforms and devices don’t support the format till date.

3) AU

AU is a format by Sun, DEC, and NeXT. It is yet another container that can hold both lossless and lossy files. AU files are mostly used in UNIX.

What’s the difference between common audio file formats like MP3, WAV, and FLAC? Watch the video below to learn more.

---

Part 2: How to Choose Best Audio Format?

If you are a media creator, and are into the business of preparing audio and video content for your clients or directly for the audience, it is imperative to understand what could be the best audio file format to compose the audiovisual files. Here are a few tips that you must keep in mind in this context before proceeding:

• Uncompressed Audio

If the media type you are about to create is expected to be used for further editing before exporting to a different format, using an uncompressed audio format would be best as it offers a smooth and flawless post-production experience without giving much overhead to the processor.

• Lossless Compressed Audio

If your audiences own highly sophisticated audio players with Hi-Fi speaker systems, and they are also good at recognizing and understanding the differences between poor and optimal audio quality, using lossless compressed audio format would be a good choice as it gives decent sound quality in smaller file size.

• Compressed Audio

If you are preparing a media for home users and casual listeners, you can safely use an audio format that has been prepared using a higher compression ratio. In such a scenario, MP3 is the best audio format that not only offers the decent sound quality, it also occupies less amount of space on your storage media, thus enabling you to save more files at a given time.

Part 3: Which Audio File Formats Does YouTube Support?

At the time of this writing, YouTube supports two types of formats namely MPEG-2 and MPEG-4. Although both of these are video containers, they also hold audio files. Details about both these types are as follows:

• MPEG-2
  • Audio Bitrate: 128kbps or above
  • Audio Codec: Dolby AC-3 or MPEG Layer II
• MPEG-4
  • **Video Codec:**264
  • Audio Bitrate: 128kbps or above

Since many people nowadays produce videos in MP4 due to its wide range of supported devices and players and the fact that the container is used by majority of users worldwide, MPEG-4 with audio format could be mostly seen on YouTube.

Part 4: Audio Format in Filmora

Being one of the most versatile post-production tools preferred by many professional editors worldwide, Filmora comes with a variety of audio formats from all the three categories discussed above. Furthermore, Filmora also displays relevant information about each of the file types it offers.

The following table shows a list of formats and the details that Filmora supports:

Video Format	Corresponding Audio Encoder	Audio Type
MP4	Lossy Compressed
WMV	WMA8, WMA9	Uncompressed
AVI	MP3, PCM	Lossy Compressed, Uncompressed
MOV	Lossy Compressed
F4V	Lossy Compressed
MKV	MP3	Lossy Compressed
TS	MPEG-2 Audio	Lossy Compressed
3GP	Lossy Compressed
MPEG-2	MPEG-2 Audio	Lossy Compressed
WEBM	Vorbis	Lossy Compressed

Benjamin Arango

Benjamin Arango is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Benjamin Arango

Audiophile’s Handbook: Advanced iMovie Audio Editing Mastery

All You Need to Know About iMovie Audio Editing

Marion Dubois

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

iMovie offers a fantastic platform for video editing where you can merge multiple video clips to create something very phenomenal. Plus, it’s simply here to navigate between different scenes, edit video clips and save results directly to the digital format without making any videotape transformations.

It provides lots of things to beginners and professionals with its easy-to-use interface without any quality loss for your results even after adding lots of transitions, changes, and effects.

However, it is not accessible to master software, precisely when you’re not familiar with it, or you’re not its professional user. So today, we’d like to explore or pay attention to iMovie’s audio editing steps, tips, and tricks to help you become an iMovie master quickly.

What’s more, a practical yet professional iMovie alternative software is also advisable in this guide. So when the iMovie cannot fulfil your editing requirements, why don’t you hop on an iMovie alternative software?

Now, let’s get started!

Part 1: How to Edit Audio Clips in iMovie?

To learn how to edit audio clips in iMovie, you can use actions in the menu along with the quick shortcuts to make adjustments to your audio clips in iMovie on Mac. It’s a tip for your convenience!

Trim Audio Clips

There are a couple of options to trim an audio clip in iMovie.

#1. Trim to Playhead

You can place the playhead in your timeline. Now, trim an audio clip to that exact spot. Next, start moving the playhead and do one from the following.

• Select Modify > Trim to Playhead option in the menu bar.
• Right-click the audio clip and select the option of Trim to Playhead in the shortcut menu.

#2. Use the Clip Trimmer

You can use the Clip Trimmer to trim an exact section of the clip.

Step 1. Right-click the audio clip and select Show Clip Trimmer in the shortcut menu.

Step 2. After the Clip Trimmer shows, select a section you wish to trim by dragging the arrows right and left while holding the white lines. The area within those lines is what will get entirely deleted.

Move the entire clip but keep the trim area in place if arrows turn to a film strip icon.

Step 3. Click Close Clip Trimmer after you finish this section.

Shorten or Lengthen Audio Clips

You can easily shorten or lengthen an audio clip in iMovie. Just choose the pin in the timeline and drag one of its edges. The duration of the clip change will change as you carry. And a new course will be displayed after you finish in the upper left menu.

You can also set the clip’s duration to an exact time. Select the clip in the timeline and hit the Clip Information (small letter “i”) tab located above the Viewer. Put the value of the time you want in seconds in the Duration box on the right.

Change the Speed of an Audio Clip

You may want to speed up or slow down an audio clip while editing music in iMovie. So, here’s what you need to do!

Method 1. Click the Speed button above the Viewer. Next, select Custom in the Speed drop-down box and enter a percentage next to it. You can also set a different speed in that box if you prefer.

Method 2. Right-click the clip and select Show Speed Editor from the shortcut menu. A slider will then display at the top of the clip that you can move to change the speed.

Adjust the Volume of an Audio Clip

You can set the audio clip’s volume at higher or lower, or even mute it. Just select the clip and then do one of the following.

• Select the Volume tab above the Viewer option and move the slider to the percentage of volume. Hit the Mute button to mute the audio clip.
• Tap inside the clip, and when the two-sided arrow appears, drag up or down to adjust the volume.

Fade an Audio Clip

While editing audio in iMovie, you can also fade in or out the clip. Choose a clip in the timeline and then drag the fade handle (small circle) at either the ending or the beginning of the clip to make a fade-out or a fade-in effect.

