Within T-RackS 24 is contained:

A 5-band equalizer, including low-cut, low-shelf, low-mid, hi-mid and high-shelf. Each of these has a rotary pot with which to sweep various frequencies and between them, a range from 16 to 22,000 Hz. is covered: more than enough for the most discerning and critical ears. All but the low-cut filter also has discrete gain controls covering a range of +/ - 15 dB. When first booted, the default setting is for all 5 filters to be activated. However, each has its own labeled on/ off switch and I would suggest that you shut off any unused bands to conserve CPU power. Each of the 2 mid bands is parametric and has its own 'Hi/ Lo' switch to set the Q with. Looking at the graph read-out at the right of these controls, the 'Hi' and 'Lo' settings seemed only moderately different from each other. Generally, I prefer a wider range of Q and like being able to adjust it via a graduated rotary control so that I have the greatest possible selection. However, even though the 2 'Hi/ Lo' settings are a bit limited, they work well enough: I applied a 'Hi' Q setting at 80 Hz with 3 dB gain to an instrumental I created to 'road-test' the software I review. The synth-bass was enhanced and picked up a little punch and clarity...but when I switched to the 'Lo' setting, the whole bass end of the song went from punchy too slightly flatulent and boomy. Definition was definitely lost. So, even with just 2 settings, there is enough of a difference to be useful.

A 'tube-compressor', including the usual 'Attack', 'Release', 'Ratio' and 'Input Drive' controls via rotary pots. (All controls within this program are mouse-driven with no keyboard equivalents. Thankfully, the rotary pots are controlled by dragging the mouse up or down rather than in a circular motion.) To the right of these, you will also find a virtual, old-style weighted meter, complete with bouncing needle. If you're already familiar with the operation of a compressor, you won't have any trouble figuring this one out. Included within this is an oddity and something I've never seen as part of a compressor before: a stereo ehancer/ widener! It's a very simple, single rotary-pot control but it works as a basic control.

A 'multiband limiter', including a 'Release Time' rotary pot with a range from 80 ms. - 1.5 seconds, an 'Overload' rotary pot that controls the amount of limiting from +/ - 5.3 dB: the lower the gain, the more limiting; the higher the gain, the more clipping produced. Finally, there's an included 'Input Drive' that controls the amount of signal driving the limiter's input and has an exact threshold point where it starts limiting the signal.

Next, there is a special section, peculiar to T-RackS 24: the 'output stage', which contains a number of rotary pots, switches and buttons that allow you to shape and control the output of the 3 processors, plus a simple...and slow...LED meter with a range of -3 to 0 dB and "Over" (as in: "overload"!) It also allows you to load a generous library of pre-sets for each of the processors, plus more that affects the entire suite at one time. You can save your customized settings here, as well. You can hear 'Mono' or 'Stereo' versions of your song...along with a "Difference" control that lets you hear the L/ R extremes of the stereo minus the mono sum. I don't know how useful this last choice is but it's there if you want it. Also, here, you can adjust the relative balance between your left and right stereo channels via single rotary pot.

Finally, there's the 'control panel', containing tape-style transport controls and a digital read-out in hours, minutes and seconds. Here, you can also use the "Mark" button to drop markers used for looping a section or fast-forwarding and rewinding to specific points. This is also where you load a '.wav' or.’aiff', 16 or 24-bit file for processing. Here, too, you can set a fade-in or fade-out with a range of up to 60 seconds. These fades can be, either, linear or logarithmic. When you've finally got your audio file sounding like your next 'platinum' song or album, you just hit the 'Process' button and save it as a '.wav' or '. aiff’ in 16 or 24 bit resolution.

There is also a pair of switches on the EQ and compressor that allows you to change their order in your processing chain. The limiter, of course, is always at the end of that chain.

