mdiemer

3 minutes ago, Promidi said:

Wouldn’t this prevent you from activating Cakewalk by Bandlab - forcing it into demo mode?  (Unless you no longer wish to use Cakewalk by Bandlab)

Yes, I am going back to Sonar 8.5.

Thanks! As always, your help is much appreciated.

Another question: How do I close my Bandlab account? I can't find any info on that on the Support site.

Can someone help me sort this out? What is a Cakewalk account? What is a Bandlab Account? What about the command Center? Then there's the forum. When I log in to the forum, have I logged in to Bandlab? Cakewalk? The command Center? I use the same log-in for all three, but are they all connected? Can I opt out of one or more, but still have access to my Cakewalk products on the Command Center?

Thanks in advance,

Michael

How's it going Jerry, good to hear from you. like Craig A. you're a voice of reason. Yeah, there's been some flaming around here lately. I actually received death-threats because I dared to criticize windows 10.  always one or two of those around. I just block them after they get nasty.

Me, it looks like I'm headed out of here. I've been experimenting with Sonar 8.5, and it actually is more stable on my system. For instance, the Vienna Synchron Player crashes CbB frequently. If I have didn't just save, I lose work. It never happens on Sonar 8.5. Much more stable, for me at least. I've been customizing it, and while it will never be as pretty as CbB, or as easy on the eyes, I feel it's more than compensated by never having to log in, touch base, phone home or whatever you want to call it.  and it will never be cloud-based, integrated into a web-based collaborative app, and will always work on Windows 7.

I've enjoyed your contributions (and music), and wish you the best. Thank God this place still has people like you and Craig (many others too, but I'd be here all day...).

There are other forums, I'm sure I'll find a new home.

I think I used automation once, several years ago, so that's no problem. The way I work is well, most would call it primitive. The newer features of even Sonar Platinum I have never used, like Melodyne. Don't do audio at all, just midi for orchestral projects. Just  a humble hobbyist. The main thing I get out of CbB is the gorgeous GUI, and a modestly faster workflow. I also have noticed that Sonar 8.5 is harder on my eyes, but I may be able to do some customizing to improve things, if I do go back. For example, I changed the background in Event List to a soft color, and also the CC events and notes to different colors. Helps a lot, and I will see if I can make those changes in CbB as well.  Next on the agenda is to see if I can save my vsti (in my CbB projects), so I can for example insert Play, and then load a preset for that project. This seems to be necessary as I had to open my current project in safe mode, then add in the vsti. Now that I have adjusted the Plugin Manager, maybe the next project will open, as it should be able to find the vsti. So if I save them maybe the project will just open in sonar 8.5.

I should have upgraded to Platinum when I had the chance, but sonar 8.5.2.222 is the most recent version I have. I tried home Studio, but the lack of Staff View doomed that.

1 hour ago, abacab said:

Keep the Tardis rolling, Doctor!

Thanks! See you sooner!

100% success. I loaded Kontakt Player 6 and East West Play 6 in Sonar 8.5.2, and they work fine. Only the VST 2 version works, but that's fine. So all the sounds and vsti from a large orchestral project, using Garritan, EWSO Gold Orchestra, Vienna Special Edition Synchron Version, plus Dim Pro and TTS-1, all work. The project sounds they same in either, and it appears to be quite stable.

My work flow is almost exactly the same, as I use CbB exactly how I used Sonar, so going back is nothing new. The GUI isn't as pretty, but I've been customizing it.

Conclusion: If I need to go back to Sonar 8.5.2, for whatever reason, I can do it. The main reason I would do this is if it becomes impossible to use CbB on Windows 7 at some point. Or if CbB becomes a cloud-based app, like Bandlab. I know we are told this won't happen, but Bandlab is not Cakewalk as we  knew it, they can and will do what they want with Cakewalk. I just want to be prepared. now I can go forth into the future, knowing I can go back to the past if need be. Just call me Dr. Who.

19 minutes ago, slartabartfast said:

Resource Interchange File Format (RIFF) is a general file format that is capable of containing a variety of types of data, including MIDI data, although it is more commonly used for other multimedia data. MIDI 1 is a MIDI file specification in which the tracks' information are recorded separately--so, as you note the file contains the information needed to recover the individual tracks. MIDI 0 is a MIDI file that contains all of the tracks' information merged, but including channel information that allows some reconstruction of the original by channel to track mapping. The limit to reconstruction from MIDI 0 occurs when multiple tracks are assigned to the same channel, as the information to separate such tracks is not encoded.

Standard MIDI software and devices usually expect a MIDI specified file structure and not the same information in a RIFF wrapper, so unless you are planning to do something unusual, there is no benefit to RIFF. They should both have the same MIDI information, but extracting it from the RIFF format may be problematic.

Thanks, that's very helpful.

What is the difference between these two types of midi files? I always save as midi1. That gives me all my midi tracks on separate tracks, with all the CC events, velocities etc. Would the midi 1 riff be better in some way?

So far, I have things at 90%. The only thing I may lose is Project Sam's Free Orchestra, which needs Kontakt Player 6 . I haven't yet tried to load KP6 yet, maybe it will work, maybe not. but no great loss as I only found one or two usable sounds from that. And it is more than offset by being able to use TTS-1 again. A couple other things won't load, but I think it's just a matter of getting sonar to recognize them.

