20 Vibrant and Helpful Audio Forums Where You Can Find Support

20 Vibrant and Helpful Audio Forums Where You Can Find Support

on Jun 28th 2012 with 15 comments

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:

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:

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:

4. macProVideo Audio Forum

The popular video tuition site also hosts a useful forum.

Here are some interesting recent threads:

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:

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:

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:

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:

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:

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:

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:

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:

20. REAPER Forums

This is Cockos’ official support forum for REAPER.

Here are some interesting recent threads:

 
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Adrian is writer and editor for Audiotuts+ and Envato Notes. He has been playing keys and acoustic guitar for three decades, and has six kids. Follow him on Twitter at @envatoaudio.  

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  • JohnnieTech

    If you really want to dive head first into building a studio or fully equipping an existing space, there is no other place to start than http://www.johnlsayers.com. There is a wealth of information and quite a few very knowledgeable people that are glad to help you with every aspect of building a studio.

    • http://adriantry.com Adrian Try
      Author

      Thanks for sharing, Johnnie. It looks like a great site with an active forum.

  • http://www.audiomentor.com Reuben

    Thanks for sharing!

    • http://adriantry.com Adrian Try
      Author

      You’re welcome, Reuben. :)

  • Gaurav

    Thanks Adrian and Johnnie for putting your efforts.
    :)

  • Chris finiksopoulos

    You saved us like 1 month of searchin. Outstading post !!

  • http://www.expert-sleepers.co.uk os

    Don’t forget muffwiggler.com! The number 1 place for modular synths, or even just synths in general.

    • http://adriantry.com Adrian Try
      Author

      Thanks Os. Crazy name, but interesting forum that covers dozens of topics.

  • bull3tpr00f

    You forgot this great forums:

    http://www.futureproducers.com/forums/
    and
    http://www.idmforums.com/

    peace :)

    • http://adriantry.com Adrian Try
      Author

      Thanks Bull, they look great.

  • http://www.acidplanet.com/artist.asp?AID=270767 C.LYDE

    Thanks for the list – could not help but wonder why 3 Logic forums? (biased?mmm)

    http://www.steinberg.net/forum/

    Home to discussions for Nuendo, Cubase, Wavelab, HALion, etc..

    http://forum.cakewalk.com/default.aspx

    All the Roland/Sonar support one may desire…

    • http://adriantry.com Adrian Try
      Author

      Hi Clyde. You could call it bias. I use Logic Pro, so was more familiar with the forums. Thanks for your additions – they’re very welcome!

  • http://www.macprovideo.com/ Rounik

    Hi Adrian,

    Thanks for including the macProVideo.com forums on your extensive list of helpful forums!

    Cheers
    Rounik

    Executive Editor, MPV Hub (macProVideo.com’s online magazine)

    • http://adriantry.com Adrian Try
      Author

      You’re welcome, Rounik. You guys do a brilliant job!

  • Pete

    http://www.dancemusicproduction.com has a great forum for all things Dance Music Production.

    – Pete