msmcleod

Not sure how to take this review to be honest. I found it highly subjective. Although the reviewer did raise some good points on areas for improvement, there were plenty of comments that were just inaccurate as well (e.g. the "numbering" of audio devices, which is down to Focusrite's driver than Cakewalk) as just marking something as useless because he personally wouldn't use it (e.g. surround - he doesn't use it so has nothing to say, but then marks it down at the end??). On the plus side, he did praise the ProChannel in a big way, as well as praising areas that were not found on other DAW's. This wasn't reflected at all in the conclusion though.

All the advice given by others above is good. I was going to post the link to the sound on sound article, but I see scook has already done it! What stands out for me is that I think it's important to try to separate the tracking process with the mixing process. In the old days (well for me, anyhow) it was simpler, as I'd get the tone I'd like, record it, then forget about it until the mixing stage. With DAW's, this has got increasingly blurred, especially as its common in home/project studios to record things like bass DI'd and add FX & EQ afterwards to get your tone. If you've got a good tone with it solo'd, treat that track as your tracked bass and leave it as is. What I tend to do is send this to an aux track (or a bus) which would become my "mixing" bass - so any additional EQ or FX are applied to that track, or any buses this is sent to. Another approach I've used is to use an FX chain right at the top within the ProChannel for getting my "tracked" sound (usually consisting of a 1073 strip with a 1176 compressor). I can then use the rest of the ProChannel for mixing. It can really be a challenge to balance the fight between the kick drum & bass - even more so if you've got any low notes coming from keyboards. My rule would be: If you're going for a more clicky sounding kick, then let the bass guitar have the low frequencies, otherwise let the kick drum have the low frequencies and high pass the bass guitar. Personally, I'll high pass the bass guitar regardless but change frequencies depending on whether the kick or the bass guitar is more prominent in the low frequencies. If you're still having issues, try putting a reference track into a track on your project and swap between the reference track and your own. Pick something that sounds like what you're trying to achieve - both mix wise, and with regard to instrumentation. You can then tweak the EQ, level & compression to try to match the reference track. Keep in mind though, that high passing can actually make the bass sound louder - even though you're removing low frequencies.

+1 to this. Quite often I want to group parts of a song into track folders, especially if it's a particularly long one. This helps to keep the visible track view uncluttered and focused on the parts I'm currently working on. But then I'd also want to group things like guitars, vocals etc into their own folders. Additionally, for synths that have multiple outputs I want to put the MIDI/Audio track together in a folder - at least until instrument tracks support multiple out synths

As an alternative, you could use a send to an Aux track rather than Bus. This thread in the old forum discusses the pros/cons: http://forum.cakewalk.com/Aux-vs-Bus-m3318804.aspx

Both Alexey's version of the MackieControl.dll and the one I did myself are based on the Cakewalk/SONAR's original MackieControl code which is hosted on GitHub. Both of our implementations are also on GitHub. I've incorporated all of Alexey's changes into my version. There's no need to compile them - just download and copy them over the original MackieControl.dll (or preferably rename your existing one to MackieControl.dll.bak and copy one of ours to the same directory). As for updates, previously I had to re-copy my version on every update. I'm not sure this is still the case since the updates were streamlined. Hopefully the Cakewalk guys will get around to incorporating our code into the stock version at some point to save you having to do this. If you want more customisation, try out Alexey's AzController. This is like the generic surface controller on steroids and can cope with just about anything, including motorised faders, albeit with a steep learning curve.

I'm the one who suggested using JBridge. I normally have my ASIO buffer set to 64, but with VG I have to set it to at least 512 without JBridge. Using JBridge, I can happily run it at 64. I'm running more or less the same config as you (same CPU/RAM), so the main difference would seem to be your audio device (I mainly use the VG stuff with a Scarlett 6i6). You could try increasing your ASIO buffer, but to be honest I'd just freeze the track as soon as possible (this is what I do). It's not ideal, but it'll save you swapping between SO and CbB.

The UJAM virtual guitarist range is great for rhythm stuff - I use all four of them. Note that any latency issues can be fixed by checking the "Load with JBridge Wrapper" option in the plugin properties (assuming you've also got JBridge). The NI Session Guitarists (Strummed Acoustic & Electric Sunburst) are also good for rhythm - but they're Kontakt based of course. For lead, and for anything other than canned loops: Amplesound do a fantastic range, and the quality is amazing: https://www.amplesound.net/en/index.asp SoniVox Singles are ok, but great considering the price. All the rest, you're really at the slave of Kontakt, but they're all excellent: Orange Tree Samples Shreddage II El3ctricity Be warned however, there's a HUGE learning curve with the Kontakt instruments. They may cover every articulation, but this comes at the price of complexity. Be prepared to spend a lot of time in the PRV with these. However, I wouldn't write off Rapture or Rapture Pro if you've got it. Quite often I use the raw guitar samples that come with it, and run it through TH3. The results are great.

Happy New Year to everyone!

I don't see why there should be an issue with Sonar users asking questions here, and people certainly shouldn't feel they should have to hide the fact their using Sonar - far from it - there may be issues that are specific to a particular Sonar version that users here could offer help or workarounds for. Now it may be that an issue is down to a Sonar bug that has been fixed in CbB, and that an upgrade is recommended. At this point, I guess it's up to the user in question whether to upgrade or not, but at least they're given the relevant information and the choice to do so. As for the OP's original issue... have you tried deleting AUD.INI? I've had similar crashes when AUD.INI got corrupted.

The only ones available were here: http://www.cakewalk.com/Products/By-Category/ProChannel-Modules , but unless (or until) BandLab start selling the ProChannel modules again, you're out of luck. However, don't dismiss the FX Chain functionality. You can effectively build your own ProChannel modules by creating an FX Chain preset from existing VST's.

