Choosing the right multitrack software

A good multitrack recording software is a like any other good tool. It has to fit perfectly into your palm and work well. Choosing the right software for you is fairly easy, if you know exactly what your needs are. The following grid might help with making the right decision, especially, if you are just trying yourself out in the digital multitracking world

1. What operating system are you running?

This is the most obvious question to ask, but for some, it can be the most limiting one. Logic Pro for instance, is not available on Pc since 2002, when Apple bought the original software creator Emagic in 2002.

Most budget home studios already have either a Mac or a PC to build upon. Unless, you want to start from scratch, you will look for a software for OSX or Windows.*

Luckily, a lot of advanced multitrack software available on the market that have both PC and Mac versions, so this is not a real restriction for most users. The easiest / cheapest solution is to stay with they system you already have, unless you want to upgrade anyway soon.

*For Unix,  as far as I know,  the best multitracking software is Audacity, which does not really match up to the level of any commercial software. Due to the lack of a real choice in versatile software, Unix is not a true heaven  for home recording enthusiasts. 

2. Do you face any limitations because of your computer's capabilities?


It is good to be aware of any unsolvable limitations your current PC or Mac configuration might be having such as memory, speed, screen and ports (USB & Firewire). This can be assessed the best once you are clear about the main purpose for buying a multitracking software for yourself. If you will mostly record yourself with one guitar (two tracks at a time for instance), possibly adding some tracks later on 1 by 1 is a very different scenario from the one where you are trying to track 16 or more channels at the same time to create a good quality demo of your band or to record a live gig with post-event mixing and editing intentions.




3. Know your budget

 This is the only thing you cannot really change. You have X amount (a maximum of X and some) to spend on the software part of your studio. This will need to be divided between all the different types of software you are planning to use such as the wave editor, the multitrack recorder, plugins etc. Once you are clear on what you can spend on the multitrack recording solution, you can clearly see which options are available for you from the list above.

4. Know your priorities

Choosing the right budget obviously involves setting up an order of possible features according to their importance. Some of the questions you might want to ask from yourself are:

Do you need vsti support, do you need cabinet simulations, would you use the session drummer or the built-in violin orchestra heavily? Do you need a midi sequencer? Do you want to have more than X tracks in the same projects? Do you want a solution that contains a high-level wave editor as well? If not, can you come up with a cheap alternative for wave editing functions?

Know your priorities and do not be afraid to make compromise where needed. Eventually, you are not the sound engineer of a global label (just yet).

5. How often and where are you planning to use this software?

If you are planning for 1-2 recordings a year, mostly at home, stability will not be your primary concern. An occasional need of reinstall of plugins and drivers will not impact you too negatively. You can securely go with a cheaper software like the well-known N-track.

On the other hand, if you plan to record fairly often, or if the few recordings that you have a year are crucial for you and might need to be carried out under pressure, maybe at an off-site event and not at home, stability will be the most important factor for you.

Based on the points above, you should be able to narrow down the number of possible options for you. To see, which would work the best for you, take the time and download the demo versions of each of the candidate software and spend some time fooling around in the interface. Try to create a very simple multitrack recording with some effects and EQ to your own taste, test the exporting options, see the speed performance of the tool. Look out for bugs, browse through the support forum of the software to highlight any potential issues such as hardware and software conflicts.

Investing some time is necessary in order to avoid disappointment and always pays off in the end.

Hardware or software multitrack recorder?

Both answers can be right, it all depends on your needs and working environment. I have had my share of both worlds, and after shifting from one to the other and back a few times, the only good advise I can give is to try and have your finger in both solutions.

Investing in both hardware and software based multitrack solutions is the best way to go in my experience. Both of these systems have their advantages and disadvantages and can be understood as complementary to each other instead of being supreme.

My extensive, money-burning budget-studio-home-recording experience tells me the followings:

Hardware based multitrack solutions:

 

Tascam Neo 2488 - One of the highest level portable multitrack recorders

Pros:

• Reliable in most cases (apart from some bad series from Tascam and others)
• Easy to use for basic multitrack recording
• Silent operation, especially with the memory card driven ones, but even HDD based solutions are fairly quiet these days
• High portability
• Dedicated knobs for many functions like PAN, EQ, EFFECTS
• One-stop solution from recording to CD burning (models with CD burners)
• Connectivity to PC for further editing

Cons:

• Can be very complicated for complex recordings / mixes
• Can be very limited in number of tracks
• Usually very limited in number of dedicated stereo tracks
• Small LCD screen, in many cases with terrible view angle
• Multi level menu driven operation
• Limited or no future expansions or upgrades
• No options to save user settings (except for a few multi thousand $ models)
• No mixer automation
• 'As is' solution with almost 0 customisation opportunities
• Expensive

Software based multitrack solutions:

Pros:

• Can be cheap ( software available from free / 25 EUR)
• Runs on any standard PC or Mac
• Works with any standard sound card
• Easily upgradable
• Expandable with third party software like effects, virtual instruments
• Can save and restore any user settings
• Offers maximum mixing automation (volume, panning, effects etc)
  
  
  

  Cons:

• Can be highly unstable
• Might be fairly complicated to use (Logic Pro)
• No dedicated knobs and buttons
• Works best with a high quality sound card (starting around 70 EUR)
• Requires a computer

The last one seems pretty obvious, but if you are mostly recording yourself alone at home as I do, or you regularly have recording sessions at non-real studio environments, you will not have the luxury of a separate, sound proof control room. This means that the computer that serves as your recording tool with be in the same room where you recording is taking place.

Multitrack recording software usually require quite a substantial amount of processing power from the computer. The best way to go is to work on a laptop as they produce significantly less noise than desktop machines. Still, even with a laptop, at least from time to time, the CPU cooling fan will switch on during your recording. After the first few tracks have been laid down, due to increased system loading, the CPU might come often fairly often.

If you want to do a proper, studio like acoustic recording, you will have to get rid the CPU fan noise. The only way to do that if you do not have a separate control room and a supporting engineer, is to use a hardware based recorder for acoustic recordings. While you can play around with mic placement for recording voice for instance, you will never be able to eliminate the fan noise from a quiet, finger picking recording.

Tascam DP 004 - one of the smallest multitrack recorders

And with that, we arrive to the conclusion I already revealed at the beginning of this article. Unless you never record live acoustic performances (eg, you use the cable output of your digital piano, amp, electric drum etc), you will sooner or later feel the need of a standalone, quiet solution. This is not a must to start with, but if you are into acoustic recording, either you will have trips to a local studio (which, in fact, is not a bad idea), or you will invest in one of the available solutions that usually start around 150 EUR in price.