The users' manual is an easy-to-read, almost as easy-to-understand 55 pages that covers every aspect of the software and is filled with useful illustrations that help to make up for those few places where the text is a bit awkward. But, hey: whoever wrote the English version of the manual writes in a second language a helluva lot better than I'd do trying to write in Italian, so, who's complaining? Let me put it this way: if you can read a comic book and make sense of it, you'll find the manual just as easy to understand.

Installation went without a hitch, via the CD-ROM. I only found one thing irritating about this...something I haven't been overly crazy about in some other software, either: people are always complaining about programs and Plug-Ins that use dongles, those wretched little plastic cubes we have to attach to our PCs via the serial port. Well, I think there's something else that's nearly as obnoxious: 'challenge-and-response' codes to fully activate your software. In the case of T-RackS, you have to visit their website, email, fax or snail-mail to get your authorization code after you supply them with a serial number and digital ID. First, I tried registering on-line but wasn't able to complete the process...after wasting a lot of time filling in all kinds of information about myself. Then, after trying this several times without success, I finally emailed them...twice...and received my authorization within about 12 hours. I'm just glad I didn't have to try and fax or snail-mail them: since they're in Modena, Italy, the first would have been expensive and the second would have been slower than Evolution. I'm not picking on the good folks at IK Multimedia, here, because other software developers use this same scheme, but...man, there's got to be a better and faster way to have full use of new software! And, to add insult to injury, until you get that all-precious authorization code, the program acts as a 'demo' and whatever you listen to will be interrupted by short bursts of white noise and nothing can be saved! Better yet, the manual warns you that if you install the software on another machine, you'll have to go through the whole 'challenge-and response' horror show again! Which is bad news if, like me, you routinely do a 'clean -install' on your PC 2 or 3 times yearly. I can understand these safeguards if one is Downloading software to demo before buying on-line...but on a CD-ROM? I object, your honor, I object! (I feel much better, now, for having vented! Thanks for reading.)

The GUI is a flat-out trip! When you first boot T-RackS 24, you are greeted by a really silly-looking purple Tyrannosaurus Rex: think Barney on some seriously nasty chemicals. The look of the processors, themselves, is very 'retro' and reminds me of the clunky-looking gear I was using 30 years ago, when 'state-of-the-art' was 2-inch, 4-track tape. Old-style weighted needle meters, funky 'plastic' knobs and those cheesy shiny steel off/ on switches with the little balls on the end, held in place by a visible hex nut. The only thing that belies this 'retro-ness' is the one virtual LED master meter that has very modern 'hold' and 'x10' buttons. At the bottom of your screen are a series of buttons that activate the master meter, allowing you to take up to 8 'snap-shots' of your current settings you can flip through quickly, if you want to 'A - B' what you're working on. Here, you can also set your preferences (dithering, audio buffer size, real-time processing). There is also a truly humorous feature called 'Interface Material'. Don't like the gaudy yellow color the suite boots up in? Well, just go here and choose any of a series of alternate 'skins' for your T-RackS 24. Included are: one that looks like patent lizard, one that's camouflaged (in case you're trying to work on music in a war zone!) and a couple of normal-looking wood-grain finishes. The "used" skin looks like the poor suite was left out in the salt air for too long...complete with white granular pits in the 'finish'! The "beat-up" skin looks like it was covered with dings inflicted by a petulant lead-singer throwing a tantrum...and then, hastily painted over with a dull 'battle-ship' grey. (Who knows? Maybe IK Multimedia will follow the lead of a certain Swedish software company and let users create and UL more 'skins' to their website for fellow users to share and trade. That could be great fun, indeed!) Another useless...but very amusing...part of the GUI sits on top of the processors: a series of 5 virtual vacuum tubes. Activate any of the processors and the tubes start to glow...alarmingly...just like 'the real things used to do'...right before they blew up! There is, also, a useful CPU meter you can check and 'Undo' and 'Quit' buttons. The whole GUI is laid out logically and most of the controls will be familiar to anyone who has worked with audio processors before. Whether you're a beginner a pro, there is one really excellent feature that even an old Studio Rat, like me, found useful for getting working quickly: at the bottom of the GUI is a little button with a "?" on it. Activate this and point to any of the sections or controls, and an extremely useful description of that control appears. This will save you a lot of time if you don't feel like trying to find the answers in the print manual or on-line '. pdf’ included on the installation CD-ROM when you're on a roll.