As you drag, you will see the arcs displaying the shadow for the clips fade in or fade out.

How to Edit Audio Clips in iMovie on iOS?

The iMovie timeline is where you sort or organize all your audio clips, such as the special effects and background music. Audio clips are always present below the video clips in the timeline. To edit audio clips in iMovie on your iPhones or iPads, you can follow the guide belo

Move an Audio Clip

You can transfer the whole audio clip, except the background music, to another location.

• Touch and hold the purple or blue audio clip with your project open in the timeline until it comes over the timeline bar.
• Drag the clip to another place and release.

Adjust the Audio Clip’s Duration

Step 1. While the project is launched in the timeline, tap the audio clip (in blue or purple) or the background music clip you wish to adjust.

Step 2. Now, you can see the display of yellow trim handles. Drag them either at the end of the clip to the points where you wish the audio to start and end. If a trim handle won’t move left or right, it simply indicates there is no additional audio to work with on that clip’s end.

Step 3. Tap outside the audio clip and let the trim handles disappear.

Split an Audio Clip

There are around two options to split audio clips in iMovie. You can remove unwanted parts or adjust each section’s duration, volume, or speed while you split a clip.

Step 1. With your launched project in the timeline, scroll the timeline to the playhead’s position where you want to split the audio.

Step 2. Click the audio clip to display the inspector at the screen’s bottom.

Step 3. Now, click the Actions button, and select the Split tab.

Or, you can tap the clip (it becomes outlined in yellow), then swipe above the playhead as if you were placing your finger to slide over it.

Detach the Audio Part from a Video

You can detach the video clip’s audio to remove or edit it as a separate video clip.

Step 1. When the project is open in the timeline, select a video clip and display the inspector at the screen’s bottom.

Step 2. Tap the Actions button, then tap Detach.

Step 3. A new blue-colored audio clip will then appear below the video project. You can now move, edit, or delete the audio clip separately from its parent video clip.

Move Audio to the Foreground or Background

To ensure the sound in your video clips can listen above the background music, iMovie implies audio “ducking”. Ducking lowers the background music clips’ volume whenever there’s a video clip whose sound is playing simultaneously.

You can select which audio clips are in the foreground or the background.

Step 1. Select the timeline’s audio clip to display the inspector at the screen’s bottom.

Step 2. Hit the Actions tab and proceed with selecting the Foreground or Background.

The clip color changes to indicate whether it’s the background music (green) or foreground audio (blue or purple).

Part 2: An Easier Way to Edit Audio Clips

Windows users might be wandering for an alternative to iMovie as this software tool is only compatible with Mac and iOS devices. You will be thrilled to know that Wondershare Filmora can serve you with all synonymous and extra features more than the iMovie, and it works significantly in the Windows environment.

This latest software tool also assists users with easy video editing tricks and the intuitive interface that best serves quality editing to beginners and professionals.

Despite the basic video editing features, such as trimming, splitting, merging, cutting, and cropping, Filmora also offers various advanced editing elements that are far better than iMovie. And, with its video editing features, you can make a green screen effect, stabilize your video footage, reverse your video clip, and more.

Moreover, you can enjoy royalty-free music tracks for different themes, such as Young and Bright, Tender and Sentimental, Rock, Folk, Electronic Rock, and Hipster Folk, for selection.

All this will be available with a single program called Wondershare Filmora to take advantage of them for free. You do not have to search the background music files like a needle in a haystack. The program has nicely organized the music themes into six different folders. You can apply it for your video and make advanced editing, such as split/trim the clip, adjust the playback speed, pitch, volume, etc.

How to Edit Audio with Wondershare Filmora?

In Wondershare Filmora, you can insert background music and other files from the audio library or your computer. You can even record your voiceover using it.

Add Background Music

Filmora provides a royalty-free music library you can access or import your music within the program. You can select a song from the royalty-free audio library and use it for free.

The audio library has categorized into: YOUNG & BRIGHT, TENDER & SENTIMENTAL, ROCK, FOLK, and ELECTRONIC. The different kinds of sound effects are also available under the Sound Effects tab.

Once you find a sound effect or a song, either right-click on it and go with the Apply or drag and drop it into an audio track in the timeline.

Or, you can click the Import button above the Media Library panel to browse for audio files in your PC system. Then, select and import it into the Media Library when you find the song or other audio files you wish to add.

Once you place the song in the timeline, double-click to edit it in the Audio editing panel. You can apply fade-in or fade-out effects or adjust the pitch and volume. Filmora lets you add up to 100 audio tracks.

Split Audio Clips

Choose your audio clip and place the playhead where you want to split it, then right-click on the clip and choose the Split tab or click the Split icon right above on the toolbar.

Adjust Audio Settings

Double click on the audio clip to make adjustments to your audio. Open a panel with adjustment sliders in the timeline for pitch and volume.

Another element that you’ll find in this panel is Denoise, which is a feature that can remove background noise from your audio clips.

For a more professional audio editing experience, you can also access the Audio Equalizer from this panel. Select from presets or make manual adjustments by hitting the Customize tab.

Play it when you are done and, if you’re not happy with the results, tap the Reset button to start over.

Audio Equalizer (EQ)

All videos have plenty of sounds like speech, music, or sound effects. Changing the strength of sound waves will help you to mix these sounds within a coherent soundtrack.

Locate your audio clip in an audio track and double-click on it to open the Audio settings menu window. A drop-down menu next to the Equalizer feature will display presets such as Classic, Default, Rock’n’Roll, Techno, Sparkle, Bass, Hard Rock, Pop, Ska, Blues, Folk, Acoustic, Custom, or Country. Choose the preset that best fits your current needs and hit the OK tab to apply it.

Now, hit the Customize tab next to the drop-down bar to adjust the Audio Equalizer manually. Drag the sliders up or down and make the adjustments until you find their ideal value. Finally, hit OK and save your settings.

Besides the included music tracks and sound effects in Filmora initially, you can also find more audio files from Filmora’s effects store – Filmstock, and even get some free music and sound.

Part 3: iMovie Audio Editing Tips & Tricks

iMovie is a great video editor for Mac computers. After understanding the best alternative of iMovie sound editin g, let’s check out some tips on editing audio in iMovie best.

