it's come to my attention that more and more people are asking around for audio creation and/or development tools. Perhaps I'm kicking a dead horse, but I figured it'd be for the best to just list all of the popular ones, and thereby circumvent any future (redundant) questions. If you have any contributions, feel free to share them.

Adobe Audition: The old CoolEdit, now property of Adobe Inc.. It's been a long time since I last used the former, and seeing as I have yet to try the latter, I can't tell you anything about it. All I know is that there's a demo version available, weighing a hefty 47.6MB, and that it'll cost you a grand $299 for a full version.

Audacity: A free, cross-platform audio editor, weighing in at 2.4MB. Link courtesy of Anastasia -- I haven't tried it out myself, but it looks promising, what with being able to do a host of things Goldwave can while at the same time being free of charge. You'll need the LAMEWIN32 codec, as well as a VST Enabler. Free.

CDex: Small, yet versatile, CDex can convert to and fro .wav- and .mp3-files, and rip entire audio CD's to boot. It weighs a little under 2MB, is easily installed, and runs like sunshine. Free.

dbPowerAMP: Nicknamed "the Swiss army knife of Audio", dbPowerAMP is a converting powerhouse, supporting all major formats -- and all that for a lousy 1.5MB. It can integrate itself into any Windows OS, and is, to my knowledge, the only free audio tool capable of converting Real formats. What more can I say? Try it out. Free.

Goldwave: Of course, Goldwave. The interface still isn't much of anything, but it's one of the most powerful audio editors out there. It fully supports wav, mp3, ogg, aiff, au, vox, mat, snd, voc, raw binary data, text data, and more, and comes in at a cheap $45. As the popular kids say -- anyone who's anyone uses Goldwave. Be sure to try out the demo version, and don't forget to read the installation notes. Also, you'll need the LAMEWIN32 codec to be able to edit and save .mp3-files.

Quintessential Player: From what I get from it, the Quintessential Player is a nice alternative to Winamp, capable of ripping CD's much like the latter. It weighs a light 2.3MB, and comes without "Cost, Ads, Spyware, Nags, Overall annoyance" -- they do have a sense of humor. Free.

Sound Recorder: Typically accessed under Bureau Accessories, Sound Recorder comes preinstalled with most any version of Windows. I'm not sure whether or not there's a version available for the Mac, or that the Mac comes preinstalled with something else, but no doubt someone'll correct me. In any case, the Sound Recorder is a real bare-bone, in that it can record .wav-files (spoken or not), and not much else. If it's all you have, make sure you check out this list for some additional firepower. It would seem there are no major differences between the Sound Recorders of various Windows versions (most notably 95/98, 2000 and XP). Free.

Super: Suggested by Anastasia, this tool promises to convert nearly any form of audio currently available. I haven't tried it myself, but it looks pretty solid. Do take note of the download warning, however; I've followed up on everything it said, but I still haven't been able to download it. If the same is true for you, try this link, or any of the ones mentioned in post #35. Free.

VOXConverter: Though there aren't many games left who rely on .vox-files -- if you find one that has some you want, you can use the VOXConverter to convert them to and fro between .wav and .vox. It weighs a little over 2.5MB, and though I haven't yet tried it myself, it looks promising. Free.

WavePad: I have yet to check this program out myself, but VonCorgath (who's also provided this download link) had the following to say:
"While I personally don't think it is as good or user-friendly as GoldWave, it has some strong features in its favour. To begin with, the whole program is only 387KB to download! If that's not good then I don't know what is. Second, and this has been to me one of the most helpful features, is the static FFT display. Excellent for editing if you want to get rid of that annoying pitch in your file is but don't know the frequency (it may take a while to work out how to use it effectively however and most users would probably never need it). While I think all sound editors have this feature, with WavePad, simply scroll your mouse across the display to read the frequency and the amplitude of that frequency at that particular instant or if you like examine large samples for a broader result.
It is also completly free so there is no annoying pop up messages or '30 day expiry' period that limits your usage.
However it is only usable in tandem with the Windows operating system, and it doesn't let you easily change the bit-rate for direct encoding into MP3 or WMA.
Overall, it's good substitute for GoldWave or Audacity with slightly less functionality, so check it out!"

Winamp: Most people tend to overlook Winamp, but with the right plugin it's more than capable of ripping CD's, and converting .wav- and .mp3-files. And hey, who can live without it in any case? The latest version, 5.09, can weigh anywhere between less than 1MB to a little under 8MB, depending on whether you pick the lite, full, or bundle edition.
For as far as Winamp is concerned, you can find a bunch of plugins at this site. Be forewarned, though -- I haven't tested these, so I can't confirm whether or not they actually work. They are free, however, so it shouldn't hurt to check them out. Free.

WinGroove: The only worthwhile MIDI player/converter out there. Period. It can convert .mid- to .wav-files, and does so quickly and seamlessly. It weighs a little over 1MB, and'll cost you $20 for unlimited use. See the website for more details.

Apart from these tools, here are some sites that might interest you:

4musics: Site that specializes in ripping and converting sound formats. Their most notable product is the Multiformat Converter, which (as they claim) is a grand total of twenty converters in one. None of their products are free of charge, however, which might prove a downside.

Sound Recorder Software: Site that specializes in recording sound, be it voice, what you hear, or anything else. Might be of interest to those of you who narrate your campaigns, or are looking for a way to record that one sample from a movie. You'll have to pay for their services, though.

Well... That's all for as far as I'm concerned. Once again, if any of you have anything to add, be sure to leave a note.

Edit (12/07/05): added Audacity, Sound Recorder, Quintessential Player.
Edit (11/04/06): updated Sound Recorder.
Edit (11/06/06): reorganized list alphabetically, added links to 4music and Sound Recorder Software.
Edit (12/19/06): added WavePad.
Edit (04/07/07): added Super.
Edit (04/08/07): updated Super.

[This message has been edited by Luke Gevaerts (edited 04-08-2007 @ 05:22 PM).]