MIDI and Audio Regions Compared

The following overview sums up the main differences between audio and MIDI regions.

Feature	MIDI regions	Audio regions
Composed of discrete data	Yes	No. Audio regions are just references to parts of audio files.
Can be named	Yes	Yes
Quantize parameter available	Yes	Yes, for flex-enabled audio regions.
Q-Swing parameter available	Yes	Yes, for flex-enabled audio regions.
Loop option available	Yes	Yes
Transposition parameter available	Yes	No, but you can use the Time Machine and Pitch Shifting functions (in the Sample Editor and Arrange window). Audio Apple Loops can be transposed.
Delay parameter available	Yes	Yes
Velocity parameter available	Yes	No
Gain parameter available	No	Yes
Dynamics parameter available	Yes	No
Fade In/Speed Up parameter available	No	Yes
Gate Time parameter available	Yes	No
Curve parameter available	No	Yes
Clip Length parameter available	Yes	No
Fade/Slow Down parameter available	No	Yes
Score parameter available	Yes	No
Follow Tempo parameter available	No	Yes
Can be freely positioned	Yes	Yes
Left or right corner edit	Yes	Yes, and this affects the audio region, but not the position of the audio waveforms relative to the time axis of the sequencer.
Can be cut with the Scissors tool	Yes	Yes, creates a new audio region.
Can have aliases made of them	Yes	Yes, although these are known as cloned (audio) regions, to differentiate them from alias (MIDI) regions.
Left corner may be dragged to conceal data at beginning	No	Yes
Have a variable musical reference point	No	Yes, a variable anchor. This affects all regions derived from a given audio file, and can change the position of the audio, relative to the time axis of the sequencer.
Can be turned off with the Mute function	Yes	Yes
Can be placed in folders	Yes	Yes
Can be soloed	Yes	Yes

Naturally, some of the Inspector playback parameters (such as Transposition) that can be applied to MIDI events have no effect on audio signals. Equivalent operations for most of these are available as destructive edit operations in the Sample Editor.

The fundamental functions (such as a freely determinable position and length, the ability to create complex arrangements with the aid of folders, and the ability to name, mute, and solo) are generally available to all types of regions (MIDI regions, audio regions, folder regions, or copies of these, and alias or cloned regions).