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

aston martyn · Post by **aston martyn** » Wed Dec 05, 2007 1:46 pm

Hey-
Narrowing my choices for an under $200 solution to record into my iMac.
Like what I've seen regarding Tracktion so far...any insight?
Looking to buy the interface bundled with the software, so if you have any experience using the Tapco USB or Firewire Link, Mackie Onyx Satellite or Spike, chime in with that too.
Thanks!

Electricide · Post by **Electricide** » Wed Dec 05, 2007 3:08 pm

some of us did reviews of the satellite when mackie sent us some for free, for some reason. UTFSF and you'll find those. It's good for a few particular things.

aston martyn · Post by **aston martyn** » Wed Dec 05, 2007 3:50 pm

Yup, I do know what UTFSF means...which is why I asked the question...couldn't find any recent info.
No need to berate someone who doesn't get your newsletter.
Anybody else have experience with the Tapco or Mackie interfaces?

philbo · Post by **philbo** » Wed Dec 05, 2007 4:01 pm

I used Tracktion 2 for a year or two. It was fast & efficient - - if you like going in and getting stuff captured quickly without fighting techno-snafus for hours, it's perfect. The midi editing is not strong, but is usable. I mostly used it for capturing audio tracks though. I since have abandoned it and moved on, since I didn't want to be caught on the upgrade $$$ treadmill that started with Tracktion 3.

inverseroom · Post by **inverseroom** » Wed Dec 05, 2007 4:33 pm

Aston, he wasn't berating you, that's just the lingua franca.

T3 is stable and handy and easy to use, and if you add the Tranzport it's very, very easy to use. People who are into sequencing synths have complaints about MIDI recording, but I don't think I've ever used that...I love synths but play them in real time. The timestretch in T3 sounds very good, and it has a really nice channel strip with a surprisingly excellent track compressor. Everything is on one screen at all times. I love this. There's no separate mixer...if you really want that, you can try Reaper, which is even Cheaper.

I mostly use the computer as a tape machine with insert effects. If that's your bag, Tracktion is rad. I'm running it through the Onyx 400f interface, which is great ever since the recent driver update...the onyx pres are clean and useful. Satellite doesn't do zero-latency monitoring, and that was a dealbreaker for me...but it is rugged and has those nice pres.

segaface · Post by **segaface** » Wed Dec 05, 2007 4:50 pm

I've been using Tracktion since version 1, and I still use Tracktion 2 (no need as of now to upgrade).

Compared to the other DAWs I tried at the time, the learning curve was minimal, and the feature set was always improving because of the "dribble-ware" style updates. This has slowed since Jules sold Tracktion to Mackie, but for me Tracktion 2 has been fast and rock solid.

Like Inverseroom said, it's so nice having everything on one screen- flipping between a bank of "faders" and the edit window would drive me batty on a laptop.

Andy

jrsgodfrey · Post by **jrsgodfrey** » Wed Dec 05, 2007 5:14 pm

I use T3 and am very happy w/ it. The "building block" scheme really works for me. Getting away from the virtual analog mixer model takes some getting used to, though.

I felt like DP had gotten way overblown, but I also don't do any midi.

aston martyn · Post by **aston martyn** » Wed Dec 05, 2007 6:48 pm

inverseroom wrote:Aston, he wasn't berating you, that's just the lingua franca.

Sorry, Electricide..none taken. I get touchy. I've been on a couple of computer-techie boards where the Jimmy Fallon character from "Your Company's IT Guy" goes all spider-monkey on people just looking for opinions (Sorry I didn't track down your 4,000th post from 2 years back, dude. Welcome to Smugville, population, you). In a related story, our company's IT guy is actually very cool.

It looks like the Spike is discontinued, and the Satellite is on the way out...I guess I'm down to the USB or Firewire flavors of the Tapco Link. All the other sub-$200 boxes I've looked at seem to come with Cubase LE, which I'm gathering is not-too-highly thought of. It looks like Tracktion is the way to go, since I can't drop the coin for Logic or PT LE, in addition to the cost of an interface. Not too wild about Digi's inability to play nice with the rest of the world, either.

So, Link USB or Firewire?

wedge · Post by **wedge** » Wed Dec 05, 2007 7:16 pm

aston martyn wrote: I've been on a couple of computer-techie boards where the Jimmy Fallon character from "Your Company's IT Guy" goes all spider-monkey on people just looking for opinions

That rarely happens on this board, which is one reason that it's so great, but it does happen once in a while...

aston martyn wrote: It looks like Tracktion is the way to go, since I can't drop the coin for Logic or PT LE, in addition to the cost of an interface. Not too wild about Digi's inability to play nice with the rest of the world, either.

I have an MBox2 Mini, which hovers around $300. Comes with the latest version of PTs, which is 7.4 now, which has a very cool audio stretching and bending technology that has me salivating to upgrade. Of course, the Mini only has 2 inputs, and possibly that's not your bag. Works for me because I'm a singer/songwriter type who builds tunes a couple of tracks at a time.

As far as playing with the rest of the world is concerned, you can make the argument that PTs LE is the way to go in that regard because PTs is in just about every professional studio on planet Earth, or so I understand. If you're hoping to have your tracks mixed pro-fessional-like one day, you might wanna consider that.

Just sayin's all...

RefD · Post by **RefD** » Wed Dec 05, 2007 8:10 pm

you can always render tracks to stems and those can be handled by ANY DAW, no need to get Shanghaied into PT-Land.

these_go211 · Post by **these_go211** » Wed Dec 05, 2007 8:32 pm

i've been using tracktion2 and an onyx 1220 mixer for over a year now. i came from a pro tools le/mbox world previously. i find tracktion incredibly intuitive, easy to use, and seems to not tax the cpu much. I LOVE IT! i don't use midi so i can't comment on that. but i just love pretty much everything about it. i feel like i've been so much more productive since i made the switch.

jrsgodfrey · Post by **jrsgodfrey** » Wed Dec 05, 2007 8:36 pm

seems to not tax the cpu much.

Big plus.

aston martyn · Post by **aston martyn** » Wed Dec 05, 2007 8:58 pm

I think both the cpu AND the working poor should be taxed less.
The lighter cpu load is a plus, since I also don't have the latest Quad-core-whatever processor to handle all those cool-lookin' plugin VU's n' knobs.
Did consider the Mbox Mini, however, for exactly the reasons stated by Wedge.
Although I wouldn't jump off a bridge just because every other studio did.
There seems to be a pretty strong divide between PT and every other program...
So I guess, if you have the mad ducat$, go with PT, if not, something else.
I use Adobe Audition 2.0 at my job in radio production (which is what Cool Edit Pro is now called). It seems more straightforward than PT, less clicking around, etc. But I do hate it when PC's crash, though. Microsoft!!!

I think I'm going to go with the Link USB. Can't beat $150 clams for a decent interface AND software.

Talk me out of it if necessary...the local Guitar Center is no help at all.

aston martyn · Post by **aston martyn** » Wed Dec 05, 2007 9:08 pm

And another thing...Tape Op is flippin' awesome!!!
I read a lot, and I think I get more out of this mag than anything else, including Cat Fancier and Soldier Of Fortune. I wish it came out every month!

inverseroom · Post by **inverseroom** » Thu Dec 06, 2007 4:27 am

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.

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

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