Starship Krupa

I just open Services and disable the ones that don't do anything constructive. If I'm not sure, I set their startup to manual. Native Instruments also installs a whole program whose function is to configure their hardware. I uninstall that and it takes the NIHardware service out. Why don't they just include it among the other programs, instruments and plug-ins in the Native Access app and let people install it if they need it? So then if someone buys a piece of their hardware, they have to install Native Access to get the configuration program, and at that point, they get to install all of the great freebies and see the offers. It's backwards.

When seeking help for issues like this, you'll get faster and better answers if you post your actual PC specs. For an example, look at my sig. The most important ones are what audio interface you're using and what video card. I'm sure you have plenty of RAM and a fast CPU, but it doesn't hurt to post those as well.

Use WASAPI Shared and you should get better results. My favorite remote desktop app for long distances is Teamviewer, inside the house, I just use the built-in Windows Remote Desktop.

If I encountered such a plug-in, I would probably decide that it wasn't my interface driver that needed to be replaced....🤨 But then, I'm not much for "no other XXXX does what this one can do" when it comes to plug-ins. I have hundreds of the damn things.

My complaint about Native Access is that when it first installs, and whenever it updates, it installs and enables 3 different services that are only used to connect and configure Native Instruments hardware. So every time there's an update to Native Access, I have to open Windows' Services app, shut them all down and set them to disabled. Softube have also started installing and enabling their own "Softube Installer Helper," which I go in and set to manual and only start up when I'm installing Softube updates. How egotistical do you have to be to assume that it's okay to install a service that's to support products the user doesn't own and/or are only needed during product updates? I also leave Waves Local Server set to manual. That thing is a joke, all it does is enable the fancier preset browser that was kluged on a few years ago.

As you know, I don't mind me a bit of the j-j. Thanks, that's kind of what I was thinking: it appeared that they were taking part of their product line and making it subscription-only. If that's not the case, then no foul. I'm happy to hear that all that fear was premature (at least I think it was?) Shoot, dropping $180 and getting a full license for Studio One Pro along with an entire year to play with the add-ons is a pretty damn good deal. Whether you continue the Studio One+ sub at the end of the year or pick and choose which of the extras you want is up to you (as long as perpetuals are still going to be available for the other products). Marketing-wise, it's a smart way to let wary people try out the subscription: maybe they'll think all of the extra stuff is worth it. And if they don't, they aren't risking their license. For me, I have too many plug-ins already, including a couple of huge bundles.

ThreadSchedulingModel is another Cakewalk variable worth looking into. Depending on your system, 2 is the more conservative model while 3 is the higher performance model. I usually keep it on 2, although I should probably mess with it some more now that I have a 10 core CPU. From the day I started using Cakewalk, I've been wishing for more explanation about the various settings. Most of the ones in the INI file only give descriptions like "increasing this setting may help performance." Okay, that's great, but what are the downsides of increasing (or decreasing) the various settings. The INI file seems to have been around a very long time, My guess is that some of the settings that grant extra buffers use up more memory, which is no longer as much of a tradeoff as it was when 4G was all Windows could even address. Yet I suspect that some of the default settings may be from those days. Most people doing DAW work have at the very least 8G of RAM installed, the majority probable even more than that. With 32G on my system, most of which never gets touched, I could probably sacrifice a Meg or two for the sake of a smoother DAW. In the meantime, I've found that Windows can be tweaked in several ways to make DAW's work more smoothly. Pete Brown is a Microsoft engineer and Cakewalk user. He maintains a guide to tuning Windows systems for DAW use: https://aka.ms/Win10AudioTweakGuide In your Windows Defender settings, be sure to exclude from realtime scanning any folders having to do with Cakewalk, plug-ins, and sample libraries. One favorite is using MSI Tool to set as many IRQ's as possible to use Message Signaled Interrupts. In the process of using it, also check to see if any of your PCIe devices are sharing an IRQ. I found out that my GPU and Firewire card were sharing one(!), and moving the FW card to the next slot down helped with glitches and pops at lower latency settings. Even though IRQ issues are supposed to be a thing of the past, it's still best they not be shared if possible. On most systems, you'll want to pay attention to the USB controller, but on mine, since I use Firewire, that's the most important. Another one of my favorites is using PowerSettingsExplorer to adjust Processor Performance Time Check Interval. I think I'm currently using 1500mS whereas the stock setting is 15mS. Many go as high as 5000mS, but I figure that cranking it up to 100X the stock interval is enough. The last time I tuned my system I sorted out both of those things and saw a noticeable performance improvement in Cakewalk

