Tracktion-who uses it & why you like/love/hate it.

madtho · Post by **madtho** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 10:49 am

Another vote for Tracktion 2.
I started with Cubase and never 'got' it. Tracktion is very 4-trackish, which is a good thing.
I saw no big benefits in Tracktion 3.
I briefly had a Tascam USB piece that kind of sucked. I found a Presonus Firebox on Ebay for a good price, it's great. I believe that came with a lite version of Ableton Live which I've since upgraded to a full version. Ableton offers incredibly cheap upgrade paths at the version changes.

-mad.

inverseroom · Post by **inverseroom** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 10:58 am

madtho wrote:I saw no big benefits in Tracktion 3.

Multi-core support. That's the big one, for me.

segaface · Post by **segaface** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 2:01 pm

inverseroom wrote:
madtho wrote:I saw no big benefits in Tracktion 3.
Multi-core support. That's the big one, for me.

When I buy a new laptop, I will mos def be upgrading to take advantage of this.

getreel · Post by **getreel** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 6:42 pm

I can figure out how to route software synth outputs to anything other than the stereo track where the plug in is. I would like to be able to program a synth with multiple outputs to have each instrument go to a separate track and then hardware output. Other than that, Tracktion does everything I need.

Nevermind, I figured it out. I used the Rack section and dragged multiple copies to multiple tracks and then set the outputs of the plug-in on each track.

MichaelAlan · Post by **MichaelAlan** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 7:27 am

inverseroom wrote:Yeah, everything I know I either learned by messing around with my stuff or reading TO and the messageboard. It continues to be a great resource.

I don't read any other recording magazines as all...

bipedal · Post by **bipedal** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 8:59 am

Tracktion 2 user for a bit over a year. Formerly used an old version (eMagic era!) of Logic, but not extensively.

I'm using it for basic hobbyist in-the-box home recording fiddling of my own crap, some mixing of tracks others send to me, and the occasional final clean-up and sweetening of mixed songs that I hesitate to call proper "mastering", but you get the idea. I use low track counts (10 or less) and no MIDI.

I really like T2's interface; it seems to "click" with my brain. Was easy to get up-to-speed quickly, and it's very natural and smooth to use on-the-fly, easy to see what's going on across the board. Integrates pretty well with VST plugins, too.

I guess the only caveat would be to consider how much you might be working with or working with tracks from other platforms, since the way you accomplish a particular task in Tracktion might be significantly different that the process used in more 'standard' tools. If you're used to PT or something else, there would be an adjustment period...

- Jay

aston martyn · Post by **aston martyn** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 10:21 am

I sometimes read Mix, Post, and EQ, but TapeOp is definitely the most fun and down-to-erf (as Tracy Morgan would say).
Seems less beholden to the gear mfr's press releases, too.

I'm definitely getting the Tapco USB link...thanks for all the info.

wedge · Post by **wedge** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 10:27 am

aston martyn wrote:I sometimes read Mix, Post, and EQ, but TapeOp is definitely the most fun and down-to-erf (as Tracy Morgan would say).
Seems less beholden to the gear mfr's press releases, too.

I'm definitely getting the Tapco USB link...thanks for all the info.

Sound on Sound is cool... A Brit point of view...

inverseroom · Post by **inverseroom** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 10:31 am

SOS is very dorky. They are not into DIY. I like it though.

madtho · Post by **madtho** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 7:13 pm

inverseroom wrote:
madtho wrote:I saw no big benefits in Tracktion 3.
Multi-core support. That's the big one, for me.

I guess i glazed/glossed over that one. I've got a G4 ibook that's working so well I don't see an upgrade anytime soon.

-mad

oyrgawd · Post by **oyrgawd** » Fri Dec 07, 2007 7:34 pm

I bought T3 with the intention of it replacing DP. I really like the simplicity of the interface. Then I was bummed that most of Komplete didn't work with it. And I couldn't re-open an edit that had an instance of Battery in it coz Battery doesn't work. Then an update came, still with no fix for Battery and other NI plugs. Then I couldn't find a way to EQ the sidechain on the T3 gate plug. Then I couldn't figure out how to route things to reamp a guitar track. And now there has still not been an update since September. In October I emailed them and had them de-activate me so I could sell my copy, but I haven't yet (um, I'd sell it for cheap). It's nice but just not as mature as the competition, and as was pointed out above, it's no longer the baby of an enthusiastic genius, so updates are few and far between.

Logic Express is pretty hot now...

kayagum · Post by **kayagum** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 4:57 am

inverseroom wrote:SOS is very dorky. They are not into DIY. I like it though.

SOS is very DIY when it comes to room treatments. Their Studio SOS articles are fun to read (the editors go visit a reader's home studio and fix their acoustics and gear issues).

inverseroom · Post by **inverseroom** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 5:13 am

kayagum wrote:
inverseroom wrote:SOS is very dorky. They are not into DIY. I like it though.
SOS is very DIY when it comes to room treatments. Their Studio SOS articles are fun to read (the editors go visit a reader's home studio and fix their acoustics and gear issues).

