Other hosts that are modular like Tracktion?

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Thanks in advance for reading this :)

I have always loved the ease with which effects can be intertwined so easily in Tracktion, on either a per track or per clip basis, but for various reasons, I have been wanting to try something new.

I have used Reason, and Acid, and Audition, but none of them work that well for what I do, which mostly consists of recording normal acoustic audio (drums, voices, trumpets, etc) and then mangling the hell out of it. I do use virtual instruments, but my MIDI needs are generally much simpler than my audio needs.

I have been out of the software loop for a while and was wondering what is new and cool in the world of modular hosts. And as I am approaching the dreaded time when I am going to be updating my entire system, I would like to ask my expert comrades at kvr for some guidance.

Generally I am a cheap bastard when it comes to software (microphones and cymbals are absurdly expensive, and I NEED MORE OF BOTH OF THEM, DAMMIT), but I am willing to be talked into paying more for something if it has tangible advantages.

;)

Thanks again in advance.

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energyXT and Mulab are better! ;-)

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Thanks. I could never grok EnergyXT, but I haven't looked at MUlab in a long time. Sounds like fun. :)

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Do you know about Tracktion 5 it is now owned by TSC Jules the original creator of Tracktion . It is better than the T4 and T3 releases ... There also is MUX by Mutools and also meta plug by DDMF which can give you that modular type thing in another host as a VST plugin .

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Audiomulch is very interesting and a different approach from Tracktion and the others mentioned (more like a modular synth). There is also Usine in a similar vein.

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Turello wrote:energyXT and Mulab are better! ;-)
Since he's working primarily with audio and not MIDI, I think Tracktion is better than both.

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Reaper is amazing in regards to this... beats the hell out of all other "modular" hosts. It even allows feedback loops.
"Preamps have literally one job: when you turn up the gain, it gets louder." Jamcat, talking about presmp-emulation plugins.

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I usually make the drums and some synths with FL Studio 9, after exporting in the audio tracks at 24bit\44khz (the drums in multiout) and load the waves files in Studio One or Nuendo 5 and start to rec real instruments (acoustic and electric guitars, electric bass, percussions, vocals etc etc)... Very usefull... IMHO Studio One is the most simple (there's also a free version but don't load VST)... I've tried all DAWs and (il)Logic, ProTools M-Powered and Tracktion are the wrong workflow DAWs for me...

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fedexnman wrote:There also is MUX by Mutools and also meta plug by DDMF which can give you that modular type thing in another host as a VST plugin .
+1
Metaplugin do very similar things as rack builder in Tracktion.
Should be in every daw - very useful.

Limited to 6 mono outs(3 stereo) but still overcomes routing limitations that most daws have - but Reaper.

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+1 for Audiomulch

It lacks pianoroll, but you can easily patch midi plugins. If you are mainly into realtime process of signals I think it is the best for this. I find its paching sistem the best and easier, feedback loops and such are very easy to do. Its Metasurface is an amazing tool to, it lets you morph between different states of every parameters with just a simple mouse move.

The main problem with AM right now is that it is still 32 bit only, I hope we will see 64 soon. If that's is not a big problem for you right now then try it, I'm almost sure you wil like it.

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I prefer using a modular subhost (in my case, preferably Bidule) inside some other more linear host; it gives more flexibility than any other approach (eg multiple tempos, completely free routing, nestable containers, completely free parameter control/modulation, MIDI/audio/automation manipulation etc etc)
my other modular synth is a bugbrand

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If you're prepared to handle sequencing yourself (rather than having an an arrange view and a piano roll built in), nothing can really beat Max/MSP for modular workflow and live editing.

For plug-ins that offer modular environments without being built into one host, try this thread I started a while back. There are several good suggestions, including Bidule, as whyterabbyt mentioned.
jens wrote:Reaper is amazing in regards to this... beats the hell out of all other "modular" hosts. It even allows feedback loops.
I think it's a bit of a stretch to say that Reaper is modular in the way OP means.

I guess you could make some JS effects to mimic MSP/Reaktor/etc objects and handle the routing between them with the routing matrix if you really wanted, but that isn't exactly built-in functionality. And I don't think it's what you meant, either. I think you just meant flexible track routing in Reaper... which is great, but not really a modular environment a la Tracktion/Bidule/Reason, etc.

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nm
Last edited by hibidy on Thu Dec 18, 2014 9:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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I've had a change of heart. Reaper is modular.

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Gates of H&I wrote:I've had a change of heart. Reaper is modular.
You're no fun.

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