The explanations and screenshots below are for iMovie 10 only. However, the steps are a bit similar to older versions.

So, here we go!

1. Use Waveforms to See What You Hear

To properly edit the audio track in iMovie, you need a good pair of headphones and speakers to hear the sound, but you also need to check the sound.

You can check the sound in iMovie by considering the waveforms on each clip. If the waveforms can’t be seen, go to the View drop-down menu and choose the Show Waveforms option. The clip size for your project can also adjust to get an even better appearance for each video clip.

The waveforms will display the volume level of a clip and give you a good idea of what sections will require to turn up or down. You can also check how the levels of different clips compare to one another.

2. Audio Adjustments

With the help of Adjust tab in the top right, you can access some basic audio editing tools for changing your selected clip’s volume or changing the volume of other relative clips in the project.

The adjustment window of audio also provides basic audio equalization and noise reduction tools, along with a range of effects - from echo to robot - that will change the way people in your video sound.

3. Edit Audio with the Timeline

iMovie assists you in adjusting the audio within the clips themselves. Each pin has a volume bar, moving up and down to decrease or increase the audio level. The clips also contain Fade In and Fade Out tabs at the beginning and end, dragging to adjust the fade’s length.

By adding a short fade effect, whether in or out, the sound becomes relatively smoother and less conflicting to the ear when a new clip begins.

4. Detach the Audio

By default, iMovie keeps the video and audio sections of clips together for convenience. Yet, you want to use the video and audio sections of a clip separately sometimes.

For this purpose, choose your clip in the timeline, visit the Modify drop-down menu, and hit the Detach Audio button. You’ll now have two clips - one with the images and another with the sound.

A lot you can do with the detached audio. For instance, you could extend the audio clip to begin before the video plays, or so that it plays for a few seconds even after the video fades out. You could also cut out pieces from the audio’s middle portion while leaving the video intact.

Conclusion

Coming towards the end of the discussion, after understanding iMovie audio editingand going through an elaborated alternative of iMovie application, we decided that Wondershare Filmora sounds the best out of it. It allows you to flawlessly edit video and audio files on your desktop, with various inbuilt royalty-free music tracks to select from that can further improve your project’s presence.

Marion Dubois

Marion Dubois is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Marion Dubois

Marion Dubois

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

iMovie offers a fantastic platform for video editing where you can merge multiple video clips to create something very phenomenal. Plus, it’s simply here to navigate between different scenes, edit video clips and save results directly to the digital format without making any videotape transformations.

It provides lots of things to beginners and professionals with its easy-to-use interface without any quality loss for your results even after adding lots of transitions, changes, and effects.

However, it is not accessible to master software, precisely when you’re not familiar with it, or you’re not its professional user. So today, we’d like to explore or pay attention to iMovie’s audio editing steps, tips, and tricks to help you become an iMovie master quickly.

What’s more, a practical yet professional iMovie alternative software is also advisable in this guide. So when the iMovie cannot fulfil your editing requirements, why don’t you hop on an iMovie alternative software?

Now, let’s get started!

Part 1: How to Edit Audio Clips in iMovie?

To learn how to edit audio clips in iMovie, you can use actions in the menu along with the quick shortcuts to make adjustments to your audio clips in iMovie on Mac. It’s a tip for your convenience!

Trim Audio Clips

There are a couple of options to trim an audio clip in iMovie.

#1. Trim to Playhead

You can place the playhead in your timeline. Now, trim an audio clip to that exact spot. Next, start moving the playhead and do one from the following.

• Select Modify > Trim to Playhead option in the menu bar.
• Right-click the audio clip and select the option of Trim to Playhead in the shortcut menu.

#2. Use the Clip Trimmer

You can use the Clip Trimmer to trim an exact section of the clip.

Step 1. Right-click the audio clip and select Show Clip Trimmer in the shortcut menu.

Step 2. After the Clip Trimmer shows, select a section you wish to trim by dragging the arrows right and left while holding the white lines. The area within those lines is what will get entirely deleted.

Move the entire clip but keep the trim area in place if arrows turn to a film strip icon.

Step 3. Click Close Clip Trimmer after you finish this section.

Shorten or Lengthen Audio Clips

You can easily shorten or lengthen an audio clip in iMovie. Just choose the pin in the timeline and drag one of its edges. The duration of the clip change will change as you carry. And a new course will be displayed after you finish in the upper left menu.

You can also set the clip’s duration to an exact time. Select the clip in the timeline and hit the Clip Information (small letter “i”) tab located above the Viewer. Put the value of the time you want in seconds in the Duration box on the right.

Change the Speed of an Audio Clip

You may want to speed up or slow down an audio clip while editing music in iMovie. So, here’s what you need to do!

Method 1. Click the Speed button above the Viewer. Next, select Custom in the Speed drop-down box and enter a percentage next to it. You can also set a different speed in that box if you prefer.

Method 2. Right-click the clip and select Show Speed Editor from the shortcut menu. A slider will then display at the top of the clip that you can move to change the speed.

Adjust the Volume of an Audio Clip

You can set the audio clip’s volume at higher or lower, or even mute it. Just select the clip and then do one of the following.

• Select the Volume tab above the Viewer option and move the slider to the percentage of volume. Hit the Mute button to mute the audio clip.
• Tap inside the clip, and when the two-sided arrow appears, drag up or down to adjust the volume.

Fade an Audio Clip

While editing audio in iMovie, you can also fade in or out the clip. Choose a clip in the timeline and then drag the fade handle (small circle) at either the ending or the beginning of the clip to make a fade-out or a fade-in effect.

As you drag, you will see the arcs displaying the shadow for the clips fade in or fade out.

How to Edit Audio Clips in iMovie on iOS?

The iMovie timeline is where you sort or organize all your audio clips, such as the special effects and background music. Audio clips are always present below the video clips in the timeline. To edit audio clips in iMovie on your iPhones or iPads, you can follow the guide belo

Move an Audio Clip

You can transfer the whole audio clip, except the background music, to another location.

• Touch and hold the purple or blue audio clip with your project open in the timeline until it comes over the timeline bar.
• Drag the clip to another place and release.

Adjust the Audio Clip’s Duration

Step 1. While the project is launched in the timeline, tap the audio clip (in blue or purple) or the background music clip you wish to adjust.

