Noel Borthwick

Thanks for sharing a project to reproduce the issue. The problem has been around for awhile but was not noticed since likely not many people had the specific combination of factors. You have to be running projects with lots of delay and have plug-in load balancing enabled and have envelopes downstream or something that uses timestamp info.

This particular project had 10000 samples of delay. The actual problem was a simple time-stamping issue and unrelated to latency compensation, though latency certainly makes it more evident.

3 hours ago, MIDInco said:

I still have some concerns, but hearing directly from the staff that "we have accomplished more than when we were with Roland or Gibson" alleviated many of my worries.

I will continue to support the development.

Thank you. Don’t take my word for it. Look at what’s been done.

<Philosophical hat>
Having concerns is normal - we all have concerns about different issues. Nobody knows what the future holds from one day to the next. Despite our best efforts something can come along and destroy everything overnight for any business. ahem - COVID?
On the other hand, letting concerns paralyze you from enjoying the present is not healthy/productive. Enjoy what you have today….
</Philosophical hat>
 

MIDInco firstly thank you for voicing your concerns respectfully to the community.

Let me just say this - the Cakewalk team is comprised of dedicated and passionate people who believe in making creative tools for musicians. You may not know it, but most DAW teams are very small. Building DAW's is not a high profit margin industry in case you haven't noticed. 

To help catch you up - we've achieved a lot in the last six and a half years with BandLab... A lot more than we did under Gibson or even Roland. You can achieve a lot with small teams. Not only have we breathed new life into Sonar but we also built a new cross platform DAW - Cakewalk Next. which is very centered on music creation rather than production. For Sonar we've been laser focused on stability and the features we've added are very workflow centric. Our list of bug fixes since we started exceeds 4000 just looking at our ticket counts. I'll let you refer to the change log and make up your own mind as to the value we've brought. Here is the Sonar Change Log and here is the Cakewalk change log

As far as the team goes there are a several senior members, some of which even go all the way back to the 90's. I personally started using Cakewalk in '92 and joined as a developer in 1997 on Cakewalk Pro Audio and I've worked on every single version of Sonar since. 
And my shoe size varies depending on the vendor I buy it from 😉

The video exposes a single stereo audio track to the Media foundation audio decoder which is what we're using to extract MP4 audio. So im afraid there isn't much we can do in this case. Sonar is not a video editing application so if you have more complex video formats you will have to externally extract the audio.
I also tried this in a different DAW sand had the same results as Sonar.

You cannot since it has expired. This forum is for Sonar not Cbb by the way.

Im sorry there are no changes in the "latest version" that would account for what you are seeing. We know the exact set of changes that went in and nothing impacts latency. The issue the OP is reporting is not the same as what you are referring to so if you have a different issue make a fresh thread and provide a repro. 
The OP's issue isn't directly latency compensation related either. I should also add that if you have a problem with Sonar contact support and work with them. Staff don't actually do technical support in this forum - its a peer to peer user forum.

We tried the project you sent in to support and I don't see any timing issues playing it here. Notes a properly silenced when the MIDI gate is active and I only hear quarter notes. I even stacked 10 instances of Fabfilter Pro L2 which has high delay on track one and the output was perfectly synced.

I don't think the problem is what you think it is. The issue you are seeing may be something else since with the recipe you provided we cannot reproduce it.
I'll send you a PM and we can troubleshoot further.

Are you running Sonar? We're not updating Cbb for remote issues like this in any case.

There is no need to add envelopes or activate all synth parameters ahead of time and it's intentionally not done because it consumes memory and processing for no good reason. Instead sonar creates parameters only after you change the value of a parameter in the instrument.

If you really want all parameters go into learn mode in the synth UI and then choose a preset in the synth or reset the patch. This will trigger creation of the parameters and you will get a warning message if there are a large number is parameters.

Many instruments expose thousands of parameters and exposing them all at once will consume unnecessary resources.

Autopitch isn't integrated into Next yet, but it shares a lot of the same features.

Its not so much the DAW as in what the video codec is reporting back when its transcoded to WAV, which is what happens. If you send a link to the MP4 I can take a look and see why its coming in as stereo. I assume that you have checked the import as mono box in the import video dialog?

The sidechaining routing detects feedback and eliminates routing possibilities that would result in feedback. This is the most likely reason it's not shown.

