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Figured I'd post this, since there's been a few game posts every now and then. https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/marvels-guardians-of-the-galaxy Free until January 11th.

I get the impatience. The people who make my favorite toy have announced there's a new version that will ship "sometime in the near future," but that was 6 months ago. As far as your personal needs go, I suspect that you could be happy with Cakewalk by BandLab in its current state for a long time. BandLab have announced no plans to turn off the validation server. They have also shown a history of not only leaving the Cakewalk, Inc. registration server and product repository turned on (for 6 years now), they even recently updated the front end program for it. Spending money to provide continued support for a defunct company's products, and they are products that are in direct competition with their own. From the start, it's been in BandLab's best interests for people to migrate/update from SONAR to CbB, yet they enable people to stick with SONAR for as long as they like. They've even kept the Steam validation going for people who bought it that way. I've even recently witnessed a Cakewalk developer patiently helping a SONAR 8.5 user on this forum. The idea that they would suddenly kick the cord out of their own Cakewalk's validation server....it would be out of character for them to do it. Yes, they say "at some point" Cakewalk by BandLab will no longer validate, but IIRC, they've also said that about the old Cakewalk, Inc. products. The ill will it would generate just wouldn't be worth it. At this point, BandLab are the company who saved SONAR. Now, after 6 years of letting everyone use SONAR's direct descendant for free, while they turned the dev staff loose on bug fixing like rabid wolves, they've announced a more extensively revamped DAW that will continue the "Sonar" branding and will be payware. This is all fine, they're heroes who are now going to be claiming a just reward. Why anyone would suspect that they would suddenly kick CbB users to the curb, with all the ill will that would generate, escapes me. The loss-leader concept is now firmly entrenched in the audio software market. MeldaProduction (wouldn't be an Erik post without a mention of MeldaProduction, would it?) was an early pioneer, with their MFreeFX Bundle. That package of freebies was (and still is) of incredibly value in my self-education as a mix engineer, and it so solidly hooked me on their products that I now have a lifetime license for everything they will ever produce. Many companies have followed suit, including iZotope and Kilohearts. There will be users who will wish to stay with CbB for whatever reason(s). Custom theming is one near to my heart that I will miss a great deal. Breaking things for people who took you up on the loss leader? I can't think of any audio software company who has done that. It would generate so much ill will. Why would any company deliberately do that? BandLab are smart cookies. The Cakewalk staff have been around the music software industry for a long time and know the score (no pun intended). Sonar is still a product of the same company, BandLab AFAIK didn't get bought up by a different conglomerate with a different agenda. Meng's vision of rescuing SONAR from oblivion is still driving it. Now, part of that vision is having it bring in direct revenue instead of just the brand recognition it's been supplying. Once Sonar ships, the plan is to no longer allow new users to adopt CbB. I suspect that this is partly to curtail the free version from cannibalizing sales of the new version. Fair enough, although I'd love it if the plan were to keep the legacy CbB around as a loss-leader. But they've given a huge advance warning that if you still want the freebie CbB, act NOW. Nothing sinister, ever, in 6 years. I just don't think it's going to start now. As for the licensing cost, I personally suspect that it will be a pleasant surprise. Sonar, as Jon alluded to, will probably get some of the Cakewalk IP plug-ins added back. But AFAIK, it's not going to ship with the huge bundle of 3rd-party goodies that Platinum did. Maybe I'm wrong, but there's been no indication of that. If that's the case, the starting point is SONAR Professional pricing. With the competition not exactly resting for the past half-dozen years, lots more action in the $100 range with Studio One Artist, Waveform, REAPER, and Mixcraft, I suspect something in that neighborhood. Maybe also some kind of subscription model in addition (some people prefer that for various reasons). Waves have taught us about the perils of trying to sell subscription-only to creative software users, so I wouldn't expect subscription-only.

And the award for the largest amount of absolute crap written by a single plug-in vendor goes to......

