Recording Software experiment with MixPad

[Silicon Valley Tom]

I have several different software recording programs. I do intend to purchase Studio One, thanks to Lloyd, and his many fine videos and comments about that product. I got a "bug" (itch) to determine something about my microphone setup.

Since we moved, a bit over a year ago, things are upside down around here. When I have been on Zoom, I have wondered what my audio sounds like, and will keep working towards that goal. In the mean time, I hooked up my Alesis Mixer, Sennheiser MD 518, and Rode NT1A microphones. My concern has been about audio quality.

I found a free download software package from NCH, called MixPad. It had no information about limitations of features such as time, etc. We shall see what we shall see!

The recording I made allowed me to adjust the microphone levels to get the best audio quality and output. For that I am thankful. I did not have to read the instructions to make my recording and create a MP3.

This program deserves looking into, and I intend to do so. The program can be purchased, and that is an option. For simple projects, the free version may be all you need. The company is located in Australia by the way.

MixPad - Download Now (nch.com.au)

Tom

 

[CaptainMoto]

Might be worth checking out

Personally, I'm having difficulty digesting everything on my plate right now, I'll pass on this offering.
Got my hands full with S1.........well, mostly my head is full. It has limited capacity.

I think I heard/read somewhere that the human brain ejects old memories to make room for the new stuff.
If that's true, I'm worried that learning too much at my age may wipe out some of my fond memories, I just can remember what they are right now.

 

[ChrisGSP]

MixPad looks really interesting, Tom. The Web site implies that the download for home use has no restrictions, without explicitly saying so. I think I'll have a look at it - thanks for the tip

 

[Silicon Valley Tom]

I will say that I am using it with Windows 10. I tried to read as much as possible about reviews on the Internet. So far, so good!

It has to be a good product! After all, it is from Australia!

Tom

 

[ChrisGSP]

I will say that I am using it with Windows 10. I tried to read as much as possible about reviews on the Internet. So far, so good!

It has to be a good product! After all, it is from Australia!

Tom

HI again. Aussie content notwithstanding, this is a pretty good product. After I replied, above, I downloaded MixPad, installed it, set it up to use the Vox Amplug I/O for Record and Playback, Imported the Jam Track for Solo 1, and hit RECORD

https://www.dropbox.com/s/5d7iwuqfxd1hxa3/BGU 2 Solo 1 First Attempt 180421 at 1530hrs.mp3?dl=0

So in less than an hour from the reply to the Forum, I had a pretty decent recording. Playing quality leaves a lot to be desired, but the recording itself is good.

The first thing I noticed is NO LATENCY that I can discern. That's a first !!!

I'm using MixPad on Windows 10 Version 20H2 64-bit with all the latest updates. MixPad just installed clean and ran immediately.

And I did all that without reference to any documentation or instructions. It's that easy. I think you found a winner Tom.

 

[ChrisGSP]

I've been wondering why the NCH Software "brand" seemed familiar to me. I just found it - Pitch Perfect Musical Instrument Tuner, that I've had on my laptop for a couple of years, is another NCH product, and it's pretty good.

 

[Silicon Valley Tom]

HI again. Aussie content notwithstanding, this is a pretty good product. After I replied, above, I downloaded MixPad, installed it, set it up to use the Vox Amplug I/O for Record and Playback, Imported the Jam Track for Solo 1, and hit RECORD

https://www.dropbox.com/s/5d7iwuqfxd1hxa3/BGU 2 Solo 1 First Attempt 180421 at 1530hrs.mp3?dl=0

So in less than an hour from the reply to the Forum, I had a pretty decent recording. Playing quality leaves a lot to be desired, but the recording itself is good.

The first thing I noticed is NO LATENCY that I can discern. That's a first !!!

I'm using MixPad on Windows 10 Version 20H2 64-bit with all the latest updates. MixPad just installed clean and ran immediately.

And I did all that without reference to any documentation or instructions. It's that easy. I think you found a winner Tom.

It is a fun product! I will be doing more with it in the near future. One thing I enjoyed thus far, is it is very intuitive. The quality of your recording as well as the one I made is very good.

Tom

 

[Silicon Valley Tom]

MixPad instantiated by itself, just a few minutes ago. They want me to purchase the product, but I may continue using it, with "restrictions". I do not know what the "restrictions" may be. We shall see what we shall see. It would appear that the product demonstration time is seven days.

Tom

 

[ChrisGSP]

It would appear that the product demonstration time is seven days.

Tom

Well I think my seven days is up tomorrow, let's see what happens.....

