SeaGtGruff
Member
I don't know how many people here use Mixcraft, but for those who do, here's a heads-up in case you hadn't already heard. The other day I found out that version 7 has been released. I've now updated from Mixcraft Pro Studio 6 to 7, and while I haven't tried all of its functionality yet, it looks like a definite improvement over 6.
For one thing, I never could get the documented procedure for adding your own VST plug-ins to work, but when I was installing 7 it automatically searched for and added all of my VST plug-ins. (I haven't tried adding a new plug-in after installation yet, but I'm hoping it will be just as effortless.)
Also, 7 now has a 64-bit version-- if you have a 64-bit computer-- and the 64-bit version can use either 32-bit or 64-bit VST plug-ins. (Version 6 was strictly 32-bit, and the only way to use 64-bit plug-ins was to use a third-party bridge.)
There are also some new virtual instruments.
I know that most everyone here seems to use Reaper, and I'm not interested in "converting" anyone who's perfectly happy with their chosen DAW(s). But after having tried out a number of DAWs-- mostly free ones like Synth Font and Anvil Studio, but also free versions of commercial DAWs like PreSonus Studio One, Zynewave Podium, and Sony ACID, as well as Ableton Live Lite 8-- I have to say that I really like how easy Mixcraft is to use. I should probably clarify that my primary interest is controlling my keyboards with a DAW-- controlling virtual instruments with my keyboards is a close second, and recording is more of a distant third.
Anywho, the only major-ish drawback I can think of is that Mixcraft (still) doesn't respond to or transmit any MIDI SysEx messages-- it actually removes them from the incoming MIDI stream. So far that hasn't been much of a downer for me, since 99.9% of what I want to control on my keyboards can be controlled using standard MIDI messages anyway. But yeah, the ability to work with SysEx messages would be a welcome addition to some future version of Mixcraft.
For one thing, I never could get the documented procedure for adding your own VST plug-ins to work, but when I was installing 7 it automatically searched for and added all of my VST plug-ins. (I haven't tried adding a new plug-in after installation yet, but I'm hoping it will be just as effortless.)
Also, 7 now has a 64-bit version-- if you have a 64-bit computer-- and the 64-bit version can use either 32-bit or 64-bit VST plug-ins. (Version 6 was strictly 32-bit, and the only way to use 64-bit plug-ins was to use a third-party bridge.)
There are also some new virtual instruments.
I know that most everyone here seems to use Reaper, and I'm not interested in "converting" anyone who's perfectly happy with their chosen DAW(s). But after having tried out a number of DAWs-- mostly free ones like Synth Font and Anvil Studio, but also free versions of commercial DAWs like PreSonus Studio One, Zynewave Podium, and Sony ACID, as well as Ableton Live Lite 8-- I have to say that I really like how easy Mixcraft is to use. I should probably clarify that my primary interest is controlling my keyboards with a DAW-- controlling virtual instruments with my keyboards is a close second, and recording is more of a distant third.
Anywho, the only major-ish drawback I can think of is that Mixcraft (still) doesn't respond to or transmit any MIDI SysEx messages-- it actually removes them from the incoming MIDI stream. So far that hasn't been much of a downer for me, since 99.9% of what I want to control on my keyboards can be controlled using standard MIDI messages anyway. But yeah, the ability to work with SysEx messages would be a welcome addition to some future version of Mixcraft.