Here's the newly released Introduction video to TDR Prism and TDR Special Filters featuring the great Dan Worrall @mibby

I was looking for some time for a distressor emulation. It’s so nice of Kiive Audio to offer the XTMax for free. In the past they offered Xtressor Nuke for free. I tried XTMax and I think this is in fact XT Nuke with more options (Attack, Compression Knee and Side chain Filter). Don’t miss this one guys! Sounds awesome.

https://www.kiiveaudio.com/products/xtmax

Only available in your account - mine was $25 https://redroomaudio.com/my-account/my-coupons/

What I remember most about the song forum was NagBap. Bapu was always chasing people to send along their stems so he could get his work done. IS he still at it? I'm curious to see what the next Sonar roll out will look like. I bought every proprietary plugin they sold back in the old days and I've not been able to find really great replacements for some of them. I have all the old pre Bandlab software archived, including the plugins. I'll be curious to see if the rewrite kills backward compatibility with them. I do miss some of the Cakewalk synths because they were easy to use and had great sound. In a previous post I described the product as doomed and that was a poor choice of words. I think cursed would have been better. It just seemed like whenever things were really coming together, money and management would derail it. Roland, Gibson, Bandlab. I can't think of any other platform that's changed hands as often. On the positive side, these issues pushed me in another direction. I moved away from recording and got into hardware, building guitar amps, working with studios and eventually building tube hi-fi equipment. So it wasn't all bad. I bought a bunch of DAWs. I found most didn't work for me as well as Sonar Platinum but did get comfortable with Reaper. finding it to be very capable and low cost. Here's a couple examples of my new gig.

I love that he blames covid as the cause of his business (apparently) failing. From what I've read on KVR, Reddit, and other forums, this guy will spam people incessantly and just when you think he's finally removed you he'll do it again. He allegedly gets booted from many of the mass email newsletter services because of recipient complaints, including from myself. He's been banned from multiple subreddits for spamming, including /r/vsti because after he was banned, he then posted more spam from an alt account so they've had to do a keyword ban. The moment anyone criticizes or questions him the flame wars begin, as we've witnessed on Reddit and KVR. I've read that many people complain that they've bought in to his so-called "group buys" and he's never delivered on promised products that were under development. I've never purchased anything from him and never will. I just can't support anyone who runs his business like this and I don't understand why anyone else would either. And donating to a monthly Patreon account? Not a chance! update: just checked and it appears that Reddit has suspended his account. I wonder why!

There are Tools that can sample virtual instruments automatically (essentially the equivalent of sending midi notes one at a time and recording the output). I have Chickensys Translator that can do this with its autosampler feature. There are probably cheaper alternatives. On the other hand, the main functions in Chickensys translator can be useful if you start getting into Falcon, as it will allow you to create Falcon libraries out of unencrypted libraries for other instruments (e.g., libraries for older versions of Kontakt or Sampletank, but not libraries for recent versions because those are encrypted). Note also that it will output an unencrypted Falcon library, not UFS files. Note that Translator is one of those programs that you really should demo it first and make sure you understand what it can and what it cannot do. https://www.chickensys.com/products2/translator/

$18.95 https://zero-g.co.uk/products/surface-tension

Nothing lame about it. What problem/s does a Linux DAW solve? Latency? Compatibility? Performance? The short answer is none of the above. What is "Lame ***" is Linux as a DAW platform. 20+ years behind Mac and PC Far fewer developers Miniscule user base (Mac/PC DAW user base in tiny compared to general-purpose users. Linux DAW users are a tiny percentage compared to Mac/PC). Low demand (vs Mac/PC) 101 different OS variants Near zero one-on-one support for less tech-savvy users What does a miniscule user-base, few developers, and low demand result in? You guessed it, no significant profit. The reality of the situation is that (especially in today's economy), companies can't afford thousands of man-hours (development)... for something that's not going to pay for itself. If your life-savings was invested in a DAW software company, would you honestly think it a wise investment to develop a Linux DAW? Lets say you've got 10 thousand man-hours in development cost (at $50/man-hour). That's half a million dollars. I don't know about you, but I'd want that $500,000 to generate a decent return on investment. Mac/PC is going to have a much better ROI... because the user-base is much larger (far more potential customers). Say Company X compiled the ultimate Linux DAW. Legitimate support across the many different variants of Linux would be a nightmare (money and time). Why do you think many laptop developers choose to hide BIOS parameters from end-users? It's not because it's beneficial from a performance standpoint, it's to save them from potential tech-support nightmare. If you want to run a Linux DAW "just because you can"... more power to you. For someone who has everything they want/need in a current Mac/PC DAW, where's the impetus to make a (less than lateral) move? Emotional/philosophical reasons aren't going to motivate folks to take a significant step backward. Remember when Mac/PC DAWs were starting to come about? Oh, this new DAW software is going to be the "ProTools killer". Just because someone created an alternative (even if it's completely equal in features/function), that's not enough of a reason to get many folks to switch. Linux as legitimate DAW platform (to completely rival Mac/PC) faces a nearly vertical slope.