Yeah, that's true! You won't see a soldering iron in there though.

I came off as not liking it...actually I really enjoy it a lot, I've been a subscriber for years...

Kindly Killer · Post by **Kindly Killer** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 6:24 am

I recorded lots of for-fun stuff with the original version of Tracktion when they started giving it away. It was fun. I got a lot more ambitious with learning to record when I used that software because it was so easy to use. Everything is there in one clean interface, one screen. There is an intuitive logic to everything, including the hotkeys. Very easy to use, easy to learn.

It has been a while, but I can tell you that the MIDI capabilities in v1 were very... how you say... hands on - you could get pretty much anything done, but no power tools. Kinda the opposite of the rest of the program, which was all streamlined and high level.

A few recommendations for your budget:

Sonar. They have many versions, all using the same core code. Good solid software, has all the features that the expensive ones do, relatively easy to learn, track folders and track layers is much nicer than any other DAW's editing interface.
Ardour. If you install Ubuntu Linux alongside your windows installation (easy to do) you can take advantage of pretty mature open source DAW. Actually for open source it is remarkably mature, but for real world it's just pretty good. I recorded a bunch of simple tunes for a book with it. Some caveats:
- hardware support is not universal - make sure all your hardware is supported first, or better, build a system around Ardour on Ubuntu
- there are no pro quality plugin effects for linux. or not a complete set, anyway. so you're going to end up pulling your hair out trying to compile Ardour with VST support (it's possible), do without some things, or use outboard gear.
- Ardour has no MIDI sequencer of its own, but IMO that is actually a plus the way it works in Linux - they have this thing called JACK that is like a virtual patchbay where you can sync different programs and route MIDI and audio visually. I used a sequencer called Rosegarden and a Roland JV-1010, which worked and sounded great. BTW I couldn't find a Linux librarian that worked with my JV-1010, which was fine for my project b/c I wasn't going to spend enough time to develop unique sounds - I just used some old standby's. Oh, yeah - and I used a dedicated drum sequencer called Hydrogen for drums and percussion. It is just a really good, really basic drum sampler/sequencer with a good, usable mixer. All those songs I did started as drums.
- Linux is always going to require some personal tweaking, tuning, and maintenance to get it working right for you. The upside is that you can tune it all you want, and it will be faster and more stable than anything else. If you're the type to whine and cry that the developers are stupid/evil every time something goes wrong, stick with a Mac.
Kristal. It's relatively new, works on Windows, and is free. The two big pluses are that it is a decent VST host and that is supports ASIO drivers. You can use the windows version of Hydrogen to do your drums [or real drums] and then do everything else as straight audio in Kristal, if that workflow works for you. I did a few quickie test projects to see whether it was good enough to recommend to my students, and it is very usable, tho basic.
In the end, instead of budgeting an arbitrary amount and picking the best thing in that range, it makes more sense to me to decide exactly what you want and figure out how to come up with that much money. You are going to get hooked on recording and spend many maaaaany hours with this software, and if you choose foolishly, a lot of that time will just go down the drain. Even if you're a kid and you make $beans/hr at a part time job, that $200 is still going to add up fast when you factor your time investment in the recording hobby.

aston martyn · Post by **aston martyn** » Sat Dec 08, 2007 8:49 pm

Yeah, the budget I've set aside does not include a grand for a new PC. I ONLY have an iMac at home, as hard as it is to believe. Also, I'm a musician, not a computer science engineer/programmer, so fighting with Windows or 'tweaking Linux' is not an option for my brain type.
I don't want to turn this into one of an endless stream of Microsoft vs Apple posts. They each have their strengths and weaknesses. Windows has ubiquity, Apple has ease of use. For me, Windows is pretty much for work-related things like email and documents. Apple is for my creative side. All the things that piss me off about the computers I use at work (very new w/big processors, by the way) don't seem to happen at home...freezes, crashes, spam, viruses, etc. PCs just seem to be in a constant state of uneasy limbo, whereas I just keep puttering along on the G5 1.9GHz PowerPC iMac running OS X Tiger 10.4.11. I don't have a lot of crazy demands, not a ton of inputs & plugins, only recording a couple tracks at once.
PCs just represent something that always need to be worked on, tweaked, watched over, & still I can never be sure the thing isn't going to crash in the middle of a crazy Friday afternoon.
My Mac is just a means to an end, not the end itself. That's what I find attractive about the idea of Tracktion...the means not getting in the way of the end. The computer isn't part of my 'journey'...it's the thing that's in the way. Hopefully, if it works, it's also a tool for me to do things that wouldn't be possible without it.
Sorry I lied about not debating the virtues of platforms...your results may vary.

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