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Cinematique Instruments have a new Xmas freebie. It's a taster of the new instrument Mad Libs. (that will go down well with our US cousins?). The freebie is at the bottom of the page and is just a taster. Needs Kontakt 5 upwards (full) https://cinematique-instruments.com/pages_instr/inst_madlibs.php

$75.95 with code GROUP https://www.jrrshop.com/tracktion-outersect-modeler

More info on synth at https://www.tracktion.com/products/outersect-modeler

Seems this has quite a history of development... https://outersect.net/modeler/ Rob Rayle's second Outersect CD, God Love the Fool, was released April 20, 2010 on Beats and Pieces records, Israel. The CD makes extensive use Kyma and of the Outersect modeler, a set of microsounds for the Capybara that were coded by Rob Rayle to emulate the expressive characteristics and modes of acoustic instruments using a small number of simple parameters that relate directly to the actions of real-world players.

https://www.audiodeluxe.com/hot-deals Until January 31st

This warning appeared to me yesterday. I logged out and then log in. Solved.

No one from Bandlab ever said that the last free version wouldn't require activation.

Solvent is the solution.

+OrganTeq for Pipe Organs IMHO I'm having so much fun with it.

Funny I opened Facebook yesterday and I belong to a half dozen Cakewalk/ Sonar groups. There was at least 6 posts about Activation and “Help we are all going to die” sort of thing. Then 90 % of the answers were wrong and basically it would seem very few people are in the loop. Please people get over it and get back to work recording and enjoy CbB as it is. And which we have just been told by staff AGAIN that there’s no plans to kill it with out plenty of warning. My guess as someone who has been following progress closely, is this is still a LONG way off. Cakewalk by Bandlab is free and part of your user agreement you checked when you installed it was it will require activation from time to time. There’s no actual time limit it was just randomly about 6 months. The difference is for the last few years it happened every time you installed an update. So most of us didn’t notice anything. There’s no update now so people are seeing the activation message possibly for the first time. What’s the big deal. Takes 10 seconds. You just need to be logged in to your account and it automatically will happen. Go to the help menu if it doesn’t and do it from there.

It looks and sounds (from the demo) lovely but I need to not use the synths I've recently purchased a bit longer before I buy any additional synths that I won't have time to use. One of the things I love about guitar is that maintaining your chops, let alone improving them, takes a continual investment of time if for nothing else to maintain the calluses on your fingertips so that you can bend notes during your solos and not scrunch up your face and look like you're going to cry like you see with some players in performance videos. So my keyboards end up being underutilized...

No one from Bandlab ever said that the last free version wouldn't require activation.

The walkthrough is here

their latest release shifts the focus to mixing, and sees the company collaborate with Coil Audio to produce a plug-in version of their popular CA-70S preamp unit. CA-70S is supported on PCs running Windows 10 or higher, and Macs running macOS 10.13 and above. VST3, AU and AAX plug-in versions are available, along with a standalone application. Authorisation is carried out via PACE’s iLok system, but does not require a physical USB dongle. CA-70S is available now, and is currently (6 January 2024) priced at £79.41 including VAT, reduced from its full cost of £119.51. https://mixwave.com/collections/plugins/products/ca-70s

The great thing was all the give aways they've had over the years. I found a plugin, I've never used or needed, but now that I need something, it was one of their freebie plugins "MetaFilter", that I found that I needed because I couldn't find a tempo based gating plugin that I would want to buy. I actually own that filter...lol. It was a freebie, so I never really gave it a chance, until now. I saved money because I don't need to buy a plugin anymore so, lesson learned. Don't ever throw away a plugin just because you've not found a use for it. Someday, you might find you need it, and when you actually find you own something you need, then you are so much more happy It's better to own something and not need it than to need something and not have it.

The entire post wasn't meant to rebut or even reply just to your post. I just took it as a starting point to sum up my thoughts on the subject. Apologies if it seemed otherwise.

I also noticed that Udemy is running a sale again for prices that look about the same as BF- ends Jan 11. They don't do subs , but I bought a couple for the first time at $10-12 last sale thought they were worthwhile. Still working through them at 20+ hours each. Then I also got this one just because it's 83 freaking hours and the bullet points were a hoot (not started it yet).

Their free choices are limited. Easy pass. Hopefully I can say that on everything DAW related. Pass-too much stuff. Free? Pass-too much stuff. It probably wont last long but Waves makes it easy.

There is no need to have a split instrument track - just select the region on the track (or tracks), and "Bounce to Track(s)":

Haha! "Politicians, the Dung-Beatles of humanity."

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.

Run the SDC App to update

Ask Audio/Video $72 One year sub. I think this is as low as it goes. 24AVNewMind72 is the coupon code. Promo ends Jan 12.

I have Groove 3 and MVP subs but for some reason I still buy videos on Udemy.

That's the ones I use

This thread is kinda reminding me of how I kinda feel things are changing. Seems things are way slower around here. Have most people just moved on?, like to other platforms, not just DAWs, but to Discord, Facebook Sonar pages or other places? I do owe a huge dept of gratitude to all the Old-timers here. Even before I joined the Forum (i think 2007) I was sneaking around it getting many answers. I have never been good at knowing answers or giving answers, but when I had an issue I could always get great answers here. As a self-employed musician I always worried about being my own IT guy, but between Sweetwater and this forum I had the best tech department anyone could ask for. I mean I KNOW when and how to use Bapu's Am...or a G7(+9) chord...or how to modulate keys...but I was very sketchy and uninterested in things like IP addresses and such. So I hope the new Sonar is inspiring and this forum stays vibrant. It certainly has served me well in the past.