IME, ASIOALL does no better than the officially Microsoft and Cakewalk supported WASAPI Exclusive with the Realtek hardware CODEC. YMMV.

A PC power strip!

I think the best deal in DAW software for Linux right now is Studio One Pro on the Hybrid+ plan. $179 buys you a perpetual license and a year's subscription to all of PreSonus' Studio One+ content and services. Just Pro alone gives you a lot of FX and instruments, and the Studio One+ stuff gives you many more. Of course, the license grants you the privilege of using the software in Windows or MacOS if the Linux build turns out not to work for you. I have no personal experience, so if you're interested, check their forums.

Studio One Pro 6.6 can now be had for $179.99 and comes with access to all the Studio One+ extra software, soundware and perks for a year.

I just ran through the presets and while a lot of them are cliched trance sounds, there are some nice basses, pads and some of the arps. When it comes to leads, most of them were not to my taste. But I'm a sucker for a nice shimmer pad and there are enough of that kind of thing for it to be a keeper for me.

Just need a KVR account. https://www.kvraudio.com/giveaways/get-native-instruments-utopia-free-and-win-a-copy-of-komplete-14-ultimate-ce-65 Works in Kontakt Player.

I feel your pain. But you could do like my Mac daddy buddy is doing and p1mp out a retired Dell office tower as a Windows gaming box for about $250 with GPU. The most important component is the video card, and even my GTX 1070 (about $60 on eBay these days) can handle anything I throw at it at ultra resolution without breaking a sweat. I don't play the latest AAA action games (which neither of these is). Red Dead Redemption 2 is about the most challenging, and it runs just fine. Minimum hardware ante is 16G RAM and a 256G SSD. As far as video cards go, the price of used ones is finally dropping, and even my earlier GT 1030 did okay with everything but RDR2. I played through Outer Wilds, Obduction, Portal, and Portal 2 on my old Dell 17-3770 system with a GTX 550Ti.

Well, that is what "silver lining" means, innit?🙂

Could you elaborate on that? My understanding only goes about as far as Craig's. I'm just a lowly Studio One Artist license holder, but I'm interested in what's bothering the faithful. Is it that they see it as a slippery slope? A disturbing trend? Locking products behind a sub wall is dewsh enough for me....

The BandLab apps and Cakewalk by BandLab are two distinctly different animals. BandLab's virtual instruments and FX are in their own proprietary format. I believe that the forthcoming Cakewalk Next will support BandLab plug-ins, but whether they will be ported to VST3 for use in Sonar remains to be seen. In the meantime, there's a huge thread in this forum about freeware instruments. Or just get Vital, IKM SampleTank 4 CS, Arturia Analog Lab Play, Soundpaint and Native Instruments Komplete Start and you'll have enough free virtual instruments to keep you busy for weeks or months. If you don't want to take the trouble to download them, then just do without.

