Mixcraft 9, developed by Acoustica, is a multi-track recording application with a digital audio workstation (DAW) interface. It supports various advanced audio recording, editing, special effects and burning features. It’s extremely versatile voice recording software and performed well overall in our tests. While the absence of voice-activated features is a major miss, its advanced recording functions like pitch correction, plug-in support, MIDI routing and native sidechaining make it a powerful tool. Nevertheless, Mixcraft is great audio recording software loaded with plenty of useful and essential tools and a sleek, modern interface.
The app comes in two versions, Recording Studio and Pro Studio. The difference is in the price, and that Pro Studio has more advanced MIDI features and access to more plug-ins.
During our testing, we found the software to be easy to use, with a pleasant, modern and colorful interface. Advanced users will enjoy perusing over 7,500 loops, samples and sound effects, as well as the arsenal of instruments, effects and samplers. Unlimited submix nesting makes it easy to make every level of your final audio file perfect. The integrated recording timer can be used to define the duration of a recording session, but it cannot be used for scheduling a future recording session.
New in version 9 are interface tweaks such as detachable panels, including transport, that can be arranged across your screen(s) however you like. It now offers pitch automation on all audio clips, and master tempo envelope that helps create smooth tempo transitions throughout a track. There's new vocoder support too, with new tracks that add the machine-like quality to vocals. The new version is also full of new effects and instruments, with plug-ins from Toneboosters, Cherry Audio, and Acoustica. There are also 45 new synth modules in Pro Studio.
Mixcraft 9 review: Recording quality
If you want to record your voice, or other types of audio, Mixcraft supports a range of audio filters and special effects that you can apply to the file. You can equalize and amplify your audio, add in reverb or a fade, reduce background noise and remove pesky pops and clicks. In addition, you can trim or add a period of silence in your audio file. However, the software lacks the ability to convert a mono audio file into stereo, an ability all of the other programs in our comparison have. These audio filters and special effects, if applied properly to a voice recording, can drastically improve the quality of the final file and provide a host of additional file formats and split options.
Besides its proprietary format, Mixcraft supports MIDI files for opening and saving projects being worked on. In addition, files can be saved to WMA, OGG, MP3, FLAC and WAV formats. Auto conversion to WAV format when burning is supported too. However, the software is not compatible with AAC or M4A formats.
Mixcraft works on all recent versions of Windows, from XP forward. It won’t work on older versions, though, and there currently is not an option for Mac OS X or Linux. If you need audio recording software with more operating system compatibility, or simply want to spend less, check out Audacity.
Mixcraft review: Technical help
Mixcraft comes bundled with a help file, which does a thorough job explaining the features and functionality of the program. There are several links throughout the help files, further aiding in its use. The website offers a downloadable PDF user manual. If you want other informational resources, check out the video tutorials, FAQs section and user forum, which are available on the company’s website. Should you need to contact a customer support representative, you can do so via email. However, there is no support by telephone or live chat.
An all-around voice recording program with plenty of extra features thrown in to handle any situation, Mixcraft is a delight to record and edit with. With its powerful yet easy-to-use interface and variety of support options, Mixcraft is an outstanding option for anyone looking for powerful and flexible voice recording software through a DAW interface.
