Thoughts on T-Racks v3

[chick]

i'm still new to all this mastering stuff and need help i have been using the pre-sets in t-racks and i think it sounds better i mostly use the **** and spartcle pre-set any ideas for me

[mrlindeman]

T-Rax is something I have wanted to get because I have heard great things about it in the perfessional studio vids I have seen online and from home users as well. I have personally not had the chance to use it yet. I try to stick with what I have because for my compressor it shows me the wave shape as I compress it to kinda help me learn until I get better at learning just by ear. If it sounds good use it

[Bigduggieface]

I've used T-Racks 2, and it's great. As an all-in-one mastering tool for someone on a budget, it can't be beat.

Personally I use Wavelab 5, along with 3rd party plugins. T-racks is the same thing, but it doesn't allow you to use any plugins other than itself. Perhaps T-Racks 3 does (I doubt it).

I understand that the new T-Racks 3 uses modeled emulations of vintage eqs and compressors. I may have to give the V3 a try.

Personally, I think that the days of $3,000 per-project professional mastering days are over. In the right hands, in the right room and with the right ears, the new software generation (including T-Racks) will virtually (excuse the pun) eliminate professional mastering houses forever.

[cakewalkgg]

I tried tracks 3 and the modules do sound good. There are also some nice features like level matching (so your not getting fooled by an increase in volume) and some visual tools like a phase scope and spectrum analyzer I think. Forget the presets though unless its for a REALLY basic starting point. They can never be right for your unique source material, but sometimes they might have the set of processors that you like and you can start there.

They have a deal now I believe where you can get the modules separate to use as VST's and I think if you bought Tracks 3 premuim, you can downloade the separate modules free.
DEFINATELY use the level match knob.. make sure the processed sound is the same listening volume your unprocessed sound. I never cease to be amazed how little im really doing to the sound, until im doing something really bad. But level matched you can hear some of the subtle, analog characteristics of the processers and some are quite nice.

[bradstockmusic]

I love t-racks...Here's what i did using V3 let me know what you think!
Mahalo!

[chick]

Originally Posted by bradstockmusic

I love t-racks...Here's what i did using V3 let me know what you think!
Mahalo!

very nice souding track and well balanced i am just starting out with t racks and need some basic tips i been using the pre-sets and i think things sound a little loud on the high eq check this out and let me kown

[bradstockmusic]

Sounds big, great recording all in all. I agree a bit much on the high end. Try experimenting with very gentle band boosting somewhere between 100 k and 2 khz range for more ****th/kick and slightly attenuate the above-2k freqs and it should **** up nicely.
Hope this helps!
-brad

[Audio~Geek]

Groove3.com has a great video tutorial on using TRacks3 and general mastering. Worth checking out if you're not sure about mastering techniques, what to listen for etc.

[chick]

Originally Posted by bradstockmusic

Sounds big, great recording all in all. I agree a bit much on the high end. Try experimenting with very gentle band boosting somewhere between 100 k and 2 khz range for more ****th/kick and slightly attenuate the above-2k freqs and it should **** up nicely.
Hope this helps!
-brad

Thanks I will give them tips a go today, just a second thought mt t-racks 3 is very CPU heavy i use it in standalone mode

[cheatingatmath]

I wasn't really a fan of T-Racks 2. I remember something with the display, causing me to have to change my display down to 16-bit from 24-bit everytime i wanted to launch it. that's just an annoyance, but ultimately i just couldn't get the sounds out of it that i wanted. i would start with a great sounding track, throw it in T-Racks, cycle through the presets (which i thought were mostly terrible), find the closest one to what i wanted, adjust it to serve the song/album, and throw it on a cd to A/B. what i always found i was going from great to start, terrible with the preset, and okay with the tweaks..and thinking that it was wonderful because of how terrible it sounded previously. that's just my experience though..and T-Racks 3 could be much better-i don't know.

i've had greater success with Mackie/Acuma FinalMix. if i'm trying something out and doing a quick mix, i can usually throw FinalMix on, use one of the SmoothedOut presets, make a few tweaks, and have something that won't disappoint when i take it to the car.

don't get me wrong, i can't even pretend to be a mastering engineer. when i truly care about a project (where i'm not going to send my own stuff away, or i know the client doesn't want to send it away), i'll take the time to master it step by step to the best of my ability (mostly what i've derived from Secrets of the Pros: Mastering..like i said, i'm new to mastering)..but if i'm just tracking a quick throw-away demo for a friend or myself, i'll use FinalMix to shine it up a bit. works wonders.