I'd sell you one if I had it

We've always had the ability to upsample at higher than 2x for ages, but its not in the UX.
Read the help - the upsampling settings are in aud.ini

https://legacy.cakewalk.com/Documentation?product=CakewalkSonar&language=3&help=Mixing.25.html

The {Plug-in CLSID}.SampleRate= variable specifies the per plug-in upsampling rate. It defaults to a value of 0 (zero), which means “resample at twice the project sample rate”. The max sample rate is 384000 Hz. This variable is not stored in the Aud.ini file by default, so it must be manually added if you want to change a plug-in’s upsample rate (Tip: copy the CLSID from the corresponding EnableFlags= variable).

Turn off your AV. its not a virus its the VST scanner.

VstScan.zip

You can download and try this Vst scanner. Unzip and copy it to C:\Program Files\Cakewalk\Shared Utilities, and then rescan the plugin.
We'd planned to drop this update but it didn't make it into the CbB codebase.

For clarity, were not making any bug fixes to CbB since the last year and a half. Only a small amount of critical maintenance fixes will go into CbB. 

If you want regular fixes like this one (which was released to Sonar users in Feb) you have to purchase Sonar membership. 

7 hours ago, Tomo SZN said:

It's actually insane that this is still an issue 5 years later and now they want to charge people for Cakewalk again without fixing such a major glitch that consistently happens on a super fundamental essential feature.

You are posting in a thread for an issue that was resolved ages ago. If you have a new issue you need to provide a way for others to reproduce it as provide a simple project file. Most such problems can be very project specific so we typically need a project file to reproduce it. 

Also if this issue is important to you I suggest you download Sonar and try it since there have been many improvements to sidechaining. Even running it as a demo you should be able to test it.

CbB is only receiving maintenance updates since a year and a half now. All active work is on Sonar.

14 hours ago, noynekker said:

Likewise . . . I've never been able to run the Fab Filter Pro Q3 VST3 . . . instantly crashes Cakewalk, and has for many years, over many Cakewalk versions. I reached out for some forum help, and it turns out I'm the only one who had the problem, and I was never able to fix it . . . so I just use the VST2 version of Fab Filter Pro Q3. 

(VST3 version runs just fine in my other DAW)

Hope you get it sorted ! . . . the only advice I ever got was to re-install, but that never changed anything for me . . . hope it does for you.

Have you sent a crash dump?

12 hours ago, Glenn Stanton said:

several plugins have had issues when the directory has a .vst3 extension (which is the Steinberg spec) so when that happens i remove the .vst3 extension from the folder and sometimes that corrects it. lately some VST3 plugins (like the BBC Discovery) does not work in Sonar or Cakewalk, so i remove the .vst3 extension on the DLL (in the subfolder) and replace it with "x". this "rems" out the DLL and thus de-lists it from the plugin scan (which you need to run) and also allows you to restore it without too much trouble should the vendor provide an update.

as far as folders - one is just like another. so, if you have VST2 in the VST3 folder -- the plugin scanner does not care -- however, for keeping your stuff organized, it's recommended you follow the commonly used paths:

C:\Program Files\Cakewalk\VSTPlugins (good for VST2 plugins)
C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST3 (good for VST3 plugins 🙂 )
C:\Program Files\Steinberg\VSTPlugins (some plugins default here)

some others include similar names in the Program Files (x86) for 32-bit plugins
and sometimes the plug will install into the C:\Program Files\Common Files\VST2 folder

 

This directory issue was fixed awhile back in Sonar. Maybe even in CbB I don't remember...

17 hours ago, Steve Patrick said:

Recently I've had a spate of software updates from various customers and several of them now will not work as VST 3s.  If I simply remove the .dll file from Common Files/VST3 the VST 2 versions load and operate fine.  I'm thinking this is a Cake issue.  Am I wrong??  Any solution on the horizon??

Need more information before we can offer a solution. Most obvious is are you running Sonar or Cbb?

What is the specific issue -crash or other problem. If it's a crash send a dump file.

Nice catch @Spectrum424

13 hours ago, jkoseattle said:

Hmm, both interesting answers. To both, as it turned out, I ended up deciding I didn't want two of the instruments in there musically, and as soon as I deleted those clips, it stopped always dropping out. Those two clips were tremolo strings and tremolo cellos.