T-RackS 24 is a stand-alone device rather than a conventional PlugIn. It is intended as a mastering suite and the manual suggests that you do all other mixing and FX processing before importing your mix...or track...into the program. If you're, actually, getting ready for the final mastering process, this is good advice. However, I could see T-RackS 24 being useful to add that 'tubular' sound to individual tracks, then exporting the processed track back into the multi-track mix for further processing and mastering elsewhere.

Since I have a mastering business, I was very curious about this program. Could someone have finally come up with an all-in-one mastering suite that would cover my needs as well as all the individual Plug-Ins I already use (depending on the project, of course!)...and do it for a very reasonable price?

To give T-RackS 24 as fair a 'test-drive' as I could, I started out by skimming the manual once, then booting the program and seeing how far I could get without needing to refer back to the instructions. This turned out to be quite easy to do...even easier thanks to the "?" button described above...and I was able to start working within minutes. I decided to take an actual master of an instrumental I wrote for an upcoming album currently under my production, then take the mix-down version I used to create that master and master it through T-RackS 24. The song, itself, is complex: 18 mono tracks of percussion...both real and MIDI...electric guitar, a variety of hardware and software synths, a synth-bass and a wordless vocal that was processed so that it sounds more like an overdriven lead guitar processed through a series of filter banks. Beside covering a sonic range from low lows to some pretty screaming highs, there are also a fair amount of tracks sweeping back-and-forth across the stereo field, at different points, and the song just keeps building in intensity until it, finally, fades. In a word: it’s One Loud Muther and a challenge to keep clean throughout. I mastered the original version to -. 1 dB

When I went to create a master of that same instrumental in T-RackS 24, the first thing I noticed was that I could work very fast...and this without even trying any of the supplied patches. Working this way, however, I did notice...even using the 'Hold' feature on the master meter...that it was slow work trying to get the processed output up to exactly the level I wanted: something that is very important to the final mastering process. Why? If you're a hobbyist and will only be hand-burning the occasional CD for friends and family, this isn't significant...but if you're planning on mass-reproducing the finished CD for commercial distribution, you need to use very precise maximum output levels...usually between -. 3 and 0 dB. Most modern reproduction houses you might send your finished master to can handle 0 dB. However, some houses, worldwide, are still using older...but very serviceable...machines that can only handle a maximum volume of -. 3, -. 2 or -. 1 dB and you should always checks with the house you're planning to use before you begin processing that final master! Obviously, the difference between -. 3 dB and 0 dB is very, very slight and the average human ear won't notice a significant difference. However, if the level is even .1 dB 'hotter' than recommended this can freak-out certain machines and render your master unusable until it's re-mastered at a lower volume. It should go without saying that one should never master above 0 dB. Personally, I have no problem sending my master to a repro house so they can run off the million copies I'm going to need when my next album goes 'platinum' (at least in my dreams!). However, I'm not interested in having a 'factory' do my mastering for me...which is why, before I became a mastering specialist, I used to have my mixes professionally mastered before sending them to the repro house. I want to know exactly what my master sounds like before I approve it and send it on for mass reproduction...and I expect the test CD I get back to sound exactly the same as the master I send! So, being able to set precise output levels is very important to me. Unfortunately, the T-RackS 24 manual is kind of glib about all this and would lead you to believe that the final output level isn't that critical. However, depending on your needs, I would disagree. That said, there are a number of suite pre-sets that will get you very close, very quickly. I applied the "OUTPUT: -. 2 dB" patch to my mix and then checked the resulting levels via the meters I use in my business. The results were very close: -. 26 dB. With a little trial-and-error, you can, eventually, get all the processors in T-RackS 24 to give you the final output level you need. However, if you're into 'instant gratification', you might need to develop more patience in order to achieve your desired results.

