Mixcraft Suggestions!

Support and feedback for Acoustica's Mixcraft audio mixing software.

Moderators: Acoustica Greg, Acoustica Eric, Acoustica Dan, rsaintjohn

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Mr.Mxyzptlk
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Re: Mixcraft Suggestions!

Post by Mr.Mxyzptlk »

Some suggestions if not already posted:

1.Auto count-in on the timeline so that when you set record with a 2-bar count in for example, it automatically shows up on the time line. Just makes things easier and means that I can stick with the timeline bar counts. At the moment, I always start at bar 2. I know it's a trivial thing but it would be a great help.

Image

2. A separate section for mastering several songs at a time (as in the Studio One Project Tab)

3. Incorporating a Chord Lane just under the timeline where you can add chord names along the length of the song.
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Mr.Mxyzptlk
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Re: Mixcraft Suggestions!

Post by Mr.Mxyzptlk »

Is it possible to insert/delete measures from the timeline?

If not, could this be added please.
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Acoustica Greg
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Re: Mixcraft Suggestions!

Post by Acoustica Greg »

Mr.Mxyzptlk wrote: Fri Apr 08, 2022 10:51 am Is it possible to insert/delete measures from the timeline?

If not, could this be added please.
Check out ye olde Mixcraft 6 video: Inserting and Removing Time in Mixcraft
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TrevsAudio
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Re: Mixcraft Suggestions!

Post by TrevsAudio »

Yes! Make a selection in the timeline, right click and select insert or delete selected time
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Mr.Mxyzptlk
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Re: Mixcraft Suggestions!

Post by Mr.Mxyzptlk »

Ah, brilliant, thanks both!
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Barth
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Re: Mixcraft Suggestions!

Post by Barth »

Hi, It would be interesting in my opinion if midi notes could be muted in the piano roll editor, in the same way that tracks and clips can be muted, without losing any data, velocity, note range, measure, etc., being able to restore at will, it could be one more option in the midi tools menu.

At least in my case many times I would have appreciated to have this option.

Thanks
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Re: Mixcraft Suggestions!

Post by cactus-head »

Hi Barth,

A workaround might be to set CC 7 to zero at the beginning of the section of notes to mute and then set it to 127 after the last note in the muted group. Often CC7 isn't used to control volume in individual passages but rather CC11 instead to control expression so chances are you wouldn't be hurting anything.
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Re: Mixcraft Suggestions!

Post by Barth »

Good idea cactus, but for what I want to do, it would not work since the CC7 mutes all the notes from the value 0 until value 127, including notes that I don't want to mute, since many times the notes I want to mute have other notes in the same measure/bar that I don't want to mute.

Thank you anyway!
iankinzel
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Re: Mixcraft Suggestions!

Post by iankinzel »

Support for 3rd party plugins would be cool.
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Re: Mixcraft Suggestions!

Post by TrevsAudio »

iankinzel wrote: Sat Apr 23, 2022 2:03 am Support for 3rd party plugins would be cool.
Oh there already is :D


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Mark Bliss
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Re: Mixcraft Suggestions!

Post by Mark Bliss »

iankinzel wrote: Sat Apr 23, 2022 2:03 am Support for 3rd party plugins would be cool.
Kinda actually a little funny (sorry) since Mixcraft has not only supported but primarily included third party plug-ins for the ten plus years I have been a user. 8)

How can we help you @iankinzel ?
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iankinzel
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Re: Mixcraft Suggestions!

Post by iankinzel »

Mark Bliss wrote: Sat Apr 23, 2022 7:38 am
iankinzel wrote: Sat Apr 23, 2022 2:03 am Support for 3rd party plugins would be cool.
Kinda actually a little funny (sorry) since Mixcraft has not only supported but primarily included third party plug-ins for the ten plus years I have been a user. 8)

How can we help you @iankinzel ?
The problem I'm having is that Mixcraft doesn't take so well to many fairly mainstream 3rd party plugins that aren't already included in the program. I can get Mixcraft to recognize non-stock VST's just fine, but Mixcraft becomes highly unstable and crash-prone when using plugins that don't create any problems in some of the other DAWs I've tried out (e.g. Reaper, Bitwig, Waveform).

