Tracktion Waveform Pro - some questions

[kvotchin]

So, Waveform Pro seems to be on sale currently. I don’t know much about it, really, thougn I have searched for info.

More interested to hear from people on here who’ve actually tried it, maybe even some who chose it over other DAWs in the end.

What does it do really well, what does it not do very well, and what’s the update cost over time for a license of the Pro version?

[summer2000]

Waveform Pro (currently at version 13.1) is a very good DAW but there are some poorly implemented features in my opinion that have yet to addressed by the devs even after bringing them up on the Tracktion forum here on kvr. If you're coming from Cubase/Nuendo, Studio One, or Ableton Live you'll see exactly what I mean. For me it was a hard no on purchasing a license even at a sale price. I'll give it a second look when the issues I brought up are finally addressed. Your mileage may vary so I suggest you download the demo and evaluate it for your own use case.

[BBFG#]

Caveat: Removing it takes an additional app to do so. Otherwise, it seems fine.

[pough]

I switched from Cubase to Waveform back when it was still called Tracktion in the early 2000s and I don't know what Cubase is like now - so take that into account when I give you my main reasons to switch.

1. Waveform was developed by someone who acknowledged that it is software, not hardware. It doesn't tie itself into knots to seem like hardware, nor does it create needless limitations. For example, a send is a plugin. You can add it wherever you like in the signal chain. You can add as many as you like.

2. I found Cubase to be needlessly complex, possibly because of the stuff in reason #1. Plugin instruments had to be chosen in a floating faux-rack that by default wasn't showing and then that instrument could be chosen at the left of a track along with the MIDI input and the MIDI would go into the track lane. So the MIDI/audio path was left side (input) then middle (track) then left side again (plugin) then out the bottom (mixer). Waveform has inputs on the left, clips in the track in the middle, plugin instruments and effects to the right in order - including the volume/pan and meter display. it all flows in a way that makes sense to my tiny bassist brain.

3. Waveform mostly follows a philosophy that I prefer: simple things should be simple; difficult things should be possible. If you need a faux-rack, you're covered. If you need a hardware-like mixer, sure.

For negatives, it's a small company with a small staff and they go through periods where they don't fix bugs or even respond to user complaints. They also don't like to do the whole documentation thing. Those things can be very off-putting, especially if what you're trying to accomplish happens to be something that triggers a bug. It hasn't happened often to me, but my needs tend to be quite simple. You can usually get past a lack of documentation by asking questions at the forum here at KvR.

[vitocorleone123]

Waveform Pro (currently at version 13.1) is a very good DAW but there are some poorly implemented features in my opinion that have yet to addressed by the devs even after bringing them up on the Tracktion forum here on kvr. If you're coming from Cubase/Nuendo, Studio One, or Ableton Live you'll see exactly what I mean. For me it was a hard no on purchasing a license even at a sale price. I'll give it a second look when the issues I brought up are finally addressed. Your mileage may vary so I suggest you download the demo and evaluate it for your own use case.

I switched from Waveform (used Tracktion from v3) to Studio One v5 when that DAW was new. I’d switch back in a heartbeat from S1 v6 if Waveform had buffer underrun protection. As it is, I can get much lower latency using my hardware with S1 so I won’t switch. But in terms of features and usability I miss Waveform.

In other words, I don’t fully agree with you.

Depends on the feature(s) I suppose.

Zero interest in Cubase or Ableton - would definitely use Waveform, instead.

[C-note]

I have been using Waveform for years along with Cubase Pro 13, S1 v6, Logic Pro, Digital Performer and Pro Tools depending on the job. I love the workflow of Waveform and have not found any show stoppers. Cubase has always been the midi goto DAW due note expression and the various midi editors but recently Cubase has gotten more complex than is probably necessary.