Step 2. Now, you can see the display of yellow trim handles. Drag them either at the end of the clip to the points where you wish the audio to start and end. If a trim handle won’t move left or right, it simply indicates there is no additional audio to work with on that clip’s end.

Step 3. Tap outside the audio clip and let the trim handles disappear.

Split an Audio Clip

There are around two options to split audio clips in iMovie. You can remove unwanted parts or adjust each section’s duration, volume, or speed while you split a clip.

Step 1. With your launched project in the timeline, scroll the timeline to the playhead’s position where you want to split the audio.

Step 2. Click the audio clip to display the inspector at the screen’s bottom.

Step 3. Now, click the Actions button, and select the Split tab.

Or, you can tap the clip (it becomes outlined in yellow), then swipe above the playhead as if you were placing your finger to slide over it.

Detach the Audio Part from a Video

You can detach the video clip’s audio to remove or edit it as a separate video clip.

Step 1. When the project is open in the timeline, select a video clip and display the inspector at the screen’s bottom.

Step 2. Tap the Actions button, then tap Detach.

Step 3. A new blue-colored audio clip will then appear below the video project. You can now move, edit, or delete the audio clip separately from its parent video clip.

Move Audio to the Foreground or Background

To ensure the sound in your video clips can listen above the background music, iMovie implies audio “ducking”. Ducking lowers the background music clips’ volume whenever there’s a video clip whose sound is playing simultaneously.

You can select which audio clips are in the foreground or the background.

Step 1. Select the timeline’s audio clip to display the inspector at the screen’s bottom.

Step 2. Hit the Actions tab and proceed with selecting the Foreground or Background.

The clip color changes to indicate whether it’s the background music (green) or foreground audio (blue or purple).

Part 2: An Easier Way to Edit Audio Clips

Windows users might be wandering for an alternative to iMovie as this software tool is only compatible with Mac and iOS devices. You will be thrilled to know that Wondershare Filmora can serve you with all synonymous and extra features more than the iMovie, and it works significantly in the Windows environment.

This latest software tool also assists users with easy video editing tricks and the intuitive interface that best serves quality editing to beginners and professionals.

Despite the basic video editing features, such as trimming, splitting, merging, cutting, and cropping, Filmora also offers various advanced editing elements that are far better than iMovie. And, with its video editing features, you can make a green screen effect, stabilize your video footage, reverse your video clip, and more.

Moreover, you can enjoy royalty-free music tracks for different themes, such as Young and Bright, Tender and Sentimental, Rock, Folk, Electronic Rock, and Hipster Folk, for selection.

All this will be available with a single program called Wondershare Filmora to take advantage of them for free. You do not have to search the background music files like a needle in a haystack. The program has nicely organized the music themes into six different folders. You can apply it for your video and make advanced editing, such as split/trim the clip, adjust the playback speed, pitch, volume, etc.

How to Edit Audio with Wondershare Filmora?

In Wondershare Filmora, you can insert background music and other files from the audio library or your computer. You can even record your voiceover using it.

Add Background Music

Filmora provides a royalty-free music library you can access or import your music within the program. You can select a song from the royalty-free audio library and use it for free.

The audio library has categorized into: YOUNG & BRIGHT, TENDER & SENTIMENTAL, ROCK, FOLK, and ELECTRONIC. The different kinds of sound effects are also available under the Sound Effects tab.

Once you find a sound effect or a song, either right-click on it and go with the Apply or drag and drop it into an audio track in the timeline.

Or, you can click the Import button above the Media Library panel to browse for audio files in your PC system. Then, select and import it into the Media Library when you find the song or other audio files you wish to add.

Once you place the song in the timeline, double-click to edit it in the Audio editing panel. You can apply fade-in or fade-out effects or adjust the pitch and volume. Filmora lets you add up to 100 audio tracks.

Split Audio Clips

Choose your audio clip and place the playhead where you want to split it, then right-click on the clip and choose the Split tab or click the Split icon right above on the toolbar.

Adjust Audio Settings

Double click on the audio clip to make adjustments to your audio. Open a panel with adjustment sliders in the timeline for pitch and volume.

Another element that you’ll find in this panel is Denoise, which is a feature that can remove background noise from your audio clips.

For a more professional audio editing experience, you can also access the Audio Equalizer from this panel. Select from presets or make manual adjustments by hitting the Customize tab.

Play it when you are done and, if you’re not happy with the results, tap the Reset button to start over.

Audio Equalizer (EQ)

All videos have plenty of sounds like speech, music, or sound effects. Changing the strength of sound waves will help you to mix these sounds within a coherent soundtrack.

Locate your audio clip in an audio track and double-click on it to open the Audio settings menu window. A drop-down menu next to the Equalizer feature will display presets such as Classic, Default, Rock’n’Roll, Techno, Sparkle, Bass, Hard Rock, Pop, Ska, Blues, Folk, Acoustic, Custom, or Country. Choose the preset that best fits your current needs and hit the OK tab to apply it.

Now, hit the Customize tab next to the drop-down bar to adjust the Audio Equalizer manually. Drag the sliders up or down and make the adjustments until you find their ideal value. Finally, hit OK and save your settings.

Besides the included music tracks and sound effects in Filmora initially, you can also find more audio files from Filmora’s effects store – Filmstock, and even get some free music and sound.

Part 3: iMovie Audio Editing Tips & Tricks

iMovie is a great video editor for Mac computers. After understanding the best alternative of iMovie sound editin g, let’s check out some tips on editing audio in iMovie best.

The explanations and screenshots below are for iMovie 10 only. However, the steps are a bit similar to older versions.

So, here we go!

1. Use Waveforms to See What You Hear

To properly edit the audio track in iMovie, you need a good pair of headphones and speakers to hear the sound, but you also need to check the sound.

You can check the sound in iMovie by considering the waveforms on each clip. If the waveforms can’t be seen, go to the View drop-down menu and choose the Show Waveforms option. The clip size for your project can also adjust to get an even better appearance for each video clip.

The waveforms will display the volume level of a clip and give you a good idea of what sections will require to turn up or down. You can also check how the levels of different clips compare to one another.

2. Audio Adjustments

With the help of Adjust tab in the top right, you can access some basic audio editing tools for changing your selected clip’s volume or changing the volume of other relative clips in the project.