Like, yeah, obviously Mixcraft onboards 3rd party plugins in principle - but in practice, I've found the range of viable plugins to be narrower for Mixcraft than it is for other DAWs.

This is especially the case for processing recorded guitar: the prepackaged Shred plugin is fun and all, but before too long I just felt like it was holding me back from getting really competent at creating something usable or listenable. So I branched out to learn about other options that were a step up in quality, that were more useful and more versatile tools (e.g. Amplitube, BIAS FX), and I keep finding that Mixcraft really struggles with these plugins and more (especially cab sims, IR loaders, and samplers like Sforzando).

All of this despite using the same interface, the same audio device, the same driver, the same settings - yet Mixcraft routinely crashes or freezes up on my 32gb ram desktop when using plugins that other DAWs can handle just fine even on my 8gb ram laptop.

I'm at that point where I'm thinking maybe Mixcraft was a great place for me to learn how to record - it's still by far the most intuitive user interface I've encountered, and the step sequencer has a clear leg up on much of the competition for its usability and flexibility - but I'm wondering if maybe I've outgrown it or if I've just grown into a particular direction that Mixcraft doesn't really support particularly well? Or maybe I've just gotten ahead of myself and have jumped to new ideas that I'm not able to turn into a reality yet?

All of that is to say that for me, the experience with Mixcraft really hinges on whether or not Acoustica will look at what mainstream plugins users are getting some use out of, and calibrating the next version of Mixcraft to be able to handle those plugins in a full mix setting: it's one thing to load Overloud on a solo guitar track that lasts 15 seconds - but another thing entirely to load Overloud (or Amplitube, or Bias FX, etc) on a full-length 3- or 4-minute song where you also have bass, drums, maybe keyboards or brass (and then throw in the standard effects getting applied to those channels). The guitar processing VST's that Mixcraft does handle tend to be older, lower quality, out of date, and/or aren't usable for a very broad range of sounds or styles. It looks like Acme Bar Gig's Shred Suite came out around 2009, Voxengo Boogex around 2004 - while these were considerable accomplishments at the time, guitar amp modeling has come a long way since then, and Voxengo just simply hasn't kept up.

Overall, I can jam around in Mixcraft, but I don't think I can trust or count on Mixcraft to actually make something until Mixcraft steps up to broaden its VST compatibility.
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Mark Bliss
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Re: Mixcraft Suggestions!

Post by Mark Bliss »

Well now, that post differs from your original request enough to almost call it a different subject. 😌

But know this... In general, I wont disagree with much of what you wrote, nor several other recent threads in the forum.
I have no interest in slagging on Acoustica, I like Mixcraft and as a long time user feel they have been good to me. But at the same time, I wont deny fact.

I accept that there are many possible reasons for some reported issues. And would point out that some people are successfully running some of the titles mentioned here as causing trouble. So there may be more than one thing going on.
But the experiences I have had, people I collaborate with have had and are often reported here, strike a similar tone (no pun intended.)

An abbreviation of my own experience would allow that many some of these problems are far from new. In the period of MX 5-8 I considered that some of the issues were "economy class" plug ins, both user supplied and included. So I began to migrate to upper tier products. It did seem to help, but the jury may still be out on some of that.
But some of the bundled plug-ins are certainly pretty dated.

Then when 64 bit MX became a thing, and many current third party plug-ins had already migrated in that direction, I did too. I felt maybe some issues I experienced were due to projects mixing 32 and 64 bit plug-ins so I tried going all 64 bit. Again, I think it helped with some things, but not all.

