???
i have been thinking about it for quite a long time now, i have searched for alternatives but there are none so it looks like i may be on ACID very soon -
in the BEAT BUSINESS everything is ACIDISED, if you aint on ACID your no one -
the problem is the cost, taking ACID is not cheap, (yes they do a TINY version but its as much use as nothing), at
£220 $440 taking ACID puts a hefty strain on the finances and for what? - well its no better than any other DAW at recording and i doubt if its MIDI is any better than Ns -
some would say ACID has WOW appeal i look at it and say HOW on earth did this mess evolve its GUI is a mess of gadgets - the thing that makes taking ACID compulsory is actually invisible unless you have a decent HEX viewer or other specialist sofware, it is a DATA CHUNK that is added at the end of the file that tells other ACID savvy software the key and tempo of the file -
BUT WAIT, N IS NOW ACID SAVVY, that is on the input side but it cant make an ACID file, so false dawn there then, will N be FULLY ACID in the future ?, unlikely due to patents etc, -
so the dilema continues - to take ACID or not to take ACID that is the question ?
Dr J
One (three actually) of the things that make Acid, and most Sound Forge products, so good is that their algorithms for time invariant pitch shifting and pitch invariant time shifting are so good aurally and also take little CPU when compared to most other apps.
They also seem to work well in what seems like real time, though I suspect that’s not the case. (Would that be four?)
n-Tracks is on the way to having that since a lot of the little pieces are finally falling into place.
Just a belated thought Dr…
I have Acid, I even spent a bunch of hours buggering about with it, but since then, it’s sat in its directory untouched.
Don’t get me wrong, many people whose opinions I value highly recommend it, so undoubtedly it’s a great programme, but…
Basically, I’m a neo-Luddite. If I can’t figure it out in fifteen minutes, I’m not interested. Life’s too damn short.
And that’s what I loved about early versions of n-track; the help file and manual were useful when you needed the details, but simple common sense allowed you get straight in and do the thing we love, i.e., make music.
So yeah, use Acid if you’re a tech head, but for me, Fruity does it every time, and does it unbeatably. (And if Jhohan was still here, I’m sure he’d agree whole-heartedly.)
I think you can do a LOT with the cheaper ver’s of ACID.
Boy, you talk about laying out a drum track quickly. If you
have Sound Forge, you can acidize your drum samples, load each
one on to a seperate track (in ACID) tune it, overdub it on
sepearate tracks in N, add your effects, it’s excellent for
pitching samples, plus tempo changes, It’s got alot.
You just have to start using it and you will get hooked.
It doesn’t have to be the ‘House’ garb that sample packs are
geared toward. I mean I’m talking about ACID 2.0 - so I can’t
imagine what the new 400 dollar stuff is like.
I've got the cheap version too. Great for putting together a drum track.
The song “70’s Cop Show” HERE is a quickie tune I did with ACID and n-Track a LONG time ago in about an hour. Another tune I never finished…
Big fun… my son says it sounds like the theme to a 70’s cop show… thus the title.
D
PS This was the “cheap” version of ACID too… ACID “Music Studio”.
Yes. I had the cheap version. It was very useful for creating tracks. One of the big differences in it and the big version are total track numbers (16 and unlimited?). There were other differences that didn’t make a hill of beans when using it as a tool to create individual tracks, to be exported as wave and used in other apps. If you want to do it all in Acid you need the big version. If you want to use it as a tool to create waves then the little version is really fun.
I guess another difference might be the loops included. I got the “Music” version on CD. It had a good number of loops included. I suspect there area lot more with the full verion…but I don’t know.
So Sony has taken over ACID.
It’s a full-fledged DAW. Audio, MIDI, - the works.
That’s why it’s $299
Acid Pro 6 at Sweetwater
http://www.sonycreativesoftware.com/products/product.asp?pid=443
Acid Music is still available for under $60.
The only reason one would have to buy into ACID is…
If you collaborate with ACID Users and you have to hang out with the ACID Crowd of Create rs…
then you have to get ACID…
to trade tracks Back-and-Forth…
There’s nothing worse then downloading or uploading a track in some queer extension only to find you can’t open it up… after you spent a day manufacturing it…
Lysergic…
is that how it’s spelt. 
?
Was that some German Scientist that discovered that stuff…
?
Bill…
Just tried the demo version - looks and feels horrible to me.
I’m looking for DAW software that has a great feel like n and is easy to learn. Any suggestions?
For midi? R
For ANYTHING? ‘R’… of course you knew I was say that.
Seriousy, n-Track and Reaper are powerful, inexpensive tools for the recording musicians tool box. Just for an example, here’s a list of what I use regularly for DAW’in…
Reaper - (Primary weapon at the moment.)
n-Track - (V6 before that Pre .NET V4 - just about the easiest to use audio multi-tracker there is if it gets along with your system.)
Magix Samplitude Music Studio 14 - (VERY nice… still learnin’ though…)
Band-In-A-Box - (LOVE my BIAB…)
PowerTracks Pro - (seriously cool MIDI… haven’t tried EZD in it though. EZD works so well in ‘R’…)
Adobe Audition
Fruity Loops - (as a last resort for electronic-y, quirky stuff. Never really got the hang of Fruity…)
A big assortment of cheap/free instrument and FX plugins and a few utilities.
A feller NEEDS lots of tools at his disposal IMO. You never know when you might need that right-angle, ball end, 8mm hex wrench with the ‘security’ hole in the middle.
D
If you guys could see my poor man drum machine I have set up, I bet you’d laugh yer butts off!
Can’t afford EZ Drummer right now, the boss lady said “NO, Besides what you have works just fine!” 
Quote:
If you guys could see my poor man drum machine I have set up, I bet you'd laugh yer butts off!
Nope. A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do... even if it's enduring the wrath of the boss lady and running whatcha' got...
D - got's one o'dem too...
Frikken gas tank is eating up my music toys money! Bummer!
Every time I pull “The BUS” up to the pumps, WHOOSH! Eighty Five bucks disappears from my bank account. I FEEL your pain Yaz… Thing is, I OWN the bus and can’t really justify jumping into another car “mortgage” to get something more efficient… sigh Besides, the boss lady would want a gazillion dollar Beemer or Mercedes or sumthin… goofy wimmen… I REALLY could not care less WHAT it is as long it’s reliable and reasonably comfortable. “Status” is BS on steroids…
D
My '96 Ford Escort Wagon, paid off years ago, makes my musical acquisitions, and other addictions, possible.
My ol’ '92 Nissan Truck (which was assembled in Smyrna Tennessee) does great as far as mileage, it’s just I live so frikken far from civilization, LOL
It’s got a few dings in it now (My truck that is), Cause we just had an incredible thunder/hail storm here
Man, it was raining so hard the gutters on the house couldn’t keep up, temp dropped 20 degrees in about 2 mins.