Thanks, pretty good vids in there. Checked their tutorials for EastWest ProDrummer recently. Nice.

Some of the best utilities come from open source developers. I've used Linux CDs and flash drives to recover files from a Windows system. It falls way short in the world of multimedia and supporting the hardware for those apps. I tried riding that Linux train 4 times and no more for me.

Likewise John! Right now we have the coldest winter in 25 years. I'll try cross country skiing tomorrow. I have moved from music creation to photography which is less time consuming compared to music making. I mostly try to refine my old songs due to better music apps nowadays. Cheers!

Boy, you read a lot more into what I wrote than anyone could imagine. LOL. Well, except for our resident Eeyore!

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/

I know what was @Starship Krupa thinking. How dare he ?

To give credit where it's due, some of the good stuff about Cakewalk hasn't changed either....this very afternoon two of the bakers dug me out of a hole within minutes of me pressing the help button.

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.

The excitement of a new Sonar version "later in the year" has drifted into being a bit tired of waiting. If I will be compelled to switch to a competitor due to price or a subscription model I would like to get the show on the road. I have been playing with two other DAWs and they would serve me fine if staying with Sonar isn't worth it. But I am a private user, not commercial. Me remaining "faithful" isn't going to help any company. But at the same time I don't want to miss a potentially awesome DAW update. And all of this while I stare at my stack of Cakewalk software starting at the DOS 1.04 version. So I sit here tapping my finger on the desk waiting.

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

Only a member with 6 posts would bother to post this. The usual posters in deals never post this.

I can still load old WRK files made over 20 years ago in CbB 2023.09 Build 75

https://www.soundonsound.com/news/spl-launch-vitalizer-mk3-t-mixdream-xp-mk2 https://spl.audio/en/spl-produkt/vitalizer-mk3-t https://spl.audio/en/spl-produkt/mixdream-xp-mk2/ The latest additions to the SPL product range offer upgraded versions of two of their popular analogue outboard designs. The Vitalizer Mk3-T enhancer and MixDream XP Mk2 summing mixer have each been treated to some design enhancements, and now come in the same neat black finish as the rest of the company’s Studio series. The Vitalizer Mk3-T and MixDream XP Mk2 are available now, priced at $1099 and $1499 respectively.

Total Pack for $668.39 and MasterComp for $40.99 https://everyplugin.com/deals/shopby/manufacturer/pspaudioware.html

I wondering in anticipation if the big day is Jan. 1st 2024...

Knock out playing ...love it !

Very nice guitar tones.

Plugin Boutique are offering 70% off Trident A-Range for a limited time, now only £51.25 / $65.54, (usually £172.85 / $221.04). The offers end December 31st. https://www.pluginboutique.com/manufacturers/125-Softube Prices from 12$

Dang, you attracted some heavy hitters to this topic. Mark is a Cakewalk developer and Craig needs no introduction. It does sound like there might be some driver or other messing things up. Your system is a generation or three further along than mine, and I'm not seeing any performance issues. If you look in Mark's sig, he is a Cakewalk developer and his daily driver studio PC is an i7-3770. So the specs of your system are not the issue at all. You have plenty of horsepower for anything. nVidia's products seem to be the choice for DAW work, so likely no problem there. Yes, do as Craig says and disable the nVidia HD audio driver in Device Manager. Steinberg's audio interfaces and drivers are also excellent. The Cakewalk audio engine is the baby of the head developer, and he has given it many tweaks to increase the performance. The difference between what it was 6 years ago and now is stunning. I can't remember the last time the audio engine stopped for me. And buffer underruns seem to be mostly down to what plug-ins I have loaded up. So how to find what's bogging it down? The favorite tool for doing this is LatencyMon. You run it for a period of time (I usually just do a few minutes) and it will tell you what processes are having the biggest impact on latency performance. Then once you've found what process it is, or are, you can go from there. Years ago I was having glitching issues and it turned out to be my network card driver. I had gone to Intel's web site and downloaded the very latest driver, and it turned out that the (older) Dell driver worked much better. No doubt when you were searching, you came across various recommendations about BIOS settings and power plans, those are good to investigate as well. Pete Brown, Microsoft developer and Cakewalk user, has an excellent guide for tuning Windows for DAW use. As for the future, I've tried the Sonar beta, and saw no difference in performance whatsoever. Chances are by the time of release performance will have gotten even better. That's usually the way it goes for betas vs. releases. The biggest difference is that the UI looks slicker and more contemporary.

Here's another great example of a pre-emptive strike.

Supposedly we should be allowed to continue to use this freeware version of Cakewalk, right? Hell, I still have Sonar Producer 8.5.3! I've been debating if using Blue Cat Audio Patchwork to allow it to use VST3, but in the end, the freeware version is much better than the 8.5.3 version! Edit: I have Reaper... Cakewalk's dithering "Pwr-3" is much better than any of Reaper's sound. Cakewalk Sonar just sounds better when using Pwr-3!