Mixcraft 7 is here

[hibidy]

I like a shiny GUI as much as the next guy, but if the product offers something in workflow that is refreshing, it's not a deal-breaker for me. I haven't demoed it yet......I'm hosted out

[AlesisVi61]

The fonts remind me of a alarm clock I had about 25 years ago.

Exactly, it all looks so dated and cheap, like it's made for kids.

1 word for you: Reaper.

Ok...right you are,if a DAW reminds you of an old alarm clock,then one should ignore the program's features & just dismiss it entirely.

Yep...Reaper,I overlooked that one...so I grant you that.However...there's no included VST's,hardware support was non existent(back when I tried it out a few years ago,trying to integrate my former Novation Impulse) and here is SoundOnSound's list of cons;

cons
No MIDI list editor.
No score editing/printing options.
Limited quantise functions.
You'll need your own audio editor.

To re-phrase my previous statement in my previous post,among the commercial DAW's...Mixcraft has the most to offer.
Also...unlike Reaper,the LAME codec is already integrated into the program and overall...I found Mixcraft to be much easier to configure & use.
I'm sure Reaper has made some improvements since I used it,but I was never thrilled with it myself(especially since not even the f**king key-bed of my Novation,would work in Reaper.)

Though currently,Mixcraft 7 does not have much in the way of exclusive name brand hardware support,it's still a helluva lot easier to set up a keyboard,because for one...all of the primary controls of a midi controller will work in Mixcraft & mapping other controls is a breeze.

In the commercial DAW market and in terms of aesthetics,Ableton's entry level DAW is at a similar price and that's one "Fisher Price" looking DAW and the features are absolutely deplorable,in contrast and I have a Lite version of Ableton & the User Remote Script for use with my Nektar Impact was bullshit.
Perhaps I would have been happy with a fully functional version of Ableton...but their upgraded versions are just too damn expensive,in my opinion.

[Tricky-Loops]

There *IS* an audio editor included in REAPER, it's just that you *CAN* use your own external editor. Furthermore, there is MIDI event editor. Score editing isn't there, that's right, but the score editing in Mixcraft is pretty basic, anyway, no way near to Notion or similar score notation programs.

[AlesisVi61]

There *IS* an audio editor included in REAPER, it's just that you *CAN* use your own external editor. Furthermore, there is MIDI event editor. Score editing isn't there, that's right, but the score editing in Mixcraft is pretty basic, anyway, no way near to Notion or similar score notation programs.

The Sound On Sound quote was from an article in 2007,which is why I mentioned that there was probably some improvements,over the years.

[AlesisVi61]

Here's a heads up,to all prospective Mixcraft 7 buyers....first off,I should begin with mentioning that when I tested out this DAW,everything was fine with the trial version(because I did not have an audio interface at the time),as I was using my computers internal audio card.
Today though,I received my new M-Audio M-Track Plus and upon intial set up,everything was smooth as glass...but after I closed my M7 and opened it later,disaster struck.
I began experiencing error messages popping up all over the place,which read; "Unable To Open Playback Device" and "A Hardware Change Has Been Detected".
I now cannot play back any of my tracks and there is no audio and M7 is now completely inoperative.One other Mixcraft 7 user is experiencing very similar problems.

If I can somehow get this sorted out...or Acoustica comes up with a solution,I will keep you guys posted.

[hibidy]

Running the demo here. My asio drivers seem to be fine (focusrite saffire 14/win7x64)

Seems a fairly well built kit. I haven't recorded and/or edited midi yet. I hate the plug in manager I'm used to a display and drag/drop. Comping seems good so far.

Also seems to be optimized for CPU use. I wish all hosts were that way

[lfm]

If I can somehow get this sorted out...or Acoustica comes up with a solution,I will keep you guys posted.

#1. Are you running WaveRT or ASIO - or what?
Exclusive mode?

I had in other hosts like Reaper similar issue with RME drivers - if Windows audio was set to same drivers as host. Device was occupied somehow.

#2. If as you described you used internal audio card from start - that might be a conflict.

I would try to disable internal audio card in bios as an experiment.
Many years ago I read about conflicting devices - and always disabled this on my daw machine from then.

#3. Graphics cards usually install HD Audio-something - I never knew what this was about - but also disable these drivers as a test if problem persist.

#4. Look up latest drivers from soundcard vendor. M-Audio does not have the best reputation on the driver side. I ditched a USB audio from them 10 years ago.

[AlesisVi61]

If I can somehow get this sorted out...or Acoustica comes up with a solution,I will keep you guys posted.

#1. Are you running WaveRT or ASIO - or what?
Exclusive mode?

I had in other hosts like Reaper similar issue with RME drivers - if Windows audio was set to same drivers as host. Device was occupied somehow.

#2. If as you described you used internal audio card from start - that might be a conflict.

I would try to disable internal audio card in bios as an experiment.
Many years ago I read about conflicting devices - and always disabled this on my daw machine from then.

#3. Graphics cards usually install HD Audio-something - I never knew what this was about - but also disable these drivers as a test if problem persist.

#4. Look up latest drivers from soundcard vendor. M-Audio does not have the best reputation on the driver side. I ditched a USB audio from them 10 years ago.

I began with WaveRT(because I didn't have a audio interface at the time)and the only problem I had with that setting,is some pops & crackles when I used a resource-intensive VST.
Currently,I am using Asio and as for M-Audio's "spotty" history on their drivers...well,I never had a problem with M-Audio and clearly...Mixcraft is not the most stable DAW out there and has a very spotty history,in terms of stability.
Unfortunately...my problem is not nearly as simple as not having the latest driver installed,because that's one of the first things I took care of,before I installed my audio interface.