The king of post count is actually @cclarry. Too bad his Deals posts on the old forum never were added to his total. They do here and thus he actually he has more posts that anyone in this forum iteration. I had exactly 85k in posts (as bapu) in the old forum (all unfunny) when it closed. That means I have only posted 9.7k posts here (all childish drivel). As of today, @cclarry has 35.2K posts. He had to have had at least triple that on the old forum. And 99,9% of all his posts have had some value to someone.

i dont agree with any of these

best bet is second hand, i got mine for 125 at FB or special deals for 199+100 voucher like black friday

maybe... I bought Falcon from UVI gambling that my voucher would be more than the $20 something I could have saved by buying it somewhere else. This is how it worked out for me... At UVI I spent $212.86 on Falcon + stuff $ 54.29 on a bunch of Falcon libs (using my $100 voucher) $149.00 late in 2023 getting Augmented Orchestra ================= $ 60 my voucher for 2023 expenditures. Possible I got around 15% kickback for all three combined. or around 30% kickback on purchases #2 + #3 ($203.29) combined. I don't know... Someone else who didn't buy Falcon from UVI will have to contribute their data to figure it out (or someone can contact UVI and see what they say). BUT I'm tired and this is as far as I'm digging. Here's the CW Forum thread on last years sale where we tossed around various ideas on how best to spend our pennies:

Ah, the old Cakewalk newsgroup. Joined that one in 1999. Man, I've been around forever! It's surprising how many of the guys names I remember. I think the whole ProRec staff was on there too - Rip, Jim, Joel, Bruce, Ted, Ethan... EDIT - Pete Leoni, if you're still around, sorry I forgot you. Oh what fun it was to launch Outlook Express in the morning on a dial up connection and to wait for it to load all the posts. And to only have access to internet from 6 pm to 6 am, because it was the only package we could afford... ?

How exactly did you do this? The zip file contains an MSI file - this is an installer. You don’t just copy this file into your VST folder, you run the installer The installer prompts for the various locations. The most important location is “Install VST to”. This needs to be a location as defined in Preferences - File - VST Settings > VST Scan Paths Once the installation is complete, then do a scan. Then the Sitala drum player should be showing up in Cakewalk. Check Cakewalk Plug-in manager if necessary.

Answered https://community.native-instruments.com/discussion/20928/which-ones-are-new-7-0-2-presets#latest

New Tone Partner Bundles and Collections IK releases 16 new TONEX Tone Partner Collections plus savings on new Tone Partner bundles available now on ToneNET to demo and purchase. This brings the total to over 200 collections from top tone creators to play across the entire TONEX ecosystem including on stage with TONEX Pedal. You can view the entire list of Tone Partners and their collections here. https://www.ikmultimedia.com/news/?item_id=15574

How cool that this person went to all that trouble to put all these tests in one place, plus giving very good background information for each one. First test I did was "hearing loss". Said I have mild to moderate loss. Not unexpected for an old rocker, but sheesh, it doesn't exactly put a positive spin on the day. What I don't get is given my loss of sensitivity, why do I complain that most concerts are too loud? I also did the low frequency harmonic distortion test. A few years ago I did away with a separate subwoofer (it was stolen, along with my 7.25" ADAM P11-As) and went with an 8" speaker that had excellent low-end extension (due to its large enclosure) and decided that I did not actually need a sub. But I hadn't tested again since those speakers died and were replaced by smaller, less-expensive 8" speakers. I was happy to see them doing fine down to 36 Hz, more than good enough. The dynamic range / dither demonstration was great. It clearly shows the benefit of noise-shaping. Of course, it's mostly irrelevant with modern standards and nobody really needs to concern themselves with dither algorithms, but it's still interesting. Same with the aliasing test. If your playback system fails this one, you're one cheap-***** mf. The first time I ever heard aliasing, I didn't know what it was. It sounded like birds chirping. That was on a $12 MP3 player I picked up at a drugstore 20 years ago. I haven't really heard noticeable aliasing since, although most of the time it shows up as a vague graininess you can't put your finger on, and is more often caused by poorly-designed synthesizers than anything else. Try testing one of the sweep tests (e.g. the MATT test) by placing a microphone at your listening position and recording it. I've done this many times using Ethan Winer's swept sine file while testing room treatments and speaker placement, and it's helpful for identifying room resonances that are making your room lie to you. Using that method, I was able to identify a problematic resonance at 70 Hz. Converting that to wavelength (L = 1028 / f, or 14.6 ft), I figured out that it had to be floor-to-ceiling and added more absorption to that axis to flatten it. A more sophisticated version is a tool called REW, but just recording the swept sine (or, in the case of the MATT test, a stepped sine) gives you a pretty good picture without need of any additional software beyond your DAW.

