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ease 1 of 5 2 of 5 3 of 5 4 of 5 5 of 5 4 / 5
features 1 of 5 2 of 5 3 of 5 4 of 5 5 of 5 4 / 5
design 1 of 5 2 of 5 3 of 5 4 of 5 5 of 5 4 / 5
support 1 of 5 2 of 5 3 of 5 4 of 5 5 of 5 4 / 5

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  • (NB: Sourceforge does NOT remember the line breaks, so this review will be displayed as a loooooong single paragraph!! *facepalm*) ---- tl;dr: Use AVLinux. It is based on MXLinux with the Liquorix kernel: bandshed.net/avlinux) ---- Full Review ---- I have used QTractor to do basic recordings of my drums and guitar, etc. However, Audacity can do these things, now, although it will crash much, much more. Also, unless you have a specifically-compiled and configured kernel (with a 1kHz internal timer) it is terrible at synchronising MIDI and audio, so don't use it for MIDI with audio. ---- As with most 'big ideas' on Linux, it seems that one person's perfect idea causes other people usability problems. ---- The first and most important thing to note (If you're new to Linux) is that the kernel that comes with most distros is, apparently, unsuitable for DAW work. ---- Strange how most Linux distros seem crippled in this way when compared to the Windows kernel, which can select real-time priorities with ALL Windows versions! With so many different, incompatible kernels to develop for, most of us will likely end up having the "wrong" kernel [SMH]. Also, unless you're an experienced coder, recompiling the Linux kernel can take days to work out, get right and test, days which are not being used to record your music, so... :/ ---- Another confusing part is that when you create a new project, set it up and click record to record a track, it just asks you to save the project first before you can record. It requires you to work in a rather eccentric manner. Maybe the author thinks we should all work in the same way as them? Maybe the program drops all recordings into the project folder - which it actually asks if you want to create when creating the project, pmsl. ('Folder xxx doesn't exist. Create it?' Errrr... That would be useful. O_o) ---- IMHO, creating a new project should create the structure, too. ---- It seems that you are expected to set up a rather specific combination of hardware, kernel, kernel build, software and software configuration. ---- I remember when you could just do things on Windows, but, alas, it seems Linux is having a very hard time at brushing off the egotistical devs who want everything their way (you know, because "everybody else is doing Linux wrong!" [SMH]) ---- I HIGHLY recommend AVLinux, (based on MXLinux with the Liquorix kernel : bandshed.net/avlinux/) It has the prerequisite realtime kernel and threaded IRQs with IRQ priorities (to prioritise audio hardware I/O), oodles of functional built-in software that JUST WORKS (including Jack!) ---- Don't just install QTractor - It will be a nightmare. Instead, download MXLinux if you want a dedicated Linux DAW. Otherwise, unless you like to try, test and tinker instead of being productive and getting things recorded, you will have a VERY bad time. ---- QTractor STILL (since ~2011) has sync issues and is almost useless when it comes to MIDI & audio mixed projects. Just don't even try - You need a kernel of a specific build, etc.. The whole mess is a red flag, and the epitome of Linux open source development - NOBODY wants to work together because everybody else is just wrong. ---- IMHO, QTractor is a terrible name and has an awful windows 95 icon. Though it could be worse, it could be a modern' flat 'paper'-style icon. That would complete the style nausea. And the track listing on the left can take up 1/3 of your horizontal screen space, without being able to make the 'Instrument' column narrower (even when empty) and you can't select which columns to display, so everything has scrollbars... Maybe if you had 4k monitor it would look a bit better? But 4k monitors are not a prerequisite for any other DAW software I've used. ---- Also, the zoom functionality is broken. You can zoom in and out horizontally using CTRL+Mouse Wheel, however vertical zoom only zooms out, no matter which way you scroll the mouse wheel. ---- The interface is... Well... Interesting and frustrating. You have a PERMANENTLY floating mixer, which you can't seem to change the WIDTH of the channels, so everything is truncated (including some graphics!) the desktop quickly becomes a mess of windows if you also have MIDI soft synths, etc. ---- It just looks like a child has designed the interface, TBQH. Working with the markers is hap-hazard. I can't move the loop markers without moving the 'selection' markers, or whatever they are... It's just a confusing