Acoustica Mixcraft Pro Studio 6

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Does Mixcraft 6 work with Biab, RB? If yes, great, if not is there a work around for using it? It works great for me and am hoping I can use it when I buy hard copy, Thanks

Not sure what you mean by "works with Biab, RB?"

Mixcraft is a DAW, Like RB, Reaper, ProTools, Mixbus, etc, so any tracks you export from BiaB or RB can be loaded in Mixcraft to mix & tweak some more..

^^^^
Exactly.
If you search back you will see that I am a user and a huge fan of Mixcraft.

One can drag directly from BiaB into Mixcraft though I do not recommend direct drags into any DAW because the next time that BiaB is upgraded with the next USB hard drive, all of the instrument WAV files will be lost.

Based on Peter's advice, I now drag all tracks into a folder in Explorer first.

Also, don't follow what "when I buy hard copy" means.

So let's say I have a RB seq, how do I send it to the Mixcraft 6 with all the tracks still in order? I am not very computer cool so baby steps please........Thanks

A quick question, what is it you need to do in Mixcraft that you can't do in RB?

Bob

That is the $62 question, why keep changing platforms. I have tried Mixcraft, and it is a very decent litle DAW. It hangs it hat on the looping track generation features. clever, but not really anything near what RTs do, and by the way RB has a looping generation feature as well, not yet as sophisticated as Mixcraft, but another tool for that nagging little track that RTs, midi, and RDs won't cover.

I could see if someone wanted to move over to a very deep feature set like in Sonar, Cubase, or even Reaper. But it does not seem that MC6 give you that much to bother with fussing over file transfers.

Reminds me of when i used to move everything over to MTS from RB, and even some tracks to Sonar X1. But I found that the songs i tracked in RB sounded just as good, and were just as complete.Heck i have not tracked in another program in almost a year now, and the more i dig into RB, the more i ask questions and learn it's little nuances, the more i find it to be a very capable DAW.

Nothing personal, but I like the bar graph set up for functions I like to use. I like working with knobs on effects etc. I also use the zoom R-8 for mixing in things from my old keyboards like my Korg O1Wfd, and I like to use my rack stuff for other things, it's kinda like analog mixing with digital, A,D,D I guess.

It does really come down to work flow, and what appeals to each user. If something works and gets you to finish projects that is the tool to use.

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So let's say I have a RB seq, how do I send it to the Mixcraft 6 with all the tracks still in order? I am not very computer cool so baby steps please........Thanks

A RB seg file will only work in RB, it will not work in any other DAW.

You would use the drop and drag option in RB to transfer the tracks to Mixcraft 6.

Personally I go straight from BiaB to Sonar, bypassing RB completely. Depending on what you use RB for this method may work for you also.

But regardless of what others may say use whatever tools that work for you. You must set up your music system in a way that is comfortable for you. I’ve had people come over and say things like you should really use this piece of software or you should upgrade your mixer or you use BiaB! I say I use what works for me!

I hope this helps.

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Personally I go straight from BiaB to (Mixcraft) bypassing RB completely.

Exactly.

I don't think any of us understand why RB would be involved here.

And an extreme +1 for - use what works for you.

Firstbassman brings up a great question, the OP asked about Mixcraft
So why is RB involved? i believe in the since that:

1. He owns it.

2. He can open BiaB files directly into it, and mix from there.

3. Unless there is something that RB can't do, what reason is there to bypass it?

Some like Mario are deeply invested in Sonar, or Cubase, or Reaper, or Mixcraft and that is the optimum work flow for them. The like those tools.

But for a guy that has not tapped out the abilities of RB, and already owns it, know how to use it, and it does what he wants, why buy something new and have to learn it, unless you just want to.

I always view it this way. If the tools you have do not do the job, get new ones, if they do the job why spend money and time on something you do not need. This time and energy, and not to mention money can be used to really learn the tools you have.

Then again this is only an opinion, and certainly just one in a crowd of them. AS has been said several times each gets to pick what tools they want to use.

I also think that the reason that we, and I include myself in this "we" come back with "why not use RB" when the question was not about that. Is that this is the PG forum, and sometimes we get a little protective of the brand. But under that is the fact that many time, we, and again i place myself in that "we" sell RB short. Sure there are a few things that it needs, but really not many, and many of the so called missing featurea are actually there, they just are a little different from some other programs. Actually the only missing feature that is truely missing is the VSTi timing issue. That one does not work. The others are there but different somehow.

