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songboy « Extremely useful tool for the live performer »
Published on 01/16/12 at 13:05I have had absolutely no compatibility issues with this software. I run it on a Macbook Pro i7 with an Rme Fireface 800. The manual is relatively short and concise and I recommend running through it to get good tips on Side-Chaining and mastering all the "quick" buttons and configurations that allow you to do quite a bit with this software. The general config and setup is quite simple. Just load up the program with the Waves plugins that you want to use, set your audio input/ouputs (including the actual audio interface), maybe add a side chain capable compressor or other effect and that's it. The typical functions are accesible in the sense that waves has tried to make this software very similar to that of a real Hardware Rack. With that said, there is still quite a bit you can do "behind the scenes" that you could not do with the Real Hardware version. That can all be found in the manual.
SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE
Multirack works flawlessly in the setup I named earlier. So far, it has never crashed, has never caused any audio pops or loss and has stored and recalled presets without any issues. I give this software a big fat 10! It runs two separate stereo channels with a couple of plugins on each at 96 samples with only reaching 20-30% cpu (according to its meter). I use this with my Fireface 800 running totalmix and I have to use several instances of "LoopBack" to chain all my different Audio Applications. This adds very little latency but it can add up when you have to do it 3 or more times for one signal path. With that said, I needed something capable of very low latency and MultiRack fits the bill perfectly. I have been using this software for about 4 months.
OVERALL OPINION
What I like most about this software is the ability to run Huge Rack presets. Some songs I play require a big Sidechain compressor where as some other songs I play are much softer in dynamics and require little to no compression as well as other effects for different style songs. With Multirack, you can quickly (and without any audio hiccups or glitches) change all the plugins in your rack to fit the particular song. These "snapshots" as they call them are amazingly handy and convenient and are indispensable for the musician or band playing without a sound guy. The only thing I don't like about MultiRack is there exclusion of 3rd party plugins. I love all of my Waves Plugins but they don't make everything, especially DJ style effect plugins like Sugar Bytes Turnado or Izotope's Stutter Edit. If they allowed for 3rd party plugins to join in, then this would be one of the best pieces of software I have ever owned. I paid $250 for this which is kind of steep when you realize you have to buy the other waves plugins you want. But it's a solid, very stable piece of software and you pay for what you get. This is the only software I have used to function as a Stand Alone virtual Rack. I would definitely recommend this and would make the purchase again if I had to.
SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE
Multirack works flawlessly in the setup I named earlier. So far, it has never crashed, has never caused any audio pops or loss and has stored and recalled presets without any issues. I give this software a big fat 10! It runs two separate stereo channels with a couple of plugins on each at 96 samples with only reaching 20-30% cpu (according to its meter). I use this with my Fireface 800 running totalmix and I have to use several instances of "LoopBack" to chain all my different Audio Applications. This adds very little latency but it can add up when you have to do it 3 or more times for one signal path. With that said, I needed something capable of very low latency and MultiRack fits the bill perfectly. I have been using this software for about 4 months.
OVERALL OPINION
What I like most about this software is the ability to run Huge Rack presets. Some songs I play require a big Sidechain compressor where as some other songs I play are much softer in dynamics and require little to no compression as well as other effects for different style songs. With Multirack, you can quickly (and without any audio hiccups or glitches) change all the plugins in your rack to fit the particular song. These "snapshots" as they call them are amazingly handy and convenient and are indispensable for the musician or band playing without a sound guy. The only thing I don't like about MultiRack is there exclusion of 3rd party plugins. I love all of my Waves Plugins but they don't make everything, especially DJ style effect plugins like Sugar Bytes Turnado or Izotope's Stutter Edit. If they allowed for 3rd party plugins to join in, then this would be one of the best pieces of software I have ever owned. I paid $250 for this which is kind of steep when you realize you have to buy the other waves plugins you want. But it's a solid, very stable piece of software and you pay for what you get. This is the only software I have used to function as a Stand Alone virtual Rack. I would definitely recommend this and would make the purchase again if I had to.