I have put together all of the sound software that I know of that can be useful to PTE users, above all freeware or under GNU license (Open Source). I have divided the software into four categories :

Sound editors

CD rippers

CD Burners

Players

Sound Editors

As a matter of fact, all we really need for PTE is a little mixer-editor, to join and maybe superpose sound files. Even if someone uses sophisticated audio editors, the free (Open Source) Audacity is more than enough.

Freeware

Audacity is a little multitrack editor, mixer and recorder, easy to use and quite powerful: between its several features you can find sophisticated sound controls like an equalizer, echo and reverb effects, automatic fade-in and fade-out, pitch control, compressor/expander, and many others. What do you want again?

Shareware/Commercial

Once upon a time there was a medium-priced software, called CoolEdit, very well made and with semi-professional features. Now this software has been acquired by Adobe; the standard version is no more available, and the major version - CoolEdit Pro - has become Adobe Audition, priced $299...

For the same price, you can buy the good old SoundForge, a really professional sound editor used in many recording studios for years, extremely powerful and improved again. Very interesting the simplified version of this glorious software, named Sound Forge Audio Studio and sold at $69.95.

For a reasonable price (CAD55, about $45), you can buy the Canadian Goldwave, a very good and complete sound editor.

And don't forget that in Nero suite (see burners, below in this page) there is also a very interesting and useful sound editor.

 

CD Rippers

Freeware

There is a lot of freeware (and shareware) CD rippers, but in my opinion the best is again the free German Exact Audio Copy, an outstanding piece of software. Don't worry it's a beta version: it's a beta for at least six years, but is very stable and quite perfect (its creator, Andre Wiethoff, is evidently a perfectionist...).

 

CD Burners

Shareware

The most known (and used) program to burn CDs is Ahead Nero, that is often provided in bundle with many CD and DVD burners. The complete suite (v6 Reloaded) costs $59 if downloaded.

Freeware

If you don't have any CD/DVD burner, you can download the CDBurnerXP (11.02MB) or the little Burn4free (2.19 MB), two fully-functional programs.

 

Players

Freeware

There are more players in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy... The good old Shakespeare was right! Apart from the celebrated, very common Winamp, there are literally hundreds of free and less free audio players.
As for me, for several reasons I chose Quintessential Player, an excellent piece of software, which can play Mp3, OGG vorbis, Monkey's Audio, Flac and almost all audio formats (and if you want can also rip a CD and convert files from a format to another).