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Hey guys,
After having my win 8 machine for a year, I decided to take the plunge and move everything - BIAB and RB look great on it. I haven't had a chance to record anything on it yet still moving stuff.
So anyway, I get out the tracktion 3 discs install it and then manually moved the file with all my songs in it.
When I go to test run tracktion 3, it sets up and says I'm running in demo mode and sends me to my.mackie where sure enough my "lifetime" license for T3 is right there. BUT they have a message box on the page that Mackie sold Tracktion and no longer supports it with a link to the new site for support.
So I go to the new owners site where there's a message that version 3 can no longer be unlocked out of demo mode unless I upgrade to version 4 for $30. I read on their forum and it's Mackie's fault and something about don't have, can't get, too expensive to write the code blah blah blah. (Just as a aside I was really taken aback by the way someone else was treated by other users when they brought this up on that forum post I read.)
$30 may be cheap for any kind of upgrade, but I don't like being forced to pay to use something I already own just because I changed computers and be forced to upgrade. I might not even like version 4. At this moment....frankly I'm just shocked that both parties had such little regard for their customers.
Sad thing is, I have a LOT of mixes in that format. I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet.
Thanks for listening to this rant ya'll.
Josie
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Message received and understood. Good luck!
BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Josie:
I don't use Tracktion, but I seem to remember that there was some talk that Tracktion 4 does NOT have a lot of the excellent plugins that came with version 3.
So, that's something to consider even if you do pay for the upgrade.
John
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Man, that sucks.  I really liked the Tracktion workflow when it came out, so when Traction 4 was announced, I downloaded the demo and played around with it. The flow wasn't as "intuitive" as I remembered, as I'd since between my initial experience and Traction 4 I learned a new DAW. But the final nail was - as John noted - the lack of plugins. My understanding is that Mackie basically abandoned Tracktion, and the original developer ended up buying the program back from them. So for Mackie to point the finger at the new Tracktion folk isn't entirely fair, since Mackie dropped support in the first place - despite any "lifetime support" agreement you may have with them. Think of it as having a $30 crossgrade offer from another company. It might be time to start looking at another DAW, or perhaps another set of plugins. I know my mixes without the plugins wouldn't be the same at all.
-- David Cuny My virtual singer development blogVocal control, you say. Never heard of it. Is that some kind of ProTools thing?BiaB 2025 | Windows 11 | Reaper | Way too many VSTis.
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Thank you Matt,John and David,
Guess I'll be doing more in Realband and trying out Reaper.
David, glad to hear from someone who demoed the new T4. I did a google search and none of the T3 Mackie plugs come with or work properly with the new version - which was the only reason I got it in the first place.
I found out on the kvr forum that it was "orphaned" by Mackie after I bought it but it was still shipping with their products. I never had any issues with it on XP so I didn't hang there often. I never dreamed the users would be orphaned....
At least I didn't pay top dollar for it like some folks did - thank God. I'm not the biggest fan of the one page does all GUI it has either. The thought of learning another DAW makes me groan but I'm ready to try something else.
Josie
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You will love reaper. Great workflow and better support in the user forum and company staff.
BIAB – 2026, Reaper (current), i7-12700F Processor, 32GB DDR4-3200MHz RAM, Motu Audio Express 6x6 - My SoundCloud.
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Josie, if you look at the threads in detail on the Tracktion forum at kvr you will find ways wrond both of your concerns.
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Thanks Dan,
I'm looking forward to learning it. I hope it's easy to drag and drop tracks into from Realband. Tracktion was a breeze at that.
Thanks Scott,
I saw the how to unlock guide on the thread but I'm running win 8 and I just don't feel comfortable having to turn off my virus protection and using a sandbox to keep from getting a Trojan just to open it and then hope it stays open and everything works. The last thing I need is some Trojan.
It seems to me, if some crack key generating person could figure it out then the developers ought to be able to figure something out that's better, more stable and safer than this option. If and when they do, I might reconsider but the way I feel right now I'm done with it and won't be starting any new mixes using it. I don't like how this was handled at all.
Josie
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Thanks Dan,
I'm looking forward to learning it. I hope it's easy to drag and drop tracks into from Realband. Tracktion was a breeze at that.
Josie Yes, absolutely. Download and install free for trial period. No restrictions.
BIAB – 2026, Reaper (current), i7-12700F Processor, 32GB DDR4-3200MHz RAM, Motu Audio Express 6x6 - My SoundCloud.
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Josie,
Understood - I actually won a T4 license in an auction for $20, but I haven't found a need to install it yet.