The adjustment window of audio also provides basic audio equalization and noise reduction tools, along with a range of effects - from echo to robot - that will change the way people in your video sound.

3. Edit Audio with the Timeline

iMovie assists you in adjusting the audio within the clips themselves. Each pin has a volume bar, moving up and down to decrease or increase the audio level. The clips also contain Fade In and Fade Out tabs at the beginning and end, dragging to adjust the fade’s length.

By adding a short fade effect, whether in or out, the sound becomes relatively smoother and less conflicting to the ear when a new clip begins.

4. Detach the Audio

By default, iMovie keeps the video and audio sections of clips together for convenience. Yet, you want to use the video and audio sections of a clip separately sometimes.

For this purpose, choose your clip in the timeline, visit the Modify drop-down menu, and hit the Detach Audio button. You’ll now have two clips - one with the images and another with the sound.

A lot you can do with the detached audio. For instance, you could extend the audio clip to begin before the video plays, or so that it plays for a few seconds even after the video fades out. You could also cut out pieces from the audio’s middle portion while leaving the video intact.

Conclusion

Coming towards the end of the discussion, after understanding iMovie audio editingand going through an elaborated alternative of iMovie application, we decided that Wondershare Filmora sounds the best out of it. It allows you to flawlessly edit video and audio files on your desktop, with various inbuilt royalty-free music tracks to select from that can further improve your project’s presence.

Marion Dubois

Marion Dubois is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Marion Dubois

Marion Dubois

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

iMovie offers a fantastic platform for video editing where you can merge multiple video clips to create something very phenomenal. Plus, it’s simply here to navigate between different scenes, edit video clips and save results directly to the digital format without making any videotape transformations.

It provides lots of things to beginners and professionals with its easy-to-use interface without any quality loss for your results even after adding lots of transitions, changes, and effects.

However, it is not accessible to master software, precisely when you’re not familiar with it, or you’re not its professional user. So today, we’d like to explore or pay attention to iMovie’s audio editing steps, tips, and tricks to help you become an iMovie master quickly.

What’s more, a practical yet professional iMovie alternative software is also advisable in this guide. So when the iMovie cannot fulfil your editing requirements, why don’t you hop on an iMovie alternative software?

Now, let’s get started!

Part 1: How to Edit Audio Clips in iMovie?

To learn how to edit audio clips in iMovie, you can use actions in the menu along with the quick shortcuts to make adjustments to your audio clips in iMovie on Mac. It’s a tip for your convenience!

Trim Audio Clips

There are a couple of options to trim an audio clip in iMovie.

#1. Trim to Playhead

You can place the playhead in your timeline. Now, trim an audio clip to that exact spot. Next, start moving the playhead and do one from the following.

• Select Modify > Trim to Playhead option in the menu bar.
• Right-click the audio clip and select the option of Trim to Playhead in the shortcut menu.

#2. Use the Clip Trimmer

You can use the Clip Trimmer to trim an exact section of the clip.

Step 1. Right-click the audio clip and select Show Clip Trimmer in the shortcut menu.

Step 2. After the Clip Trimmer shows, select a section you wish to trim by dragging the arrows right and left while holding the white lines. The area within those lines is what will get entirely deleted.

Move the entire clip but keep the trim area in place if arrows turn to a film strip icon.

Step 3. Click Close Clip Trimmer after you finish this section.

Shorten or Lengthen Audio Clips

You can easily shorten or lengthen an audio clip in iMovie. Just choose the pin in the timeline and drag one of its edges. The duration of the clip change will change as you carry. And a new course will be displayed after you finish in the upper left menu.

You can also set the clip’s duration to an exact time. Select the clip in the timeline and hit the Clip Information (small letter “i”) tab located above the Viewer. Put the value of the time you want in seconds in the Duration box on the right.

Change the Speed of an Audio Clip

You may want to speed up or slow down an audio clip while editing music in iMovie. So, here’s what you need to do!

Method 1. Click the Speed button above the Viewer. Next, select Custom in the Speed drop-down box and enter a percentage next to it. You can also set a different speed in that box if you prefer.

Method 2. Right-click the clip and select Show Speed Editor from the shortcut menu. A slider will then display at the top of the clip that you can move to change the speed.

Adjust the Volume of an Audio Clip

You can set the audio clip’s volume at higher or lower, or even mute it. Just select the clip and then do one of the following.

• Select the Volume tab above the Viewer option and move the slider to the percentage of volume. Hit the Mute button to mute the audio clip.
• Tap inside the clip, and when the two-sided arrow appears, drag up or down to adjust the volume.

Fade an Audio Clip

While editing audio in iMovie, you can also fade in or out the clip. Choose a clip in the timeline and then drag the fade handle (small circle) at either the ending or the beginning of the clip to make a fade-out or a fade-in effect.

As you drag, you will see the arcs displaying the shadow for the clips fade in or fade out.

How to Edit Audio Clips in iMovie on iOS?

The iMovie timeline is where you sort or organize all your audio clips, such as the special effects and background music. Audio clips are always present below the video clips in the timeline. To edit audio clips in iMovie on your iPhones or iPads, you can follow the guide belo

Move an Audio Clip

You can transfer the whole audio clip, except the background music, to another location.

• Touch and hold the purple or blue audio clip with your project open in the timeline until it comes over the timeline bar.
• Drag the clip to another place and release.

Adjust the Audio Clip’s Duration

Step 1. While the project is launched in the timeline, tap the audio clip (in blue or purple) or the background music clip you wish to adjust.

Step 2. Now, you can see the display of yellow trim handles. Drag them either at the end of the clip to the points where you wish the audio to start and end. If a trim handle won’t move left or right, it simply indicates there is no additional audio to work with on that clip’s end.

Step 3. Tap outside the audio clip and let the trim handles disappear.

Split an Audio Clip

There are around two options to split audio clips in iMovie. You can remove unwanted parts or adjust each section’s duration, volume, or speed while you split a clip.

Step 1. With your launched project in the timeline, scroll the timeline to the playhead’s position where you want to split the audio.

Step 2. Click the audio clip to display the inspector at the screen’s bottom.

Step 3. Now, click the Actions button, and select the Split tab.

Or, you can tap the clip (it becomes outlined in yellow), then swipe above the playhead as if you were placing your finger to slide over it.

