Waveform Pro

DISCLAIMER
This user review will not be comprehensive; It will be my impression and reaction to the evolution of Tracktion. .. and my journey with this DAW.

THEN
Tracktion Waveform Pro 12 is the most recent version of a DAW that has been around since 2002, initially developed by a cat named Julien in the UK. I first bought a copy when Mackie took it over. I loved it, mainly for the one-screen, straightforward, transparent layout. It seemed way ahead of its time at the time. Eventually, it became a bit buggy, and updates were infrequent (one word). I moved on to other DAWs (a story in itself).
Years later, Tracktion reappeared! The original developer reacquired the software and resurrected it from the ashes like a phoenix. I kept an eye on development and occasionally launched it. I even reviewed a version along the way with an add-on synth called BioTek. Although I did not entirely switch back to Tracktion, it remained special and unique, standing apart from competitors due to its one-screen layout and Workflow.

NOW
Wow! Traction Waveform has evolved into a workstation beast! This DAW is designed to be fast, efficient, and creative. It delivers all the tools needed for music production, especially when working in electronic music. I realize we are dealing with audio, but it helps when the software looks good and Waveform looks marvelous. It is crisp and clean but not bloated and cluttered. Much work went into the interface to provide users easy access to tools without sacrificing the streamlined approach.

MY FAV Features:

• Gorgeous Interface.
• Intuitive, Musical Workflow.
• Fast programming via MIDI and Step Clip.
• Powerful FX Rack.
• Micro Drum Sampler.
• Micro Sampler.
• Melodyne Integration.
• Antares Auto-Tune Access.
• CPU Efficient.
• Responsive Support Team.
• Price.

SUMMARY
Tracktion Waveform does what other DAWs do but uniquely. It has a sleek, ultra-modern IU and provides a slick workflow. For music producers who are new to DAWs, they will be able to dive in, explore, learn, and make music. Music producers migrating from another DAW must be more patient as this software behaves differently. They may need to adapt before uncovering the wonder of Waveform's Workflow. I highly recommend this workstation for anyone in electronic music production who is tired of the usual big box offerings and wants something ultra-modern, inspirational, and musical. The Price is relatively cheap for what it offers, and the free version has many features and no track limitations. Users can start with the free version and then add features they need for a reasonable price.

No visual noise.No prison feeling (as with Bitwig). No dinosaur feeling (as with Reaper UI).A little dated but very friendly user manual.

No CLAP support. Broken updates.

Pro is in use.

It's a great DAW, I have tried it and change from my old DAW to wave form 12. There are some things that I would improve to make it perfect, but as it is, it's really great.

I started recording in 2020. After purchasing an audio interface, mic, and some monitors, I researched DAWs. Having spent years in broadcasting I was familiar with a lot of the concepts used in DAWs so I decided to try as many free products as I could find.

My first download was Audacity. When I found that I couldn't use third-party VSTs, that was the end of that. I downloaded and started playing with Reason and Studio One but finally decided to go with the leader, Pro Tools. It took me about two minutes to realize that I would never be happy with any Avid product. It did, however, give me a frame-of-reference.

There were other, lesser-known DAWs that I downloaded and tried. Finally, I downloaded the free version of Traction Waveform.

I immediately got a "good vibe" from the product.

It made sense to my brain. It was more intuitive than anything I had tried.

So I stuck with Waveform.

The longer I used it, the more features I discovered and the more I was able to do.

After about six months I purchased Waveform Pro and discovered a bunch of great virtual instruments. I love the fact that their "left-to-right" architecture is so simple and so efficient. No rack-wiring or convoluted set-up. As fast as you can re-arrange plug-ins, you can hear the changes.

I'm all in with Tracktion Waveform. I can't imagine an easier-to-use, more feature-packed, DAW.

I just bought Waveform 12 pro after having not used it for several years on recommendation from a close friend. I always thought "Tracktion" had a unique workflow that while being different, also had its own charm. A few quirks kept me from upgrading for a couple of versions but this one has been wonderful. I am able to use all of my CPU hungry plugins without getting hickups or stutters. It handles both audio and MIDI very smoothly now and I'm not getting crashes like I was before. I love the customizable interface and you can really work without tons of clutter around you. I am running Windows 11 with an intel i5 8400 and 16 GB of RAM for what its worth.

Version 12 of Waveform has finally solidified the DAW as a legit contender to some of its larger competitors. It's fast, efficient, visually appealing, powerful, and it just feels very refined. The MIDI editing tools have been given an overhaul which was always a major drawback before. It handles all modern plugins that I've tested perfectly and so far has been extremely stable. At this stage I also feel that Waveform is probably the best looking DAW on the market. It's a sleek, modern, simple, customizable interface that looks incredible on any modern computer screen. I highly recommend the latest version of Waveform.

