The ultimate mix and mastering workstation from the creator of the first desktop mastering software.
IK Multimedia invented T-RackS in 1999, marking the beginning of a new era by unleashing the power of a complete, affordable mastering software tool to everyone.
Since then we have been leading the way, setting an industry standard and crafting some of the world’s best sounding plug-ins for professional applications. From day one, an ever-growing number of professionals and enthusiasts have trusted our expertise and meticulous approach to creating the finest digital processors on the planet. It’s no coincidence that thousands of top-charting records have been made using T-RackS.
T-RackS 5 has evolved into the most powerful mix and master modular system ever, offering maximum processing versatility, an improved audio engine, 4 new processors for a total of 38 high-quality modules on a flexible 16 processor series/parallel chain, a comprehensive broadcast ready professional metering tool section, a new completely redesigned, smart single-window GUI as well as an album assembly section with multi-format exporting function.
T-RackS 5 boasts more versatility and firepower than any of its competitors and gives you everything you need to professionally treat and finalize your audio from raw mixes to a perfect finished product ready for uploading to the leading digital delivery and streaming services or for CD printing.
T-RackS 5 - Walkthrough
Not only have all the plugins been redesigned and adapted to take advantage of the full processing power of the new audio engine and the new sleek, zoomable GUI, but we also created 4 new incredible processors that we know you will love.
In T-RackS 5 now you have up to 38 incredible modules to choose from to build your perfect studio setup.
Master Match
Dyna-Mu
EQual
One
T-RackS 5 Master Match module is a new type of plug-in that automatically matches the sound of your songs using up to 3 different source tracks as reference.
Master Match calculates the spectral balance and perceived loudness of the reference tracks, analyzes them using sophisticated algorithms and then creates an exact match for the source material providing an editable ultra-high quality EQ curve and level adjustment. This can be achieved using the Master Match as a stand-alone processor or at the end of a pre-existing processing chain.
Thanks to this new powerful module, you can create great sounding masters or mixes in seconds, sounding every bit as good as your preferred tracks, without the need for any previous audio engineering experience or specialized skills.
Additionally, the Master Match can provide its magic either by being used as a fully automatic processor, or alternatively it can be used as your personal audio engineer assistant, since you can look at the suggestion it gives, and then you have the freedom to apply those by yourself using the T-RackS 5 tools you prefer. Read more about Master Match.
The new T-RackS 5 Dyna-Mu vari-mu compressor/limiter is based on an iconic American coveted piece of hardware praised for its subtle but instantly recognizable sonic fingerprint. Thanks to its transformers and all-tube modeled heart, it can impart an audible magic which makes a mix bloom, amazingly gluing all the parts together.
The Dyna-Mu is an exceptional all-rounder that will work wonders on full mixes as well as single sources. Use it on drums to make them full or to bring out the natural ambience of the room using parallel compression; try it on vocals to make them cut through the mix or on electric bass to give it a rock-solid presence. Push it hard creatively or just use it to “finesse” a track. Either way, don’t be surprised if you end up using it all the time.Read more about Dyna-Mu.
The new T-RackS 5 EQual digital equalizer is a 10-band, ultra-clear, high-end parametric equalizer with an extremely transparent sound, a full-screen resizable interface for ultra-precise editing and a vast array of filter shapes that replicate the typical curves of classic analog EQ’s from Neve, SSL, API and other legendary machines.
This “hybrid monster” gives you the best of both worlds: digital precision and on-demand analog character. Plus, when it is zoomed full screen it allows for ultra-precise editing and fine adjustment without distractions from other elements on the screen, in a way that simply can’t be experienced with other digital equalizers.
This ultra-high resolution processor is the most transparent equalization tool digital audio technology allows today, offering crystal pure processing for the most musical adjustment to any tracks.Read more about EQual.
The new T-RackS 5 ONE mastering processor has been conceived as an “all-in-one” solution for easy and straightforward audio finalization.