@Noel Borthwick It was always error code (1). Where do I look those up? The problem is not cumulative, because I was specifically just playing a short section when the dropouts were happening. 

The dropout reason codes are all documented in the help.
https://legacy.cakewalk.com/Documentation?product=CakewalkSonar&language=3&help=AudioPerformance.24.html

code 1:

Audio processing took longer than the buffers allotted time slice.

Increase the Buffer Size value in Edit > Preferences > Audio - Driver Settings.

The recommended action just a general suggestion. It would appear from your symptoms that the synth is taking a huge amount of time to process the string tremolos. If it takes longer than the quantum of time determined by the audio buffer size for N consecutive buffers the engine will trigger a dropout and stop playback.

You could bounce that section to avoid this issue. Have you tried running the same project on a different machine if you have one?
Its also possible that there is something else that leads to the problem, eg a fragmented disk. Perhaps the synth is trying to do disk I/O and its simply too slow to keep up.

If you can send a trimmed down project with just the section in question that drops out I could take a look and see if there is anything else that jumps out.

PS: depending on the number of cores you have enabling plug-in load balancing may also help with this.

I would also contact the plug-in vendor to ask why the processing is so expensive and if it can be optimized.

On 7/4/2024 at 11:27 AM, Milton Sica said:

 

More surprises. I closed the project in SONAR (new) and tried to open it in this version.

Surprise: YES, it opened completely!

That's just sheer coincidence or it's a driver related issue. There is no way opening a project in another version can affect the outcome of opening in a prior version.

On 7/8/2024 at 7:53 PM, John Santana said:

Hi,

I just installed version 2024.07 and am having issues, as we say, with it.  I'm wondering if the issues are caused by the update or if the recent Windows updates have blown things up again.

1) To import an audio file, I used to be able to drag the file onto a track. I can't make that work now. When I drag a file over the tracks pane, I get an icon that shows that I can't drop the file there.  Since I use lots of imported files to produce a program, that's a real inconvenience for me.  I don't know it this is Cakewalk or Windows update related.

2) ASIO no longer works. If I open its panel, there is a red letter x next to the playback part. And I can't set the playback timing or input to ASIO.

3) Until this update, when I created a new project, I was presented with a different (and much better) dialog box to set up the project. I can live with this, but it's further evidence that some things have changed.

 

There are no functional changes other than a few of maintenance updates. You should post a video. The new project dialog has certainly not changed in many years.

Re asio it looks like something has affected your driver. Does it work in other programs? 

Posting a video may be more informative.

1 hour ago, jkoseattle said:

I get it. dropouts of the audio engine have to do with processing at runtime, so increasing buffer size, reducing effects, etc are all remedies to improve it. But how do I know which?

This project has a couple dozen instruments with some effects on some of them. I keep getting dropouts in the same places. Specifically today, it's at a part where only about 5 instruments are even playing, yet this quiet little part drops out EVERY F___ING TIME. I try turning off effects - still drops out. Try pre-loading all instruments that are playing at that time. RAM usage goes way up, but dropouts still happen. 

I'm shooting in the dark here. I don't know WHY a dropout ever happens. It's like CW just says "Sorry, nope", and if I want it fixed, well that's my problem. But I have nothing to go on.

5 instruments playing

FX disabled

Buffer size maxed out

Drops out every time. WHY??? Is there any way to narrow it down and find the culprit or do I just try stuff (and eventually give up and move on)?

What is the dropout error code shown? I added those specifically to aid in diagnosing drop outs.

To rule out something at the point of failure, try starting playback a measure or two before that point. If it plays past that and drops out elsewhere later then the problem is cumulative. The error code is the best way to diagnose further in that case.

On 7/11/2024 at 3:02 PM, Scott Mallard said:

Has anyone run into the problem where some projects take a long time to close? I've pulled up 'Task Manager' during a few of these slow-close events and noticed that the  'Memory' associated with Sonar takes a long time to purge. It's not until this memory has purged that Sonar finally finishes the closing of the project. The more memory that is used for a project, the longer it takes to close. In the meantime, I get this message from Sonar: The application is not responding. It may respond again if you wait. I usually just wait until it finally closes.

Any suggestions on how to improve project closing time and memory purge?

If you have a reproducible case send the project file and also capture a dump file from task manager while it appears hung.
That may show what operation is taking long.