Tracktion Software

klagga · Post by **klagga** » Tue Jan 18, 2005 7:01 pm

A sequencer like Tracktion ain´t enough if I want to do a CD with my own music.

Wavelab is probably the full solution for mastering and CD burning, but with a hefty price tag, about 850 $.

What alternatives would you recommend today?

SuitcaseOfLizards · Post by **SuitcaseOfLizards** » Tue Jan 18, 2005 7:10 pm

It's actually possible to do basic mastering in Tracktion!

Just export your song files as stereo audio files, then create a new project that is *only* the stereo audio for each of your songs.. import your audio tracks onto seperate tracks (1 per song), then you can adjust relative levels, eq per track or globally and get all your tunes fairly well matched. Render each track out to a new file, called something like <song name>_Mastered.wav, this will give you a "finalized" .wav per song. Make sure to save the finalized versions as 16-bit 44.1KHz if you want to go straight from there to an audio CD, I save as 32-bit and then use Goldwave to examine each song "surgically" although I rarely have to do anything other than save it out as 16-bit/44.1KHz from there (call me paranoid, I like to run one last check from Goldwave before I burn).

I have Nero that came with my DVD-RW drive, I use it to burn an audio CD from my finalized audio tracks. It's not the fanciest thing in the Universe but it works fine.

The results are are clean as anything else I've heard, although my mastering skills still need work I can't fault the tools.

IIRs · Post by **IIRs** » Tue Jan 18, 2005 7:23 pm

woolyloach wrote:It's actually possible to do basic mastering in Tracktion!

What's basic about it? The only thing missing at the moment to make Tracktion a killer mastering app, is the final pq encoding & CD burning part.

My approach is similar to WL's except I put all my 32 bit mixes on the same track, and drop a Final Mix onto each clip directly. This means only one FM is running at a time (unless you have any cross-fading going on)

I then stick my master limiter on the end of that track, and my dither in the master section; when all sounds perfect I export the whole CD as a single 16 bit file which I then split into regions and burn to disc using Acoustica..

It works fine, but the last step is more fiddly than needed, and there is no way to have official track pauses etc.

I have my fingers crossed for integrated CD burning in T2..

klagga · Post by **klagga** » Tue Jan 18, 2005 7:24 pm

Sounds interesting, guys.

How about dithering? Is Tracktion/Nero to be trusted with that?

"(I stick) my dither in the master section" <-- Where do you get the dither? In Tracktion?

"and drop a Final Mix onto each clip directly" <-- Sorry, but what is a Final Mix? Is it what comes out of the Export button in Tracktion? (I´m new to Tracktion and don´t know the jargon yet

.)

klagga · Post by **klagga** » Tue Jan 18, 2005 7:29 pm

platinumears wrote:
I have my fingers crossed for integrated CD burning in T2..

Sure would like that!!

IIRs · Post by **IIRs** » Tue Jan 18, 2005 7:48 pm

klagga wrote:"(I stick) my dither in the master section" <-- Where do you get the dither? In Tracktion?

Tracktion has an option in the settings page to dither the outputs, but there is no way to select bit depth: I assume it's determined by the soundcard, so if you use 24 bit conversion the resulting dither won't be suitable for a 16 bit CD.. assuming its even included in the export!

Maybe Jules or Beno could clear that up..?

Meanwhile I keep that dither turned off, and use the mda dither plug (which I think comes with Tracktion.. not totally sure cos I already all the mda plugs anyway!) as it has settings for bit-depth and noise-shaping etc..

I've been meaning to investigate different flavours of dither since I started reading my copy of Mastering Audio by Bob Katz.. he has quite a lot to say on the subject, including this:

Bob Katz wrote:..if the mix isn't good, or the music isn't swinging, then dither probably doesn't matter very much.

I still feel I have room for improvement in both those areas, so I can probably live with mda dither for a while longer..

IIRs · Post by **IIRs** » Tue Jan 18, 2005 7:55 pm

klagga wrote:"and drop a Final Mix onto each clip directly" <-- Sorry, but what is a Final Mix?

Final Mix is the mastering plug that Mackie added to Tracktion as an exclusive freebee, and which has just been ported to Mac.. check the "3rd party" folder in your filter list, it appears as "FinalMixTracktion". (on my PC anyway.)

If its not there you need to download it from the Mackie site..

klagga · Post by **klagga** » Tue Jan 18, 2005 8:25 pm

platinumears wrote:
klagga wrote:"and drop a Final Mix onto each clip directly" <-- Sorry, but what is a Final Mix?
Final Mix is the mastering plug that Mackie added to Tracktion as an exclusive freebee, and which has just been ported to Mac.. check the "3rd party" folder in your filter list, it appears as "FinalMixTracktion". (on my PC anyway.)

If its not there you need to download it from the Mackie site..

Thanks, I found it now...

klagga · Post by **klagga** » Tue Jan 18, 2005 8:29 pm

platinumears wrote: I've been meaning to investigate different flavours of dither since I started reading my copy of Mastering Audio by Bob Katz.. he has quite a lot to say on the subject, including this:

Bob Katz wrote:..if the mix isn't good, or the music isn't swinging, then dither probably doesn't matter very much.
I still feel I have room for improvement in both those areas, so I can probably live with mda dither for a while longer..

Please, share your findings concerning dither when you´re ready!

ricupad · Post by **ricupad** » Tue Jan 18, 2005 10:03 pm

You might find the downloadable pdf's on this site helpful...

http://www.izotope.com/products/audio/ozone/guides.html

R

rpc9943 · Post by **rpc9943** » Tue Jan 18, 2005 10:04 pm

auuuddiiitiiooonnnnn

RONC

chagzuki · Post by **chagzuki** » Tue Jan 18, 2005 10:23 pm

audition isn't all that verstile for cd burning from what I've seen. I think wavelab is better. Tracktion is a great mastering tool IMO: the fact that you can apply FX to clips means that you can very subtly alter sections and keep everything clean and organised.

Forever Sun · Post by **Forever Sun** » Tue Jan 18, 2005 10:40 pm

klagga wrote:A sequencer like Tracktion ain´t enough if I want to do a CD with my own music.

Wavelab is probably the full solution for mastering and CD burning, but with a hefty price tag, about 850 $.

What alternatives would you recommend today?

I've quickly read the thread and I'm surprised noone has mentioned Samplitude Classic yet.
http://www.samplitude.com/de/sam.htm

You get all mastering and burning features plus fantastic editing tools - check out that Object Editor !. It's significantly less expensive than Samplitude Pro and Wavelab.

With Samplitude 8 around the corner and its new features,it really is the unsung hero of Mastering/Editing applications. Its native FX are said to be the best out of all the DAWs.

It may not be the best choice for full blown midi orchestrations, but for editing and mastering it's one of the best.

Oh, do I sound like a salesperson ? LOL. I didn't mean to.

IIRs · Post by **IIRs** » Tue Jan 18, 2005 11:13 pm

Forever Sun wrote: It's significantly less expensive than Samplitude Pro and Wavelab.

..and significantly more expensive than Tracktion:

"Pro" version 999,- Euro
"Classic" version 499,- Euro

Of course, I could rent it.. for 20 Euro a month (Crippl.. sorry "classic" version) for a minimum period of 25 months.. which works out at 500 Euros!

Bargain..

Forever Sun · Post by **Forever Sun** » Wed Jan 19, 2005 12:26 am

platinumears wrote:

Bargain..

Yes. You got it.

Tracktion Software

KVR Audio

Mastering and CD burning alternatives