Is Tracktion now an orphan?

[hibidy]

The brilliance of Tracktion 1, which attracted so many of us here, is that it was so easy to use compared to the competition at that time... a real ABC approach. However, many of us then requested that Jules (and subsequently Mackie) add DEFGHIJ. Some people even asked for K and L.

NO NO NO.... I NEVER asked for K ( L is another story)

I think there is allot of truth to that, but for what ever reason Mackie went all "forever and a day" for updates, fixes, etc which turned some (who would that be????) off.

Isn't reminiscing fun???

[rickms63]

Funny, I have not used Tracktion in about six months since switching over to Reaper. I had to go back to Tracktion T3 to modify an old project for a client. I kind of forgot how nice some of the features are in Tracktion. It got me looking into this forum again to see if there have been any changes or if a new release may be pending. Even though Reaper is my main DAW now I have quite a bit of respect for the innovation and the novel workflow that is Tracktion.

I just hate it when the vendors do not chime in. It is usually a bad sign. Go take a look in the ACID forum if you really want to see how folks with a dead product respond. ACID has not even seen a bug fix update in years and trust me some serious bugs are buried in there.

I hope there is some good news and this product lives on. I wish everyone the best.

[KrzysiekK]

I think that any antivirus software working as background service is performance killer and I would never use it when working on my PC as DAW (actually I don't use it at all but it is not my recommendation). At least I recommend two OS installations, one for Internet and all the protection and the second one for audio exclusively without any protection.

Best regards,
Krzysiek

[bk]

I hadn't given it much thought really, until I read this thread. Then I got curious. It has been awhile since any announcements were made regarding T's future.
Not to fan the flames or anything, but Beno hasn't posted anything here since June 12. Before that, he was on here at least every two weeks or so.
The last time he posted to the Mackie forum was when he announced ver 3048!

Did anyone go to summer NAMM this year? Was Tracktion even on display?

On the other side of the coin, I should mention that I use T3 almost every day, with very few issues...in fact, I can't remember the last time I had a crash...

[gmore]

Did anyone go to summer NAMM this year? Was Tracktion even on display?

If they were there, I didn't see them. I visited the Loud Tech booth (parent co) at the 08 Winter NAMM and had to ask where T3 was - it was loaded on 1 computer in a 'rest area' demoing a Mackie control piece, but not a sign, retail box or mention of T3 at all (quite a contrast to the fanfare of NAMM 07) - it was NOT a focus to put it mildly. I thought T3 (at least at Loud) was done, but I was encouraged to see the update in April and hear about the 'learning T3 promo' in a recent magazine. I think Loud still want to work T3, but given the softness in the economy (especially in the music industry) and all they deal with (they've bitten off a lot in the last few years), my guess is T3 is probably not a priority now.

Given the recent Logic intro, I think Loud should give up Mac, refund all T3/mac customers and focus on PC - unless you're established like a PT, I don't see how they can compete - especially given their lastest efforts and less than happy mac users - my 2 cents.

A recent TC K24D update seems to have fixed an issue I've had with T3 PC (one I didn't have with T2), and I'm staying hopeful (too much T time invested), but given the apparent lack of T3 suppport going forward and that my growing projects are taxing the cpu more often, some alternatives are starting to look pretty attractive.

I don't think I'll switch anytime soon, but I also cannot recommend T3 to anyone new (even PC users) at this time.

[captain caveman]

A recent TC K24D update seems to have fixed an issue I've had with T3 PC (one I didn't have with T2)..........

If you ever have any problems with a system that has TC Electronics drivers involved.... you've found your problem, their stuff sounds good but they don't have a clue how to write a solid driver.

As far as the future of Tracktion is concerned, it is a bit weird that no-one has popped into this forum or the official one just to tell us all to stop fretting over nothing. Maybe it isn't nothing then?

I hope they are doing a rewrite like Steinberg did with Cubase in between 4.0 and 4.1. That would be great, perhaps a VST version with PDC across the board, the first note bug fixed and being able to play/record in looped mode outside of the looped area.

[TANIANEW]

Probably they're really rewriting and working on some bugs and issues - and some people may even enjoy their holidays as it is summer?

It would be fine if they won't neglect tracktion as I think it is really great software. Never had any sequencer in my life I could work so easily and fast with. But I am using it on a windows PC and its reliable here, so I am lucky.

TANIANEW

[skipkent]

Working and enjoying holidays is one thing. Absolute radio silence is another. None of the Mackie folks has posted re:Tracktion on their own forum for almost a year, and not for lack of questions. T3 support is 100% user, 0% Mackie or Loud. Not encouraging, by my estimation.

[androidlove]

as long as i can still get key files for t1, i'm happy

[UncleAge]

given the softness in the economy (especially in the music industry) and all they deal with (they've bitten off a lot in the last few years), my guess is T3 is probably not a priority now.