mess. ---- The transport clock updates the bar/time about as frequently as Teletext did, which is useless for visual syncing. ---- I HIGHLY recommend Ardour on MX Linux - It's the perfect DAW! I got soooo much more done in MX Linux with Ardour (using the built-in Intel audio interface) than trying to get QTractor to work consistently with any other distro. ---- Like many other programs on Linux, somebody had a very different idea about how these applications should function, and it's not usually an expert with experience, it's usually just someone with a blinding passion, usually enough to fool themselves into thinking they can write code for people who don't think like they do. ---- And (again, like too many open source projects) the documentation for QTractor is a decade old, so... :/ ---- Knowing what I know now, I wouldn't have tried using QTractor for serious work on my workstation. I would have a separate PC for recording and just install MX Linux on it. ---- I don't usually go out of my way to create an account just to write a software review, but producers and artists NEED to know about MX Linux before they potentially waste a lot of time installing and trying to get QTractor to work properly! ---- As Qtractor's author has said publicly: "[...]Ardour is a genuine DAW (later with [...] sequencer features) while qtractor is [...] more like a genuine sequencer (with some DAW features).[...]" ---- Lastly, how can anyone find a four-word review useful???
  • Qtractor is a good program and the support by the developer with some issues is really fast. This is a Opensource Program with a 5 star tech support like private software. Amazing product and amazing tech support by ticket system.
    1 user found this review helpful.
  • The best daw I've used! Easy to use and very practical
    1 user found this review helpful.
  • Appears to no longer be supported in Ubuntu. When I try opening the app, I get the error message "not supported".
    1 user found this review helpful.
  • Truly amazing, it's been a treat using Qtractor as it's been maturing, really quite the ride! Looking forward to see where we go from here. :-D
    2 users found this review helpful.
  • Works perfectly on a Raspberry !
    1 user found this review helpful.
  • Yet fully working, it's simple but powerful enough for any recording need. I love the real time effects. Nice job!
    1 user found this review helpful.
  • An amazing DAW.
    1 user found this review helpful.
  • Best DAW I´ve used.
    2 users found this review helpful.
  • The author says its just a sequencer. I say it's a DAW :)
    2 users found this review helpful.
  • I used GNU / Linux to make music since around the time Jack was introduced. I spent coutless nights teaching myself how to use just about every single system available, and I always came back to Qtractor. Everything makes sense in Qtractor. And when it seems that it doesn't, a quick message on Rui Nuno's blog and you're out of the hole. The development is steady, focusing only on the core of the matter, and the result is a solid system, usable right now. Qtractor does not even try to be everything, it wants to be useful in the middle of the huge Linux audio production ecosystem, talking nice to everybody, implementing new techs & protocols silently, never breaking what's worked so far, bringing it all together. For me, it's the standard against witch I can compare everything else.
    2 users found this review helpful.
  • It seems a little silly to call it "alpha" software when it's more mature and usable than anything in it's category besides Ardour, but I guess the author has his reasons. Good choice of feature set while keeping things fairly simple.
    3 users found this review helpful.
  • A fantastic piece of software - easy to use, with a very clean interface. Very stable, even though "Alpha". Friendly support and advice from Rui himself on his website. How on earth does he find the time to do all this? :-)
    3 users found this review helpful.
  • Alpha version stable working, simple learning, good working many functions, audio part and midi part functionate well enought. Many big pluses! ) But dust-heap pieces of midi files in project directory is wrong way. In general, good! I like it! :) Long life for QTractor!
    1 user found this review helpful.
  • for music creation. yeas!!! qtractor is great!
    2 users found this review helpful.
  • Hey! Where Qtractor for Windows? :(
    1 user found this review helpful.
  • QTractor combines power, design, and ease-of-use like no other DAW. I prefer it to Ardour because of its cleaner interface.
    2 users found this review helpful.
  • qtractor is my Linux DAW of choice - a true project of Linux legend and lore! Rui for (EU) President!
