Limited Insert Slots

[dePUNDIT]

I'm not interfering in your dialogue in any way, just let me act as an arbitration clarification.
It is difficult to judge the reaction of the developers directly based on the general situation. I dare say that the problem lies in the miniaturization of the fanbase, there are very few of us, the most active users. Everyone has their own difficulties in using it, and everyone has their own understanding/misunderstanding of the whole concept.
Using the example of the sad events of version 12, we can safely say that when the majority began to talk about specific problems, they were solved literally before our eyes, within a week. And if we judge the specific approach to solving most of the oddities, we can just as safely say that most of the oddities and/or oddities come from the fact that everything is built on the JUCE framework, the legs grow from there.
But, figuratively speaking, they always monitor the overall temperature on the forum, rest assured, it's just that the problem can only bother you personally, then you're just one of us, don't worry

1. I've seen with mine own eyes Cockos release updates to REAPER less than 12hours apart. This I have seen severally. REAPER is just on another level when it comes to updates and bug fixes.
2. This is the second time in less than a week where someone has mentioned JUCE as the root of Tracktion Waveform's problems but that's absolutely not true. Take ARA2 Support as a case study. The other day on this forum someone said Waveform 13.5 doesn't support ARA2 because JUCE doesn't. A quick Google search revealed that JUCE has supported ARA2 since JUCE7 was released in June 2022. This is 2025 that's enough time to update from whatever version of JUCE they're using to JUCE7 and support ARA2 but still it isn't happening.
3. For me, this isn't even about enough people not complaining about the same feature for them to improve it, include it, or fix it. It's about the fact that there are a lot of things missing or crooked in Waveform which a startup today should have. It's like building a car with no headlamps. Yes I know I can buy some flashlights and strap them to the hood but that's not how it should be when you're releasing a car into the market to compete with other cars knowing fully well these cars will some times be driven at night even though not all the time or by all drivers. There are features that just don't have to be requested. They're supposed to just be there.

[Maarid]

That's right, but I'll clarify anyway, in order to avoid misunderstandings, the JUCE framework is mentioned as the root of problems due to the fact that it is a framework based on which it changes the approach to performing actions itself, which is why everything that you are used to finds in certain places, you see differently or cannot find at all without third-party help. Help, do you understand me?
I have no doubt that your requirements are significant and moreover, I welcome their presence on this forum, just be mentally prepared for the fact that the majority will ignore your requirements as important and nothing will change for you personally, try not to take it personally if this happens, that's my whole thought.

[talby]

Arent you supposed to use the racks to cut down on inserts?

I did use a rack at the end of the day but that's actually a workaround as it adds at least 4 extra mouse clicks to my workflow before I can get to any Plugin I'm trying to edit.

I thought it would be possible also for racks to design a faceplate for them. Isn't this the case? Put on the faceplate all the parameters you need frequent access to!
Racks can not contain Aux Send and Aux Return, though, if this is what you are running into limits with by the "only" 16 plugin slots on the track.

But then consider that you also can route the output of a track (using the last box on the track, right side to the Mute and Solo buttons) to another track and on that next track continue with artistry. Or you could on the very left, where you define the track input, catch Audio or Midi from another track. These 2 options can be understood like 16 plugin slots + always 1 Aux Return at the beginning + 1 Aux Sent at the end of a track.

The amount of tracks you could use is unlimited, then.

You can then also treat tracks in submixes, to further complicate things.

So, question if your workflow and project design needs to be rethought.
I see this issues of yours similar as others have pointed it out already. Yes, it would be nice to have more. We always want more, best even without an increase in price. But there is a price to it, and I am not speaking about money: assume you could place 24 or 32 plugins on your track. Won't the next issue be to complain, that the GUI doesn't handle sufficiently comfortable the visualization of all those plugin titles side by side in the Editor view, or in the Mixer view stapled in the column? It wouldn't be so bad if it could still be read by a proper font size the information which plugin is which!

[dysjoint]

Yeah, I would think similarly to Talby. Set output of track 1 to track 2. Doubles the number of plugins the signal is passing through. Set track 2 to go to track 3. Triple the plugins.
Also Racks take the numbers past crazy but from memory I have run into PDC issues combining racks and sends in the past. I forget the configuration, just something to keep an eye on.

[talby]

Does anyone know how to use Github well enough to contribute to the manual? I feel like it's a bit confused regarding topics on "the Mixer". What used to be called "the Mixer" is no longer called that since WF now has a "proper" mixer.

The user manual is seriously outdated. (...) That thing is not even a user manual anymore. More than half the features that have been added to Waveform in about the past 10 years or so are still not in the user manual.

Now that updating and maintaining the manual in a Wiki is eventually promoted again, I started a new thread for this. Hope it finds resonance!
The Tracktion Waveform manual as a Wiki: please contribute, our joint efforts are welcome!