Detach the Audio Part from a Video

You can detach the video clip’s audio to remove or edit it as a separate video clip.

Step 1. When the project is open in the timeline, select a video clip and display the inspector at the screen’s bottom.

Step 2. Tap the Actions button, then tap Detach.

Step 3. A new blue-colored audio clip will then appear below the video project. You can now move, edit, or delete the audio clip separately from its parent video clip.

Move Audio to the Foreground or Background

To ensure the sound in your video clips can listen above the background music, iMovie implies audio “ducking”. Ducking lowers the background music clips’ volume whenever there’s a video clip whose sound is playing simultaneously.

You can select which audio clips are in the foreground or the background.

Step 1. Select the timeline’s audio clip to display the inspector at the screen’s bottom.

Step 2. Hit the Actions tab and proceed with selecting the Foreground or Background.

The clip color changes to indicate whether it’s the background music (green) or foreground audio (blue or purple).

Part 2: An Easier Way to Edit Audio Clips

Windows users might be wandering for an alternative to iMovie as this software tool is only compatible with Mac and iOS devices. You will be thrilled to know that Wondershare Filmora can serve you with all synonymous and extra features more than the iMovie, and it works significantly in the Windows environment.

This latest software tool also assists users with easy video editing tricks and the intuitive interface that best serves quality editing to beginners and professionals.

Despite the basic video editing features, such as trimming, splitting, merging, cutting, and cropping, Filmora also offers various advanced editing elements that are far better than iMovie. And, with its video editing features, you can make a green screen effect, stabilize your video footage, reverse your video clip, and more.

Moreover, you can enjoy royalty-free music tracks for different themes, such as Young and Bright, Tender and Sentimental, Rock, Folk, Electronic Rock, and Hipster Folk, for selection.

All this will be available with a single program called Wondershare Filmora to take advantage of them for free. You do not have to search the background music files like a needle in a haystack. The program has nicely organized the music themes into six different folders. You can apply it for your video and make advanced editing, such as split/trim the clip, adjust the playback speed, pitch, volume, etc.

How to Edit Audio with Wondershare Filmora?

In Wondershare Filmora, you can insert background music and other files from the audio library or your computer. You can even record your voiceover using it.

Add Background Music

Filmora provides a royalty-free music library you can access or import your music within the program. You can select a song from the royalty-free audio library and use it for free.

The audio library has categorized into: YOUNG & BRIGHT, TENDER & SENTIMENTAL, ROCK, FOLK, and ELECTRONIC. The different kinds of sound effects are also available under the Sound Effects tab.

Once you find a sound effect or a song, either right-click on it and go with the Apply or drag and drop it into an audio track in the timeline.

Or, you can click the Import button above the Media Library panel to browse for audio files in your PC system. Then, select and import it into the Media Library when you find the song or other audio files you wish to add.

Once you place the song in the timeline, double-click to edit it in the Audio editing panel. You can apply fade-in or fade-out effects or adjust the pitch and volume. Filmora lets you add up to 100 audio tracks.

Split Audio Clips

Choose your audio clip and place the playhead where you want to split it, then right-click on the clip and choose the Split tab or click the Split icon right above on the toolbar.

Adjust Audio Settings

Double click on the audio clip to make adjustments to your audio. Open a panel with adjustment sliders in the timeline for pitch and volume.

Another element that you’ll find in this panel is Denoise, which is a feature that can remove background noise from your audio clips.

For a more professional audio editing experience, you can also access the Audio Equalizer from this panel. Select from presets or make manual adjustments by hitting the Customize tab.

Play it when you are done and, if you’re not happy with the results, tap the Reset button to start over.

Audio Equalizer (EQ)

All videos have plenty of sounds like speech, music, or sound effects. Changing the strength of sound waves will help you to mix these sounds within a coherent soundtrack.

Locate your audio clip in an audio track and double-click on it to open the Audio settings menu window. A drop-down menu next to the Equalizer feature will display presets such as Classic, Default, Rock’n’Roll, Techno, Sparkle, Bass, Hard Rock, Pop, Ska, Blues, Folk, Acoustic, Custom, or Country. Choose the preset that best fits your current needs and hit the OK tab to apply it.

Now, hit the Customize tab next to the drop-down bar to adjust the Audio Equalizer manually. Drag the sliders up or down and make the adjustments until you find their ideal value. Finally, hit OK and save your settings.

Besides the included music tracks and sound effects in Filmora initially, you can also find more audio files from Filmora’s effects store – Filmstock, and even get some free music and sound.

Part 3: iMovie Audio Editing Tips & Tricks

iMovie is a great video editor for Mac computers. After understanding the best alternative of iMovie sound editin g, let’s check out some tips on editing audio in iMovie best.

The explanations and screenshots below are for iMovie 10 only. However, the steps are a bit similar to older versions.

So, here we go!

1. Use Waveforms to See What You Hear

To properly edit the audio track in iMovie, you need a good pair of headphones and speakers to hear the sound, but you also need to check the sound.

You can check the sound in iMovie by considering the waveforms on each clip. If the waveforms can’t be seen, go to the View drop-down menu and choose the Show Waveforms option. The clip size for your project can also adjust to get an even better appearance for each video clip.

The waveforms will display the volume level of a clip and give you a good idea of what sections will require to turn up or down. You can also check how the levels of different clips compare to one another.

2. Audio Adjustments

With the help of Adjust tab in the top right, you can access some basic audio editing tools for changing your selected clip’s volume or changing the volume of other relative clips in the project.

The adjustment window of audio also provides basic audio equalization and noise reduction tools, along with a range of effects - from echo to robot - that will change the way people in your video sound.

3. Edit Audio with the Timeline

iMovie assists you in adjusting the audio within the clips themselves. Each pin has a volume bar, moving up and down to decrease or increase the audio level. The clips also contain Fade In and Fade Out tabs at the beginning and end, dragging to adjust the fade’s length.

By adding a short fade effect, whether in or out, the sound becomes relatively smoother and less conflicting to the ear when a new clip begins.

4. Detach the Audio

By default, iMovie keeps the video and audio sections of clips together for convenience. Yet, you want to use the video and audio sections of a clip separately sometimes.

