Tracktion Version 2

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Let's size up the latest offering from Raw Material Software.

Ding, ding, ding, this is the beginning of round two of the cage match between big guy and little guy. In the big guy corner, pick your company, Steinberg, Cakewalk, Sony...::shudder:: DigiDesign. In the little guy corner, Raw Material Software. Raw Material Software seems quite the underdog, but, remember, Raw Material, over a year ago, picked up a new cornerman and coach (and development partner), Mackie, who can easily go head to head with any of the competition, so with that fight starts to look much more fair.

Tracktion originally made a good name for itself in the usability class, with the application being founded upon a simple, single screen interface that was intuitively and artistically designed. I remember looking at and working with the original release of Tracktion in April of 2004 and it was a very surprising and enjoyable experience. The application really stepped back and took a fresh look at the process of recording on a computer and didn't aim just to reproduce the look and feel of analog recording by making their program appear like that gear. Recording on a PC isn't like recording on a traditional mixer, and people shouldn't pretend that it is. Tracktion doesn't, it looks at computer based recording for what it is, a computer interface.

System Requirements and Installation

Tracktion comes as a 3 CD set. One CD is the install of the application itself, one CD is the RMIV drum machine and the final CD is Amplitube LE and Sample Tank SE from IK Multimedia. In addition to those there are other plugs and instruments bundled as well, including a virtual analog synth, B3 simulator, soundfont player and much more. Nice little bundle of extras, eh? For full details on the bundle, check this out.

Tracktion runs on both Windows and Mac computers. For Windows systems you need Windows 2000 or XP with at least a Pentium III processor and 256 MB of Ram. For Mac you need OSX 10.3.9 or higher with at least a G4 processor and the same 256 MB Ram.

Like most any application these days, installation is pretty simple, a simple wizard with a bunch of "next" clicks...no big surprises there. Tracktion has continued its route of online registration requiring and internet connection to register your software...well, if you want to do it immediately anyway. There is also the option of doing the internet part from a different PC, getting a registration key file and then moving that file to your DAW and registering that way.

...And Now For Something Completely Different...

Just like when I looked at the first version of Tracktion, this time I had to purge myself of habits and thought processes associated with computer-based recording because Tracktion looks at the process completely different.

When the program starts it spends time scanning the known plugin directories for new plugins and softsynths. After that completes the application fires up and, unlike most applications, does not default to a track view or mixer view, Tracktion defaults to a project management interface which you select an existing project or start a new project. Once that is done you then select an "edit" of that project, double-click on it and that project will open in what is commonly called "track view" in other applications, though, in Tracktion, is the only view.

Tracktion strives for, and achieves, simplicity through a single window interface. This is great for anyone new to the process of computer-based recording, as it's far less intimidating. However, for a more veteran computer recording engineer it can be somewhat of a drawback. I personally use a dual-monitor setup and spreading the one window across screens is sort of annoying, I would rather like to break them up and spread them across the monitors as I see fit. I should note that I did find out there are ways to make ReWire application and plugs use a separate monitor, but I didn't test it out before writing this review.

Once in track view it's quite simple to navigate around, import tracks, configure, arm and record tracks, add effects, organize the effects chains, mix the track levels and all other common tasks involved in the tracking phase of the recording process.

The only piece I find still suffering a little bit of clunkiness is using virtual instruments or other MIDI work. I think that some of this is brought on by the single window scheme they try very hard to employ. It is far from unfriendly, version 2 sports completely usable, fully functional, and with version 2 much more powerful, MIDI tools, I have personally just found it a bit harder to get around in then some other apps I have used. Users coming in with less or no preconceptions regarding how recording is done on a PC would likely not have the same issues I had.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

One thing is for sure about Tracktion, it takes on a lot of "standards" head to head in the areas of workflow and interface. One cannot accurately take a real opinion on the product without not only seeing the changes but also thinking about how productive or counter-productive each change is.

  • Opening in project view is strange, sometime I just have thoughts in my head I want to scratch down and then decide after the fact if I think it's going anywhere and save the project or not. I just want to go to track view and start tracking.
    Verdict: I don't like it, but others may not mind

  • The input selection for each track is right-clickable assignments now instead of dragging an input to the track you want, like in version 1. Much more conventional way to do it, and much cleaner if you have lots of inputs available on your system.
    Verdict: two thumbs up, great change! Even if you don't like the change, the old way is still an option.

  • One thing I did find frustrating is, when working with new applications, I looks for little popup tooltips when moving over buttons and other areas of the app. In Tracktion however, the tooltips appear in the upper titlebar of the application, not as a standard tooltip, which has proved to be frustrating, but all in all not a huge deal once in the habit of looking up top for all hints.
    Verdict: eh, no big deal of a change, just requires habit changing. I will also note I found out later that popup window tips are an option as well, I just didn't see it over the course of my working with it.

  • A pretty substantial workflow change in Tracktion is the lack of a mixer view. After tracking, editing and basic effects processing, I personally prefer to do my mixing process in a mixer view. Using this area to mix level and further tweak effects and EQs.
    Verdict: thumbs down on this change, I miss my mixer! I was also told they are working on a mixer window for a future update.

  • Loop recording is a quick and easy way to do multiple takes of a section of the song.
    Verdict: Nice addition, very useful since nobody is perfect.

There are, of course, numerous other changes, hell, the entire program is one big change to the whole recording process. Overall, I think the program has a lot of admirable changes as well, which are not mentioned above. The effects chain management is awesome, the addition of track freezing rocks, and the MIDI management has had a major facelift and improved 100%, as said earlier, it's still not perfect, but it's much improved. The MIDI editor improvements are substantial; they really worked out the kinks of version 1.0's issues. There are over 100 enhancements over version 1. In addition to that is a very nice set of plugins and instruments. To even pile on more information there are also syncronization feature, quicktime movie scoring and full screen metering too.

My Two Cents

Round 2 was an interesting round...Tracktion is easily a contender in the middleweight division. With apparently no plans to enter the heavyweights, it continues to have a good record in its division.

OK, enough with the boxing analogies...Tracktion is a great entry to intermediate level application. It is capable of making great sounding recording and has a feature set to compete with the best.

The only thing that keep Tracktion out of the heavyweight division (OK, give me a break, the analogies are habit now) are the very things that keep it toward the top of the middleweights. The things that help make Tracktion so user-friendly for beginning and intermediate level users are the things like workflow and the single window design. These very things are what will keep it from being adopted by more advanced users due to so many years of doing their thing another way, and that many advanced users would rather have many windows of effects, tracks, mix views and stuff laying around the screen for quicker access...something that may intimidate a new user. That said, one might be surprised how many pros are starting to use it due to it being lightweight and quick...

I also do believe the application could be well served by still relying on operating system components for things like the window, buttons, tooltips and such things. I like an app to have a nice pretty interface (which Tracktion does) and all that, but when you completely discard all of the components that an operating system has to offer, you also loose any amount of familiarity that the user may feel.

That said, I still have to say, for their chosen division, the beginning to intermediate user, Tracktion stacks up with the very best. It sells for a decent price, comes bundled with a great package of plugins and softsynths, is great for a new user that doesn't already have habits set in stone, and has great sound quality.

Can't really ask for more than that, now can ya?

Kudos to Mackie for a great upgrade to an already good application.

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