Happy New Year all. I spent many years and a small fortune on all things Sonar. During the Bandlab detour my account, username and posts were all vapourized and I moved on. I used to be Ampfixer and now I'm just John. I decided to start the new year with a visit to the Cakewalk forum just to have a look. Well, some things never change. Cakewalk is again changing the product and rules of ownership, Bapu still has the largest post count and many of you from years back are still hanging in, trying to make it all work. The only thing I miss about this doomed product is my interaction with some really great people in the forums. I really miss it. You were always a good group and very supportive. I hope this latest change works out for you. Ampfixer

I wrote this over two years ago but sadly, it seems even more relevant now

Hi all. This songs has two parts. The parts are the same song presented two different ways, each about 3 minutes long. The first part is "Life" which is a straight forward, band-type version. I used Arturia's new, free VST (until January 4, 2024 I think) Efx Refract on the bass and the electric piano. The second part is called "Afterlife" which I posted here a few months ago as a piece called "Life" (ridiculous, I know....sorry....) which is just a syncopated, improvised on the piano roll piano and percussion version. Happy New Year!???? link: https://larryterrano.bandcamp.com/track/life-afterlife DAW: Cakewalk by Bandlab pc: windows 10, i7-4770 CPU @ 3.40 GHz, 8GB ram, acoustic guitars, DI bass, arturia minilab mkII, arturia analog lab 5 lite, SI Drums by CbB effects reference speakers: M-Audio BX3

Run Native Access to update

I bought a hardware-based vocal processor that can track vocals via MIDI. I'll lay out what I'm trying to do: Record a MIDI track into BandLab. Let's say, a two- or three-part harmony. The TC-Helicon processor has MIDI and USB connections. BandLab sees the processor under the Devices tab as a MIDI connection. (See attached screenshot) I've attached screenies of the processor and the audio interface being used. I can sing directly into the mic and the DAW will record my voice. Or, I can sing harmonies via a MIDI track from third-party MIDI playback software. (Notation Composer) What I CAN'T figure out is how to sing while getting Cakewalk to read one of its own MIDI tracks to also produce the harmonies.

Although it's with trepidation I do so, here's wishing everyone a better, happier and, most importantly, a more rational new year. I'm not around here that much anymore but I do miss the camaraderie of the old days. So kick out the jams ifn ya can this year. Also...I posted this in the main forum but I always think I'll get a better response here at the CH...recently after updating a few plugins I noticed that the VST3 versions were not showing up in the scan even though properly installed. The VST2 versions were there and work fine but the VST3 versions are not. Is there some new VST3 version out now thay Cake doesn't recognize or any other possible cause for this? And ... any fix??

Not necessary. I already got it free three times.

@Chris Ward, I suggest you contact @Jim Roseberry and discuss having him build you a new PC.

@DeeringAmps Hi Tom, Yes, all of last year's 12x songs created on the same SSD. The computer is 4 - ish years old (my memory is failing) and I admit to thinking more and more that it is a system issue as you just mention. I've got to get a techie in soonest. Thanks again for your input. To all who may still be reading this thread, I believe that all threads need to come to a conclusion, otherwise they are a bit pointless. The problems we have, have to be solved and revealed to all interested. Hence why I'm not giving up, whatever the cost and WILL come back and let you know of the outcome. In the meantime, my request (if you all have the time) to upload your system details and create a 'test' project with VSTs and audio tracks with plugins until you encounter audible Late Buffer glitches, would be a very telling and therefore helpful process. Thanks Tom and all.

