Compare nTrack to Reaper, for starter

n-Track Studio Discussion Forum
41
Quote: (Bubbagump @ Feb. 25 2011, 1:53 PM)

Quote: (Unblown_Jonson @ Feb. 25 2011, 1:15 PM)

These last few comments highlight another reason I switched. Reaper runs and runs WELL on every dang thang I have installed it on. The latest n demo wouldn't run at ALL on my Win 7 netbook. I tried, but after 30 to 45 minutes of dicking around I came to my senses. *shrug*

UJ

Indeed. I keep seeing
N is great so long as you stay on ver 3 which is 10 years old OR
N is great so long as I blow away all of my preferences on every install OR
N is great so long as I never update or change anything OR
N is great after I jumped through 100 hoops to make it work (Screwing with antivirus, dual boots, etc etc).

I just don't understand the loyalty you guys have any more. Like UJ, I used N for a better part of 10 years and simply couldn't take it any more. My gut tells me you guys are simply too lazy/afraid/intimidated (those were my excuses at least) to learn a different program and explain it away with "Didn't like the work flow" or after spending all of 5 mins in it "I couldn't get my hardware to work" as you never bothered enabling it in the R preferences. Sorry, calling it how I see it and as my gut dictates.

I spent about 10 hours with it, I really want to agree with what your saying but I can't. I'm currently working on my 4th album and it's getting done, bugs and all. Would I jump ship if n-track didn't cut it? Yes, I would but work flow is doing what I want, I report any bugs I find and that's it. I really feel n-track is getting a bad shake here but also I feel some of the issues are simply compatibility issues, and of course if Flavio doesn't have the same equipment on hand it becomes very difficult for him solve these issues not like Reaper that most likely has a large technical staff and hordes of testing equipment to meet equipment compatibility. Even my Line 6 has issues but I just work around it at the moment. Maybe I should just jump ship and head over to Reaper and join the corporation and say to hell with all of it and get busy learning a new DAW. It's always bash, bash, bash, without seeing the full picture. I think I'm getting annoyed. I think I'll go mix something, like a drink. :peace:



PACO
42
Quote: (Paco572 @ Feb. 26 2011, 5:02 PM)

equipment on hand it becomes very difficult for him solve these issues not like Reaper that most likely has a large technical staff and hordes of testing equipment to meet equipment

Not quite.
Reaper is/was pretty much one guy (although the team is growing).
Although I don't think cash is a problem - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Frankel
43
Quote: (Mark A @ Feb. 25 2011, 11:08 PM)

Quote: (Paco572 @ Feb. 26 2011, 5:02 PM)

equipment on hand it becomes very difficult for him solve these issues not like Reaper that most likely has a large technical staff and hordes of testing equipment to meet equipment

Not quite. Reaper is/was pretty much one guy (although the team is growing). Although I don't think cash is a problem - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Frankel

I stand corrected.


PACO
44
Quote: (Unblown_Jonson @ Feb. 25 2011, 9:50 PM)

Quote: (dontcare @ Feb. 25 2011, 7:40 PM)

so I'll take that as a no, you have no clue why nothing shows up under ASIO and when it is clicked nothing happens.... :laugh: that makes two of us,

Ntrack doesn't have a problem finding it, shows up every time, V5 and 6.

but I might be exagerratin just a wee bit..I have had to restart the ONXY if the system is idle too long...but I just got in the habit of restarting it before I start Ntrack after I've been away.....bit I digress...i just want to to WORK! then I can give my sparkling review
dontcare

Nope. I don't have an Onyx FW mixer. The real question is; Have you asked any of the several happy Reaper/Onyx users on the Reaper forum for help?

Just about ALL the FW interface makers recommend using a TI chipset based FW host controller. What do you have? That might explain the disconnect issue with n too?

Um yes I researched all that BEFORE I bought the ONYX and set up the computer, and T/I firewire, I didn't just go out and by the cheapest Dell I could and expect stellar audio performance...... :D not that my board and chipsets are all that expensive but they were put together specifically for this purpose...