In short, I now know I can get my projects into Sonar 8.5.2something. so if the day comes that I can no longer or don't want to use CbB anymore, I know I can use Sonar. And not have to downgrade to Windows 10.

i was able to load a project in safe mode. I'll have to add in all the vsti's. Maybe I can save them and just open them up in the Sonar project. At least some of them may let me do that.

OK, so it looks like I don't use them. I'll try loading a project in Safe Mode and see what happens.

Yeah scook, that's what I was just looking at. do aux buses count as Aux tracks?

Thanks scook. Duh, what are patch points and aux tracks? not sure I have any, or am not aware I do, since I don't even know what they are...

Edit: Just did a little research. I don't think I use either of them. I do very basic routing. I route to a reverb bus. Other than that, I just route the instruments to the Vsti they play from, and route the Vsti's to the mix bus. That's a s complicated as my routing gets.

Say I wanted to go back to using Sonar 8.5.   I would like to know if this possible, in case I can't use CbB anymore, or don't want to. I know I can import the midi, copy all the settings (complicated since I do full orchestra stuff), etc. It would be a lot easier if it would just open. But when I try to open one of my projects which I did in CbB, it doesn't work. Any way to do this?

5 hours ago, MarianoGF said:

Haha, not at all. I'm one of them. But I'm a bit tired to read people who say they don't update Windows because "every new Windows update destroys the PC", or people who uses CbB in an offline PC, for "safety reasons". The crazyest thing I've read is the post in this link. The guy argues will stop using CbB because he suspects "BandLab is spying his músic composition through its frequent activation".

Everyone has a right to express their opinion. That's a what a forum is. If you don't agree with it, fine. Don't read their posts. To say you're getting tired of reading this or that opinion kind of smacks of elitism. Just because you disagree with how they see the world, that doesn't make you right and them wrong. Or vice versa. You can also block people whose posts,  writing style, age, or whatever,  you don't like.  I do.  But honestly, nobody cares if you're getting tired of reading opinions you disagree with.

19 hours ago, mettelus said:

Armageddon threads with the threat to abandon CW typically get the most reviews and posts with or without an OP. Social media at its finest!

I think what people are concerned about is not where Cakewalk is now, but that possibly the direction they might go in is toward a cloud-based app. so you would need to be online to use it. I see no evidence that things are moving in that direction. but I understand the concern, as so many other things are going in that direction.

Another great one is Air Expand. I got it for 10.00 not too long ago. If you wait you will probably be able to get it for that price also.

I wish I could use TTS-1. I used it regularly with Sonar, but with CbB it just crashes my system every time. I also have NI Bandstand, an really great midi set, but NI no longer supports it so that 100.00 was wasted except for a few years before they abandoned it.

It's true there are many midi sets out there, but there aren't that many really quality ones, like TTS-1, Bandstand or the Roland VSC.

40 minutes ago, MisterX said:

Lucky you! At least you don't need to sign in to your Whirlpool account just to get the door open.

A really smart Fridge would refuse to open once you hit 20 lbs. overweight.

1 hour ago, InstrEd said:

Wow!   I'm impressed     With two teenager daughters  I'm glad each of us in the family has one. 

 We didn't have any kids, just cats, and while talkative, they did not require cell phones.  They didn't need them as they could read our minds anyway.

49 minutes ago, John Nelson said:

My refrigerator is connected to the internet.  Just sayin'.....

It's the age we are living in.

Mine isn't. nor my TV. And I don't own and have never owned a cell phone. A Luddite? Absolutely.  Regardless of the age I live in, I still have choices. I also have the right to voice my opinion, despite being ridiculed for it. It's the age we're lining in.

4 hours ago, Noel Borthwick said:

No when we refer to logging in we mean using the signin prompt within Cakewalk (where you enter your BandLab user id and password).  Different apps have their own sign in so the data isn’t shared. For example signing in from BandLab assistant is different from signing in via the web vs signing in within Cakewalk. Though the credentials are the same there is no sharing between the apps today. 

Okay, thanks. So I have to use Bandlab Assistant?

39 minutes ago, Canopus said:

Is this the proper time and place to bring cow abduction to the agenda?

They're abducting them now? I thought it was just mutilation. Probably related to those grainy Navy videos with the Tic-Tac crafts that make impossible maneuvers that would kill a human being. But who knows? Maybe not a cow.

1 hour ago, MisterX said:

Guys from European Union of the Deaf?
 

Ouch, that hurt!

It's always possible that we may have to change our software programs at any time. Fortunately, there are many options should this ever happen (again) with Cakewalk. All you can really hope for is that it will be there as long as you need it. Someday it won't be;  hopefully that will be far enough in the future that it won't affect any of us (in other words we'll all be dead). The Bakers, bless them, do an unbelievable job with technology I cannot even fathom, and I trust what they tell me. They are doing what they need to do to continue to make this great product available. And free of charge at that. We should never lose sight of that. Even a confirmed Luddite like me (just ask Steev) ain't so crazy that I think there's some weird conspiracy on the part of Bandlab and Cakewalk to - what? Steal my music? Who would want to do that?

One quick question: when I log into the forum, does that count as logging into Bandlab? I'm still on the older method of activation as I am using an older version of Cakewalk.