I have actually researched about removing them before because I have zero interest in them. It’s not possible. Isolating/exporting them might be a different thing altogether, but I wouldn't be surprised if it weren’t possible either.

Yeah, have you seen the prices? They jacked up the prices once again. I guess if you want to buy any of their products, they've made it known that Xmas time is the best time of year for the lowest prices. Wait till the end of the year or find something else.

Yep... I remember that!! Unbelievable the people we had on that newsgroup.

Listening on better headphones now - Yes now I hear it too ! My bad.

Really liked this a lot everything sounds great to my old ears. Did you add the bass after that person commented about it I most certainly hear an acoustic bass

Love that harmony at 1:45. Excellent sound scape. And yes that wind works. Great vocals as always.

Hi Larry, this is a very nice, mellow vibe that you've created. It flows like a river! I just picked up Refract, myself, and I'm using it in a new piece. You showed me how it can add depth to a bass line, and I'm impressed! Keep up your good work in the new year!!

Um, wait a minute??? ?

Exactly what the man just said. Always set all your sample rates the same, even in windows. I really like the way this guy covered all the basics about audio.

"To play the virtual steel tongues use your MIDI keyboard from the note C3, C#3, D3, D#3, E3, F3, F#3, G3" Disappointing they sampled an instrument with only 8 pitches (13-15 is not uncommon), and a very weird choice not to map them to their corresponding positions on a keyboard.

Ahhh..... Black Diamond strings. Bought many of them individually. I don't remember ever buying a whole set. I used to get them at the drug store. Didn't know it at the time but the pharmacist was a guitar player. Ended up learning a lot of stuff from his son and nephew. Looking back on it now... it really is amazing how clueless I was!!

https://www.pluginboutique.com/product/81-Bundles/58-Instrument-Bundles/11805-Four-to-the-Floor-Beatmaker-Bundle

4 pack comprising of Ujam's Eden, Idol, Hype & Circuits. If this falls in your stylist wheelhouse for $39 it's a killer deal.

Back in the late 90's I gave my pre-school daughters the pc game SymTunes which also did this : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GchIgaSmFI0 You draw a picture on the screen then four little bugs crawl around the picture playing the pixels they encounter along the way.

Blindness is in the eye of the beholder, just as beauty is in the face of the beautiful (and other parts of their anatomy).

Very nice. You do have the vocals intimate and sounding good. I think I spend a good amount of time doing as you describe, with many tracks that need to be slimmed down and my ears get tired too, and searching thru pad sounds etc. In the end, what you wound up putting together sounds good together, the mix is good and its clean, good work. Its a sweet song that someone you love would enjoy receiving.

One of the funniest people on earth. During the time period when he and Dick were no longer performing together, he was a guest on The Tonight Show from time to time, in the Johnny Carson days. Indelibly etched in my memory is one time he was on there, and Johnny, as he usually did with guests, as they were often on to plug their latest project, asked him what he had been doing lately. Tom replied in his "dense Smothers brother" persona with a complete straight face that he was considering joining the Navy, and of course the audience laughed. But he kept it up, becoming slightly indignant that he wasn't being taken seriously, remaining in character, describing the benefits of joining the Navy. And as he went on it just became funnier and funnier. This was well before Andy Kaufman came along and took that sort of thing to the level that he did. Carson, for his part, played along very well as straight man, pointing out to him that there might be issues like his age, and Tommy broke into his trademark crestfallen face. I'm laughing now just thinking about the whole schtick. Without spelling it out, he painted a picture of this naive person getting hold of a Navy recruiting brochure and falling for the pitch at the age of 40-something. It became apparent to me that the "dense" brother was also the comedic genius behind the act.

Sorry for the late reply... There's no chance unfortunately. In the thread I linked up top, Magic Russ said: "due to issues with the developer, this is not something you should expect to see upgraded to 64 bit any time soon." It's a shame because I use the heck outta VC64. Particularly on vocals, there's a setting called Breathing Vox which is like the Andrew Scheps trick of using 2 filters and an LA-2A compressor to make the track pop out. Except VC64 does it all by itself. I don't think I'll ever quit using it.