Advice on stability of Tracktion 2 (possible future user)

[StuRS]

Hi
I today spec a new computer and included mackie spike and Tracktion 2.

I was hoping to run Tracktion 2 along side Reason 2.5, Recycle 2 & Sound Forge studio 7.

So far I havent found fault with Reason. It has never crashed, never done anything odd and has proved trouble free. I need an Audio application to rewire along side including hardware for recording and have the choice of Tracktion 2 (Spike) or Cubase LE (Focusrite Saffire) Or other suggestions?

My main question is:
Will I get the same stability that I have experienced from Reason with Tracktion 2?

Does it crash? I had a quick look through the first page and there seem to be some minor glitches/issues occuring. Are these quickly rectified? Am I likely to get these with a laptop that has been configured for music?

The thing is I dont get very much time for music so the time spent needs to be constructive.

Thanks in advance for your help
Stu

[Neil G]

the only time ive ever had traktion 1 or 2 feeeze up on me or glitch was when i was heavily tweakin the shit out kontakts functions while automating sample start time, loop points etc. T basically froze for about 30 seconds then just started playing along again fine

other than that, ive had no issues with stability and i used to use it alongside reason with no issues, and i use soundforge 7 with it as weel still.

with that said, id say youd be hard pressed to find an app that works as flawless as reason. i mean has anyone ever crashed reason. id like t oknow.

[jplanet]

While reason is very stable, and so is T2, Rewire is a little buggy no matter what host you use, and T2 is no exception. There is a known bug where the first note gets dropped when using rewire, but there are easy workarounds...

[Lunch Money]

There are a few people who experience the occasional glitch, but frankly I'm unable to replicate. I have been running Tracktion ever since 1.4 (or 1.5?) and it has never really "crashed" on me unless I was using a known buggy plug-in.

The thing about Reason in terms of stability is that it's all self-contained-- any problems between "components" are all addressed by the Propellerheads themselves.

With a program like Tracktion or any other plug-in-hosting sequencer, you simply can't take all of the other plug-in manufacturers into account.

Using Tracktion with its built-in plug-ins, plus using known 'stable' plug-ins (check with us before buying an expensive package like Waves and you'll quickly find out whether or not there are issues!), and I don't imagine you'll be likely to ever run into an actual 'crash'.

Greg

[StuRS]

Thanks for the replies so far. I dont really want to get into downloading loads of plug ins, I personally think what is contained between the two will be plently to keep me busy. I will admit that tracktion 2 being bundled with the spike is a huge bonus (was originally just looking for a audio interface with phantom power, i/o etc)

Are there any timing issues in traction 2 that I should be aware of?

I dont mean to sound like I am trying to find a fault, just looking for a good partner (without all of the added windows) for Reason.

Does anyone here use Tracktion 2 & Reason Together?

Thanks
Stu

[ceenda]

There's a long-running problem with the first note being dropped on the first measure on tracks that are directed to a Re-Wire channel.

It doesn't cause a problem if you shift your song/arrangement ahead by 1 measure (or even 1 tick), but it can be an annoyance, and it was something that a few of us hoped was going to be fixed.

Tracktion and Reason work really nicely together and it's a pretty clean (imo) implementation of re-wire apart from those little annoyances.

Best bet is to try T2 demo with Reason and push it as hard as possible.

[ceenda]

Forgot to mention, I have never had T2 crash on me. It seems to be rock solid on no less than 3 different machines that I've used it on. (at different times, only licenced to run on 2 PCs at a time )

[StuRS]

There's a long-running problem with the first note being dropped on the first measure on tracks that are directed to a Re-Wire channel.

It doesn't cause a problem if you shift your song/arrangement ahead by 1 measure (or even 1 tick), but it can be an annoyance, and it was something that a few of us hoped was going to be fixed.

Ah, so its just right at the begining of a track? So if you have your first midi note on bar 2, everything will be ok? I dont think that will bother me that much :)

[Lunch Money]

The key is to have the first note at bar 2, but start playback from even one tick in advance of that note. If your note is at bar 2, but you start playback at bar 2, I think you still get the dropped note.... or do you?

I don't own Reason, so I could be wrong, but I THINK that's how it works.

Greg

[polaris20]

I've been using T1.6 for like a year now, and have been playing with T2 demo for a couple weeks, and I am quite impressed. It works really really well with Reason, is dead simple to use, and (call me crazy for specifying this as a reason) is nice to look at.

I have tried an assload of hosts, and never before have I been able to start getting useable tracks without cracking the manual, and getting full use after looking at the manual.

I highly recommend it, and I blame Mackie for deviously giving away T1.6 last winter. Had they not, I may never have tried it.

[bk]

it has never really "crashed" on me unless I was using a known buggy plug-in.

Agreed. The only Tracktion crashes I have ever experienced were directly traceable to a wonky plugin. As soon as the offending plug is removed, and Tracktion relaunched, all's well.

I think you'll find that for the majority of people, Tracktion is incredibly stable.

[leeturne]

Have used it on both PC and Mac and it has been very stable (no crashes). The best thing about Tracktion is that it is very quick to get up and running. It acts as both a scratchpad for basic ideas and for following through to a completed track. I've used Sonar and Cubase and, as said previously, I had to resort to the help files to accomplish some tasks. The only other program that I clicked with was Logic but once cross platform support fell away I stopped using it. I must say that I don't use much in depth midi editing as most parts are played in live so I can't comment too much on the midi functionality.

[oxbee]

T2 is good software coded with efficiency.

Last time I used T2 intensively was 2 weeks ago (PC). It ran for 18 hours non-stop (voice takes) with various projects. No glitch, no freeze and a LOT of takes.

[StuRS]

Thanks again for the replies. I have read the mag reviews & had a read through on here and am going to hold on for a while. I tried an old traction 1.4 demo I forgot I had. I was very impressed with its quickness and ease and loved the one window environment, saying that I did make it crash by copying some effects and got a Rewire error (wasnt even using rewire?) but accept I was using an earlier version, but this was only after about 15-20 mins use. I may yet try the V2 demo along with some other software. Traction 2 still seems like a fairly good bargain @ £129, especially when you can get the spike included for another £40 (original RRP of £339!) but not just yet.

Thanks again.

[djsubject]

Tracktion is the only host not to crash on me during a working seshion!!!!

unless you go & inable "real time praiority mode"


Subz