NealClark

I would really like to see better video support within Cakewalk by Bandlab. I have been a long time Cakewalk user and video handing has always been a little too basic compared with other DAW's. The lack of ability to offset a video into a video track timeline is a major hurdle for those that score or write to video. Being able to insert a video track at any Bar, measure or marker would be a major step forward.

Using AUX tracks as busses is an option but isnt as intuitive as having the traditional dedicated Bus section. So I'd like to see the ability to duplicate busses too.

I would guess that they are 32 bit plugins and thats why you are having the issues. I have had similar issues with a number of plugins. At one time they all ran perfectly but either something happened with Windows 10, and also on my older Windows 7 install, that caused issues with Bitbridge (the included software that allows 32 bit plugins to run in 64 bit Sonar) and now they stutter and pop all the time. If you can I would seek out some newer 64 bit plugins to use as an alternative to see if you still have issues then.

I use a single interface. I have a Focusrite Scarlet 18i8 and have it setup like this for streaming. I use the front inputs for guitar or any other input I need to be going into CbB. The outputs from CbB are set to go back out to the monitor and headphone outs as normal. The Focusrite units also have an inbuilt "loopback" within it's internal software. This allows me to take anything coming into the Scarlett and route it to the loopback internally on the Audio interface. Within the loopback settings I can also mix in a Live mic, connected into one of the spare front inputs, along with my CbB output. This loopback is then taken as the "live" input to any other software that I need to have that capability. So it can be used with Skype, Google Meets, Zoom, OBS etc. All of the Audio in and out of CbB uses ASIO for low latency so that you can, for example, play live guitar without any timing issues. The inputs from the loopback into the streaming sofware just use the standard windows audio drivers so there isnt any conflict with ASIO. Now I know that not all interfaces have that same level of internal mixing that the Focusrite units have. However a similar way of getting the same functionality can also be had by taking, if you have them, a cable from the SPDIF out back into the SPDIF in. Sending the CbB outputs to the SPDIF, as well as your main outs, then briging them back into the other software, ie Zoom, by setting the inputs to be the SPDIF in. You will of course need the correct SPDIF cable. Hope thats makes sense. Works flawlessly for me and allows me to livestream with CbB as part of my audio. Obviously the ability to do this will be dependant on the capabilities and connections available on your audio interface.

This may help. It will depend on the instrument loaded into Kontakt and how it uses the routing within Kontakt itself.

As far as I am aware CbB still recognises midi devices if they are turned on after starting CbB. I updated to the latest version of CbB today and this function still worked. It sometimes takes a little while for the pop-up to appear but if definitely worked for me today.

I was experimenting with various combinations of VST effects on buses to do some A / B comparisons. I wanted to duplicate the core effects and then for example try different reverbs on the alternative buses. I Cant seem to find a way to duplicate a bus. I am a long time user of Cakewalk, from back in the day of Sonar 8 and on, but I had never noticed this. Am I missing something or is there no way to duplicate a Bus ?

I had a similar thing happening with my recently purchased Focusrite Scarlett 18i8. After days of testing with help from Focusrite support, including replacement unit sent out from them, it turned out to be a USB driver playing up. Deleting the drivers and re-installing from scratched cured it. Sometimes it can be the simplest of things but these audio glitches can be so annoying. I worked out that if the "clicking" is a regular time and does not change with the tempo of the project it may be hardware / driver related. Whilst your issue might not be the same it's worth taking a considered approach to testing things as it can save a lot of time. Change your interface onto a different USB bus if available. Then test again. Try changing samples / buffers settings. Then test again. Check and try different sample rates if your hardware supports them. I always use 48Khz or above. 44Khz can sometimes have strange anomalies like you describe. Work through any possible options that could be in your audio path and test options available. If any changes don't rectify it always revert back and then move onto the next possible option. Always .... and this is important ... don't go changing more than one things at each stage of testing. You could introduce something else into the equation and make tracking down the cause of your issue more complicated.

After exchanging a number of emails and Dump files from the BBS SO Discovery crashes within CbB Spitfire Audio provided me with a few different new builds of the VST3 DLL none of which cured the issues I have been experiencing. They have now stated they have been made aware that other software vendors have also reported issues with VST3 plugins running within CbB and thus they are convinced its an issue with Cakewalk itself. They have suggested I just use the VST2 version of their plugin until the Cakewalk Developers can rectify the issues. Seems I could be waiting a long time as Cakewalk seem convinced that the issue lies with the plugin.

I've had quite a number of exchanges with the Spitfire Technical support and they are working hard to iron out the issues. They said they are aware, as they have had a number of reports, that there are quite a few experiencing problems with the VST3. Hopefully they will manage to get them sorted fairly soon.

@msmcleod I don't use OneDrive or Google Drive on this PC so there shouldnt be any issues there. I haven#t made any specific file exclusions on my AV checker, I normally leave this at it's default settings which I think would scan any executable (exe or dll), but will make some changes to see if that has any impact. Thanks for the suggestion it is much appreciated.

@msmcleod I downloaded the 2020.08 Hotfix Sneak Preview that you suggested may include a fix to cure this. Sadly it didn't. Spitfire Audio are still investigating the issue. It does seem to me that it may be more Cakewalk related now. Originally the plugin loaded without issue when I first got it. Since update to 2020.08 Build 100 and the previous version it has constantly crashed, If I start a new project from a template that I created when I first got the plugin, this template includes many instances of the BBC SO VST3, it all loads and works fine. It seems to be a very random and inconsistent error. When I do as shown in the video that happens 100% of the time. So I am leaning towards the fact that it may be a Cakewalk problem. I have sent CrashDumps to Cakewalk support and they just said "it's a plugin problem" and I should seek help from Spitfire. Which kind of leaves me stuck in the middle. I can only provide the files to support and wait to see what they come up with.

