n-Track Studio multitrack audio and MIDI PC recording software, developed by Italian programmer Flavio Antonioli, has been the cornerstone and workhorse of my home studio for more than five years. I use other programs for various things, but everything comes toghether in n-Track. It’s what I use to record and produce all of the music for the BostonGeek.com podcasts, for example. I’ve been using it for as long as I have because it is stable, versatile, reliable and streamlined. Being independantly net-distributed, it’s also very inexpensive compared to other multitracking packages.

What n-Track does, if you’re unfamiliar with recording software, is allow you to record and edit multiple simultaneous tracks of audio. Because of its low price it is frequently compared to Garage Band for Mac, but n-Track’s capapbilities go pretty far beyond that, and it actually compares very favorably to so called “professional” commercial software like Sonar, Digital Performer and even the industry standard, ProTools. In addition to simply recording, these programs open up the world of nonlinear editing, in which you can easily move your sounds in time without regard to their original temporal position. Say, for example, I record a song. Each instrument is represented by a wave file on a different “track.” This is really just a graphic representation of when the computer will play each wave file. After I record all the tracks, I realize that the bass player made a mistake in the first chorus. Rather than recording the part again, I can simply replace the bass in the first chorus with a copy of the bass from the second chorus. It gets better. Say I decide that after the solo I want to use the introduction as a “bridge” to the ending chorus. I can copy the entire introduction section and place it between the solo and ending chorus. That’s nonlinear editing and it’s a great improvement over the old days when we had to splice magnetic tape with razorblades and scotch tape.

That said, there is good news. 5.0 is noticeably more efficient in terms of CPU use than its predecessor. Several test files showed a reduction of a few percent for constant CPU use and I observed no CPU “spikes” (which frequently result in audible pops and glitches) when using 5.0. There are a number of new features and redesign elements that I do like and work well: file auditioning allows you to hear an individual .wav file outside of the context of the rest of the song; a redesign in the way files are moved with the mouse in the timeline works very well and will make editing quite a bit easier; embeded track pitch shift and play speed controls - the n-Track pitch shifitng algorhythm is really outstanding; sample level zoom and editing.

The Bottom Line:
I hate saying this because I truly believe that n-Track is a great program, but I’m in the awkward position of wanting to recommend software that I couldn’t get to work well enough to properly evaluate. n-Track 5.0 just isn’t ready yet. Give it a couple more weeks. Or check out  5.0’s predecessor, version 4.21, which is available for download on the n-Track website in the “download older versions” section. I am in communication with the developer to get the issues I observed worked out, and I every confidence that we will be successful. Even as I write this several of the bugs I encountered a couple of days ago have been fixed. It must also be stated that most users have not encountered all the problems I did, so your mileage may vary. As I stated previously, n-Track is inexpensive. Registering the 16-bit version, compatible with Soundblaster and other consumer and onboard soundcards costs $54. The 24-bit version, compatible with professional and “pro-sumer” audio interfaces is $79.