Jonathan Sasor

Can you provide a screenshot about the problem you're having?

It's likely that you didn't install EZ Drummer into the default location that Cakewalk scans for VST plugins (C:program files\cakewalk\vstplugins). You'll need to find the path where the .dll file for EZ Drummer did install to, then add that path to the VST Settings tab of the Preferences in Cakewalk. Check for places like C:\program files\steinberg\vst plugins or C:\program files\vstplugins or C:\program files\common files\vst2. Just be sure not to add something like "C:\" to the scan path because it'll hit a lot of things that .dll files, but not plugins and cause your scan to be slow and have problems.

Are you on the most recent update? The behavior for this has changed in 2020.04.

Bundle files at one time were a very handy way to transfer stuff particularly before the advent of per-project audio folders. Personally, I send other CbB users a project folder as it's a direct 1:1 of your original project and packing the audio into a bundle doesn't really give you anything extra. Plus if you're collaborating with somebody, if you put a copy in a dropbox (or similar) folder and do a shared folder, it'll update your local copy as its changed. Per the original problem, if you want to upload a copy of the bundle file we can take a look.

I mean, the idea behind having it add the TTS-1 when no MIDI ports are present was geared more towards people who aren't super familiar with MIDI and don't understand why they can't hear anything. Back in the day when I was taking Tech Support phone calls, I answered that question... more than once. Having virtual MIDI ports installed is a little more of an outlier for the original use case as obviously you know how MIDI works. ? But I hear your point on having that as a global option.

It seems like there might be a little confusion over the fundamental way that MIDI works in the context of CbB (or really any DAW). If you're dragging in a .mid file there's some noteworthy differences vs opening it as a file. Importing/drag + drop to an existing open project will start with a focused track and keep the existing project tempo. Opening a MIDI file as a project then retains the file's tempo settings. If you do not have a hardware MIDI port for output, CbB adds an instance of the TTS-1 so that you can hear anything (because raw MIDI data going anywhere without an audio output does not have a sound). Beyond this there's Instrument Tracks vs MIDI tracks, with the key difference being that all an Instrument track is being a combined single instance of a MIDI input that is internally routed to a synth, then internally routed back to the track which subsequently has the audio output. Separate MIDI and Audio Output tracks can be combined to create an Instrument Track. It's a convenience/simplicity thing when you don't need to really think about all that internal routing. There's no real advantage to using one or the other. Back to the context of importing MIDI, when you get MIDI imported to a project, you can either output that to a virtual instrument, or drag and drop the MIDI data to a Instrument Track. Functionally it doesn't make a difference. In either case you've got a MIDI track component feeding the synth. Slightly more complicated in the context of multitimbral synths like the TTS-1 or Kontakt where you can have multiple MIDI tracks feeding a single synth instance that can have one or more audio outputs in a project. The core concept remains the same though, MIDI is sent to the synth instance which then gets outputted as audio. TLDR version: if I wanted to import a MIDI file and end up with just the bass and drums on Instrument Tracks, I'd import the MIDI file, add the bass and drum synths as two separate instrument tracks, then drag and drop the MIDI I wanted onto those two tracks and delete the tracks I don't need. Further note: the import creates new tracks per channel in the MIDI file because it'd be very difficult to work with all the MIDI separately on a single track routing to different channels on a per note basis.

I can't say I've ever run into a situation like this, but if you've got a project stuck in that state, send us a copy and we can take a look into what's going on.

Possible there could be a codec issue on your system, you could try installing the k-lite pack and see if that helps. Otherwise I'd suggest sending us a dump file for the hang.

The 700C does not require the R to work as a surface, though you do lose any of the inputs/monitoring present on the console without the rack unit. The driver is not officially supported on Windows 10, but it's a fairly simple process to modify it to run on Win 10 as has been detailed elsewhere. It will definitely work in Cakewalk by BandLab (I run a full VS-700 system every day), you just need to make sure you have the control surface plugin installed which can be downloaded if you don't have it already.

As Dave Said, by default Cakewalk shows the driver pairs however the driver lists them in Windows, so in this case, as opposed to see 1/2, you're seeing "Left" and "right" for input "1". You can change the Preferences to show a "Friendly Name" as 1/2 if that helps, but functionally it's the same.

Please try and capture a dump file for the crash and we can take a better look into what's going on. Details can be found here:

MIDI tracks can only have one output. You'd want to copy and paste the data onto another track for them to play the same parts.

I'm just catching up to this thread now. If you've seen the 2020.04 Early Access threads you could tell things have been busy in the Bakery of late getting ready for the formal drop. @Mark Withers what you need should be right here: https://www.cakewalk.com/Support/Knowledge-Base/2007013201/V-Studio-700-Control-Surface-Plug-in-version-1-2-update# If you're running a VS-700 you should likely have a single sign on account to grab that link, but otherwise let me know and I can get you a link otherwise.

As you can see, it's been a fairly large bun in the oven! ?

