Ntrack vs Reaper
I’ve used Ntrack for years, thought it was the coolest, cheapest mixer. I don’t use it for recording, just mixing. After seeing discussion about this Reaper software, I’m in awe…no crashing…no hiccups…no CPU wolfing…no reconfigging the computer…I can load an entire song of multiple tracks and record all the changes on the fly in my laptop and no stuttering, just wonderful recording of everything…
Flavio…It’s more stable, cleaner and easier to use in some ways…
I’m not sure I’m sticking with Ntrack…
Thanks though for the good times, though!
~peace~
Plish
That’s great, I have been having lots of problems with NTrack on my machine but can the ntrack sng files be transfered to work in any other program? I have a LOT of music mixed through Ntrack over the years but just can’t keep it stable on my current system. I hate to lose all the song data and just be stuck redoing everything from importing all my individual sound files 
If you have nV5, use the “Save As…” EDL function. Reaper can open the EDL file with all your edits. Of course you’ll have to redo your FX and such, but it beats the single file import, shift it around to line it up shuffle…
D
Thanks for the info, I have so much done with N-tracks I wish I could get it working tho. It won’t reinstall because it says I need to uninstall it from the control panel and control panel won’t uninstall it because it says some file is missing…I’m stuck.
I feel your pain. I’ve had the exact same issue. Also have had the desk top shortcut consistently freak out and direct me to the setup file as opposed to opening the main file. I mean I can deal with software issues, but it’s beginning to wear me down and I’m spending more time doing work arounds instead of working…
~peace~
Plish
www.michaelplishka.com
www.myspace.com/michaelplishka
www.myspace.com/bohdanovich
I can’t even get it uninstalled at this point
Here’s some help for the problems you have mentioned:
For the program that will not uninstall - MS Windows did that - reinstall the program, that will put back the part that is missing, then if you wish you can then uninstall from the control panel.
For the Icon that is opening the install instead of taking you to the program:
OPen Windows Explorer and find the Ntrack Directory. Versions 4 and 5 are listed in subdirectories in the Programs Files -
For version 5; Program Files > FASOFT > n-Track Studio 5.
In that place find the file called N_TRACK.EXE - right click and drag it onto the Desktop screen and release the right mouse button and select create a new shortcut.
From now on when you Click on that icon you will start Ntrack. >>>>> WARNING - do not LEFT Click on the N-TRACK.EXE file to drag, you will move it to the desktop and that will foul things up again. If you accidently do that just drag the file back into the folder where you got it and it should still work - if not just reinstall the program.
good luck.
Bax
Thanks but I can’t reinstall the program either, it says that I need to uninstall previous version from control panel. Can’t uninstal from control panel, I’m stuck in a loop …one of the lower rings of hell.
I think when this happened once to me, what I did was go back and manually blow away the program, then use one of the free orphan registry cleaners then I tried to reinstall, and then uninstall…
Worth a shot 
~peace~
Plish
www.michaelplishka.com
www.myspace.com/michaelplishka
www.myspace.com/bohdanovich
so, you are saying that with version 5 if you try ti reininstall it tells you to go to the control panel? Usually, the program auto uninstalles the last version. Sounds like you had something else happend while you were installing, an anit-virus could caues the problem or if the computer shut down durnig an install or uninstall. I think plish is right, if you can’t reinstall of uninstall, delete the directories and then clean the registry of any referrence to Ntrack. You can find some register cleaners at www.snapfiles.com. Sometimes the only lasting solution is to format ( at least delete the Windows Directories) and reinstall Windows as this kind of thing has a way of being a symptome of a currupt registry.
What a drag!
I’m evaluating Reaper now and I gotta say it looks great. It’s streamlined simplicity and little things like the fact that I can actually get it to work are reminicent of what first attracted me to n-Track many years ago.I’ve been a champion of n-Track for a long time, and it served me well for many years but with my new(er) system, I can NOT get it to work anymore. I’ve been through shutting down background apps, upping my ram and jumping through every imagineable hoop with the buffer settings, and it still pops and farts all over everything I try to do. I got reaper working cleanly in less than five minutes.
I’m sorry, but I just have to be able to get some work done.
