KVR Audio

l3g10n3 · Post by **l3g10n3** » Fri Sep 10, 2010 7:08 am

Hi,

I've been using Acoustica Mixcraft since version 3, I think it's a fantastic software because it's simple to use and the workflow is smooth and intuitive

The problem is that Mixcraft (even in recent versions 5.x) in extremely unstable

I don't make "modern" music, I mean... I don't need loops, samples or whatever, but I make HUGE use of VST. Tipically I have 8/10 tracks with Spectrasonics stuff, Superior Drummer, Absynth and other "heavy" VSTi... and ALL of them have VST effects like Waves, T-Racks and so on...
The result is that a certain point... BOOM!... Mixcraft crashes or start an unpredictable behaviour... need to say I lost some project, too

So the question is... what host could be SIMPLE (in workfolo and interface) like Mixcraft, but SOLID also after a ton of VSTi and effects loaded?

I'm on a quite good PC machine

TIA

hibidy · Post by **hibidy** » Fri Sep 10, 2010 7:14 am

a. Are you sure that it's not you are hitting your ram ceiling? This caused great problems for me regardless of host before I went x64.

b. Try reaper. It's 60 bucks, it has a terrific demo period and is known as being one of the more stable hosts in the biz

tomg · Post by **tomg** » Fri Sep 10, 2010 7:19 am

If Reaper's work flow doesn't work for you like it doesn't work for me...

Music Creator is $34.99 and may be just what you want.
http://www.cakewalk.com/Products/MusicCreator/

Once you are a CW customer you can upgrade to SHS7XL For $79.00
http://www.store.cakewalk.com/b2cus/Pro ... HX7.00-30C

For a little over $100 bucks you get a ton of stuff. Normally a $200+ package.
http://www.cakewalk.com/products/homest ... ish/xl.asp

Or upgrade to SHS7 for $49.00 if you just want the pattern sequencer and don't need the plugins.
http://www.store.cakewalk.com/b2cus/Pro ... HS7.00-30C

ATS · Post by **ATS** » Fri Sep 10, 2010 7:34 am

Mixcraft works great for me. I love it. I found a bug the other day and they had it fixed in a matter of days. They are very responsive if you report a bug.

l3g10n3 · Post by **l3g10n3** » Fri Sep 10, 2010 9:11 am

@hibidy

No, I don't think it's a matter of ram ceiling... Mixcraft has a quite good management of system resources, I never hit more then 1/1.5 Gb memory usage (my machine has 4Gb) on VERY heavy projects

Reaper seems good, at a glance. I'll try it

@tomg

...and I'm going to try Music Creator, too! It has a very polite interface and the workflow SEEMS to be very close to what I'm used to

@ATS
Mixcraft works fine for me, too... until it is heavy loaded. For small projects, it works very well, but the big ones always gave me problems.
Acoustica has a good support, but my problems are not real "bugs" because the crashes rarely happen at the same time and/or type of operation and something seems could not be fixed, just like the poor compatibility between Mixcraft and the Waves plugins. The problem is, really, on Waves side, but they stated that they won't support certain products any longer... So there's no solution, until you try other host programs

Thanks for your hints!

marce · Post by **marce** » Fri Sep 10, 2010 11:55 am

...and I'm going to try Music Creator, too! It has a very polite interface and the workflow SEEMS to be very close to what I'm used to

Just be aware that Music Creator has a limit in the number of VSTis you can use. If you start to add VSTis, as soon as "8" of them, you will found the limit.
[/quote]

l3g10n3 · Post by **l3g10n3** » Fri Sep 10, 2010 12:00 pm

marce wrote:
...and I'm going to try Music Creator, too! It has a very polite interface and the workflow SEEMS to be very close to what I'm used to
Just be aware that Music Creator has a limit in the number of VSTis you can use. If you start to add VSTis, as soon as "8" of them, you will found the limit.

Really? But... Is it a software limit (I mean, the program itself doesn't accept more than 8 VST) or a tecnhical limit, just like Mixcraft seems to have?

Bad news, though... I liked it

EvilDragon · Post by **EvilDragon** » Fri Sep 10, 2010 5:35 pm

Reaper is 60$ if you're a fresh customer, hibidy.

flugel45 · Post by **flugel45** » Fri Sep 10, 2010 5:40 pm

Mixcraft still doesn't have multi-out support for VSTs. I'm curious -- were you running multiple instances to get around that? Or just outputting all your VSTs to the single stereo out?

In any case, I can recommend Multitrack Studio Pro:

http://www.multitrackstudio.com/

Solid as a rock, and supports DX as well as VST. The only criticism I have is there is no vertical console view for the tracks. If you're used to a mixer-like layout (vertical channel strips), then the horizontal layout is a bit of a PITA, especially when dealing with large numbers of tracks. Of course, this may not matter a bit to you...

So do try it out. The app is so intuitively designed - and the bundled FX are top notch! - that I find myself jumping back to it often (even though I also own two other better-known "flagship" DAWs).

mauseoleum · Post by **mauseoleum** » Fri Sep 10, 2010 6:01 pm

Reaper? Podium? FL Studio?

marce · Post by **marce** » Fri Sep 10, 2010 7:08 pm

l3g10n3 wrote:
marce wrote:
...and I'm going to try Music Creator, too! It has a very polite interface and the workflow SEEMS to be very close to what I'm used to
Just be aware that Music Creator has a limit in the number of VSTis you can use. If you start to add VSTis, as soon as "8" of them, you will found the limit.
Really? But... Is it a software limit (I mean, the program itself doesn't accept more than 8 VST) or a tecnhical limit, just like Mixcraft seems to have?

Bad news, though... I liked it

It is a software limit, a marketing one.

hibidy · Post by **hibidy** » Fri Sep 10, 2010 7:26 pm

EvilDragon wrote:Reaper is 60$ if you're a fresh customer, hibidy.

I'll change it

DaveL60 · Post by **DaveL60** » Fri Sep 10, 2010 10:01 pm

I don't know much about Mixcraft, but you take a look at Mu.Lab. I'd also suggest a look at Samplitude, which seems to rank very high for stability.

DaveL

UltraJv · Post by **UltraJv** » Fri Sep 10, 2010 10:28 pm

Are you sure the problem is with Mixcraft? Crashes are usually due to buggy plugins or poor drivers for audio. What audio interface are you using?

l3g10n3 · Post by **l3g10n3** » Sat Sep 11, 2010 12:58 pm

Mixcraft still doesn't have multi-out support for VSTs. I'm curious -- were you running multiple instances to get around that? Or just outputting all your VSTs to the single stereo out?

Yes, I simply output everything to the stereo out...

It is a software limit, a marketing one.

Too bad

I don't know much about Mixcraft, but you take a look at Mu.Lab. I'd also suggest a look at Samplitude, which seems to rank very high for stability.

I'm going to try Mu.Lab to... seems quite simple

Are you sure the problem is with Mixcraft? Crashes are usually due to buggy plugins or poor drivers for audio. What audio interface are you using?

I'm on a M-Audio Fast Track Ultra, with updated drivers.
I'm messing a lot with Reaper, which is a bit more complex than Mixcraft to me, but I can say that no matters how many ways I tried to "abuse" it (loading tons of VSTi and effects), it's stable and has a very small memory fingerprint... If the demo period goes ok, it sure will be my next purchase

I'm however evaluating all your suggestions as well, thanks!

[/quote]

Please, suggest a (STABLE!) alternative to Mixcraft :(