Given the recent Logic intro, I think Loud should give up Mac, refund all T3/mac customers and focus on PC - unless you're established like a PT, I don't see how they can compete - especially given their lastest efforts and less than happy mac users - my 2 cents. (

You make some good points. I run a small business and this has definitely not been a "mental recession" by any stretch of the imagination. I, like many of you, sincerely hope that Mackie has not abandoned T3. But if they have, I hope that someone with the means and resources scoops it up and continues to develop this great app.

Discontinue the MAC version? Yeah maybe. Its a tough decision, however, if that allowed for continued development of T3 then I think its worth it. It sure will leave a bitter taste with a lot of users but my guess is that the overwhelming base of T3 users are PC based. I personally don't see this as a problem since there are many great apps on both sides of the fence. I don't kick and scream that I can't get a current version of Logic on my pc (thru standard means). Once again, don't take this wrong MAC users, sometimes small software groups stretch themselves too thin. Maybe a cut back in number of platforms developed/supported might be a good thing.

And none of this excuses the lack of communication from Mackie for T3. It is definitely a change from the norm. And Mackie should know that this won't be fixed with a flashy ad in a mag. Some type of communication to their user base is not only needed, it's long overdue, imo.

[justgotoyourroom]

I haven't posted here in the longest time, but thought I would add my 2 cents to keep this topic alive, as I see it as quite an important one.

As an Intel Mac user I could not wait for T3 to emerge. I love Traction's work flow and ease of use. Overall, I feel Traction is a good program that should be kept alive and developed. However, due to the problems with this program for the Mac, I had to tke the plunge and move on to Logic Express, which is far more stable than T for Mac. However, I saw Logic as a temporary fix. I am still waiting for T3 to be fixed for the Mac. Even if that means a complete re-write and paying a reasoble amount for an upgrade to T3.5 or T4.

It would be sad if Traction has been abandoned, either entirely or for the Mac platform. It is a unique program. I returned to T3 briefly to do some mastering and was reminded what a great and easy to use program it is. There are a limited number of DAWs available for the MAC platform compared to the PC. Having tried most of them, Traction was the best for me. When Logic 8 came out, this became my choice due to its immediate stability.

The silence from the Beta testers and from Mackie is worrisome, but I trust that our fears are unfounded and that they are actually working hard on something big for us.

Maybe someone out there in the know could put us out of our misery?

[traction3]

[quote="rickms63"]Funny, I have not used Tracktion in about six months since switching over to Reaper. I had to go back to Tracktion T3 to modify an old project for a client. I kind of forgot how nice some of the features are in Tracktion. It got me looking into this forum again to see if there have been any changes or if a new release may be pending. Even though Reaper is my main DAW now I have quite a bit of respect for the innovation and the novel workflow that is Tracktion.

I just hate it when the vendors do not chime in. It is usually a bad sign. Go take a look in the ACID forum if you really want to see how folks with a dead product respond. ACID has not even seen a bug fix update in years and trust me some serious bugs are buried in there.

I hope there is some good news and this product lives on. I wish everyone the best.[/quote]Speaking of that I am a beta tester for Pro 6/7. If anyone knew how many bugs were in the final release 6d, there would be no sales. The only product I have that is the future is Melodyne's Cre8 and the plug in. Only one guy is working on this. He gotten to the point of being able to break into audio recordings and adjust everything you can to any recorded instrument. I wrote him a congrat letter for the the new plug in 2 that will do this and what my dreams were. He answered, "if you're talking about using DNA, that's a bit of a way off, let me get plugin2 out there first. DNA music making, I was just congratulating him on being able to alter audio notes in any form, in any form and turning them back to midi, use loops and change a loop into a hundred that don't sound like each other, making loop chords minor, you get it, this guy is the future. No one thought it could be done, visit the site, google melodyne.

[virtualsamana]

Oh Boy,

Why aren't the Beta Testers talking? That's a bad sign.

[warbug]

I have not posted in a while either..

I have used tracktion since 1.3 and I think that it was 49.99? I have gotten miles of use out of it between 1.3 and 3.x, 2 albums, 7 record releases.

I am guessing that everyone is so tight lipped because of the current situation with T3. IF person X from Mackie starts promising this feature and fix and this other fix and it never materializes then all the supporters of the product will most likely vanish.

I am also guessing that there is a Team to make sure that everything is perfect for the next release, whether it is 3.1 or 4.


I would give it until mid-December or after the New year before the real red flags go up.


All of the mistakes in T3 could have been from poor project management ( putting someone in power to make dead lines that has NEVER programmed before in their life! )


but I will say that if 6 months goes buy and no communication then I am going to have to start looking into Live7 or FL8..

[Telecasterseattle]

I spoke with a sound dealer yesterday, who shared that Loud Technologies / Mackie has a number of internal distractions right now. Apparently there is a chip flaw in all of their "Digital-X-Bus" based product line, that is requiring Mackie to replace chips and PC boards in most of these products. Additionally, Mackie tried to move production of the ESW speaker line after they purchased them from the US to China. This apparently did not meet quality and productivity goals, and production is being moved back to the US.

While neither of these issues directly impacts the software group, it is possible that there is enough interal distraction within Mackie that T and other software products are low priority within the organization.