How is Tracktion working out for you? My decision tomm

[headquest]

If you're done with the loops thing, or if you don't mind keeping your loops at their original tempo, you're fine. Or if you don't mind using ACID just for your loop-based tracks and then bringing them back into Tracktion, you're fine.

Greg

Or if you have ACID 5 you could simply run it as a rewire slave within Tracktion, which has some great rewire host functionality

But I would advise you to test this using the demo first just to check, as I've not personally tested the Tracktion/ACID combination.

[headquest]

Generally, I think you get what you pay for.

I agree. And it's also truly amazing what you get for your money, whether you spend it on Tracktion or something further up-market. What a time to be alive and making music!!

[jtxx000]

Ok, how about this. I'm a LONGGGGG time Acid user. That is what I will be switching from. How does it stack up to Acid?

The timestretching in Trackion is nowhere near as good or flexible as in ACID and it is also VERY CPU heavy to use.

ACID and Tracktion are based on the same audio-first-instead-of-MIDI principle. MIDI does not get any effects (such as volume automation) or envelopes.

If I were you, I would get ACID. If it's too expensive, we could arrange something so that I buy you the academic version ($250).

ACID is better and has more features and everything, but it's EXTREMELY heavy on CPU and does not like VSTs that much (synth VSTs, not audio effects).

I disagree. If you are working with loops then acid is definitely the way to go. If you are recording you can't beat tracktion.

[androidlove]

what's with the need for time strech? why not just re-record the part in the new tempo?









don't let android hijack this thread!


tracktion is fantastic. there, back ot

[Rock]

If you are like me and you are tempted to get defensive when people bash Tracktion, just keep in mind that there are enought posters on KVR bashing the acoustic guitar to keep a thread alive and active... the acoustic guitar for goodnesss sakes!

[pdxindy]

Tracktion's MIDI is fine. You need to adjust a bit if you are used to traditional sequencers, but all the important stuff is there and the rest will be added in time.

(I have programmed LOTS of MIDI!)

No aftertouch support

I have to go two menus deep to show CC values for a specific controller.

I cannot display 2 controllers at once so there is a ridiculous amount of switching back and forth, just to see how they relate to each other.

Drawing CC curves is very fussy. Unless you go slow it has glitches. I try to draw a smooth curve over an existing area and there are gaps. Sometimes going slow doesn't work and I have to zoom in to fix an area.

Those are just a couple of numerous thing I could list. There are no show stoppers. Midi is functional in Tracktion. It is okay, but not fun or powerful. Mostly, I rerecord stuff, rather than edit midi.

Again, I like Tracktion and it is the best thing I know when I want to sit down, hit record and play music. But midi editing is weak.

[rivrock]

Iv'e enjoyed using Tracktion, it's a great program, easy to learn and use imo

But alas, my tank, it appears is almost empty......

You might want to check out this thread before you buy

http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... 4865c5b600

Unless this policy changes, in the near future, I won't be upgrading, instead my money will be going on Sonar, which is good for life.

[androidlove]

Drawing CC curves is very fussy

i just swing the knobs with my mouse and "simplify" if i need to

as far as seeing 2 at once goes, i just watch the knobs turn. i'm simple like that

[No name]

Well, the time stretching has always been a plus for me. I use my own loops. Here is how I work...

I do all my midi in FL, put my drum loops together, my melodies, etc on seperate patterns. I then render them all out as loops where I open them and edit them all in Acid. See, the MIDI would be a big plus, but if I can;t get that then FL will always be here for me. Problem i'm having right now is the fact that Tracktion won't even bother to open on this pc, I have Windows 98se. I bought a new DAW but won't be hooking it up for another few days still so I can't try it out yet. I wouldn't mind trying out live, but damn it's so expensive. If I could just get it for about 250 or so. You know what, let this thread be more about hosts altogether than just reason in particular. The hosts i'm interested in hearing about are...

