Music Maker vs Samplitude X3

dokgu wrote on 7/26/2018, 6:41 PM

Hi guys.

Just found out Music Maker 2019 Premium Edition is on sale right now I was thinking of getting it but I do have a few questions. I just want to purchase the right software for my needs.

I'm not a professional musician and only do music as a hobby. What I currently do is use Avid Pro Tools First to record myself playing an electric bass along backing tracks that I find online. I still want to do this but I also want to venture out into creating my own backing tracks.

Given my goal above, what would be the appropriate software for me to purchase? I believe Music Maker 2019 Premium Edition will not let me record myself playing the electric bass but I could do that from within Samplitude X3. I'm sure I could create my own backing tracks from Music Maker but I'm not sure if I could also do that from within Samplitude. Basically I want to purchase a software that allows me to do both so I don't have to purchase separate tools. I'm not sure if there are overlapping features or whether both are completely separate and different tools for different purposes.

Anyways, I hope you guys could clear things up for me so I could make the right purchase for me. Thanks!

Comments

robertNC wrote on 7/26/2018, 9:37 PM

Hello, far as I know, Samplitude Pro can run soundpools similarly to music maker. Samplitude just adds everything else in Magix's line, including their mastering suite, sound forge, Spectralayers, Independence Sampler, etc. Right now Magix continues to offer Samp Pro X3 suite for 199$, just to let you know. You can get better answers than mine at Magix's Samplitude pro forum https://support2.magix.com/boards/samplitude/index.php?/forum/1-samplitude-software-related-topics-english/

ProX3 (semi-permanent) sale link. https://www.magix.com/index.php?id=24877&L=52&phash=EOZ4t67aNo2W6BwF&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=mail&utm_content=spsut&utm_campaign=US_28_sppro

hope that helps you some

browj2 wrote on 7/27/2018, 10:03 AM

Hi,

MusicMaker and Samplitude are vastly different programs. MusicMaker is not really a DAW, whereas Samplitude is, including Samplitude Music Studio (consumer grade - not all features of Pro) and Pro, which has all features.

MusicMaker is now free for the base version. I suggest that you download and try it. You can record to one track at a time. To properly record, you should have an external USB interface. I use an M-Audio M-Track (USB) which has 2 channels (L&R) and it's own ASIO driver which reduces latency to almost nothing. You can record to one track, 1 or 2 channels, then record to a second track while monitoring the first track, and so on. You can add in MIDI compositions using the VST instruments that come with it. You can add in Soundpool loops and record your bass while playing back whatever is on the arranger. See the version comparison chart on Magix.com.

The free version is limited to 8 tracks and no external VSTi's. If you like it, purchase the Premium version as you get the most instruments, and Soundpools, plus all features and presets, etc. If you start with the free version and add on à la carte, you will quickly exceed the cost of the Premium version while having very little. Both versions come with coupons for Soundpools and Instruments, and you can decide how to use them one in the program. All additional content has to be downloaded and installed from the Store/Download Manager after activation of the Plus or Premium version. Once you have VST activation by having either purchased it separately or by purchasing Plus or Premium, you can also use third party VSTi's.

Warning! Instruments and Soundpools that come with or are purchased through the in-app Store do not work with any other Magix Program, like Samplitude Music Studio or Samplitude Pro X3, unless Magix gets around to allowing this in a newer version of Samplitude. This been a major annoyance. The Soundpool loops now use a proprietary format that cannot be read by other programs. Prior to this system, Soundpools were ogg or wav files that could be read by anything. Now they are mxcOGG files. This applies to music purchased through Movie Edit Pro/VPX Store - also mxcOGG, but cannot be used with MusicMaker, another annoyance. Instruments that came with previous versions of MusicMaker or Samplitude Music Studio can be activated in MusicMaker by using their activation code, so you don't need to purchase them again; the reverse is not true.

You can download the trial versions of Samplitude Music Studio and Samplitude to see what they do.

You have to decide what you intend to do. If you will need to do complicated arranging, editing, including tempo changes, then the Samplitude line would be best. MusicMaker Premium has a lot of features and effects that may be more than you will ever need; Samplitude Pro X3 has more, and the Suite has much, much more, including 70GB of Independence Instruments and the Cleaning & Restoration Suite. Look at the comparison chart.

Take a look at the tutorials for both products.

Let us know if you have more questions and what you finally decide to do.

John CB

dokgu wrote on 7/27/2018, 7:00 PM

Thanks browj2! That's very detailed.