Trying the Demo, have some ?

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SJR

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Hi,

I am new to software recording on the PC. I have a Tascam 488, which I am familiar with. I have not done much in the last several years & have decided to start to explore digital.

I DL'ed the n-Track Demo. Of course it looks rather complicated at 1st. I can not get the metronome to count off. I double checked the settings & they are all correct from what i could tell.

Also, when I play my acoustic into the mic. it seems a delay of about 4-5 seconds.

Is this product any good, I know it is one of the least expensive.

I don't want to tie up a lot of money, if so I would sell my 488 & effects, & pay the difference for a Hard Disc Recorder.

But, I would like to learn with the software if it is worth my time.

Thankx
SJ
 
SJR said:
Also, when I play my acoustic into the mic. it seems a delay of about 4-5 seconds.
Click to expand...
That depends mostly on the used soundcard and its drivers, not on the recording software.
 
Re: Re: Trying the Demo, have some ?

christiaan said:
That depends mostly on the used soundcard and its drivers, not on the recording software.
Click to expand...

Yes to the above.

What do you mean by count off ? :D.

If you are looking at pc based recording, then along with the programs you are looking at you should also look into getting a good soundcard. Soundblasters aren't really recommended but do function.

n-track works great for my needs. I have run it on both win98 and xp pro, with no major issues. The only major issues I have had, are with MIDI, and again, crappy soundcards. But if you have a crappy soundcard, you'll probably have issues with any program out there. A good soundcard can be had for not too much money, but more than your gonna fork out for n-track.

I learned most of my digital recording with n-track. I have recently aquired cubase sx, which is pretty top notch, yet still I use n-track, because I am comfortable with it, and it works.

The program itself has come a long way, and glitches and crashes are few and far in between. The one major thing to watch out for though, is if you are into MIDI. n-track does not like MIDI ;).

One nice feature is the free upgrades for life. That's what sold me. And it does pretty much everything. Unlimited tracks. Effects (but stay away from the effects that come with it, there are plenty of better effects out there, some of them free),
Final mixdown. There is also an excellent user forum at Faoft.com in case you have any troubles.

You can't go wrong.
 
I second all of the above, you just can't go wrong with N-track, it's a great piece of software.
You may want to get a better computer. I suspect the machine you are using doesn't have enough muscle to handle audio. For ntrack, a minimum of 128 megs of ram is needed. I'm presently running it with a 350 MHz P2 and 128 megs of ram. So far, it's functioning very well. If you want a cheap soundcard then look at the Audiophile 24/96 by M-audio. This seems to be very popular with the budget conscious.
The metronome problem is probably something to do with your settings. Ntrack uses the soundcards synthesizer to create the click, which I have to say, is a real pain in the arse, and is one of the drawbacks of the softtware. Click midi note device in the metronome setting dialogue box and press test. You should get a click track doing this. If not, you may have a problem with your soundcard. Good luck with your venture into digital recording. Be patient, the learning curve can be steep at times, but it is worth the work.
 
You've never had Ntrack lock up on you morindae? I've got 256 ram, You are not using enough effects! gimme 8 tracks, with two effects per, and I'll lock it up quicker than a jack rabbit on a frying pan, on a hot summer day, in the..., err,... you get the picture....
 
Welcome SJR....

This has been covered in other posts, but forget about the Metronome..... I suspect that the metronome problem has somethiing to do with the timing variables going on in each PC, as some people have problems and some don't.... best to just bypass it.

It's far easier and MORE RELIABLE to whip up a click track .wav file at the bpm of your song and run it as another track that you can mute out or delete later.

I use FruityLoops or ACID music to make my click tracks, but you could use nearly anything.... even N-Track itself.


The current build (it says 1513 on the website but is actually 1516 when you install it) is very stable. In testing out my new DAW recently I was running 35 tracks (stereo 24bit/44.1kHz - 60mb each) with zero problems and a CPU useage of only 15-20%.

cellardweller, sounds like you have bum (warez?) plugins or another problem with your machine.....
 
Any ideas of what said problems may be(with cpu)? How high should cpu usage (lower right hand corner of Ntracks) be during playback? I have seen it get as high as 97% before crashing. I usually am adding effects "on the fly" during playback, is this not the best way to add them?

I do seem to remember having problems with one particular plug-in, though I don't remember which one, and I am not on my home computer right now... dbx reverb light? something like that?
 
cellardweller said:
Any ideas of what said problems may be(with cpu)? How high should cpu usage (lower right hand corner of Ntracks) be during playback? I have seen it get as high as 97% before crashing. I usually am adding effects "on the fly" during playback, is this not the best way to add them?