For this purpose, choose your clip in the timeline, visit the Modify drop-down menu, and hit the Detach Audio button. You’ll now have two clips - one with the images and another with the sound.

A lot you can do with the detached audio. For instance, you could extend the audio clip to begin before the video plays, or so that it plays for a few seconds even after the video fades out. You could also cut out pieces from the audio’s middle portion while leaving the video intact.

Conclusion

Coming towards the end of the discussion, after understanding iMovie audio editingand going through an elaborated alternative of iMovie application, we decided that Wondershare Filmora sounds the best out of it. It allows you to flawlessly edit video and audio files on your desktop, with various inbuilt royalty-free music tracks to select from that can further improve your project’s presence.

Marion Dubois

Marion Dubois is a writer and a lover of all things video.

Follow @Marion Dubois

Marion Dubois

Oct 26, 2023• Proven solutions

iMovie offers a fantastic platform for video editing where you can merge multiple video clips to create something very phenomenal. Plus, it’s simply here to navigate between different scenes, edit video clips and save results directly to the digital format without making any videotape transformations.

It provides lots of things to beginners and professionals with its easy-to-use interface without any quality loss for your results even after adding lots of transitions, changes, and effects.

However, it is not accessible to master software, precisely when you’re not familiar with it, or you’re not its professional user. So today, we’d like to explore or pay attention to iMovie’s audio editing steps, tips, and tricks to help you become an iMovie master quickly.

What’s more, a practical yet professional iMovie alternative software is also advisable in this guide. So when the iMovie cannot fulfil your editing requirements, why don’t you hop on an iMovie alternative software?

Now, let’s get started!

Part 1: How to Edit Audio Clips in iMovie?

To learn how to edit audio clips in iMovie, you can use actions in the menu along with the quick shortcuts to make adjustments to your audio clips in iMovie on Mac. It’s a tip for your convenience!

Trim Audio Clips

There are a couple of options to trim an audio clip in iMovie.

#1. Trim to Playhead

You can place the playhead in your timeline. Now, trim an audio clip to that exact spot. Next, start moving the playhead and do one from the following.

• Select Modify > Trim to Playhead option in the menu bar.
• Right-click the audio clip and select the option of Trim to Playhead in the shortcut menu.

#2. Use the Clip Trimmer

You can use the Clip Trimmer to trim an exact section of the clip.

Step 1. Right-click the audio clip and select Show Clip Trimmer in the shortcut menu.

Step 2. After the Clip Trimmer shows, select a section you wish to trim by dragging the arrows right and left while holding the white lines. The area within those lines is what will get entirely deleted.

Move the entire clip but keep the trim area in place if arrows turn to a film strip icon.

Step 3. Click Close Clip Trimmer after you finish this section.

Shorten or Lengthen Audio Clips

You can easily shorten or lengthen an audio clip in iMovie. Just choose the pin in the timeline and drag one of its edges. The duration of the clip change will change as you carry. And a new course will be displayed after you finish in the upper left menu.

You can also set the clip’s duration to an exact time. Select the clip in the timeline and hit the Clip Information (small letter “i”) tab located above the Viewer. Put the value of the time you want in seconds in the Duration box on the right.

Change the Speed of an Audio Clip

You may want to speed up or slow down an audio clip while editing music in iMovie. So, here’s what you need to do!

Method 1. Click the Speed button above the Viewer. Next, select Custom in the Speed drop-down box and enter a percentage next to it. You can also set a different speed in that box if you prefer.

Method 2. Right-click the clip and select Show Speed Editor from the shortcut menu. A slider will then display at the top of the clip that you can move to change the speed.

Adjust the Volume of an Audio Clip

You can set the audio clip’s volume at higher or lower, or even mute it. Just select the clip and then do one of the following.

• Select the Volume tab above the Viewer option and move the slider to the percentage of volume. Hit the Mute button to mute the audio clip.
• Tap inside the clip, and when the two-sided arrow appears, drag up or down to adjust the volume.

Fade an Audio Clip

While editing audio in iMovie, you can also fade in or out the clip. Choose a clip in the timeline and then drag the fade handle (small circle) at either the ending or the beginning of the clip to make a fade-out or a fade-in effect.

As you drag, you will see the arcs displaying the shadow for the clips fade in or fade out.

How to Edit Audio Clips in iMovie on iOS?

The iMovie timeline is where you sort or organize all your audio clips, such as the special effects and background music. Audio clips are always present below the video clips in the timeline. To edit audio clips in iMovie on your iPhones or iPads, you can follow the guide belo

Move an Audio Clip

You can transfer the whole audio clip, except the background music, to another location.

• Touch and hold the purple or blue audio clip with your project open in the timeline until it comes over the timeline bar.
• Drag the clip to another place and release.

Adjust the Audio Clip’s Duration

Step 1. While the project is launched in the timeline, tap the audio clip (in blue or purple) or the background music clip you wish to adjust.

Step 2. Now, you can see the display of yellow trim handles. Drag them either at the end of the clip to the points where you wish the audio to start and end. If a trim handle won’t move left or right, it simply indicates there is no additional audio to work with on that clip’s end.

Step 3. Tap outside the audio clip and let the trim handles disappear.

Split an Audio Clip

There are around two options to split audio clips in iMovie. You can remove unwanted parts or adjust each section’s duration, volume, or speed while you split a clip.

Step 1. With your launched project in the timeline, scroll the timeline to the playhead’s position where you want to split the audio.

Step 2. Click the audio clip to display the inspector at the screen’s bottom.

Step 3. Now, click the Actions button, and select the Split tab.

Or, you can tap the clip (it becomes outlined in yellow), then swipe above the playhead as if you were placing your finger to slide over it.

Detach the Audio Part from a Video

You can detach the video clip’s audio to remove or edit it as a separate video clip.

Step 1. When the project is open in the timeline, select a video clip and display the inspector at the screen’s bottom.

Step 2. Tap the Actions button, then tap Detach.

Step 3. A new blue-colored audio clip will then appear below the video project. You can now move, edit, or delete the audio clip separately from its parent video clip.

Move Audio to the Foreground or Background

To ensure the sound in your video clips can listen above the background music, iMovie implies audio “ducking”. Ducking lowers the background music clips’ volume whenever there’s a video clip whose sound is playing simultaneously.

You can select which audio clips are in the foreground or the background.