It includes an EQ, compressor, analog harmonic exciter, low-end enhancer and limiter that will let anyone achieve professional quality results in the blink of an eye. Just turn its knobs, experiment and hear the mojo.Read more about One.
With T-RackS 5, you have the freedom to optimize your workflow as you please with 3 working environments that will suit every need.
The standalone suite makes T-RackS 5 a complete, self-contained, one-stop mixing and mastering workstation that allows you to load a set of audio tracks and perform several operations, a typical method of top mastering studios. It's all in there: from an ever-expanding series of great sounding processors, to the most basic, but always necessary, waveform editing functions (like fades and length trimming of the audio file). Add to this a set of astoundingly precise and smooth, easy on the eye industry standard professional meters and you have everything you need to finalize your work from A to Z in one place.
The plug-in suite allows you to tap onto almost all the standalone mode features within the environment of your DAW of choice as the most powerful channel strip or mastering chain available today as a plug-in.
All T-RackS processors (including metering) can also be used as single plug-ins in any compatible DAW for multi-track mixing and stereo mastering duties. From equalizers and compressors, to reverbs, delays, harmonics enhancers and stereo processors, the choice is yours.
T-RackS lets you get the job done faster and better than anything else. The all-new interface is designed so you can achieve everything from a single window, smoother and faster than ever. Plus, it’s fully resizable at will, meaning that you can exploit the full size of your screen when working with it.
Just like in the previous T-RackS versions, the main module view shows the currently selected module, always sitting on top of the main frame so that its controls are quickly accessible. Just click on the module and tweak its parameters.
The new flexible module chain view allows you to manage all the modules in a flexible way, dragging and dropping them into the 16-processor series/parallel signal chain at will directly from the sidebar carousel showing all T-RackS available modules. Simply put, no other platform allows such unprecedented versatility.
The waveform view allows for super-fast editing operations of the waveform such as trimming, fading and looping of a selected area as well as placing snapshots for settings recall. We also made it a lot larger to help you visually perform all these tasks with greater precision.
We made T-RackS 5 more sonically powerful than ever. Now projects are supported with audio up to 192kHz / 32 bit floating point, so you can master for high-definition music platforms and distribution without ever leaving its single interface.
Plus, we added 4 dithering options for you to choose from, meaning you can optimize the dithering noise when reducing the bit-depth of your tracks to match the actual content of the song.
On top of that, T-RackS internal resampling engine has also been improved to deliver nothing less than best-in-class performance including DDM (Digital Delivery Mastering) on the way out from the final limiting stage, offering an additional layer of protection against inter-sample peaks and overshoots that could be generated by MP3, AAC encoding or similar compression and decompression processes.
T-RackS 5 includes a comprehensive suite of metering tools – with a completely overhauled internal engine - that provides you with immediate and complete visual information about the content of your audio material, so you can easily achieve professional results that will meet the strictest broadcast compatibility standards and will always sound great.
The new precision loudness LUFS meter, compliant with all leading professional reference standards, gives you valuable information about the integrated, mid or short term loudness of the material you are working on, so you know right away you are producing a master that has the perfect loudness for music delivery or broadcasting.
Peak, RMS and Dynamic Range meters give you useful information about the “crest factor” and dynamic response of your mixes. This way you can decide whether you want to go for a more compressed sound or a more dynamic one while still retaining the emotional impact of your songs.
The spectrogram, the real-time analyzer, the phase and correlation meters will also help you visually spot frequency imbalances and phase problems you might need to address before printing your masters for both digital and physical distribution.
M/S meters too will help you gather information about the relations between the mono and the stereo content of a track in terms of “overall energy”, so you can choose whether to go for a more widespread or in-your-face kind of sound.
Additionally, T-RackS 5’s new metering section can be launched as a separate floating window, like on a secondary screen, to let you keep an eye on levels while you focus on sound processing.
Read more about the metering section.
In T-RackS 5 you now can sequence and assemble your full-length production directly within the interface and create a cohesive album sequence, with suitable track metadata, like pauses, fades, track ID’s, ISRC codes, CD-Text, etc. Then you can export single high quality master audio files or the whole project in various formats such as WAV, AIF, standard DDP image for professional replication plants, or Wav Cue files.