We primarily test with Windows 10 (which is what the the large majority of users are on), but we still 100% support Windows 8.1 We stopped officially supporting 7 because Microsoft stopped supporting Windows 7. It drains resources when you have to work around functions that are not available in older versions of Windows. As is, we still do not prevent you from installing on Win 7. We just flag that to let users know that we're not going out of our way to fix any bugs that are specific to Windows 7. I mean, you could install CbB on Vista with the same message if you really wanted to, we just give you the heads up.

It's very much ongoing! We're just working on something that requires a little extra time in the oven right now.

Depending on which SONAR install you're talking about, generally speaking, yes, running the uninstaller(s) for SONAR and the relevant plugin or sub-installers from Command Center will remove all the bundled content. If you just uninstall SONAR Platinum though, the content isn't tied directly to that uninstaller because much of that content has their own installers/uninstallers that you'd need to run. Yes you can continue to reinstall SONAR and/or it's previous content at any point via Command Center prior to installing Cakewalk by BandLab. The content is the primary reason to keep SONAR installed at this point. The main reason to install 32-bit plugins on a 64-bit system now would be more for previous project compatibility. Cakewalk by BandLab is a 64-bit application that can run most plugins through BitBridge. Some older plugins don't play well with BitBridge, and a 32-bit install of SONAR might work better in those cases. Generally though it's best to stick with everything in 64-bit. If you have both VST2 and VST3 versions of the same plugin, the only real reason to install the VST2 version would be again for previous project compatibility (although CbB can replace VST2 plugins with their VST3 equivalents when possible). The actual location of the VST2 is not that important so long as you pay attention to where that is with your plugin installers and make sure it's in the Preferences in Cakewalk. VST3 plugins have a universal global location, C:\Program Files\Common files\VST3.

Just a quick note on the subject. Since Microsoft is no longer supporting Windows 7, it doesn't make sense for us to devote resources into maintaining things specifically for that version. That said, other than the installer prompting that 7 is not an officially supported system, nothing is preventing you from installing the current updates there. It's just a flag that warns you that it's not officially supported. This update should work just as well as the 2019.12 update on Win 7. At some point, we'll start leveraging more modern functions in Windows that we haven't been able to while keeping full Win 7 support. We're not in a rush in that regard, but as we continue to develop CbB, it's always in everyone's best interests to take advantage of any optimizations so the app can do more faster.

I think there was a bit of confusion there between the SONAR X series (X1, X2, X3) and the much older SONAR XL. SONAR X2 would be about the right time frame for when the VS20 was released, otherwise the separate installer would do the job. @chuckebaby I think you actually do need to be logged in on the site for the download links, most of us just stay logged in and don't think about it anymore. ? If anyone without a Cakewalk account needs a legacy installer file off the site, send me a PM and I can provide a link.

32 is fine. This basically refers to what bit depth it renders audio to within the project, as in when you bounce to tracks/clips. Considering it's standard to record at 24-bit from the hardware, this then gives you slightly better when processing audio internally.

If you're saving a a copy of the project in the same project folder, uncheck the "copy audio with project" option and it disables those path boxes altogether.

I'll take a look at the folder boxes [EDIT: I've logged a case in the system for it], but to accomplish what you're trying to do there, there's a couple things. First off, when saving a template file, you should do put in the stock templates folder rather than opening as a saved file. When saving something as a template, there's a "go to folder" drop box that you can set to templates, and it'll take you straight there. When you save your own templates there, you can go to File | New and specify locations for folders when you create the project. Second if you disable the check box for "copy audio with project" it'll turn those boxes off at the bottom and only save the CWP, so if your project previously was using a global audio folder, it would retain that. I wouldn't really recommend using a single global audio folder though. The Save As page is designed to be able to keep your projects organized in folders that contain the .cwp and audio in the same place.

It's actually very simple. You only change a couple lines in one config file for the driver's installer, just as it shows in the thread that Mark pasted above, quite a different thing from rewriting the driver. You can actually copy/paste from that thread into the specified file, and it'll work. The worst case scenario if you goofed on the config file would be it doesn't install.

I set up that very same VS-700 in the office in Singapore when I was out there in 2018. Trying to get the drivers from Roland is not quite as cut and dry of a thing as one would like, plus you're dealing with only so many units for what's a 10 year old piece of gear at this point. So while they still run, I wouldn't hold my breath for there being any updates.

The short answer is it generally works fine. Unlike the VS-100, Roland never got around to making a Windows 10 installer for the VS-700 driver. The v2.2 driver itself will work on Windows 10, it just requires you to manually edit a configuration file in the installer to allow installation on Win 10 (which then requires booting into windows with driver signatures disabled for the install). There's a whole big thread on the old forum with the details on how to do it. In practice, it's a pretty simple thing to do. I personally run a VS-700 every day. All the major functions work just fine in Cakewalk by BandLab. I'm not sure that I'd want to throw large sums of money to get one at this point, but if they're offering a deal for it, it's a pretty good piece of hardware. Bear in mind its hard to say how long the Windows will keep the status quo with how the drivers work, but at least for the past few years it's been fine in my personal experience.