 

[ChrisGSP]

Yep, mine did the same thing that Tom's did - asked me to buy the product, or continue using the demo version "with some restrictions". I elected to continue with the demo version. I was able to open my saved Project, add a new track and record it, then save the project again. That's pretty much all that I want from it, so I'm happy to continue on that basis. If anything ugly pops up I'll report.

 

[Cowboy Bob]

It looks interesting. I haven't tried it but I may download it for iOS on one of my iPads just for grins.

So it looks like the "free, no restrictions" is for the demo only? the ~$70 "Home" edition looks to have a 16 track limit and no VST plugin support, where as the ~$130 "Master" edition has a track count restricted only by your hardware and does support VST plugins.



As I said, I haven't tried this but it looks interesting. As I am sure y'all know, I am a Pro Tools guy mainly but I also use S1 Pro and Logic Pro. I also have Ableton Live 10, which I don't use at all (I got Ableton Live 8 for a specific project, upgraded it and never used it again).

I've used Reaper in the past and found it very capable as well, and for about the same price as MixPad and no restrictions at all except by your hardware.

Either way, MixPad or Reaper for home use $60-$70 isn't bad.

 

[dvs]

It looks interesting. I haven't tried it but I may download it for iOS on one of my iPads just for grins.

So it looks like the "free, no restrictions" is for the demo only? the ~$70 "Home" edition looks to have a 16 track limit and no VST plugin support, where as the ~$130 "Master" edition has a track count restricted only by your hardware and does support VST plugins.

View attachment 14381

As I said, I haven't tried this but it looks interesting. As I am sure y'all know, I am a Pro Tools guy mainly but I also use S1 and Logic Pro. I also have Ableton Live 10, which I don't use at all (I got Ableton Live 8 for a specific project, upgraded it and never used it again).

I've used Reaper in the past and found it very capable as well, and for about the same price as MixPad and no restrictions at all except by your hardware.

Either way, MixPad or Reaper for home use $60-$70 isn't bad.

FWIW, Reaper at $60 has no restrictions on the number of tracks and offers full VST support.

 

[PapaRaptor]

FWIW, Reaper at $60 has no restrictions on the number of tracks and offers full VST support.

Reaper is an excellent choice.
Another thing to consider, Studio One Artist is $99 as a new purchase and Version 5 has support for third party VST (64 bit only, as does S1 Pro). Even better, if you buy any Presonus controller or audio interface, you will get a license for Studio One Artist for free.

 

[Cowboy Bob]

Reaper is an excellent choice.
Another thing to consider, Studio One Artist is $99 as a new purchase and Version 5 has support for third party VST (64 bit only, as does S1 Pro). Even better, if you buy any Presonus controller or audio interface, you will get a license for Studio One Artist for free.

Agreed.

With Reaper you are only limited in the number of tracks by your hardware, ie your computer. If your 'puter is a bit anemic your number of tracks, FX, etc. will be limited to what it can handle. AND it is less expensive than either S1 Artist or MixPAD. I explored Reaper quite a while back when Pro Tools was still only a 32 bit application. Reaper was always 64 bit, and a lot of folks were tracking with Reaper and mixing in Pro Tools,

S1 Artist is a great choice as well, but of course more pricey than either of the afore mentioned, unless you happen to need an interface or controller. with S1 (artist or Pro) there is a fairly large user base right here on the Forum if'n you get stuck. @PapaRaptor has created/posted some excellent vids.

Yes, I use Pro Tools pretty much exclusively. No, I would not recommend it here.

 

[ChrisGSP]

Sometime since the last time I looked at it my MixPad "trial has expired". No recourse but to buy. My saved project just brings up the same thing. Too bad, it looked pretty good, but I don't need it that much.

 

[Cowboy Bob]

Just noticed, albeit rather late, that Audacity is now part of MUSE. That could bring some very interesting things to the party.

Muse is, well for lack of a better description, Musescore. Musescore is an open source scoring/notation software that is really pretty powerful. In pure standalone functionality, I feel it rivals Sibelius, and I've been using Sibelius (Ultimate) for years.

Anyway,

 

[ChrisGSP]

Just noticed, albeit rather late, that Audacity is now part of MUSE. That could bring some very interesting things to the party.

Well, well, that's good news . In my previous post I was going to end it with "I guess it's back to Audacity" but ended up leaving that out. I've used audacity since forever, and have always found it excellent. I've also dabbled with MuseScore because Sibelius was too $$$. Looking forward to this; but maybe not so much the "fabled 8th magnifying glass" . That video was a hoot !!!!

 

[Silicon Valley Tom]

Well, I tried to open MixPad, and it will only allow me to purchase the software. I cannot bring up my project, or use the product in any way. Either select the popup to purchase or it closes the program.

Tom