I’ve tried Reaper and found it a great little program. However, I had the opportunity to get Cubase Studio 4 at a 50% rebate (Steinberg competitors just dumped their prices), and today this is my main production application. Having used n-Track for years and years and lately Samplitude 8 SE, I hesitated for a while before making the switch.
If you think that n-Track is the only multitrack program out there having bugs, think again. I was on the verge of upgrading CS4 to CS4.1, but a peek in the Cubase forum got me off it at the very last minute - apparently there are problems with the Export Audio function and the VSTi’s not working properly anymore - Some users even reports of broken-down systems after this upgrade, so I think I’ll wait and see. After all, I’m used to this from years of using n-Track.
Cubase Studio 4, out-of-the-box, suits my way of working perfectly, thank you. It is pretty stable, works predictably, gets its levels right (even in the Aux channels), a dozen VST plug-ins all running at once does not bring it to its knees, it doesen’t hesitate when Play is pressed (n-Track did that a lot on my system - for two seconds every time!), it doesen’t stutter when a project is saved while in play mode, and it has a score editor built-in as standard. It even records mono! (I have had troubles with that, as some of you may know) There are still things I like about n-Track, and I am keeping it on my hard drive for now, but its use is being phased out in favour of CS4.
I still want to thank Flavio for allowing me and my music to enter the digital age. If it wasn’t for n-Track, I would miss about six years of experience, which comes in handy now. Well, time to move on, I guess…
regards, Nils
CS4 has a score editor you say? I’ll have to check that out.
I understand that all software has bugs. Right now, with 5.1.1 and my current system n-Track’s bugs make it impossible for me to work. This in not the case for everybody, and a year or so ago with 4.x it seemed like I was the only person here who was actually able to get n-Track to work.
When/if the next version of n-Track comes I’ll check it out and if it works, then sweet! I’ll come back.
Nils, the 2 second delay was almost certainly a result of the buffering settings.
I think Nils is running an EMU 1820M like I have… and also having the same issues with n that I have. The two second delay IS a buffering setting… because I had to raise the buffering to ridiculous amounts to get n to playback without pops and farts. I know it’s not the EMU because the same project plays back perfectly with my other softies at less than 10 ms latency. (Very LOW buffering) I have my system set to 5 ms with XXXXXX and it works great even recording while playing back a couple dozen tracks. Quick response, no pops, no farts. Playing through VSTi’s requires low latency performance from your host and PC/Interface. Can’t get it with n-Track at the moment.
Maybe V6 will rectify all that… fingers crossed
D
Hi Diogenes. Happy that I am not alone in experiencing this behaviour with n-Track. I tried messing around with the buffering settings (ASIO) and my conclusive findings were that I could use a 5 ms latency when recording - if I only had less than six audio tracks running, no VSTi’s, no VST’s, just the track sounds - anything more than that and I had to raise the latency to about 20 ms - unuseable for recording.
Another issue I have had with n-Track is the Aux channels. There is a distinct delay (I never bothered to measure how long) if a VST effect (e.g. reverb) is put in an Aux channel and fed signals from the corresponding sends from the track channels. The signal levels are all over the place, too. I never managed to get around this problem, and it rendered n-Track useless for serious mixing. For the last year or so I have therefore been mixing all our projects in other applications.
Again, I am grateful for the time and the experience n-Track has given me, but I have perhaps ‘outgrown’ it with the current complexity of my setup and level of ambition.
regards, Nils
Quote:
Another issue I have had with n-Track is the Aux channels. There is a distinct delay (I never bothered to measure how long) if a VST effect (e.g. reverb) is put in an Aux channel and fed signals from the corresponding sends from the track channels.
It seems that for the aux channels there is by default a nTrack reverb as always on effect. Might give strange results if combined with other effects. By default this should probably be turned off.
I have both Reaper and N-Track and each have their pros and cons. There are certain things I can do with more flexibility in Reaper, and others that are more suited for N-Track. I use them both, but still utilize N-Track to do my final mixing. As for removing a program from your PC, if you can’t do it from your control panel (not all that uncommon) you simply find the program and its subfiles in your registry and delete them there. Boom…gone.