Sometimes you’ll encounter a question or problem so specific, it’s unlikely you’ll find a tutorial that will help. Or you’re contemplating buying a new piece of gear, and you’d really like to hear from others who have experience with it before parting with your cash. You need a forum. A good one!
I love forums. Nothing can compare with hearing from real people who have experience with the exact issue you’re talking about.
But you need to find the right forum. Firstly, you need a forum that deals with the topic at hand. Secondly, you need a forum with enough of the right people that you’ll get an answer or ten.
So here’s a list of 20 forums. Where possible I’ve included statistics about how many people and posts the forum has. That way you’ll get a sense for how big the forum is, and how many people there will be to help you. I’ve also included a sampling of threads or forum titles. That will give you a sense of whether the forum covers the topics you need help with.
Of course, there are more than 20 good audio forums on the Net. Please give us a hand by mentioning any we’ve forgotten in the comments. We’ll be sure to include them in a future update. But only include forums you’ve found helpful!
General Forums
1. AudioJungle Forums
This is the forum of Audiotuts’ sister site, AudioJungle. It is made of up those who buy and sell tracks at AudioJungle.
Here are some interesting recent threads:
- My upright bass sounds make me sad
- Laptops for recording!
- Funny Music Pics
- What’s Your Favourite Instrument?
- Wave or Mp3?
2. Gearslutz
Gearslutz is a popular forum with a funny (and appropriate) name. Some quick stats – Threads: 573,944, Posts: 6,322,152, Members: 174,710. That’s one busy forum! If you don’t already visit there regularly, you owe it to yourself to check it out.
Here is a collection of some of their forums:
- So much gear, so little time!
- Music computers
- Mastering forum
- Newbie audio engineering & production question zone (trial beta forum)
- Songwriting
3. MusicRadar Forum
A popular forum from a popular site. This forum has many topics in categories like Guitars, Tech, Drums & Percussion and more. Some stats – Threads: 97,369, Posts: 1,172,075, Members: 158,080, Active Members: 2,367.
Here is a handful of their forums:
- Guitar FX
- Guitar Technique
- Computers & Software
- Synthesis & Sound Design
- Drum & Percussion: Technique
4. macProVideo Audio Forum
The popular video tuition site also hosts a useful forum.
Here are some interesting recent threads:
- Recording Audio from Logic along with Video?
- 32 or 64 bitrate ?
- New Mainstage 2.2.2 upgrade
- Share your Logic Environments here?
- Help with the basics
5. StudioTrax Forums
A useful forum on a staggering number of audio topics. Categories include Standalone Studio Recorders, Software Recording Forums, New Song/Group Projects, General Recording & Recording Techniques, and Classifieds. Some quick stats – Threads: 32,668, Posts: 286,999, Members: 4,707.
Here are a few of their forums:
6. HomeRecording.com
A forum focussed on home recording, discussing both techniques and gear in dozens of different forums. Some stats – Threads 331,947 Posts 3,808,733 Members 111,573.
Here are some interesting recent threads:
7. Harmony Central Forums
Harmony Central, the awesome gear news and reviews site, also has a helpful forum. Categories include Recording, Live Performance, Effects, Guitar, Bass, Keyboards, Drums & Percussion, Software & Computers, Classifieds and much more. Some quick stats – Threads 1,940,994 Posts 33,264,129 Members 362,154.
Here is a small sampling of their forums:
8. KVRAudio Forum
KVRAudio is a popular news and information resource for open standard audio plug-ins. They have a huge forum that everything you need to know about plug-ins, including official company forums. Statistics – Our members have posted a total of 4972099 articles, we have 241321 registered members.
Here is a small selection of the forums they host:
9. The Womb Forums
Forum of Mixerman, a funny audio guy who also hosts a radio show and several podcasts. Forum stats – Threads: 16,702, Posts: 324,139, Members: 7,133.
Here are some of his forums:
- Zen and the Art of Mixing
- From GEAR to Eternity
- Music Industry 2.0
- DAW Zone – Logic
- The Sounding Board
10. MacJams Forum
MacJams is an online community of people who are interested in creating music on the map. They have an excellent forum about Mac-related audio.
Here are some of their forums:
11. Recording Review Forum
Recording Review have an excellent home recording forum. Forum stats – Threads 42,501 Posts 341,713 Members 86,377.
Here are some of their forums:
- Killer Home Recording
- Bash This Recording
- Nail The Sounds
- DIY Recording Gear
- Recording Equipment and Musical Instruments
DAW Forums
12. Avid Audio Forums – Known as the DUC (Digi User Conference)
This is the official Pro Tools forum, and the best place to get support for that DAW. Some quick stats – Threads: 319,317, Posts: 1,910,762, Members: 129,984, Active Members: 2,965.
Here is a brief examples of their forums:
- Pro Tools 10 General Discussion
- Pro Tools Post & Surround
- VENUE Live Sound Environment
- Virtual Instruments
- All Things Guitar
13. Apple Support Communities – Logic Pro
Apple’s official support forum for Logic Pro, currently with 53,828 discussions.
Here are some interesting recent threads:
- Can you use Logic Pro to a music score?
- Country music instruments in Logic Pro and Garage band library
- Bass Speaker support
- Is there a patch file for the Groovebox MC-808
- nudging an audio-region in a track right or left: smallest amount?
14. Logic Pro Help
This is the forum of an Apple Authorized Training Center in Los Angeles. Some forum stats – Total posts 432607 • Total topics 78765 • Total members 46478.
Here are some of their forums:
15. Logic Pro Forums
Another useful Logic Pro forum. A few statistics – 6,478 Total Posts, 3,199 Total Members.
Here are some of their forums:
- Logic Pro | Express
- Main Stage, Wave Burner & Sound Track Pro
- Software Plug-ins
- File Sharing
- Hardware – Front End & Computer
16. Propellerhead Forums
The official Propellerhead user forum. If you use Reason or any related product, this is a great place to get answers to your questions.
Here are some interesting recent threads:
- dual monitor – rack question
- To Parallel Compress… Or Not?
- In praise of saturation knob
- Cant get ignition key or balance to register reason 6.5 update
- Guitar tone – help please!
17. Image-Line Forum
This is the official support forum for FL Studio and other Image-Line products. It contains dozens of sub-forums, but the most popular seems to be Looptalk (FL Studio users forum).
Here are some interesting recent threads:
- Pitch Bend in Z3ta3+ 2.1
- What can you make in 20 minutes?
- Performance Mode Mapping for MidiFighter 3D?
- Any possible way to convert drum audio tracks into midi?
- Stuff you didn’t know about FL Studio
18. Ableton Forum
The official forum for Ableton Live. Forum statistics – Total posts 1407220, Total topics 180504, Total members 60502.
Here are some of their forums:
19. Apple Support Communities – GarageBand
This is the official iLife GarageBand forum. It currently hosts 27,385 discussions about the app.
Here are some interesting recent threads:
- Quality Drum loops and samples
- How do I get the maximum volume when i export to I tunes?
- How to record electric drums to GB via MIDI?
- Can no longer add sections to Garageband songs.
- How to hear the metronome while playing a recorded song on iTunes ?
20. REAPER Forums
This is Cockos’ official support forum for REAPER.
Here are some interesting recent threads:
- Tips and Tricks thread!
- Recording Guitar into Reaper — Heavy sound
- MIDI drum recording and quantizing
- How to: Adjust volume in time selection
- Nanokontrol2 – getting the REW/FF buttons to scrub backward/forward (like in Sonar!)
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