@msmcleod 2020.08 (Build 100, 64 BIt)

I am having similar issues with the BBC SO Discover VST3, Cakewalk suggested the problem is related to the plugin. I contact Spitfire Audio, provided them with CrashDump and log files and they sent me an updated dll plugin. However the issue still persists but is inconsistent as can bee seen in this screen capture.

I have managed to find that this is saved as part of the workspace rather than the project. So I may have overlooked the obvious answer. Ooops

As far as I am aware you can send midi data from a single track to multiple midi channels of the same Midi driven plugin. ie., one midi track can drive many channels of the TTS Plugin. I don't think however that it possible to change the output to a different MIDI driven plugin. If it is however the same plugin that accepts midi data on many channels, such as Onmisphere or Kontakt, it shouldn't be a problem to edit the corresponding midi data to be sent to channel 2 of that same synth. Hope that makes sense.

When I make modifications to the meter display settings for the console view it seems these settings aren't retained the next time I open the project. Is there any way to set the default view of the Console Channel and Bus Meters so that I don't have to change them every time I edit a project ? Any help on this would be appreciated as I can't seem to find an option in Preferences that sets the defaults.

Sounds like a latency issue causing the break up. In most cases this isn't apparent when just playing audio. It's when recording that the issues show up. Are you using low latency ASIO driver mode in cakewalk ?

I understand all about the C++ run time libraries as I worked as a software developer for more years than I care to remember. I will take a look though just to make sure everything is as it should be. The odd thing is that if the libraries weren't correct then these errors would happen all the time. But they don't. As I mentioned previosly it's all a bit random at times.

I have noticed a slightly odd behaviour of the control surface implementation. I am using a Behringer X-Touch as a controller using Mackie Control protocol and it all works exactly as it should. The odd behaviour is that if I put tracks in folders, then minimise the folder, all the faders that were controlling tracks in that folder return to Zero. Also the highlight bar at the side of tracks that are in folders currently being controlled by the Control Surface does not always match with the tracks being controlled along the bottom of the Console view. The tracks view may show I am controlling track 20-27 whilst the console view shows I am controlling tracks 1-8. This is very confusing. Has anyone else noticed these odd things happening?

Its the Legacy that we all suffer after Gibsons mismanagement while they owned the Cakewalk brand. Sound on Sound magazine always covered Sonar in their monthly tips and tricks section, not sure it is there nowadays though. Maybe we as users and consumers should be asking the people we buy these Vst's from that very same question. It would be interesting to know exactly how big the Cakewalk user base is now ... I am sure their are enough of us that our collective buying power should warrant that they make us part of their inclusive club.

Thanks for the Info, much appreciate the help, I will check those out.

I have already explored most of the things you've suggested. If it was in anyway hardware related then I would expect to see similar issues with other DAW Host Software. Ableton, even though I hate it, works as expected and without encountering any of the problems. I also use Davinci Resolve ( by Blackmagic Design) for video editing, colour grading and VFX on the same PC and that is really hardware intensive, so if anything I would expect that to show up any hardware problems. The Fairlight module in Resolve is a very basic DAW for mixing and processing audio for video, it can also host VST FX and Instruments and the same plugins work just fine there, It has me baffled. I guess it's something I will have to live with and work around. Once again thanks for your input and suggestions.

I haven't as yet. As I have SPlat on the same OS install and I know that there are a number of shared components between the versions I don't want to potentially risk breaking that Install. As I said everything was working fine so It could of course be that MS, in their normal way, have changed things and introduced a bug that is now causing issues with my system. Updating to the Windows 10 2004 release seems to have been okay with most other software I use though. That said MS do keep making "improvements" that relate to Audio and Video handing that may be slightly questionable. For now I guess I will just have to wait and see what support recommend, if anything, and make a mental note to always save projects regularly before adding any additional Instruments tracks. Just to give you an idea of how inconsistent these crashes can be ... Yesterday I created a new Template including Kontakt as the first plugin with 16 Instruments loaded, then added 66 instances of the BBC SO VST3, all with different instruments and articulations. Fifteen Spitfire LABS Instruments. Addictive Drums, Three Addictive keys instances ...... plus various busses with reverb, compressors and FX plugins. Audio tracks with instances of Guitar Rig all ready to use. I managed to get that all done, saved, working, tested and today being used. Without one crash. Today I try creating a similar thing and it's crashed numerous times. I originally asked the question just to see if it was my setup .... which it may be, although I have no idea why. Having used Cakewalk products for such a long time I can normally find out where and why things go wrong. I also have years of working with PC's as an IT Technical Consultant. So I pretty much know my way around the technology, OS and related hardware. Just seems way too random in these instances though and has me baffled. I've checked through all the windows logs, ran USB monitors to check it wasn't MIDI over USB related. I have learned over the years how to get the most from Cakewalk and always keep my systems and setup as simple as can be. whilst still have a completely usable and capable setup that meets my requirements. Thanks for your feedback and suggestions though. I'll struggle on with the random crashes and see how it unfolds.

Sorry I missed your other reply on this and replicated what you had already said. Ooops