Audio Multitracking/Mastering Program, No MIDI

T

thesedaze

New member
Hello once again,

I'm ditching my Digi002 Pro Tools setup, and expanding the studio a bit. I'll be doing no MIDI work, only audio input/output. I'm looking for a program, or set of programs that would be ideal for my use. I know a lot of these multitracking programs specialize in MIDI, but since I have no use for it, I see no reason to spend any extra dollars for beefed up MIDI support.

Are there any great multitracking programs that purposefully do NOT encorporate MIDI in their design, to solely focus on audio tracking/editing/mastering?

Other than an easy to use, customizable menu type design, I'm also ideally looking for a program that has some sort of "History" type feature so I can intelligently select which 'undo' I'd like to undo, rather than being forced to undo the last known event.

I should mention that I run a Windows XP/PC based setup

Thank you
 
It's ironic that of the programs out there...Pro Tools has the least MIDI implementation of them all. Everything does MIDI better than Pro Tools does.

Why ya ditchin the 002?

H2H
 
I'm going with 16 channels of prestine audio, and the only way to ideally get that with Pro Tools is to step up to the HD system, which isn't nearly what I need in a system.

input:
Console->Apogee AD16x->Lynx AES16 in->computer

output:
computer->Lynx AES16 out->Apogee DA16x->Console

The Digi002 only allows 16 channels if you use the ADAT, which forces you to use the converters of the other 8 channel outboard device (such as an Alesis Ai3). And there's really no way to use a full set of 16 channels of ad/da converters, especially not to their fullest potential. The ADAT is limited to 48k.

Have you used Samplitude or any of that companies other programs like Seqouia? I haven't heard much about their interfaces, but I see a lot of live music tapers using Samplitude for editing.
 
one recommendation i would suggest you try (demoes free to try),
if you cant afford samplitude. try magix music studio (from the same company). i love it, i would also try ntrack, a vgood multitracker imho.
and i'll throw one more out for your consideration that impresses the pants off me.
multitrackstudio.com. (just try the demo and see what you think.
i found the way it ran ROCK SOLID and the huge array of effects
built in plus support for dx and vst effects outstanding).
also it is very easy to use. and its under 100 bucks like n track and music studio. i urge you to try it before any other. i would be surprised if you arent totally happy. its a very suprisingly good and imho totally undiscovered
underrated product. brilliant programming imho. and i'm a computer engr so i KNOW when someone does something brilliant.
 
manning1 said:
one recommendation i would suggest you try (demoes free to try),
if you cant afford samplitude. try magix music studio (from the same company). i love it, i would also try ntrack, a vgood multitracker imho.
and i'll throw one more out for your consideration that impresses the pants off me.
multitrackstudio.com. (just try the demo and see what you think.
i found the way it ran ROCK SOLID and the huge array of effects
built in plus support for dx and vst effects outstanding).
also it is very easy to use. and its under 100 bucks like n track and music studio. i urge you to try it before any other. i would be surprised if you arent totally happy. its a very suprisingly good and imho totally undiscovered
underrated product. brilliant programming imho. and i'm a computer engr so i KNOW when someone does something brilliant.
Click to expand...

Money's not an issue with the software. This is for a professional studio, and not a home type project.
 
Look into Nuendo or SAW Studio.

Everything has MIDI now, but you don't have to use it. As far as the undo's you'll just have to read deeper into the manual cause I'm not aware of a program that does that.

H2H
 
By the way, you should really be asking this stuff on prosoundweb. The guys here aren't usually into the Apogee converter level of things. This is HOMErecording.com.

H2H
 
No one's mentioned Vegas?

