Question: Mac/PC compatibility? (and hardware)

[dminoz]

ok, it's actually two questions, and here's the background: our band wants to self-record a CD for release. We have two members who will be doing the mixing and tweaking -- one has a PC, and the other has a Mac.

So, my first question is this: can the PC and Mac versions of Tracktion pass archives between each other efficiently? Are there any issues? We want to be able burn CDs for each other, and say things like "Here, put a bass line on this" ... Would that sort of interactivity be possible between the two Tracktions?

And for my 2nd question... for our recording sessions, we want to employ some sort of hardware/mixer/DAW, so that we can record multiple tracks, etc. I've been reading about the Tascam 2488 and the Yamaha AW16G, for example. The Mac user (drummer girl) has been talking about using an MBox. Does anyone have any advice or experience about using Tracktion with various hardware addons? If we can take a laptop with Tracktion along to a session, what sort of mixing/IO hardware should we be considering?

Thanks folks

[RCcola]

dminoz,

Just wanted to say re your question about Mac/PC transfer- if nobody here is able to help, don't forget about the Tracktion support forum at Mackie.com (http://forums.mackie.com/scripts/forum/ ... forum&f=17)
They should be able to answer that question I would think.

I'm sure some of our good people here will have advice for you about the hardware input for recording your band. I will just say that you have a number of high-quality, relatively-affordable options out there, both firewire and USB. Some will say stay away from USB for recording audio, but I use a Tascam US428 in my home studio and it has performed well. In addition to serving as an audio converter, it can function as a modest DAW controller as well (though not with Tracktion, currently). Then again, I record one input at a time, and maybe firewire is the better option when you're recording via several inputs simultaneously. Anyway, you should be able to do all the mixing internally (in software), so you could just go with 'a box' that gets the audio into the laptop. But again, seems to me in a band situation you will need to look first at the number of inputs available and how many of those can be used at the same time. Also consider mic pres and whether or not you need phantom power, channel inserts for external effects, etc. Good luck to you!

[Karbon L. Forms]

Bollocks.
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