Good host for audio tracks?

[jens]

You might want to check out Podium as well then. Very capable, imo. Takes a while to understand it's different design if you're used to some other sequencer, apart from that, everything is soooo elegantly thought-out

Podium's lack of audio-capabilites is the main reason why I don't use it more often than I currently do...

if you're working a lot with audio-material stay away from Podium...

[stefancrs]

Oh. Yeah, I guess it matters in what way you work with your audio.

[Rajah]

I´m looking for a good host to be used mainly for mixing audio tracks in a pc.
I want to stay away from Cubase as much as possible.
Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance.
Germ

I guess no one mentioned Vegas.

[haydxn]

Certainly NOT tracktion 2.

nonsense. i've never worked with a more intuitive audio sequencing program. Tracktion's audio ability is the main thing that keeps me hooked. it's brilliant.

[jens]

Oh. Yeah, I guess it matters in what way you work with your audio.

yes, probably - but if someone asks for a 'good host for audio' I'm assuming he wants to record his own stuff...
- and if so one of the most important things is the possibility to apply fade-in/out on single audio-clips (for crossfades - e.g. when you doing a punch-in) - also if you remix stuff and thus manually slice up samples this is important.

As you might know I was one of the very first two beta-testers of Podium (beta-testing started in october or november 2003 - it was v0.70) and several points on the original todo-list were requested by me... - so as well these two which are still on it:

- Audio event fade in/out and level properties.

- Cross-fade options for overlapping audio events.

yes, they are almost two years old - this shows that Frits focus is clearly not on audio - mind you, I'm not complaining - I'm just stating the facts...

[stefancrs]

Yeah, those features would indeed be nice. I mainly record just vocals and usually just use automation for similar things. Which isn't a replacement, but it works for the way I work with audio.

[jens]

Certainly NOT tracktion 2.

nonsense. i've never worked with a more intuitive audio sequencing program. Tracktion's audio ability is the main thing that keeps me hooked. it's brilliant.

Tracktion's audio-editing is fantastic, outstanding - sadly it's almost the only thing Tracktion is good at... - most of the rest is just poorly implemented

[jens]

Yeah, those features would indeed be nice. I mainly record just vocals and usually just use automation for similar things. Which isn't a replacement, but it works for the way I work with audio.

yes, sure - in some cases it might help - but as soon as you have overlapping clips volume-automation is utterly useless...

[stefancrs]

Yeah. But I never have. Seriously And it's not because I avoid it

[jens]

then I can see how it doesn't bother you too much - but for me it often means exporting an re-importing audio-material just for crossfading overlapping clips - and then it's not realtime anymore and (semi-)desctructive...

[stefancrs]

Indeed. If you're used to moving around clips, be it vocals or instrumental stuff, crossfades makes everything so much easier that you don't want to be without it.

[jens]

Indeed. If you're used to moving around clips, be it vocals or instrumental stuff, crossfades makes everything so much easier that you don't want to be without it.

exactly!

[jens]

b.t.w.: eXT is it for me...

[Distorted_Mastermind]

I do a lot of audio. Most of what I do is recording instruments and vocals. My vote is Tracktion. I can't speak for T2 as of yet, but the first version is rock solid for me. It's a lightweight program that packs a heavy punch.
Another suggestion for a low budget would be magix audio studio. I think it can record 24 bit now, and it's fairly easy to work with (not as easy and smooth as Tracktion though). You can buy a download of it from their site for 40 bucks or buy the boxed version with midi studio for about 75 bucks (at your local electronics store....lol). It also has pretty good cd mastering built in. The cd's play in any cd player I've thrown them at (even if the don't usually play cdr's). I still use it for that, and it's worth the 40 bucks for that feature alone.
Sonar would be one to check out also. I haven't tried it, but heard it's pretty simple to use.
On the multiple time sigs.....there's workarounds for that. Math is the universal language. It can even make it's way into music. Also remember to use markers so you know where the parts change easy enough.
I've done some multi time signature stuff before, but 4/4 is popular and easier to dance to. I stick with that cause I like to see the ladies shaking their booties rather than sitting on them.
If you are doing multi time sig stuff...my suggestion is to play the parts (I know old school stuff, but it works...it really does). If you don't play well and want to do multi time sigs then you better start practicing.

[jens]

.
Another suggestion for a low budget would be magix audio studio. I think it can record 24 bit now, and it's fairly easy to work with (not as easy and smooth as Tracktion though).

let me add a few things:

1. it has no midi (thus no support for vsti's)

2. it's a light version of Sampülitude

3. of course it's not as easy as Tracktion because it's far more advanced - you need to know your stuff for being able to set it up properly to your way if working - after you did that it's at least as comfortable to handle as Tracktion (yes, you guessed right - I use if for a few years now)

4. the workflow is much smoother than Tracktion's