I had a M-audio Firewire before this so this ain't my first dog and pony show...., I could leave a link to a forum where 3-4 years ago and I got up to date on all that.....

I thought I made it obvious but let me clarify, the disconnect issue (which happens with Sonar, Ableton, Ntrack ect ect) is only after hours of being away from the computer which has to do with the Windows idle/standby setting when I click the little red box to get Windows back on the Desktop screen again I have to restart the mixer/interface in order for the DAWs to recognize it again.

To answer you questions NO I have not begun to go to the Reaper site and post problem reports or ask for help, it's not a necessity right this moment all my other DAWS are working....but things can change in a heartbeat. :whistle:

I am sorry my picture posting method has lessened your confidence in me to navigate windows, I know how to do screen capture on my wife's Vista machine, but it was quicker just to take pictures of the screen and upload them than to try and remember how it is done on XP, I don't really think that is contributing to the problem here..(my choice to use alternative methods to get a goal done)...

I probably will eventually post over there about it, but I don't know what they are going to tell me about this set up that you or Bubba couldn't have... ???
YOu see me inside the Preference area of R with all the blank tabs, if this is a user navigation problem as you suggest WHERE else I am I supposed to be going to set this up? I'm sure if you gave me a refresher like you did with the screen capture function I could find it in Windows..as it stands I didn't have this problem with Ntrack or Sonar...just go in the preference area and their they are the ASIO drivers, clickable and workable tabs.....maybe my version of R is corrupt (although that would not explain why the same version works on the Vista machine and soundblaster card)....but those ASIO tabs on the XP machine are dead.


keep shinin

jerm :cool:
45

I assume yes, but you’re sure you’re sure you have the latest greatest drivers on the Mackie? Seems the whole world is complaining about early versions of their ASIO drivers. There are tons and tons of folks using Mackie boards via ASIO in R all over the R forums.

46

yes Bubba downloaded them about a week ago…
although they weren’t any different than the ones from a few months ago I already had.

I haven’t ruled out user error in fact I quiet suspect there is something I am doing differently than the other users.

One thing I am wondering about is where it is installed, on the Vista Machine I have R installed right onto the hardrive to it’s default directory, but on this XP machine I have it on a flash stick so it is not installed directly into the computer…which may explain why I am having problems with ASIO but if it is a location problem it doesn’t explain why do all the other drivers for the onboard Realtek card and Digitech USB interface work?

When I chose the “Wave out” setting ONYX analog in 1-2 show up as input and ONYX out 1-2 as output (hitting that tab I can see all the others as well, eg. Digitech USB 1-2 In/out, ONYX analog 3-4, 5-6, ect ect…but when I change the AUDIO system tab back to ASIO they all disappear and a blank tab that does nothing shows up (as pictured in other post)

I just don’t have time to sort this out today, I don’t even have time to do music let along get to the bottom of this.

Another day, as I am not giving up just yet. :agree:

dontcare

47

The driver I have for the ONYX is V1.1.1 same as on the site, although it says in properties 2009…yea, latest and greatest I’m sure… ???

I have tested the ONYX inside windows Control Panel, it says it is working properly and it is in all my other DAWS…

I did some snooping over at R with a simple check to see how people are getting along with the ONYX, the thread I read the very helpful guy zappsunzorn says:

"Select the Asio at the top of the window"

and

"Select the first and last input available"

How exactly does one “click” something that is not click able, ie. does NOTHING when you scan over it or click it?

The poster never came back to say how it turned out…
but I can tell you how mine did!
:laugh:

Needless to say if I would have put all my eggs in this one basket I would be pretty upset right now…but as it stands I have other options that are working so as disappointing as this may be it’s not a sunder.


dontcare

48

I have both programs, but mainly use n-track. Both have their good and not so good points.

I have recorded/post recorded 4 albums on N-Track, with good results. But, hey, most software does bugs in them. I will one day use Reaper on a recording and see whether it is just as easy to use as N-track. Reaper looks useful to make a song out of samples similar to Acid Pro.

49

To the O.P. - Try both, use whichever works & use whichever you understand.

