| Home recording and general music post from the archived Yabb Recording Website Message Board. Some of the info here may be outdated but many of the audio recording and home studio tips are still good. Note: The only tags I made and attempt to convert are italics, bold, center and underline. So if you see some gibberish surrounded by brackets, just ignore it.
Recording Website Archived Yabb board Post
Febuary 2001 Yabb Message Board Archive
Subject: Mutitrack Recording Software
by Garak | 02/22/01 at 16:00:06
I like the look and feel of N-Track studio but after 4 or so tracks we start to lose sync between the tracks. So now I'm looking to get some new software.
What I'm looking for:
-Mutitrack
-Able to record from diffrent devices at the same time
-nice big level meters on all inputs
-able to split a stereo input into two tracks
-built in mixer with support for diffrent devices
-support for 20 and 24 bit soundcards
Basicly everything that N-Track has and a bit more.
Any one have any suggestions on what software to get?
Subject: Re: Mutitrack Recording Software
by old_dan | 02/23/01 at 05:23:15
That's a lot to ask. ;D What I would advise you to do is to download either (or both) Quartz Audio Master at http://www.recordingwebsite.com/freebies.html#q1
or Pro Tools at
http://www.recordingwebsite.com/freebies.html#pt
The good thing about both programs are they're free! And both are pro grade stuff. I don't know if they have all the stuff you want tho. But to find out all you have to spend is a little time and some hard drive space.
Take care,
Dan
Subject: Re: Mutitrack Recording Software
by Jim | 02/23/01 at 18:26:28
Be aware of system minimum requirements because you will want to exceed them
I have just read several articles on the subject of audio production on the PC and several of them said you will need to use a dedicated PC with no apps on it and several modifications to limit Proc I/Os and interupts if you want to do serious multi-track recording. Alot of things as simple as just screen refreshes can put a nice hic-up in a track while you are either recording or mixing down in a multi-track enviroment. It seemed to me though if you don't mind retakes or remixes then it probably won't be a problem.
I would be interested in reading others responses to your question especially those that do it.
Subject: Re: Mutitrack Recording Software
by Steve_S. | 02/23/01 at 19:45:41
Jim,
I run 8 tracks of simultaneous audio into my PII 450MHz Micron PC using CEP with no troubles. I do make sure that I have all other background applications turned off though. I do a Ctrl-Alt-Delete in Win '98 and see if anything is background runnin'. I can usually get down to only 4 things running, Explorer, Rnaapp, Mswheel, & Systray before I run CEP. This setup worked fine with the 128 megs my computer came with. I doubled my memory to 256 megs though to get better playback after recording. It would play up to about 10-15 tracks simultaneously without stalling. The extra memory allowed more tracks to play longer before memory was used up. Hopefully, this wasn't too much rambling.......
Subject: Re: Mutitrack Recording Software
by Jim | 02/23/01 at 20:23:38
CEP was program I have been considering. I had a friend of mine try ProTools Free on his 500Mhz but it wouldn't run on it. Cubase was another one that is supposed to be real resource intensive.
How many simultanious effects have you tried on all 8 tracks. The impression I have gotten is it isn't so much the basic tracks themselves but the effects, other enhancements and plug-ins that is the problem. I am very interested in your feedback.
Subject: Re: Mutitrack Recording Software
by Steve_S. | 02/24/01 at 01:12:14
[size=3]Jim,
I've never tried to add effects on all channels at the same time. I may track 8 in at once but then I do editing on the individual tracks afterward. You add your effects to a specific track and those effects become built in to the .wav file. So there's really no difference in playback of multiple tracks with or without effects. I'm not sure if CEP has an option to add effects on multiple tracks simultaneously or to add them while tracking...... Someone else out there correct me if I'm wrong....[/size]
Subject: Re: Mutitrack Recording Software
by Slider28 | 02/24/01 at 06:54:52
I didnt even know we had a freebies page here at RW. Very nice Dan!
Subject: Re: Mutitrack Recording Software
by JR#97 | 02/27/01 at 19:05:48
I've tried everything there is. Check out my reviews under the software section. If I had to choose one, I'd go with Vegas Pro. Easy to use and lots of features. However, it doesn't do actually wave editing, so I'd just go with the shareware Cool Edit 2000. CEP is good, but doesn't offer real time mixing and can't do some of the things that Vegas does. I used to feel the opposite.. CEP... but now.... Another alternative is Samplitude.. but it's a bear to learn.