Mackie Tracktion?

[MegaDrummer]

Is it just me or is this program difficult to grasp? Hate it. Hate it. Hate it!

[Tacloban]

I got this software (v. 2) when I recently bought a Tapco interface. I tried to like it, but it wouldn't let me. I went back to Krystal. You never see the Tracktion talked about anywhere online, so I guess it's not catching on.

[MegaDrummer]

Yeah, we dumped it and put Sonar on. Tracktion with it's Martian interface which resembles a Play School / Fisher Price computer is completely un-user friendly despite claims to be otherwise. Makes a great coaster though.

[Quarry]

I know a few people who swear by it... and I believe it can be a very good tool, if you get wrap your brain around it.

I'm old skool - I come from tape drives, etc. I wasn't able to deal with Tracktion and have settled (for now) with Magix Music Studio 12.

[Tacloban]

Yes, having the GUI look like the hardware that it is replacing helps me keep things straight in my feeble head. I have to relate everthing back to the old school. But it is backward-looking, and it does help that Tracktion GUI shows the flow of input to output as moving from left to right. It's embarrassing to admit that having the look of the hardware mixing board is more "fun".

[adorian]

I bought it as it was a cheap all in one DAW that could run on my laptop. Its been pretty buggy, I miss the mixer window in usual DAW interfaces and the routing is just...weird. The Mackie plugins are very CPU intensive and very hard to get used to and the biggest downside for me - the audio tracks disappear when moving projects to different folder and sometimes even right after tracking a take. Definitely not ready for the pro category.

I still feel that most DAWs are not - just read complaints on Cubase 4 and you'd see what I mean. We use it regardless and kind of deal with the quirks. I think if Mackie was the first DAW that I dealt with I would've gotten used to the interface and the design. Still it is useful when I want to track an idea on the fly.

[BushmasterM4]

Ive used Tracktion 2 and now 3 for the past 2 years and love it. So easy to use. Tracktion 3 is more cpu intensive than 2, and that is my only beef. Hopefully a future revision will address the cpu cycles. With T2 I had one mix that had 30 tracks (1 or more plugins per track) and it didnt even sweat. If I load up that mix in T3 then I get some studdering at times. But I have yet to have another mix with that many tracks. I should review another DAW like Reaper or Cubase.

[Strangedogs]

I use Tacktion 3 sometimes. I'm on a Mac and it seems to be stable anyways... I just dislike the "8-BIT" look it has going for it - looks crappy compared to Logic 8 or Cubase 4. I'm big on looks and it's GUI is really cheap looking.

[BushmasterM4]

Originally Posted by Strangedogs

I use Tacktion 3 sometimes. I'm on a Mac and it seems to be stable anyways... I just dislike the "8-BIT" look it has going for it - looks crappy compared to Logic 8 or Cubase 4. I'm big on looks and it's GUI is really cheap looking.

I guess the simple look is what I like. I think once I get a couple monitors running at the same time then the other more powerful DAW would work for me. I like the one screen layout.

[heisenberg]

I'm a dedicated Tracktion guy. I've been using it since the first version came out, and I'll be buying the next version (if they make it..). I've yet to find something the big name programs can do that this can't do, and SO much easier at that!

It was originally designed by a dude just like you and me (although in addition to being a musician, he was a computer programmer). He got tired of having to spend days and days learning how to use recording software, so he decided to make his own program where everything was Drag-n-Drop, very intuitive and easy to use, but just as full-featured as the big dogs. Mackie thought it was such a great idea/program, they hired him on and made it even better.

I have songs that have upwards of 40 tracks, tons of effects running, and it holds up just fine.

The most important part for me was that it took me about 20 minutes to figure out how to do just about everything, as opposed to having to read a 400 page book on Logic or something like that!

And to me, it's hilarious that people would not use a program because the GUI looks like a "Play School / Fisher Price computer." (not exactly true btw) Give me a break... that's what you're looking for in RECORDING SOFTWARE? What if you came to find out that Tracktion could do everything your software does, faster, more easily, with less of a pain in the ass for you (I've watched one to many friends/musicians battle with other programs)... would you still not use it just because it doesn't look professional enough for you?