Vegas is pretty darn fantastic, with a very speedy interface. I've used it for both the audio and video side of things (I'm a grad student in cinema these days...) and love it. Don't use it on a regular basis for audio since I need my MIDI, though...
 
thesedaze. all software in the ntrack,powertracks, multitrackstudio.com category will give PROFESSIONAL RESULTS in the hands of a skilled engineer.
the SOUND QUALITY is dictated by the quality of sound card convertors not the software. just try for example multitrackstudio or one of the others i recommended with a professional RME sound card and youll see what i mean.
further if you dont believe me just ask on the respective n track or powertracks forums where many pro's are using these packages.
nuendo,saw,and the many other hi end packages are excellent, but
you can get just as excellent results from ntrack or multitrack studio or any of the other underr 100 buck multitrackers.
if you dont believe me (or think i'm lying !) record a track in n track or multitrack studio (or even the free audacity !) and the same track in the high end multitrack software using the same RME sound card and tell me if you hear a difference. its up to you.
 
manning1 said:
thesedaze. all software in the ntrack,powertracks, multitrackstudio.com category will give PROFESSIONAL RESULTS in the hands of a skilled engineer.
the SOUND QUALITY is dictated by the quality of sound card convertors not the software.
Click to expand...

I have to disagree. The audio engine used in the software has much to do with it as well.
 
thesedaze said:
Money's not an issue with the software. This is for a professional studio, and not a home type project.
Click to expand...

Samplitude 7 has MIDI, but you can actually turn off the MIDI engine. Believe me, the Sam7 MIDI implementation will not get in your way.

Magix also has a 7.x demo so you can try it for yourself.

Finally, v8 was just released ~1 month ago, and should be available in the US in about 3 weeks or so. They've made significant updates to the MIDI implementation, but I'm sure you can still "turn it off" if you want.

BTW, if you're multitracking in a professional setting, wouldn't you want the MIDI facilities to be available just in case you need them?

- Keith
 
kbaccki said:
Samplitude 7 has MIDI, but you can actually turn off the MIDI engine. Believe me, the Sam7 MIDI implementation will not get in your way.

Magix also has a 7.x demo so you can try it for yourself.

Finally, v8 was just released ~1 month ago, and should be available in the US in about 3 weeks or so. They've made significant updates to the MIDI implementation, but I'm sure you can still "turn it off" if you want.

BTW, if you're multitracking in a professional setting, wouldn't you want the MIDI facilities to be available just in case you need them?

- Keith
Click to expand...

I'll have to look into that! Sounds more and more like Samplitude is what I should be looking at.

As for MIDI, I haven't needed to use it so far, and have no MIDI input/output device anyhow. The only thing close to MIDI I've had to work with was someone's fruity loop files, but they already exported them as a fruity loops package folder w/ the .flp file and the samples. There isn't really a market here for MIDI useage.
 
pdlstl - re: the software making it sound good. ive been a computer engr for many many years. so i'm real keen to debate this with you in a FRIENDLY manner. ive tested every commercial and high end down to shareware and freebie pkge out there for multitracking.
please argue with me at the technical level why the programmers of the software are doing this. because i hear no major difference from pkge to pkge. in fact most manufacturers make a point of arguing what you put in you get out. if one user says - certainly in my experience - that their daw software sounds better, ive found on examination that a different set of sound card convertors is involved rather than the multitrack software.
but please feel free to tell me technically why i'm wrong.
in some cases it could be argued that different vendors use different mixing algorithms. but a
ive heard no discernible differences myself.
 
manning,

this mostly deals with the mixing engine...You're right in that a basic sound going in, with no mixing done internally, that is pumped out will sound the same in platform to platform, as long as the same hardware is used.

If you perform any mixing within the program, however, EQ quality issues will occur.
 
About the "Undo" function... Nuendo 2 has it...
But I'm not sure you can select let's say ONLY Item 3 of a list.
I think it's... undo everything back to that point.
 
thesedaze - with respect i suggest you try a mix in some of the LOWLY
multitrackers like ntrack and the others. magix music studio and powertracks have both graphic and para eq built in. in the case of ntrack another great eq package is included including drawing your own eq curves.
just one example in magix music studio that i use i can even set the narrowness or width of the "Q point" frequency .
just try the demoes if you dont believe me.
christ - even the free audacity has interesting nyquist features and eq curves built in. check them out sometime.
 
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