Simple Audio Editing Software...

Can anyone suggest some simple audio editing software they have had a positive experience with? Preferably free and nothing too complex; I am looking to use it primarily for cross-fading, leveling, etc to make mixed cds/mp3s.

thanks

PS I downloaded the free versions of Audacity and Virtual DJ Free, but they don't seem to be the best options for a newbie on the subject. I'm not looking to play clubs; it's just for personal use.

Audacity seems to be a pretty popular one you can get for free. may be worth a try.
I tend to use cubase for everything myself.. even though it's a more layered mulltitrack recording sofware, it is fairly easy and can be found as a portable verion you can run off usb and downloaded by torrents.
cubase can also edit any audio tracks, convert, join, split, fade or anything else you can think of, as well as video editing and/or editing/replacing video audio files

Thanks for the response. I've actually took the time over the past few days to learn Audacity and it is fairly easy to use once you take the time.

Hi there,

Try Goldwave, I've used it for a long time, it has a lot of great effects, supports many file formats including mp3's, (although you need to download lame_enc.dll, but I have it here if you need it) and you don't need a music degree to operate it.