The plug in industry hype behind vst3 caused some optimism but reality for me is that in most cases, they were problematic in MX, and since the hype never really seemed to unfold into anything substantial functionally, I just avoided them when possible. But the plug in producers seem to be migrating to it anyway, so that could be a growing issue.
Acoustica seemed to be trying to whack-a-mole vst3 compatibility issues on a case by case basis for a while, but that was probably mostly a hopeless time-suck for them.

I accept that many plug-ins are buggy. Some vst3 issues may also be programming related.
But just as others have said... Over the last two years or so I have had the eye opening experience of running the same projects with the same plug-ins in other hosts and having not just less problems, but in many cases NONE of the same problems experienced in Mixcraft. Which is especially annoying as I, as others, really prefer the familiarity and work flow of Mixcraft. I want it to work for me.

But entirely too frequently, I experience spontaneous program closure. No warning, no explanation, just poof. Gone. Then there is the occasional lock requiring a user forced closure. Less frequent, but enough to be annoying. Then there is the infrequent, but extremely troubling momentary lock, followed by an audio explosion that I truly fear could damage gear or hearing. Often enough to have developed the instinct to suddenly rip off my headphones when I anticipate it may be coming.

So I dont lack sympathy for these and other comments. I am actually surprised that among all the feature requests for colors and other seemingly trivial tweaks, including some I myself have requested version after version, even before this extended suggestion thread (note, first reply here but far from my first on the subject) havent had a lot more frequent requests for improvements in stability, reliability and plug in compatibility.

There has also been a growing discussion on some issues of MIDI routing. This is outside of my own area of use or interest and I have to admit I dont even understand some of what people are requesting.
But I suspect somehow that some of the issue with this might be that a fix is not only complex, but might break the backwards compatibility ethos that Acoustica has always embraced for Mixcraft. Like I said, guessing. I may be way off base.
In looking at a recent thread it occurred to me that maybe a solution could be the creation of a MIDI routing plug-in designed specifically to work within Mixcraft. Just a thought.
It also occurs to me that at some point, developing a modern feature rich DAW is likely to break the backwards compatibility anyway, and in order to move forward, that may have to be accepted at some point.
Again, guessing. Dunno.

Some are using the term "falling behind" and I wont deny feeling that too. Looked at another way, some competitors products have certainly leapt ahead.
I look forward to the next version with an open mind and high hopes that it isnt just another small incremental improvement.
Its time to go big Acoustica. I am hopeful that is the reason behind the delay.
Stay in tune, Mark

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iankinzel
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Re: Mixcraft Suggestions!

Post by iankinzel »

Mark Bliss wrote: Sun Apr 24, 2022 6:13 am Well now, that post differs from your original request enough to almost call it a different subject. 😌

But know this... In general, I wont disagree with much of what you wrote, nor several other recent threads in the forum.
I have no interest in slagging on Acoustica, I like Mixcraft and as a long time user feel they have been good to me. But at the same time, I wont deny fact.

I accept that there are many possible reasons for some reported issues. And would point out that some people are successfully running some of the titles mentioned here as causing trouble. So there may be more than one thing going on.
But the experiences I have had, people I collaborate with have had and are often reported here, strike a similar tone (no pun intended.)

An abbreviation of my own experience would allow that many some of these problems are far from new. In the period of MX 5-8 I considered that some of the issues were "economy class" plug ins, both user supplied and included. So I began to migrate to upper tier products. It did seem to help, but the jury may still be out on some of that.
But some of the bundled plug-ins are certainly pretty dated.

Then when 64 bit MX became a thing, and many current third party plug-ins had already migrated in that direction, I did too. I felt maybe some issues I experienced were due to projects mixing 32 and 64 bit plug-ins so I tried going all 64 bit. Again, I think it helped with some things, but not all.

The plug in industry hype behind vst3 caused some optimism but reality for me is that in most cases, they were problematic in MX, and since the hype never really seemed to unfold into anything substantial functionally, I just avoided them when possible. But the plug in producers seem to be migrating to it anyway, so that could be a growing issue.
Acoustica seemed to be trying to whack-a-mole vst3 compatibility issues on a case by case basis for a while, but that was probably mostly a hopeless time-suck for them.