I use Pro Tools HD at work (even it crashes to desktop not too infrequently), but at home I use the latest version of NTrack. I’ve tried Reaper out of curiousity’s sake, but I kept using NTrack. I know how to use it, it does what I need it to do and I didn’t see any benefit to swapping over to Reaper).

I’ve had my share of headaches with NTrack. When I find bugs, Flavio usually patches them (there was one instance where I was having registry problems that Flavio was unable to help me).

NTracks’ customer support is good. The latest version is very stable. The NTrack users on the forum are friendly and helpful.

50
Quote: (dontcare @ Feb. 26 2011, 12:17 PM)

One thing I am wondering about is where it is installed, on the Vista Machine I have R installed right onto the hardrive to it's default directory, but on this XP machine I have it on a flash stick so it is not installed directly into the computer....which may explain why I am having problems with ASIO but if it is a location problem it doesn't explain why do all the other drivers for the onboard Realtek card and Digitech USB interface work?

When I chose the "Wave out" setting ONYX analog in 1-2 show up as input and ONYX out 1-2 as output (hitting that tab I can see all the others as well, eg. Digitech USB 1-2 In/out, ONYX analog 3-4, 5-6, ect ect...but when I change the AUDIO system tab back to ASIO they all disappear and a blank tab that does nothing shows up (as pictured in other post)

I just don't have time to sort this out today, I don't even have time to do music let along get to the bottom of this.

Another day, as I am not giving up just yet. :agree:

dontcare

The Realtek card would be WDM, yes? ASIO versus WDM is apples and oranges so I would not be surprised if if one worked and the other didn't.

When you installed it to the USB stick, did you use the actual "Install to USB stick" deal? You have to install Reaper to a hard drive first somewhere and then on that same machine run the "Install to USB stick" installer. You can then take that USB stick and run Reaper on any machine.
51

hmmm…maybe that’s it then…not sure I used the “install to USB stick” option, didn’t know I had to or where it is in Vista.

the rest I did tho, installed it to my wifes Vista Compaq and then installed it to the stick on her computer.

When I take that stick and plug it into other various computers (laptops, OQO’s and the Asus) it runs Reaper just fine using USB audio devices (M-audio fastrack, GNX4) the ONLY thing so far I can’t get this install to work with is the ONYX on that single machine.

I guess I will try to find the “USB install” option on the wifey’s system since I have no intention of installing it directly to the Asus hardrive.

Thank you for responding Bubba, with UJ’s replies getting deleted it makes me look like I am talking to myself (and answering myself which is the scary part)… :laugh:

there was something a read about the ONYX and R in a thread over at cockos…something about setting the variance or something…will have to read up on what and where that is.

dontcare

52

Personally I like the interface/gui to N much better…I have tried R at least 4 times on 3 different machines and had a problem with the gui flickering every 20 seconds or so…tried fixing it via forum tips and hardware settings to no avail (on 3 entirely different dedicated daw set ups that ran N, Sound Forge and Fruity Loops nicely) and finally gave up…My work is almost entirely mixing so I don’t use midi, vsti’s or any of the such…I actually wish I could turn off the features I don’t use (clean up the gui, streamline the process, save cpu and video memory) …now that would be a feature I would like!..find what works for you and go with it…R is way more flexible for routing, N seems easier to learn for a newbie…I wish N had more routing flexibility which would be nice for recording but doesn’t effect my mix work flow at all…

Ray

53

Well, after I’ve tried them both out a little more thoroughly (but still just scratching the surface), I have a slight preference for Reaper, but I think it’s mostly because I really dug deeper into Reaper first.
Being new to DAW, had I delved into nTrack first I’m fairly certain I would have preferred it instead.
It’s great that either one of them exist at this $ range.
Going way off topic now… about the name of the R program, seems that’s just the founder’s sense of humor (that’s what I’ll choose to believe, since I’ll likely purchase it).
Anyway, this will most likely be my last post on this.
Thanks again for all the comments.

54

I always say, use what works or what works for you. For that reason, need to try both and give them both a far shot. The way the unregistered versions are should make it easy to did into both pretty well.