Cubase SE or SX (what are the big differences?)

Ableton Live

Tracktion



By the way, as for the aftertouch, it won't be necessary as I wouldn't even use it.

[headquest]

You might want to check out this thread before you buy

http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... 4865c5b600

From that thread:

The tech guy said if I liked T2 so much then I should do my part to try to keep them in business and buy another copy.

Bearing in mind that no software is perfect or bug-free, I would strongly advise sticking to companies that offer polite, helpful and fast customer support, who release bug fixes very regularly, and have a positive raport with users on their company forum.

Cakewalk and Ableton very much fit this bill on all three counts in my experience. Steinberg and Mackie really do not have a very good record.

[androidlove]

Bearing in mind that no software is perfect or bug-free, I would strongly advise sticking to companies that offer polite, helpful and fast customer support, who release bug fixes very regularly, and have a positive raport with users on their company forum.

i have no idea what tracktion support is like. i grabbed t1 nfr and it's been simple to operate. no need to contact them

there's the first note thing and the se preset thing. maybe they're fixed in t2. but the tech support can't fix it for me. nevertheless, it's been easy to work with

[Hybernation]

As a long time Sonar user, and someone who records MIDI/VSTs 95% of the time (and vocals the other 5%) I am having trouble dealing with the limited MIDI editing. I miss my "event lists" and "staff views" and a lot of the piano roll features in Sonar.

I bet you do . Having made the transition the other way around - moving up from Tracktion (basically a good beginner program) to Sonar (a mature professional DAW), I can't really imagine how anyone could cope with switching the other way...

Who said anything about switching I couldn't live with Sonar, especially when a project gets big and needs a real mixer (oops, that's another thread)

Other than that, though, I LOVE Tracktion. I find that using it helps me concentrate on composing and playing, capturing ideas. With Sonar I spend WAY too much time tweaking a flawed performance/idea, because I CAN. With Tracktion, I'll just record the idea again and move on!

The "Less is More" thing is certainly true, but once you've spent a short time learning Sonar, it's not exactly a difficult sequencer to use. I would say it is far more intuitive than Cubase for example (which I have also used/taught).

Can't disagree with you there, BUT I would like to point out that for simply/quickly "capturing ideas" Tracktion has some "workflow improvements" over Sonar. Once example is, say you are in Sonar improvising a MIDI track using a VST. Then it hits you, "what would this track sound like with a different VST?" In Sonar, it takes SEVERAL mouse clicks to make this happen...(insert the new softsynth with no MIDI/Audio track)....assign the MIDI and audio to the new synth. Or insert the new synth with default MIDI/Audio tracks and copy/paste the MIDI from one track to the other. In Tracktion, you can simply "right click" on the VST filter, and say "replace with a different one". Brilliant. Simple. Just one example.

For audio recording in particular, Tracktion is a very good programme, and great value for money without doubt. But the results I get in Sonar are significantly better, if only because of the fantastic audio effects that Sonar has on board (such as the incredibly good Sonitus fx:suite, the Perfect Space convolution, and the Roland Variphrase V-Vocal pitch correction).

(Actualy though, the core program is also much better, giving you the precision editing of both MIDI and audio that Tracktion lacks).

Tracktion is - as I said - great value for money if you are on a budget, but if you can afford it, Sonar 5 PE will certainly massively reward the small extra investment in money and time

Absolutely agree 100% (but you ARE starting to sound like a fanboy/thread hijacker ). Incidentally, you can use Perfect Space, at least, in Tracktion since Sonar supplied it as a standard VST, not locked to Sonar (thanks Cakewalk). It even works on my Receptor!

Bottom line, Sonar is a HUGE robust mature platform, and I probably shouldn't have started the comparison in this thread...I was just pointing out SOME of the limitations of Tracktion that I have trouble with. It will be very interesting, for sure, to see how Tracktion matures in the next release. I expect the playing field will get more level over time.

