The earlier versions were not free. They were shareware and were not restricted in any way after the 30/31 day trial period. The 1.4x versions were $10, not sure when the price went up 50%. Even with the increase it's still a bargain.
Is there a newer version than 1.9.7.3? In at least that version you can save the files in anything from mono to 5.1 in bit depths of 8,16, or 24 at frequencies from 8k to 96k. Hit the record button and a record properties window pops up with those settings and a few others.