Debating: MuLab vs. Tracktion 13

[DaveL60]

With the release of Tracktion Waveform 13, I find myself pondering whether to purchase WF 13 Pro (I've mostly been using WF 12 Free of late) or shift directions to MuLab 9. With the initial discount on WF, the Pro package there and the MuLab license key are roughly comparable in cost. I've not played with MuLab in quite a while but always found it attractive and one can't fault the developer's support. Trying to formulate a decision while the WF 13 40% discount is still in effect (not clear how long that will last).

While I realize: "try it and see" is the ultimate answer, I'm wondering if anyone dug into both of these deeply enough to make a meaningful comparison? FWIW my music is mostly in a "classic rock" vein. I play guitar & keys, have EZD3 and Modo Bass 2 as primary tools.

[eLawnMust]

Personal opinion of course but before when Waveform was actually Tracktion I would've went with Tracktion over the then MuLab but nowadays very much the opposite, would now go with MuLab over Waveform, even Zynewave Podium, Renoise or MultiTrack Studio over Waveform...

But I'm sure opinions will vary....

[pdxindy]

FWIW my music is mostly in a "classic rock" vein. I play guitar & keys, have EZD3 and Modo Bass 2 as primary tools.

For Classic Rock, seems like a classic DAW would be better suited. Studio One, Cubase, Logic or even Reaper.

[DaveL60]

For Classic Rock, seems like a classic DAW would be better suited. Studio One, Cubase, Logic or even Reaper.

I also have Samplitude X6 Pro, which I guess would be more "classic". But I find Tracktion logical and comfortable. Since I've never actually done a full project in MuLab, my liking there is more "sentimental" I guess.

Or was "classic DAW for classic rock" more tongue-in-cheek?

[DaveL60]

Personal opinion of course but before when Waveform was actually Tracktion I would've went with Tracktion over the then MuLab but nowadays very much the opposite, would now go with MuLab over Waveform, even Zynewave Podium, Renoise or MultiTrack Studio over Waveform...

My needs are simple and Waveform is a comfortable fit. I tried Podium a bit long ago and it was OK; I never quite grasped the whole "hierarchical mixing" concept. It looks like it hasn't been updated in about 5 years?

But I'm sure opinions will vary....

They always do, don't they.

[Watchful]

Waveform works extremely well for traditional rock arrangements, as it's basically setup--as you know from W12--as a hardware studio in electronic fashion: inputs flow to outputs, and you have detailed control over routing. MIDI and audio can be routed however you need it to go, with no limits on sends or returns. That's what drew me to it a few years back over Cubase: it was just easier and faster, like in the old days when you could just throw a quarter-inch jack plug into something and get music out of it.

I hear what people say about Tracktion vs Waveform, but unless you've really worked with Waveform, it's far, far better than the original Tracktion line. They don't compare except superficially. There are things I loved about T6 and T7, but Waveform has either improved on it or they're not important to me anymore (like 32-bit plugins).

BTW I believe the 40% sale goes until April 8th, but if you miss it--there will be another before long.

[DaveL60]

I've decided to go the straightforward route (for now): purchased WF 13 Pro while the initial sale is still active.

The (for now) part is: I can always decide to give MuLab a whirl at some point. It's priced quite fairly should I decide I want to add it to my options.

Thanks, all, for the various thoughts.

[jonljacobi]

FWIW my music is mostly in a "classic rock" vein. I play guitar & keys, have EZD3 and Modo Bass 2 as primary tools.

For Classic Rock, seems like a classic DAW would be better suited. Studio One, Cubase, Logic or even Reaper.

This is my workflow, and I far prefer Ableton Live. Took a while to get used to, but I find it much, much faster to get traditional recording done. Note that I use Keyboard Maestro to augment the key commands so I can do most stuff with a single-finger key press.

But of the two, as much as I love the Mulab dev, Waveform is probably the best suited to traditional use of the two.

[musicartist99]

Mulab is geared more towards electronic music, based on the demo videos and tutorials from the developer.

[jens]

FWIW my music is mostly in a "classic rock" vein. I play guitar & keys

If I am not entirely mistaken, Mutools still doesn't even have loop-recording yet (not to mention some kind of comping/take-management) so it's pretty much the worst choice when it comes to regularly working with your own audio-recordings.

Tracktion is much much better in that regard, but you can't add additional takes to an audio-clip later on.

ARA? Mutools: nope; Tracktion: yes, but only V1 (so Melodyne only)

[Michael L]

If I am not entirely mistaken, Mutools still doesn't even have loop-recording yet (not to mention some kind of comping/take-management)

You are entirely mistaken.
MuLab actually has quite clear and elegant implementations.
Best thing is to actually try it yourself to see if its a good fit.

[jens]

Oh, that's a nice surprise indeed then! I was a Muzys-user back in the day so I'm always quite interested in Mulab's progress but I must admit didn't test the current version yet. (But I looked at the new features - was it introduced in a point-update perhaps?)

[jens]

Jesus - it's really tiny here - apparently it doesn't give a f**k about Windows' scaling-setting.

[Calum]

You can adjust MuLab's scaling in the preferences:

Screenshot 2024-04-18 at 09.04.54.png

[jens]

Thanks - but in order to do that I have to first change my screen-resolution, fiddle around with a setting, of course it'll be much too big, then I have to switch my screen-resolution back to what it was...

meanwhile all other applic applications just work fine.

Edit: never mind - "Auto" did the trick as it should - DAW programmers, huh? They are smart enough to code complex applications of that kind, but then they make dumb-mistakes such as setting the default scaling-value to 100% instead of auto....