The next step

[Oren]

Of late, Audacity http://audacity.sourceforge.net/ has changed from being my principle open-source audio application to the "fast and loose" option, great for audio file conversion and editing, and the ideal vehicle for the Lame codecs http://lame.sourceforge.net/index.php .
The fact that it is not an entirely JACK-compliant http://jackaudio.org/ application makes integrating it into my current recording/editing/mixing/mastering set-up troublesome, but it is still an indispensable stand-alone tool.

Ardour http://ardour.org/ is so solid and versatile, with apparently endless capabilities. It has taken Audacity's place as my  audio workstation.

And now JAMin http://jamin.sourceforge.net/en/about.html is finally integrated as my mastering application, coupled with Ardour. It is so comforting to be able to make those subtle adjustments in EQ, compression and overall level, hear the improvement, and then have the results verified numerically and graphically. Beautiful

(the meters and graphical readout on JAMin are so complete, I don't know if Meterbridge http://plugin.org.uk/meterbridge/ will ever be necessary)

[folderol]

I also use audacity mostly as a quick&dirty trimming/haircut/format-change utility, but then I work mostly in the MIDI realm.

I had been using JAMin for <ahem> a short while before I realised you could save the entire setup 

The only reason I use meterbridge these days is because it looks nice and reassuring (I have it set as VU meters)

[Oren]

I had been using JAMin for <ahem> a short while before I realised you could save the entire setup 
The only reason I use meterbridge these days is because it looks nice and reassuring (I have it set as VU meters)

Meterbridge is pretty

Jamin actually allows you to save an EQ/compression "picture", and also ten different variations on that theme, in the same package.
So, the general sound for an album of music can be planned out, then specific settings for each song saved. Then, as required, the settings can be adjusted to get the right over-all balance from song to song.
An extraordinarily serviceable tool that interfaces with JACK flawlessly, and works in combination with Ardour or Rosegarden to create a tone-tweaker's dream.

Gotta love it