I accept that many plug-ins are buggy. Some vst3 issues may also be programming related.
But just as others have said... Over the last two years or so I have had the eye opening experience of running the same projects with the same plug-ins in other hosts and having not just less problems, but in many cases NONE of the same problems experienced in Mixcraft. Which is especially annoying as I, as others, really prefer the familiarity and work flow of Mixcraft. I want it to work for me.

But entirely too frequently, I experience spontaneous program closure. No warning, no explanation, just poof. Gone. Then there is the occasional lock requiring a user forced closure. Less frequent, but enough to be annoying. Then there is the infrequent, but extremely troubling momentary lock, followed by an audio explosion that I truly fear could damage gear or hearing. Often enough to have developed the instinct to suddenly rip off my headphones when I anticipate it may be coming.

So I dont lack sympathy for these and other comments. I am actually surprised that among all the feature requests for colors and other seemingly trivial tweaks, including some I myself have requested version after version, even before this extended suggestion thread (note, first reply here but far from my first on the subject) havent had a lot more frequent requests for improvements in stability, reliability and plug in compatibility.

There has also been a growing discussion on some issues of MIDI routing. This is outside of my own area of use or interest and I have to admit I dont even understand some of what people are requesting.
But I suspect somehow that some of the issue with this might be that a fix is not only complex, but might break the backwards compatibility ethos that Acoustica has always embraced for Mixcraft. Like I said, guessing. I may be way off base.
In looking at a recent thread it occurred to me that maybe a solution could be the creation of a MIDI routing plug-in designed specifically to work within Mixcraft. Just a thought.
It also occurs to me that at some point, developing a modern feature rich DAW is likely to break the backwards compatibility anyway, and in order to move forward, that may have to be accepted at some point.
Again, guessing. Dunno.

Some are using the term "falling behind" and I wont deny feeling that too. Looked at another way, some competitors products have certainly leapt ahead.
I look forward to the next version with an open mind and high hopes that it isnt just another small incremental improvement.
Its time to go big Acoustica. I am hopeful that is the reason behind the delay.
Hey, thanks for this response. Much appreciated. Yeah, I'm not trying to be a troll or an edgelord or anything like that - I have very fond memories of first learning digital recording on Mixcraft back in 2016. My giflfriend and I have many memories associated with music made on Mixcraft and/or the various tools we've used on Mixcraft.

The way I look at it, it's like when I first got started on electric guitar, and bought my friend's used Mexican-made Fender Strat. Wasn't the most deluxe model in the world, but it was a solid build, sounded great, and it was something I could learn on and grow with.

Ideally I'd like Mixcraft to be that way. It's already got the best user interface & step sequencer for a beginner to learn on - all it really needs is to be solid & stable enough to handle a reasonable variety of mainstream VSTs that you can expect a fair portion of users to explore at some point. Don't need the fanciest plug-ins, don't need all the virtual instruments in the world - just provide a solid platform on which the user can find their own bells & whistles. Something friendly to learn on, and built solidly to grow on.

As it is, I'm leaning towards migrating to Studio One, where I'm not experiencing any of those stability issues w/the VSTs in my primary rotation. It's a shame, too, because like I said, there's those memories and the sentimental value with Mixcraft - and pragmatically speaking, there's so much potential in the ease of the user interface and the flexibility of the step sequencer. I know for sure that I'm going to give the next version of Mixcraft a good, hard look, and I'd gladly go back to Mixcraft if version 10 addresses the stability issues - even if there isn't any backwards compatibility.
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Acoustica Greg
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Re: Mixcraft Suggestions!

Post by Acoustica Greg »

Hi,

Mixcraft 10 will have improved plugin stability. It's coming along nicely - we hope to release it late this year, depending on how its development goes.

Greg
Mixcraft - The Musician's DAW
Check out our tutorial videos on YouTube: Mixcraft 10 University 101
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