Automation is a big gripe, but it is there, just not like some of the bigger names. Actually if you dig into it, it works pretty good. I would still like to see one enhancement (either change it to be a graphical overlay to the wave tracks, or add the ability to see the wave form ghosted over the piano roll screen) then it would be fine.

Finally i guess i see all the time and money i wasted, looking at every DAW out there constantly chasing features, when all of them do the job, especially if you really learn to use them.

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Does Mixcraft 6 work with Biab, RB? If yes, great, if not is there a work around for using it? It works great for me and am hoping I can use it when I buy hard copy, Thanks

It works fine with BIAB.

Hi Robh, I whole heartily agree with you about RB. If one does not have a DAW or one does not like the DAW that they are using then that is the one to use. I have stated that many times on these forums. My response to Critter was based on his statement “It works great for me and am hoping I can use it when I buy hard copy”, indicating to me that he will not be using RB.

But to set the record straight I am only deeply invested in Cakewalk DAWs time wise, not money wise. I purchased ProAudio 9 in 1999, updated to Sonar 5 in 2006 and finally to Sonar X1 last year. Each update was because I had to for compatibility reasons. The last update only cost me $99 USD! I do not update much so I doubt I will update to Sonar X2 anytime soon. However I try to always update BiaB. BiaB is the heart of my music creations thus that upgrade money is well spent!

Peace - MarioD

Mario, i agree with you on that one. I have bought cakewalk music creator versions 1, 3, 4, 5. and finally Sonar X1 essentials. While i love the program, it does far more than i will most likely ever do. I bought Reaper 3/4, and have actually only recorded in it about 4 times. Great program, and very deep, and super flexible. I also own MTS and it is a rich, and powerful DAW, very under appreciated it the DAW world. Old Mac turned me on to it a few years back. I have tracked many a song in it. Still once i got familiar with RB, and learned how easy it is to operate. I just use it. Heck i would upgrade BiaB even if RB did not exist, but getting RB virtually free is so cool.

I guess my frustration sometimes comes from how quickly people sell RB short. I also watched that happen with MTS. I would tell oepole about it, and they would dismiss it immediately. With RB it is such a powerful and very close to complete system. Sometimes i think it does stuff with such ease folks think it is missing something. I once thought it had no bussing system, until RHarv showed me how, and then there was the above mentioned automation. While i wish it was a bit more like Sonar's Automation. The system does work, and better than I thought.

When i said you were deeply invested, i did actually mean from a time sense, as you seem to have been using it for sometime per your posts and comments from the past. That is what i meant by getting to know a tool. The right way to view this stuff. It is so easy to get caught up in the latest and greatest, and forget that iconic albums were recorded on far less sophisticated equipment than RB.

I have to admit this is always an interesting subject.

Can you imagine what the Beatles would have been able to accomplish early on with RB?

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Can you imagine what the Beatles would have been able to accomplish early on with RB?

What kind of vocal harmonies and tricks would they have done with more than four tracks to play with? Imagine what Sgt. Pepper would have sounded like, i.e., true stereo--and all those extra tracks to play with! But would George Martin ever have tried all that musique concrete stuff like chopping up the organ bit on "Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite." On the other hand, what would he have tried that hasn't occurred to any of us yet? Much food for thought there.

critter, did you get this figured out?

I think that it's easy to get caught up in different software. It could be just curiosity. It could be frustration with what you are using and/or unable to use. It could be what you've heard others say. It could be because you are lazy and looking for an easier way. It could be you think something else will be faster/efficient. Or, like in my case some are more difficult to learn than others.

I tried Mixcraft, but it took me longer than the 30 day trial, so I spent my $75. To me it was oriented to using loops and that's not the way I was/would be doing my stuff. I've gone to Sonar X1 home studio now and got X2 as part of the price of $149. I also bought the X1 book (oem) which has been a big help. I'm not against RB, but I just had a hard time finding and learning it's features. Hey, I'm an old guy and I'm still learning from DTB's (dead tree books). For manuals and training I still use them. All that being said, if you are not an experienced daw person, you may be stuck with trying some different things until you get your workflow where you want it. The continuing advances in technology are incredible, IMO.

Stan

I understand how you feel Stan, but if you can understand Sonar you can understand amlost anything. I stare at the screen jumble that Sonar has become, and shake my poor old balding head. That thing is so cluttered. I know you can template that thing up, but it drives me nuts trying to get things open and set then saved and next time, back to that spot.

I guess the reason i got comfortable with RB is exactly what you said, workflow. I was always comfortable with the older cakewalks products, and with the MTS product. I started working on a full folder of live performance files and i did them in RB cause it has the chord and lyrics window which was a big help to me. Once i had about 50 or so files i found i was just comfortable there.