    2 users found this review helpful.
  • it's just a legendary program, real combine for the beginner DJ!
    1 user found this review helpful.
  • Hi; I've been used QTractor and i would like to say something; How about in the next version of QTractor the units of "TEMPO" had add ONE or TWO decimal units. Ex: "100,000" "130,000"... This is important to better synchronize audio and midi. Thanks
    1 user found this review helpful.
  • Got to be the fastest evolving piece of music software in linux.Those who tried it and didn't like it should give a try as the development is going fast. Nice integration with Qjackctl and other interfaces. Very intuitive if you give a shot.
    1 user found this review helpful.
  • Definitely recommended. The only awful thing about Qtractor is... icons. They look so Windows 95 and, so, they are out of place in any modern desktop. However, to criticize icons instead of talking about serious crashes says a lot about the quality of this project.
    1 user found this review helpful.
  • Been using MusE for years. Love its simplicity, but each new release contains one or more show-stopping bugs. The latest MusE release on ubuntustudio won't even connect to jackd2, which is the default jackd implementation on ubuntustudio. So you have to uninstall jackd2 and then install jackd1 (which doesn't take advantage of SMP). Big mess. Tried Qtractor, converted a few of my old MusE projects over to it, and it's MUCH simpler to use and more intuitive than even MusE (which I thought was alredy the epitome of intuitiveness). Plus, I love the color scheme of Qtractor. The MusE color scheme and fonts are ugly and so 1980s-looking. The only things I think Qtractor is missing are automation and linked clips. It would be nice to have automation functionality to change the mix, etc. at various places in the song, do fades or whatever. It would be nice to have linked clips to make it so that if you edit one clip, all other linked copies of that clip are changed too. Although, I bet you could just re-import the same midi file over and over, and if you edit it in one spot it should change everywhere (since Qtractor ingeniously seems to store one midi file per midi clip -- which I LOVE!!!) Another thing which would be cool to add, is if you copy-paste a clip to which you've assigned a name, instead of naming the new clip with the name of the track, just name it with the same name as the original clip from which it was copied. I do find the blue markers to be wacky -- they don't work very well for me, and I can't find any way to turn them off like you can in MusE. And having to slide the scrubber using the mouse instead of having it jump to the place you click on the timeline with the mouse, is a bit of a time-waster. It would be nice to just have the red srubber go straight to whatever time you click on on the timeline. Other than these things, Qtractor is a great DAW. And in spite of these little issues, I'm probably going to continue using it as my primary DAW because I'm so tired of MusE (and Rosegarden is a buggy, useless, overly-complicated piece of junk). Thanks for some great software!
    1 user found this review helpful.
  • IMHO 0.4.6 deserves "beta" label, not alpha! http://old.nabble.com/Re:-Fedora-12---CCRMA-p28623990.html ... That's one of the things I like about qtractor. I can start it up without qjackctl if I want -- without selecting any patches or hooking up anything. In qtractor, all the basic connections and patching are part of the template I set qtractor to launch with (View->Options->Display->Session). Furthermore, loading a .qtr file for a song will contain the patchbay information needed to connect to the appropriate midi ports, synths& instrument definitions, plugin softsynths, etc. You conveniently click on the "input" or "output" buttons in the mixer panel,. and it'll show you the specific jack connection associated with the selected input or output. No more rats nest of connections to trace through in qjackctl -- I end up using it more now as an overview of all my connections and use qtractor to setup specific connections. So basically, you can just launch qtractor. load your project/song, and be good to go. You don't have to load&activate a separate patchbay .xml file in qjackctl in order to connect up whatever you need connected for a particular session (and remember to associate the patchbay .xml file with your DAW session). If you want to launch qjackctl to work with qtractor, they work well together too, but if you forget to launch jack, qtractor will do it for you. It's really a nice new level of integration we're getting -- an incremental improvement over a standalone qjackctl.
    1 user found this review helpful.
  • I LOVE this program. Brilliant in its simplicity and unrivaled in its power. Great interface, too. Love to see where QTractor is headed, guys!
    1 user found this review helpful.
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