I'll have to look into the graphics card thing...don't have any experience with that though.


Thanks

[LawrenceF]

I'm a big fan of Mixcraft, the product, the context, and the company. Great product imo.

Having said that, comparing it to something like Reaper other than maybe looping stuff is kinda silly. It really speaks to more of what users aren't doing much of than what they are.

For a $90 app it's a truly exceptional value imo. When I tried to adapt my macro app to it I did find it's key command list remarkably short, and having said that I am generally impressed by it, the mixer really bites, for me, mmv, might be the literal worst of all the demos I tried. For me, the mixer suckage was like 9 on a suck scale of 10.

Otoh, the video stuff is really nice. Great app though. Not for everybody.

[hibidy]

The eq is AWFUL in the mixer. Absolutely the worst sounding eq I've ever used. I'd prefer it just not be there.

[AlesisVi61]

I'm a big fan of Mixcraft, the product, the context, and the company. Great product imo.

For a $90 app it's a truly exceptional value imo. When I tried to adapt my macro app to it I did find it's key command list remarkably short, and having said that I am generally impressed by it, the mixer really bites, for me, mmv, might be the literal worst of all the demos I tried. For me, the mixer suckage was like 9 on a suck scale of 10.

Otoh, the video stuff is really nice. Great app though. Not for everybody.

I'm a big fan of Mixcraft 7(because unlike version 6)...it's a vastly more stable DAW now,in terms of 3rd part VST usage.
Unfortunately though...for me & a few others,the audio device management is absolute shit and has rendered my M7 inoperative.
With such instances as this,Mixcraft seems more like a cleverly disguised malware program,rather than a DAW...but apart from that,I can't dream of complaining about the feature set..such as the mixer and especially the EQ's(because for a $90 DAW),no one should have a problem buying a 3rd party EQ with the money they save.

[AlesisVi61]

A guy over at Acoustica,is convinced that my M-Audio M-Track Plus was to blame for my trouble & he urged me to contact M-Audio...but in the interim,I thought I should install my Ableton Live Lite 9 download and had no problems with my M-Audio device in Ableton.

I then tried my Mixcraft 7 again & it was still behaving strangely,but I managed to make another adjustment in the preferences menu that got everything operational again.

[lfm]

For me, the mixer suckage was like 9 on a suck scale of 10.

It lacks many things and needs a makeover, sure - but I'll rate it 4 on suck scale.

Above 20 tracks you really loose overview, cluttered with EQ I never use etc.

So we all want the standard look with a number of slots visible for sends and inserts.

For me att good start would be a checkbox to hide all unused sendknobs for the selected sendtrack. You never create a send as such, just use the knob. And with a number of tracks for eye to look through is not in comfy zone - is send above zero or not. The knob should not be there if not used.

But looks for selecting visibility on the left is more clear than other daws, in my view. Track numbering 1.1 for first child, 1.2 for second in a submix folder etc is good thinking - easy to spot.

I'm intending to work it through with a couple of projects. There are so many things I love to death about it. Something really straight forward about it and for me it's been all stable as a rock. And all my Waves plugins work(well, Element synth I have to load inside Metaplugin).

Nothing showstopper level in MC7 for me yet. And I have plenty wishes for the alternatives as well and Acoustica seems responsive and short route to devs.

[LawrenceF]

Yeah, I suppose. Again, I'm not ragging on it or anything but the mixer is really poor, unless I missed something.

How can you move plugs around, reorder, mute, replace, etc, etc, if they plugs don't show up in the mixer? I guess you have to keep opening plugin windows, dunno. I didn't even start to look for some other stuff like pre-post metering or post-fader inserts or anything like that. Some of it may already be there, dunno.

It's a great app for what it is but I can't imagine many accustomed to a better mix console choosing to mix a large project in it. Frankly, that's the only thing I literally hated about it when demoing, everything else was largely subjective to taste and some other things were done really well. The mixer just plain sucks, to me, mmv and all that. That is to say, I couldn't do it better (or at all) so... I'm not judging, just observing.

Look at this picture of the console detached to monitor 2. It's... not that great and and far as I can tell...

- It takes all of the other tabs with it.
- I don't see a way to directly move channels with the mouse.
- Don't see any way to create new sends or see more than one send at a time.
- Half the master channel is cut off when it's maximized here.
- Afaict (caveat if incorrect) you can't even navigate through the mixer channels with arrow keys or have an open plugin window follow the mixer channel selection.

And granted, some of that may be unfamiliarity and/or user error, but it's (imo, mmv) just a really poor design that takes away from the rest of what is otherwise a really nice app. Being honest, and fair, that's the worst looking and probably least functional mixer of anything calling itself a pro level daw. If they build a better mix console that product would go up a huge notch.

That it's at version 7 and nobody is complaining about it kinda tells you who the majority of the user base is. Nothing wrong with that.

[LawrenceF]

Let me clarify the above before someone takes it all the wrong way.

First and foremost to preface... I never call things like this "toys". I think that's a highly disrespectful thing to do to developers who have professional skills. It's not like any guy with $20 can go buy a C++ For Dummies book and build something like Mixcraft. On the contrary, it takes time and skill.

Having said that, that's often the perception. When a guy using PT or Logic or whatever looks at the screenshots of something like that console, it kinda looks like a toy to them. It's an unfair assessment obviously, but it's the reality. If people don't care about those perceptions it's irrelevant.

But people obviously do care about those perceptions because they're always pushing back against them. But that's why those perceptions exist, as unfair as they are.