My own story is that I have used n-Tracks since v2.1. Only recently did I switch to Reaper. The reason is that n-Track V6 was really flaking out on the updated WinXp to Win7 DAW being put together for my son. I had n-Tracks on it for years, but after install Win7 it wasn’t a happy camper. The main problem was that the audio devices, as seen in the preferences, was getting mangled so that the machine needed to be rebooted and the prefs reset at lease every few recording sessions. This was never a problem on the same hardware with WinXp.

This makes it seem easy to point fingers at Win7, but that turned out to not be the problem. After a lot of experimenting, I discovered that this was only a problem with n-Tracks and it was very specific to n-Tracks on that machine as well.

So, Reaper was given a try out of necessity on that machine. It worked fine from day one and hasn’t given any problems. It’s on the laptop now so we can easily transfer, but I still have a lot of projects that are n-Tracks only.

Reaper on the other hand has much less need for user workarounds because of quirks than n-Tracks, but Reaper is not as easy to figure out without reading the manual.

The upside of both is that they are very easy to use, as recording apps go. I still can’t imagine using anything else but these two.

55

Yup. What Phoo said.

56

Hi jeremysdemo, phoo, and bubbagump!

I remember the days when n-Track and n-Track Studio referred to different applications! (Granted, I was in like 8th grade at the time, but whatever.) Does that make me part of the “old-guard” UJ mentioned?

I never did really have the stability problems that others had (not even with v4 - in fact, build 1849 or something was my pony for a long time), but was blown away by how much faster Tracktion performed simple editing/scrubbing operations.

Once Tracktion went bust, I took another look at N, but REAPER’s intensely-specific customization features won me over, and I’d have a hard time switching to any other DAW that didn’t give me anal-retentive control of everything.

But, as Mr. Craven said, use what works for you.

phoo - any new Far Tones stuff planned?

Chip - are you still in that Irish-ish band? That stuff was great.

dontcare - I still listen to a couple of the songs you posted way back. No lie, “Without Me” was going through my head earlier today, which prompted me to visit these forums again.

Thread hijacked! (Sorry!)

57

BTW - is Unblown_Jonson the former Diogenes/gtr4him/TG? He used to be such a nice boy!

Also, shoutout to Flavio - n-Track Studio was once my favorite application ever, and despite the fact I’m not user anymore, I’m glad it is still around.

58
:laugh:

Welcome back, Jason. Some of us never left, but have been serverly sidetracked for whatever reasons, so it may seem like we were gone

The FarTones took a break mostly because of unplanned family transitions and other semi-nonsense, like a high priority project at real work. We are finally getting back to unfinished business.

All I can say about that is YEAH!!!

UJ-D-G4H-TG
...there is a bit of a common theme there...
:whistle:
59
Quote: (Former Member Gone @ Mar. 07 2011, 10:00 PM)

dontcare - I still listen to a couple of the songs you posted way back.
No lie, "Without Me" was going through my head earlier today, which prompted me to visit these forums again.

no kiddin'

nice to hear from you Jason, you certainly seemed to like my tunes more than the average listener..must be some kindred spirit type-o-thang! :D

you certainly encouraged me to keep pluggin when I lost steam on more than one occasion.

man I sure would love to revisit some of those old tunes one day, with all I have learned about the technical aspect of recording and see what happens.... :agree:

if you want to hear something a bit more recent:

ONeHiT

def thanx for stoppin by, don't be a stranger!

dontcare
60
Quote: (Former Member Gone @ Mar. 07 2011, 10:00 PM)

Chip - are you still in that Irish-ish band?
That stuff was great.

Wow, blast from the past. I had no idea you were such a young little twerp way back. As for the Irish band, nah... couldn't keep everyone sober and behaving enough. It was a real shame as we could have been booked everywhere for top bucks. We were getting booked nationally... $3k for a night, airfare, food, hotels... you know, something like success. As the one guy in the band said, the hardest part should be getting to the bank to cash the checks. The fiddle player and singer didn't see it that way... better to get sloshed at gigs and get into screaming matches with each other, bar staff, other band members. Such a waste of talent.

And don't reveal UJ's secrets now.