Tell me about your experiences with Tracktion, how you were introduced to it, when (if) you lost faith in it, and if you have any interest in its re-born manifestation. I'd like to know what features you like(d) best  - and what features it always needed but never got. Feel free to rant about Mackie if you like, but I'm really more interested in getting the scoop on Tracktion.

I got a free version of Traktion when I purchased my mixer(Mackie CR1604VLZ) a number of years ago but wasn't too impressed. Just seemed like a more elaborate Windows Sound Recorder.
 
If you like no frills, no thrills, and no chills it might be ok for you ;)
 
Bill

Thanks for your reply, Bill.
 
I am surprised by the lack of responses. Has nobody else here used Tracktion?
 

Only very briefly. It can with my MCU Pro. I looked at it and said "Meh, is not very good, I likes Sonar," and didn't do much more after that. Given my very limited use, I don't have much useful information to give you other than I don't like it as much as Sonar.

From memory it was given away with a few things (that's how I got it) but it was behind other DAWs anyway so there was no point using it. They even cut off upgrading and stopped developing it. It was all a bit strange. I suspect that's why you won't get too many responses.

I do recall there being a hardcore community who loved it, of course.

I don't have it - but may download the demo. I watched the video on their website and it looks pretty interesting... It's looks like it's easy to navigate.

Just didn't like them including Melodyne Essential a week after I bought the latter.

Like others I tried it a few years ago, but the UI + workflow just felt too foreign for my purposes.  IOW, I liked the concept more than the execution.    At least back then.
 

What I'm hearing, and it jibes with other research I've been doing, is that most people who've tried it did so only because it came on a disk with their mixer or interface. 
 
In fact, Mackie is and always has been the product's primary distributor. But under their control, years went by while Tracktion didn't appear to be under development anymore, and there were frequent complaints about Mackie's weak support for it.
 
The Tracktion story is often touted as an example of how a product can be destroyed after acquisition by a larger company, especially a company with no software experience. It was one of the reasons folks around here got nervous when Roland acquired a majority stake in Cakewalk.
 
But things have changed. The original developer managed to get Tracktion back from Mackie last year and set about making up for lost time. Version 4 appeared quickly but didn't make much of a splash. Diehard users complained that it wasn't all that much of a change from version 3 (version 3 was widely derided for bugs that never got fixed).
 
But now there's version 5, and it's a significant advance. There are some very forward-thinking ideas in there, including some features that will make even SONAR users jealous. For example, there is a performance monitor that breaks down CPU and memory usage per plugin. Jeez, there've been times when I sure could have used that. There is the Reaper-esque concept of generic tracks that can be MIDI, audio or bus, as well as track folders with volume controls. FX chains that are like mini patchbays where you can split are re-route signals. And the freeze function is what we've always wanted here in SONARLand - multi-track freezing, bus freezing - you can even freeze arbitrary portions of a track!
 
The relationship with Mackie remains, Jules & Co are still physically located next door, and most of the tiny staff are ex-Mackie employees. (Behringer now also ships Tracktion with its products, but that certainly isn't going to buy any credibility.)  But Tracktion Software Corporation is a separate entity and the original author now has complete control over the DAW's features.
 
Mind you, nearly everything I know about Tracktion I've learned in the past week. I've had hands on it for all of two days. That's why I'm asking the community for input, especially for a historical perspective.
 
 
 
 
 

i've never understood the attraction of tracks being generic and not specified as midi, audio or bus. if i want an audio track, i want an audio track! if i want a midi track, i want the midi and at least two audio tracks associated with that midi track so i can adjust midi stuff on the midi track and audio stuff on the audio tracks.
Having said that, being able to freeze/bounce/export multiple tracks or clips within tracks at the same time...:-)
Good luck to Traction, more competition means developers don't get lazy.