I think you got Tracktion 3 for $19, correct?
I'm not sure that I agree with you that the new owners of Tracktion can do what you suggest - crack the old software - this would be highly suspect.
This is really on Mackie for not honoring a lifetime license/support - that's my opinion.
Anyways, I will be using T3 and eventually T4 on my existing lappy. Not sure what I will do when this lappy goes bad - which it will.
Unlike most, I really do like the all-in-one screen GUI and signal flow.
-Scott
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Dan and John thank you both,
I dl'd Reaper and Noel sent me instructions to make a template to get started. I must say I am BEYOND happy! This could be a true blessing in disguise for me. I love the way it looks, the way the controls are setup and all the features I've seen so far. It's got many similar features to T3 and many things seem just easier to do. I've barely scratched the surface yet but I am LOVING it. Barring some unforeseen major glitch, I think Reaper is for me.
Scott,
I have enjoyed T3 very much and will still keep it on my XP machine. I have MANY mixes done with that. It was my second DAW after Realband and I learned a lot by using it. And yes, I got T3 Ultimate on a no brainer deal for 20 or 30 bucks because the box was mislabeled and I believe that deal sold out in a day. At the same time and for some time afterwards other people were still paying a much higher price on other sites. What I or anyone else paid for it is beside the point.
I think the new owners are just as responsible as Mackie - they made the deal with Mackie. I can't believe they didn't know the details and how it would work out for their customers. And since I read that two of them worked for Mackie and one of them wrote the software, I don't think it's so far fetched that they couldn't have come up with a better solution than what they chose to do. I also read that T4 is shipping with Mackie products now. But that's the deal they decided on so each customer has to decide if that's okay or not.
I was a little freaked out over it all because I'm so used to T3 but I'm totally impressed with Reaper. When the laptop quits, you may want to try it too.
Best wishes,
Josie
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My take is this, there is no reason to move to another DAW other than RB unless you need it. If you make most of your tracks in BiaB/RB and do not do a lot of fancy track work like using tempo lock VSTis, deep level editing, drum transient work, heavy automation, real fancy comping of tracks and such then what do you need another DAW for.
Look i have Reaper 4 fully licensed, Sonar X-1 essentials, Multitrackstudio, and Studio one Producer. I was constantly chasing down all these features everyone raves about. Truth be know i was building all my tracks in RB, even recording my other tracks there, and mixing them. Most of the deeper features i will never use. If and i say IF with capital letters i was ever to open and run a studio to record other people for pay, I would settle into one of the big name DAWs and really use it for the end result, but for a personal studio where the biggest project i do is one of two things.
1. a original song that i create, that consist of 5 or 6 BiaB track, and two or three tracks i record, like guitar, and vocal, what the heck do i need Sonar Producer for. Sure it has deep features, that i most likely will never need just to mix down my song.
2. Mix down a set of tracks for a live backing band, usually never more than 8 to 10 tracks, and many times just 4 or 5. Most live bands have around 4 to 5 players. Add a couple harmony tracks, and wow a whopping 7 -8 maybe.
None of this overtaxes RB. I have also found that RB plays nice with a lot of real good third party mixing plugins, so if the PG don't get it, then i can bring in a few others.
I do wish i could fully use Jamstix, EZDrummer, and such, but until i can they do work as static drum players off midi input very well, just can't use the brain feature.
I would like a slight upgrade to the automation, but for the moment it does work. I would like a better audio editing window with a little bit better attention to detail, and a true comping system. All the basics are there. Look at the quality ROG's gets using Powertracks and RB. His work is very polished, same with Rharv. If you try to tell me RB will not do polished work, that is because you have not really dug in to it and really learned it, or your system has some issue with it. Sure it is not quite up to the standards of Cubase, Sonar, Logic, and a few others, but it is very capable.
If perchance you run into a situation that requires more then go do some deep research and get a finishing DAW to polish up that masterpiece. I gotta tell you i searched and searched, and finally came to the realization i was just chasing propaganda.
Ever go and read these other forums? I have spent time at Reaper, Sonar, and Studio one forums. There are those that love each, and those that bash them. One on every forum clamoring for that software to be like the other one. Gotta have this, and gotta have that. Makes me wonder do they actually ever really use the programs, or just spend time pounding away on forums.