It’s fast, it’s intuitive, and most importantly, it brings back the fun of sequencing an album that, despite being considered by many as a tedious activity, is indeed a true art form and one of the most emotional aspects of creating a full music experience.
Not only have we packed an incredible amount of features in the all-new T-RackS 5, but we have also teamed up with some of the industry's best engineers to provide you with kickin' presets you can use in your productions and that will help you adopt the same approach as the one that defined the sound of these incredibly gifted studio giants.
While we cannot guarantee you will be nominated for a Grammy® next year, or win one, we can assure you that the results you will achieve will unquestionably be worth one. We will keep adding presets on a regular basis, so be sure you know when they are available. Check back regularly and subscribe to our newsletter to stay updated. Read more about the T-RackS 5 Signature Presets and the engineers who created them. Presets are available for all users who have downloaded and authorized T-RackS 5 Custom Shop, T-RackS 5, T-RackS 5 Deluxe or T-RackS 5 MAX and can be downloaded from the User Area.
Tom Lord-Alge
Nick Davis
T-RackS 5 comes in different packages so you can choose the best option for your needs.
Previous users, owning some or all modules, can go straight to T-RackS 5 and take advantages of all the new features. This version is also ideal for beginners or users getting into mastering for the first time since it includes the 4 new modules along with 5 additional classic T-RackS modules (for a total of 9 processors) to jump-start things right away and let you mix and master taking advantage of the finest analog modeling technology and classic sound that we are known for.
T-RackS 5 includes:
Full Metering
Classic T-RackS Compressor
Classic T-RackS Multi-band Limiter
Classic T-RackS Clipper
Classic T-RackS Equalizer
For more demanding users T-RackS 5 Deluxe offers 22 smartly selected modules that cover you for most mixing and mastering duties with a wide selection must-have vintage and modern EQs, Dynamics processors and more.
In each of this version you are always free to add more modules as time goes by, thanks to the exclusive T-RackS Custom Shop, that allows you to try any of the available processors for 14 days, and buy them a-la-carte using $/€ or Custom Shop credits for greater savings.
If you want the full processing power of the entire suite at once, T-RackS 5 MAX is the full-blown collection of all 38 available T-RackS processors covering everything from vintage compressors and EQ’s to reverbs, stereo processors, saturators, precision digital tools and more.
Click here to discover more about each version.
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*Legal detail
T-RackS® is a registered trademark property of IK Multimedia Production. All other product names and trademarks are the property of their respective owners, which are in no way associated or affiliated with IK Multimedia. Product names are used solely for the purpose of identifying the specific products that were studied during IK Multimedia’s sound model development and for describing certain types of tones produced with IK Multimedia’s digital modeling technology. Use of these names does not imply any cooperation or endorsement. LA-2A and 1176 LN are registered trademarks of Universal Audio, Inc. IK Multimedia's products, specifically, the T-RackS 3 Black 76 Limiting Amplifier and T-RackS 3 White 2A Leveling Amplifier, are manufactured and developed by IK Multimedia based on its own modeling techniques. Universal Audio has neither endorsed nor sponsored IK Multimedia's products in any manner, nor licensed any intellectual property for use in this product. Leslie is a trademark property of Hammond Organ/Leslie, wholly-owned brand subsidiaries of Suzuki Musical Instruments Mfg., Ltd. of Hamamatsu, Japan, used under license. Fairchild® is a registered trademark property of Avid Technology, Inc. Pultec® is a registered trademark property of Pulse Techniques, LLC. Mac and the Mac logo are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. Windows Vista and the Windows logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. QuickTime and the QuickTime logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc., used under license therefrom. The Audio Units logo is a trademark of Apple Computer, Inc. VST is a trademark of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH. ARC System™ is a trademark property of IK Multimedia Production Srl. Audyssey™, MultEQ®, Audyssey MultEQ® are trademarks property of Audyssey Laboratories™ Inc. used under license.