I don't think that this software will provide best value for your spend money. While it has loyal user base, it's still very small after lot of years spent on development. Released free current version (instead of 2 years old) attracts new people for sure. Will they stay?

while waveform has lot of features you would expect from today DAW execution of these features it's not good. It crashes quite often - for example during project load, I have to try several times until project loads without DAW crash. This is not something you want to work with. Sandbox with plugins crashes often - all your VST will die, hopefully you saved your work. Since it's not major DAW plugin developers won't test on this platform and there will be always plugins crashing more then in other DAW.

GUI is very unintuitive, things which you expect be at one place are scattered. I am not against minimalist GUI design, it's just much harder to execute it well. You can certainly adapt but why, we have way better DAW for the same amount of money.

software is not suitable for mixing, but for composing I got surprised, you can do some things faster then in other DAW.

With pro standard version you will get some bundled instruments. But nothing exciting there, just Biotek synth is pretty unique. Repackaged Air Windows VST with GUI, good attempt. Antares Auto tune and melodyne included.

Good
- nice UI, it scales well on 4K monitor
- I love the idea with context UI on the left sidebar and the bottom one
- plugin rack, routing, sidechaining - all intuitive and well designed.

- good VST support, all linux plugins I tried are working.

- all my MIDI controllers are working out of the box.

Bad.

- Linux version is very buggy, there are clicks, noises, unresponsive UI during playback. I tried to change jack settings, buffers and so on but nothing helps. Even with included demo songs. No luck with internal audio and USB Behringer too. Crashes immediately if I choose ALSA.
- Full screen MIDI editor freezes while playing.

- Sometimes saved presets for plugins and rack are not loading back with "unknown error"

- Builtin plugins don't scale at all, they are almost unusable on 4K monitor (compressor, eq).

It makes no sense for me to do something more than a couple of tracks due to the instability of the product, it's a pity.

Admiral Bumblebee already did a comprehensive review of Waveform 9 here. His review in part convinced me to buy Waveform.

Short review: Waveform is well worth the money I paid and the time I've invested in it.

Long review:

Context: Previously, I used Ableton. I wanted a DAW to bounce my stems to and mix in. I generally prefer using third party plugins and was satisfied with the plugins I had, so I went with the basic option of Waveform and won't evaluate the stock content. With an EDU discount, I paid 55 dollars. At first, I only mixed in Waveform. After a couple projects, I felt almost as comfortable in Waveform as in Ableton, despite having years more experience in Ableton. I now primarily use Waveform for all tasks. I've used Waveform for 3 months and spent ~150 hours in it. I'm a hobbyist producer making hard dance music with minimal recording.

Unique Features: 1. The signal flow is intuitive. Input > clips > plugins > output. 2. Racks let you set up complex FX chains with any routing you like. I haven't scratched the surface of racks. I love the stack editor for creating kick chains. 3. The Return/Send system is god tier in terms of flexibility. 4. Clips have a lot of great options, like clip FX, Step/Edit clips, and saving clip presets. 5. Automation, macros, and modulators are flexible and work well together. They are confusing at first, though.

Weak Features: 1. MIDI editing is 90% there. With MIDI clips, the selection of tools and options is comprehensive, but they aren't fun to use. There's no specific problem (sometimes scrolling horizontally jumps too far, replaying the current clip requires setup, triplets have to be clicked as a global option rather than within the clip, etc.). Step clips have the opposite problem: they're fun and easy to use, but they lack features. 2. The pattern generator has major potential, no pun intended, but it's clunky. It requires you to follow a certain sequence. If you decide to change a chord, for example, all your later changes are undone. I'd use it more if it was more flexible. 3. Submixes are strange. They mess up some things, such as rendering, sends and returns, and they cause crashes sometimes. In general, there are a lot of odd situations that cause unexpected crashes for me. Seemingly random crashes make me very anxious, and I've set autosave to happen each minute. But I get fewer crashes with each update.

Overall, Waveform is extremely flexible, between clip FX, racks, the aux system, automation, macros, and modulators. It's intuitive, well-designed, and fun to use. It's packed with small conveniences and bonuses that make life easier. Always check the control menu! There's always a dozen extra options down there to help you out. Waveform is a great DAW, and I'm satisfied with using it as my main DAW.

Tracktion is fairly easy to use. I switched to this from Cubase 8LE. It's much easier to use for begginers. I am haveing some issues with VST's though. Most VST's do not load or aren't recognized. This is rather annoying because what is available is limited. Can anyone help with this?