When i went back to tracking an original song or two for me and for a friend, i just stayed there. and the projects got done with ease. It really is about what each person is familiar with and gets work done with.

I actually went back then and tracked a song in RB, Sonar, and Reaper. I used a base file from BiaB and moved it over and then tracked the song in each to see what worked well for me.

Sonar did a sellar job of the finished product and i was impressed at how some of it's features worked. the only downside was the GUI was to me confusing and something i opened up i had problems bringing them back once i closed them.

Reaper also did a great job, but i tired of having to setup all the routing and stuff, and it seemed like a lot of work. I sure is a flxable beast, but that can also slow down the pocess, and leave you fiddling around more.

Rb on the other hand was the easiest and i was very suprised that the end result song was every bit as good, and i was actually done far faster than the other two.

Just for grins i went back again and move the base files over to MTS and tracked the song there as well. The old dog was easy, solid, stable, and got the job done fast and efficient. I am still stunned that more people do not use that software, at least as a compliment to the great PG stuff.

No, I didn't get the answers I was looking for. Another question is how to send to Mixcraft and keep the existing tracks intact, like you have 16 tracks, so they all are there, I realize I am not computer smart but I want all to open in Mixcraft?

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No, I didn't get the answers I was looking for. Another question is how to send to Mixcraft and keep the existing tracks intact, like you have 16 tracks, so they all are there, I realize I am not computer smart but I want all to open in Mixcraft?

Critter,

This is what I do with BIAB and Mixcraft 6. I don't know if it's the best way... but it works for me.

example:
I compose/arrange a song in BIAB. Save it.
I have a folder on my pc with the name My songs.
I create another folder within My songs with the name of the song I have just composed.
In BIAB I then select from the top menu line Audio.
I then select Render Midi to Stereo Wav file etc.
I then choose the folder of the song I have just composed to send the individual tracks to.
I tick One wav file per track.
I the click Save in other audio format and mp3.(this gives separate wav files for each instrument used in BIAB).

When this process is done I close down BIAB and open Mixcraft 6.(** see below why)
Start a new project in M6.
On track 1, right click and select Add sound file.
Navigate to your folder with the individual tracks from BIAB and select,for instance
your song_realtrackdrums.
Do this for each each track in M6 and for the other tracks from the folder containing wav files from BIAB.

Then use M6 for mixing etc.

** having Mixcraft 6 and BIAB open together gives an "error creating asio buffer" message.

Hope this makes sense?

Pete

Critter I thought I answered this in my first response;

“You would use the drop and drag option in RB to transfer the tracks to Mixcraft 6.”

Am I missing something here? As I understand it you have say 16 tracks in RB that you want to open in Mixcraft. Drop and Drag should work. If for some reason Drop and Drag doesn’t work you have to save each track separately then import them separately into Mixcraft.

It those tracks are audio tracks then everything will sound the same. If they are midi tracks you have to make sure that you use the identical VSTis in both DAWs.

Does this help?

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No, I didn't get the answers I was looking for. Another question is how to send to Mixcraft and keep the existing tracks intact, like you have 16 tracks, so they all are there, I realize I am not computer smart but I want all to open in Mixcraft?

Pete told you how to do it using audio files. Mario told you how to using midi tracks. If you are concerned about keeping the original tracks, just save the file using a different name in RB. Then you will have that as an original .seq file. Then save it again using another name and use the newest saved file as a file to work with in dragging tracks, etc.. If something happens, you still have the original .seq file. Is this the type of info you need?

Stan

Good advise from all.

Thanks for all the help, I think I have the hang of it now. Will work on it when hard copy arrives.........Thanks

I saved all RT tracks individually as a wave file, Mixcraft does not take the file at all. If I send a midi file over it works fine what's up with that, I am sure I messed up on that?????????? This is all through RB if that makes a difference.........Thanks

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I saved all RT tracks individually as a wave file, Mixcraft does not take the file at all. If I send a midi file over it works fine what's up with that, I am sure I messed up on that?????????? This is all through RB if that makes a difference.........Thanks

Hi Critter,

I don't use RB as I am still getting to know BIAB.
I render the song created in BIAB to separate wav files and
then bring them into Mixcraft6 using the method I stated above with no problem.

So, why don't you try that and see if you still have problems?

Pete

I figured out the problem, I wasn't saving wav as "save as individual tracks." Got it working now, Thanks

Good news!

Now have fun!

Great News critter!