Step 1. Select the timeline’s audio clip to display the inspector at the screen’s bottom.

Step 2. Hit the Actions tab and proceed with selecting the Foreground or Background.

The clip color changes to indicate whether it’s the background music (green) or foreground audio (blue or purple).

Part 2: An Easier Way to Edit Audio Clips

Windows users might be wandering for an alternative to iMovie as this software tool is only compatible with Mac and iOS devices. You will be thrilled to know that Wondershare Filmora can serve you with all synonymous and extra features more than the iMovie, and it works significantly in the Windows environment.

This latest software tool also assists users with easy video editing tricks and the intuitive interface that best serves quality editing to beginners and professionals.

Despite the basic video editing features, such as trimming, splitting, merging, cutting, and cropping, Filmora also offers various advanced editing elements that are far better than iMovie. And, with its video editing features, you can make a green screen effect, stabilize your video footage, reverse your video clip, and more.

Moreover, you can enjoy royalty-free music tracks for different themes, such as Young and Bright, Tender and Sentimental, Rock, Folk, Electronic Rock, and Hipster Folk, for selection.

All this will be available with a single program called Wondershare Filmora to take advantage of them for free. You do not have to search the background music files like a needle in a haystack. The program has nicely organized the music themes into six different folders. You can apply it for your video and make advanced editing, such as split/trim the clip, adjust the playback speed, pitch, volume, etc.

How to Edit Audio with Wondershare Filmora?

In Wondershare Filmora, you can insert background music and other files from the audio library or your computer. You can even record your voiceover using it.

Add Background Music

Filmora provides a royalty-free music library you can access or import your music within the program. You can select a song from the royalty-free audio library and use it for free.

The audio library has categorized into: YOUNG & BRIGHT, TENDER & SENTIMENTAL, ROCK, FOLK, and ELECTRONIC. The different kinds of sound effects are also available under the Sound Effects tab.

Once you find a sound effect or a song, either right-click on it and go with the Apply or drag and drop it into an audio track in the timeline.

Or, you can click the Import button above the Media Library panel to browse for audio files in your PC system. Then, select and import it into the Media Library when you find the song or other audio files you wish to add.

Once you place the song in the timeline, double-click to edit it in the Audio editing panel. You can apply fade-in or fade-out effects or adjust the pitch and volume. Filmora lets you add up to 100 audio tracks.

Split Audio Clips

Choose your audio clip and place the playhead where you want to split it, then right-click on the clip and choose the Split tab or click the Split icon right above on the toolbar.

Adjust Audio Settings

Double click on the audio clip to make adjustments to your audio. Open a panel with adjustment sliders in the timeline for pitch and volume.

Another element that you’ll find in this panel is Denoise, which is a feature that can remove background noise from your audio clips.

For a more professional audio editing experience, you can also access the Audio Equalizer from this panel. Select from presets or make manual adjustments by hitting the Customize tab.

Play it when you are done and, if you’re not happy with the results, tap the Reset button to start over.

Audio Equalizer (EQ)

All videos have plenty of sounds like speech, music, or sound effects. Changing the strength of sound waves will help you to mix these sounds within a coherent soundtrack.

Locate your audio clip in an audio track and double-click on it to open the Audio settings menu window. A drop-down menu next to the Equalizer feature will display presets such as Classic, Default, Rock’n’Roll, Techno, Sparkle, Bass, Hard Rock, Pop, Ska, Blues, Folk, Acoustic, Custom, or Country. Choose the preset that best fits your current needs and hit the OK tab to apply it.

Now, hit the Customize tab next to the drop-down bar to adjust the Audio Equalizer manually. Drag the sliders up or down and make the adjustments until you find their ideal value. Finally, hit OK and save your settings.

Besides the included music tracks and sound effects in Filmora initially, you can also find more audio files from Filmora’s effects store – Filmstock, and even get some free music and sound.

Part 3: iMovie Audio Editing Tips & Tricks

iMovie is a great video editor for Mac computers. After understanding the best alternative of iMovie sound editin g, let’s check out some tips on editing audio in iMovie best.

The explanations and screenshots below are for iMovie 10 only. However, the steps are a bit similar to older versions.

So, here we go!

1. Use Waveforms to See What You Hear

To properly edit the audio track in iMovie, you need a good pair of headphones and speakers to hear the sound, but you also need to check the sound.

You can check the sound in iMovie by considering the waveforms on each clip. If the waveforms can’t be seen, go to the View drop-down menu and choose the Show Waveforms option. The clip size for your project can also adjust to get an even better appearance for each video clip.

The waveforms will display the volume level of a clip and give you a good idea of what sections will require to turn up or down. You can also check how the levels of different clips compare to one another.

2. Audio Adjustments

With the help of Adjust tab in the top right, you can access some basic audio editing tools for changing your selected clip’s volume or changing the volume of other relative clips in the project.

The adjustment window of audio also provides basic audio equalization and noise reduction tools, along with a range of effects - from echo to robot - that will change the way people in your video sound.

3. Edit Audio with the Timeline

iMovie assists you in adjusting the audio within the clips themselves. Each pin has a volume bar, moving up and down to decrease or increase the audio level. The clips also contain Fade In and Fade Out tabs at the beginning and end, dragging to adjust the fade’s length.

By adding a short fade effect, whether in or out, the sound becomes relatively smoother and less conflicting to the ear when a new clip begins.

4. Detach the Audio

By default, iMovie keeps the video and audio sections of clips together for convenience. Yet, you want to use the video and audio sections of a clip separately sometimes.

For this purpose, choose your clip in the timeline, visit the Modify drop-down menu, and hit the Detach Audio button. You’ll now have two clips - one with the images and another with the sound.

A lot you can do with the detached audio. For instance, you could extend the audio clip to begin before the video plays, or so that it plays for a few seconds even after the video fades out. You could also cut out pieces from the audio’s middle portion while leaving the video intact.

Conclusion

Coming towards the end of the discussion, after understanding iMovie audio editingand going through an elaborated alternative of iMovie application, we decided that Wondershare Filmora sounds the best out of it. It allows you to flawlessly edit video and audio files on your desktop, with various inbuilt royalty-free music tracks to select from that can further improve your project’s presence.

Marion Dubois

Marion Dubois is a writer and a lover of all things video.

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