I suspect this is down to the type of plastic used on the keys. Once I'd put the stickers on the keyboard I bought, they were near impossible to remove. I've been using my keyboard for nearly a year now, and none are showing any signs of coming off. I started out with a printed keyboard, which was fantastic... until the key mapping changed in SONAR making it confusing. I guess I could have changed the mapping back in SONAR, but I actually think the new key mapping makes more sense and I like to keep software as close to the default as possible. Like you say, they're pricey... but even more so if they become out of date.

For me: Melodyne The option for Mid/Side processing being more common place in plugins The quality of analog modelling in plugins

I think I've got it courtesy of Sonar X1. There was a spreadsheet someone put together on the previous forum that listed all the various plugins that came with each version since Sonar 3: http://forum.cakewalk.com/Cakewalk-Plugins-Sonar-3-to-Platinum-m3600605.aspx As a far as I can see, this isn't on the list... but maybe the name is different.

The nanoKontrol uses the MCU protocol, so uses Cakewalk's MackieControl surface DLL., It doesn't have the bus / track buttons though, so there's no way to switch between them. This is what this enhancement is for. You probably don't need this if you've got a real MCU (I've got one too), however my version also has Azslow3's enhancements to support the ProChannel compressor & EQ.

Meant to add, to install: Go to C:\Program Files\Cakewalk\Shared Surfaces Rename MackieControl.dll to MackieControl.dll.bak Copy the one from the zip into C:\Program Files\Cakewalk\Shared Surfaces If on Windows 10, right click on the new MackieControl.dll and block it if necessary.

I've added a new feature for my version of the MackieControl surface, aimed at users of the Korg nanoKontrol Studio. At present there's no way to use the nanoKontrol to switch between tracks & buses. It's basically stuck controlling tracks. This update has a new "Use Scrub+Bank Down/Up to select Tracks/Buses" option. This allows you to use the scrub button as a shift button with the track up/down buttons to switch between buses and tracks. Note, to make this work it requires you to use the KORG KONTROL Editor to configure the nanoKontrol Studio's "Scene" button as the scrub button. Once this is done, and you've checked "Use Scrub+Bank Down/Up to select Tracks/Buses": Scene + Track Left (i.e. Scrub + Bank Down) = Switch to controlling tracks Scene + Track Right (i.e. Scrub + Bank Up) = Switch to control buses Using the Scene (Scrub) button on it's own continues to switch scrub mode on/off. The new DLL's can be downloaded here: 64 bit (for CbB & 64 bit versions of SONAR): http://msmcleod.co.uk/cakewalk/MackieControl_64bit.zip 32 bit (for 32 bit SONAR) : http://msmcleod.co.uk/cakewalk/MackieControl_32bit.zip You can also see the changes/download it from github: https://github.com/msmcleod/Cakewalk-Control-Surface-SDK @Noel - it would be great if you could consider these changes (plus the earlier ones from myself / @Azslow3) for inclusion in the stock MackieControl surface DLL.

I see this is for X2/X3. The key mappings did change for Platinum, so you'll need to check that it's still valid. In saying that, the legends are pretty sparse, so it may be ok. Another one is this, for a similar price: https://www.editorskeys.com/products/cakewalk-sonar-keyboard-backlit

Signatures are pretty useful here. Quite often the biggest issue with users asking questions, is that they don't give any details of their setup (e.g. audio device & drivers, W7 / W10, version of software, details of computer etc.) Having this info in your signature can help whoever is answering any queries.

It's exactly the same as a mouse wheel, so if the plugin supports a mouse wheel, then you can use it. But to be honest, I've hardly used it for that. I mainly use it for scrolling the ProChannel modules & track view, and also for track view zoom (ALT + wheel) and track view time navigation (CTRL + wheel).

A mouse takes up far too much desk room. I use one of these: https://www.amazon.com/Kensington-Orbit-Trackball-Scroll-K72337US/dp/B002OOWB3O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1546034404&sr=8-1&keywords=KENSINGTON+K72337

Actually thinking about it, you could try this: Right click on clip Select Process Effect->Audio Effects->Pitch Shift->Time/Pitch Stretch 2 It might take a bit of messing around to get the right tuning, but once you have, write down the numbers and apply to all the other tracks. Remember to bounce-to-clips afterwards.

For this kind of editing, I guess it might be easier to export to Audacity, do the change speed, and import back into Cakewalk. It's a pity Audacity can't be added to the tools menu (well, actually it can, but it doesn't work quite as expected). SoundForge works so much better for this kind of thing, as you can fire up SoundForge directly from Cakewalk, do your edit, save and it's automatically updated within Cakewalk.

No, it stores all the takes as separate take lanes. By checking "Mute Previous Takes", means you can't hear the other lanes while you're recording. The only extra step you need to take, is to solo the take you want to keep at the end when you've finished recording and want to play it.

An alternative way (although destructive unlike my previous example), is to stretch the clip using the mouse whilst holding down CTRL + SHIFT, then use the Transpose function. For example, to make a clip half the speed:

I tend to convert the clip into a Groove Clip, then adjust the pitch / tempo of the clip accordingly: Changing the Reference Note of the clip, means that when I insert a pitch marker it will offset the pitch accordingly. For example, if I set the Reference Note to "C", then inserting a pitch marker of "D" will play it one tone higher. Changing the Original Tempo when "Stretch to Tempo" is active, will stretch the clip to match the current tempo. So for example, if my project is at 160bpm and I want the clip to play at twice the speed, I set the Original Tempo to 80bpm.