HP Win 11 12 gig ram, Mac mini Sonoma with 16 gig of ram, BiaB/RB 2026, Reaper 7, Harrison Mixbus 11 , Presonus Audiobox USB96
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I dl'd Reaper and Noel sent me instructions to make a template to get started. I must say I am BEYOND happy! This could be a true blessing in disguise for me. I love the way it looks, the way the controls are setup and all the features I've seen so far. It's got many similar features to T3 and many things seem just easier to do. I've barely scratched the surface yet but I am LOVING it. Barring some unforeseen major glitch, I think Reaper is for me. Reaper is an awesome DAW for sure! With its modern GUI, full feature list, low price, great support and huge community, to me it was a no-brainer! And, if you have about 8 hours to spare for tutorial videos there is a great set called Reaper 4 Explained ( http://www.groove3.com/str/reaper-4-explained.html) that is currently on sale for $30. I bought this and have gone through them several times and always pick up something new that I can use!
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Hi Robh,
Enjoyed seeing you live the other night.
Using another DAW after RB is simply a workflow choice for me that's easier the way I use it.
John,
Thank you for the link.
Josie
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Expert
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I can't vouch for the safety of the key generator but most of them contain some type of malware so you are wise to stay away. It doesn't matter that the forum mod over there pointed to it, its use was NOT originally to help legitimate license holders put to allow folks to pirate the software.
Keith
2026 Audiophile Windows 11 RYZEN THREADRIPPER 3960X 4.5GHZ 128 GB RAM 2 Nvidia RTX 3090s, Vegas,Acid,SoundForge,Izotope Production,Melodyne Studio,SONAR,3 Raven Mtis
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I can't vouch for the safety of the key generator but most of them contain some type of malware so you are wise to stay away. It doesn't matter that the forum mod over there pointed to it, its use was NOT originally to help legitimate license holders put to allow folks to pirate the software. Agreed. I've actually written the Tracktion folks to see if there is something that can be done here. My guess is their hands are tied by whatever agreement they entered with Mackie to resurrect the software from Mackie's abandonware status.
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in case you haven't see then Song from start to finish - BIAB, RealBand, & Reaper on the right hand side of this page http://www.pgmusic.com/videos.user.htm
Lenovo YOGA 900 Window s 10 Home 64bit M4 pro Mac mini 1tb HD 24GB mem casio wk7500 presonus audiobox i2 usb interface
casio wk-7500
biab & realband 2025 everything pk both with Current builds
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Josie, thanks for watching, it was fun, i hope to play again this week sometime.
AS far as work flow i agree that is very important. I guess my point is this, if the daw you like is not longer available, and you have to learn another, then why not RB since it complements BiaB so well, once you learn any DAW you will get comfortable with that one. As some others have said Reaper is a great DAW, good cost wise, and a gazillion feautres, but for me it was waaaaaay to much work, everything had to be set up each time, or you had to build a bunch of templates. Also i hated the fact that it seemed every time i open the darned thing it was asking to upgrade. For some that is cool, but 99% of all the little changes do not ever come up in my work flow, and it was a distraction. I am kinda distracted anyway.
I just keep learning RB, and getting more and more comfortable in it. Actually in a shootout i did last year with Reaper, MTS, and RB the RB song was a tad better and far easier to finish.
Sometimes simple is better!
HP Win 11 12 gig ram, Mac mini Sonoma with 16 gig of ram, BiaB/RB 2026, Reaper 7, Harrison Mixbus 11 , Presonus Audiobox USB96
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I may not be a lot of help in this because I don't own the program that you are talking about, but I have had something similar happen to me with another program, so I just got the funds together and purchased pro tools as a new version and have not been disappointed yet. You can use this program as a full DAW and get a better sound out of it than almost anything else. So, my suggestion if you cant work with that other company leave them in the dust, and try something new. Just saying. Pro tools is very expensive but it is worth every penny that I paid for it. I didn't bother to read some of the other comments that other people left, but I do get what you are saying when you say the other company did this to you. Pro tools is tried and true. The initial cost is expensive, but the upgrades to the new version is not to bad. I do not work for this company or anything, but I am just trying to give you some advice as to where you will not ever be disappointed with a professional company again. I bought pro tolls because I had heard a lot about it. Bands like Nickelback are using this program so if it works for them it works for me. I am not looking so much at the cost because music is what I enjoy doing even if the program never pays me back a dime. At least I have the best software in the music industry. So, if you want to, step up to a professional software and you will be very happy that you did. This is one program that you will not be disappointed with. Just saying.
Music is an expression that is a universal language, Never criticize anybody to harshly. They need time to grow but when they do, they do. Always be kind in what you say and do because the man upstairs is watching.
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