I do seem to remember having problems with one particular plug-in, though I don't remember which one, and I am not on my home computer right now... dbx reverb light? something like that?
Click to expand...

I think the minimum one ought to have for Ram in their machine should be 512 mb, if not a Gig. 256 has its limits, and I am thinking this is where most of your problems are cellardweller. Although sometimes certain plugins are really crappy and will crash even those with lotsa ram, in which case stay away from those particular problems. Also if you are twiddling the 'knobs' of the effects during playback it'll chew up Ram pretty quick.

It is often preferable to be able to add and modify the effects when you are mixing, but not always possible :( .

Oh yes I just noticed 'two effects per' :D. I always found that to be a really quick way to use up available memory. I made a simple rule to myself when I found this out the hard way, only one effect per track :D. It helps keep thinks simple, for me. For you, maybe try sticking the reverb on a master effects channel, or Aux channel.
 
By the way,the free upgrades for life is a bit of an exageration.I'm currently running v.2.2,but I'm researching purchasing a 24bit card.Just to upgrade from v2.2 to 3.3(16bit)will cost $22.To upgrade to v3.3 24bit.$35.
Still worthwhile,but not exactlya free upgrade.
 
well I meant free updates...if you want and stick with 16 bit format, you pay for it once only. If you upgrade to 24 bit then yes it costs money. Not a heck of a lot though. Like 20$???
 
badassmak said:
well I meant free updates...if you want and stick with 16 bit format, you pay for it once only. If you upgrade to 24 bit then yes it costs money. Not a heck of a lot though. Like 20$???
Click to expand...
Actually I was refering to the cost of upgrading from v2x to v3x($22).Still not a big deal.Worth every penny to me.
 
Cellardweller, I am running ntrack on an old machine with windows 98. It never, and I mean never, crashes on me. Most of my songs are in the region of 12 -16 tracks. I often route effects like reverb through the auxiliary channel which saves on memory. I can easily run eight tracks with effects without locking up. Some plugins use up a lot of memory and can cause problems, which I think accounts for many of the experiences people are having with stability. If I am using software to say warm up a vocal track, then I will do that in a wave editor, to again, save on memory.
On another note, I started with version 2x and just recently downloaded version 3.3. I have yet to pay a penny for the updates. Ntrack, along with my Musicman Axix Super Sport guitar are probably the most killer deals I've come across in recent memory. Both products give amazing bang for the buck.
 
What is the purpose of the auxilliary channels anyway? I've never used them because I assumed that they were something to do with recording directly in from a soundcard. Can you route any given channel through an auxilliary to minimize effect usage? How does this affect mixdown if at all..? ( I am not at home to experiment with it at this time...)

Oh yeah, and what in the heck is Musicman Axix Super Sport guitar, anyway?

Thanks yet again morindae!!!
 
I was just in the middle of asking the same question cellardweller when I saw your reply at the bottom of my screen!

Yeah, I've just obtained a mixer with built in effects and also interested how you can use the aux of ntrack to use any outboard gear instead of the built in software to save resources.

I'm also reading this forum from work so can't experiment!

Cheers,
Cazz
 
I'm assuming that you mean using outboard gear via soundcard output? I have an integrated soundcard, and so may as well not have one at all. I think it has one 1/8 output.

Anyway, How do you find out if your soundcard is capable of receiving 16 bit quality signal (trial and error?)?

Someday, maybe, I'll be able to work from home, and be able to spontaneously experiment whenever the fancy takes me...
 
I guess looking at the spec of your soundcard is the best way of seeing what it can do... not sure if software can determine its quality.

I splashed cash on an Aardvark Direct Pro soundcard a few years ago. Something like that is the minimum I think if you're serious about recording, my old sb wasn't at the party at all.

The spec says it's capable of 16 and 24 bit though I've never used the 24 bit yet... the 16 bit sounds fine to me.

It also has four 1/4" outputs and two phono outputs. I think one of these are the ones that are going to be used for the aux sends from ntrack, but waiting on morindae's reply to confirm this!
 
16 .vs 24

It was my understanding, that the difference between 16 and 24 bit quality was not perceivable to the human ear. Don't quote me though, I very well may be mistaken, but it seems I remember 16 bit being described as equal to or better than CD quality (probably the former).
 
Cd's are recorded at 16 bit 44.1 MHZ

You might be right in not being able to tell the difference between 16 and 24 bit with your hears. I am not sure on this either.

However I do know that the huge difference in these is in the head room you get when you are recording. This is due to the "depth" in bits
 
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