I’ve used Audacity for years. Never got that technical. A right click and drag has always done it for me.
Audacity is an amazing tool, especially for free. While I do not use it for “serious” recording projects (I use Pro Tools), I use it extensively in the songwriting process. It’s like my go-to “tape recorder” during the writing process. As the chords and melody are emerging, I record it all with Audacity. I do this because Audacity is fast to open and once open, just ready to go. Hit record and it starts (unlike Garage Band where you have to create tracks and make other settings before you can actually start recording).
The other thing it is amazing for is in the mastering process. When I have all of my mixes, I put them in DDP Creator to measure relative loudness. Then I drop all of the tracks into Audacity and adjust loudness with my various compression and limiting plugins (all of them that I have bought for Pro Tools also show up in and work in Audacity).
I also usually use Audacity to trim/fade ends in order to get the transition between tracks sounding right. Now here’s the really cool part: Audacity then lets you export multiple tracks in one operation. So, all of the modified audio gets exported with one command, rather than 10, 12, 14 (or however many tracks on the album) individual export operations. That’s a real time saver!
Finally, Audacity has a command that allows you to detect digital peaking in tracks by simply choosing it. Then visible red lines show up on the track forms. Sometimes, even though I can barely hear areas of digital peaking—they are there and this process really helps identify them.
You say Audacity has a steep learning curve and I kinda disagree. I guess if you use it as a substitute for Pro Tools, or Logic, of Digital Performer. Traction, etc., that may be true, but it is usable as a simple recording tool without much work. Moreover, I was an advanced computer user when I first got into recording almost 20 years ago and it took me three months with Digital Performer (my first “DAW”) before I could even begin to record. Now that’s a steep learning curve!! And then, after 10 years experience with “DP,” it took me three years to get comfortable with wonky Pro Tools. So, comparatively, Audacity’s a breeze!