In the end, I tried several of the pre-sets to create a number of different masters. Then, I ran up all of these...along with my original master...in the program I use in my work to compare and analyze. I must say that even though my original version was mastered to -. 1 dB, even T-RackS 24 versions that were a good 1.5 dB quieter sounded a bit louder! This is my objective observation. Subjectively, however, I still liked the sound of my original version just a little bit better. To be fair, I had spent several hours mastering my original and had used a chain of high-end Plug-Ins... each of which cost more than the entire T-RackS 24 suite...but when I created the T-RackS 24 versions, I worked much more quickly and didn't pre-process the material with the Plug-Ins I'd used before my final mastering limiter in the original master. So, I used only the raw mix in T-RackS 24.

The sound of the 'T RackS' is very distinctive...in fact, it wouldn't surprise me if people start referring to "...that 'T-RackS' sound..." in the future. It is thick and powerful-sounding, for sure: tubes on testosterone...and I can see why the company uses a Tyrannosaurus Rex in the their logo. The sound is so thick that, if not very carefully applied, it could remove some of the high-end shimmer originally in the mix. Like I wrote previously: lose any 'instant gratification' attitude if you want to achieve maximum results with this software! If you're willing to take the time, I'll bet you could tame this 'beast' and get it to do your bidding. One interesting thing: when I compared all the T-RackS 24waveforms, I expected to see some of those waveforms wearing 'flat-tops': the result of compressing a mix to the point of hard...and extreme...limiting: a bad, bad thing to see in a mix or master! I could hear a certain amount of soft clipping with some of the pre-set versions...yet, the waveforms were all nice and 'pointy' and had all the peaks and valleys one expects from a good mix or master. The only real difference I saw between my original master and the 'T-RackS' versions was that the latter's waveforms all looked thicker than my original...as thick as they sounded. Somehow those clever Italians managed to create a huge...sometimes to the point of clipping...sound without actually degrading the waveform. Impressive!

Final take

Am I ready to sell off all those expensive Plug-Ins I use in my work so I can afford a much-needed vacation and go with T-RackS 24 as my sole mastering suite? No. However, I can certainly see where "...that T-RackS sound..." could be used effectively to process individual tracks during the recording/ mixing stage...and, with a little patience, one could use it as part of the mastering process to add a little of that thick 'tubular' sound to the mix or pre-master...particularly if the material being processed is of a more aggressive (loud!) nature. So, a pro user could certainly benefit from adding T-RackS 24 to his or her software collection. If one is a hobbyist...or just on a very tight budget, I think that this program would deliver a lot of bang-for-the-buck...and, as long as you have the patience to tweak and fine-tune this 'beast', you could expect very satisfying...and warm-sounding results.

After-thoughts: A few days after I wrote this review, I decided to go back and pre-process the test song using my normal chain of mastering Plug-Ins, but not using my normal mastering limiter. Then, I took the resulting waveform and ran it through T-RackS 24, spending a few hours trying a variety of pre-sets and my own tweaks. While my over all impressions of this unit remain the same, I will add that the 'magic' happens in the 'output stage' and this, alone, is probably worth the price of the software. It is here that "...that T-RackS sound..." is realized. So, you could still use your favorite multi-band compressors, EQs, stereo expanders and exciters before dumping your mix into T-RackS 24 and just use the 'output stage' to add that thick, fat, loud and very distinctive "T-RackS sound" to your finished product.

(If any of you would be interested in hearing the differences in the test files I created, please email me at "ian@ultimate-ian-spinach.com" and I'll be happy to add a private page to my web-site where you can DL short clips of each file to make your own comparisons with.)

For more information about this or any other product on our site, please write us at:
sales@audioMIDI.com

Or to be kept informed of all the latest news, reviews, articles, and more, click here to subscribe to the audioMIDI.com newsletter.