[headquest]

I have no idea what tracktion support is like. i grabbed t1 nfr and it's been simple to operate. no need to contact them

Well on the thread refered to, Lunch Money described the Mackie customer support guy with these words:

it's annoying that you were talking to an arrogant dickhead.

It does seem that a number of people who have needed to contact Mackie customer support have come away with a similar view.

there's the first note thing and the se preset thing. maybe they're fixed in t2. but the tech support can't fix it for me.

Believe it or not they did not fix that, no, in spite of three years of customers complaining about it. If you can live with it fine, but its best to go in with your eyes open in terms of the developer support (or lack of it).

[headquest]

I would like to point out that .... Just one example.

It's a very good example . Tracktion is definitely easier to pick up and quicker in use than Sonar is. Ableton Live is also a lot quicker for the kind of experimentation you describe there. (Live is actually my main host).

Incidentally, you can use Perfect Space, at least, in Tracktion since Sonar supplied it as a standard VST, not locked to Sonar (thanks Cakewalk). It even works on my Receptor!

Hmmm, yes, it also works very nicely in ABleton Live and in Adobe Audition. Thank you Cakewalk

Bottom line, Sonar is a HUGE robust mature platform, and I probably shouldn't have started the comparison in this thread...I was just pointing out SOME of the limitations of Tracktion that I have trouble with. It will be very interesting, for sure, to see how Tracktion matures in the next release. I expect the playing field will get more level over time.

I agree absolutely. Except that I do think the comparisson is valid in this thread, because Sonar LE is now bundled with the Edirol interfaces and controllers, which include some of the best value hardware options available, espeically at the entry level. This means that for beginner starting out now, Tracktion would be redundant (because they would already have the bundled Sonar). I teach people in this bracket.

Also Sonar Studio Edition (which now includes the Sonitus effects) is only a few quid more than T2 boxed.

[nuisance sonore]

How is Tracktion working out for you?

It's working allright. The thing is I really, but really like the concept of the user interface, things like the forward and intuitive way that things are laid out; it's very simple once you think about it: stuff get's into the program on the left, gets recorded in the middle and goes out the right, any 8 years old can pick this up in less than an hour. I also like the routing flexibility a great deal, I would have problem now trying to use something less flexible in that regards, so I am willing to put up with a few glitches here and there because of it.

A features I also have come to like is the quicktime import, I didn't think I would use it as it was implemented at first but I have now changed my mind and use it a lot. Like many things in Tracktion thought, it's not fully implemented; things like markers, the Quicktime format support those but Tracktion won't import/export them which limits a lot the usefullness of the feature.


And thankfully, the glitchiness is more an annoyance than a show stopper. Things like the VST click through bugs, which been around forever, is really annoying me on a day to day basis. The rendering bugs on the other hand I don't even think about it since I've found the workaround and included it in my workflow. Since the last update, I sometime lose the audio engine while working; nothing that bad since Tracktion doesn't crash and let me save the project, but I do have to close and restart Tracktion. Like I said, no showstopper but annoying nonetheless.

The part I dislike the most is that it's now a Mackie product, and they have their own agenda with this product, whatever that may be. When Mackie decided not to offer full upgrade path to their customers outside the US I was really pissed, took that like a slap to the face; furthermore, they lied about the reason beind it when I asked in private email, further agravated by the way they lied, if they thought I would believe any of it it means they really took me and the userbase in general for stupids. And posting bug report or features request in their forum I see as totally useless, they never get answered, not with anything more than blabla anyway. Things like that really makes me wonder if the futur direction of the product will match where I'll be as far as music making in the futur goes. To that end I recently bought Energy XT. I can't really replace Tracktion as my main sequencer with it yet, but developpement is lighting fast for this sequencer and since I dabble in it from time to time and learn it a bit more on a leasurly pace, I'll have something that I can quickly jump to if Tracktion came to not meet my needs anymore.