Perhaps, but at least in the audio software market, there's a lot of pushback, and still, the only DAW that is subscription-only is <irony>market leader and overall powerhouse Adobe Audition. /<irony> Even AVID offer perp licenses for Pro Tools. The subs are cheaper and offer better perks, which is as it should be if you're pushing subs. Make the sub a more appealing option. I think that the pushing of subs will go through some changes and shakeouts over time. Software companies will realize that it works for some types of products and not others, they'll realize that some people just want perp licenses period. If we lose alternatives to subs, people will vote with their feet and switch to other products. The silver lining is that when both are offered, the subs do provide a steady revenue stream that allows the devs more freedom to bring focus to bug fixes and smaller quality of life features and take their time on polishing the big features. Witness CbB, which has in a way been a sub model, with BandLab paying our sub fees. I actually think the "hybrid" model is a good idea, it quells the fear of losing the use of it. After you've paid in, you can kick back and not lose your access. They just botched the implementation by walling off these extras. Maybe they'll back down. How long did it take for Waves to cave?

The drums sound quite natural. Like I said, I'm a drummer, and they'd fool me. As far as what snare sound to use, the thing is to go with the sound you hear in your mind. If you imagine the song with certain sounds, then that's what the sound of the song is. So that's post-hardcore. Sounds reminiscent of early-90's indie rock, which is a favorite genre of mine, being last active in a band during that time.

Amish rakefight! Just a silly misunderstanding, mate. You know I think yer a good dude and a credit to the forum (I hope you know, at least). Sorry for the confusion. I guess I should have said "I think what he means is...." BTW, I have no secondary accounts and believe that it's bad form to do so. You can always recognize me by the long-winded pedantic style anyway. 😄

Oh man I tried these and couldn't delete them fast enough. If you have Analog Lab Play or Syntronik 2 CS, there's nothing there.

I can't tell if you're being deliberately obtuse here or if you really think I believe that Cakewalk's entire history began in April of 2018. I (and I think the other person as well) was talking about Cakewalk by BandLab. I had a SONAR license in 2002. Here's an article I authored about CbB that includes some of its history: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cakewalk_by_BandLab

This is a good idea. Warning, incoming jibber-jabber: The Image Linesque FUD used to come up on the MeldaProduction forum years ago. "Lifetime updates but what if the company fails? They won't be taking in any new money! What if the guy this business is built around gets hit by a bus?" My response was always "then you get to use the plug-ins you paid for until they no longer work." Are you happy with what you have? Does it work correctly? Fine, then. Their policy is nice, but if you would feel cheated if the company ended tomorrow, don't spend your money. That's a substantial pile of software that PreSonus have shifted over to sub-only. I'll devil's advocate here for a second, but don't worry, I do think it's a bad move. On the one hand, one could say that at least the people who already had a 6.5 Pro license will be able to use those add-ons until the wheels fall off SPlat-style. Nobody has had anything revoked from them, if I get it correctly. Who loses is perp license fans who maybe were still saving for a Pro license, maybe Artist users who were planning to upgrade. They've been locked out of buying audio software from their favorite audio software company. That is a bummer to be sure, and it creates FUD about possibly future core features of SO getting walled off behind a sub model. Still, I don't see anyone being cheated here. Disappointed and disturbed, sure. Why I think it's a silly move on PreSonus part is first, the FUD. Favorite audio software company can't learn from all the poop that was flung at Waves for trying to sell plug-ins sub only? That signals market blindness on their part. Second, WTF, Fender? After 70 years of selling guitars and amplifiers, the don't understand the value of upselling accessories? These now sub-only programs and plug-ins are accessories, and now, while they may very well keep most of their perp license userbase, nobody who buys a perp license for Pro in the future will be able to buy these other products that they make. Seems silly to jettison potential sales that way. Of course that's the sad thing when dealing with a publicly-traded company and why I swore 25 years ago I'd never work for one again: Fender are not in business to trade music gear and software for money. They are in business to make the price of their stock go higher. That is all that matters. If Fender looks better to the Wall Street analysts because a certain percentage of their revenue is from subscriptions, then they'll try to force as many people into subscriptions as they can. And if they think that the best way to herd them in is making some products sub-only, then public opinion be damned. Wall Street analysts don't read KVR. They don't care if you pi55 off half your userbase. They care about how much you're spending on certain things, how many employees you have vs. revenues (and they're not great at knowing what industries require more or fewer people), statistics like that. Company reputation doesn't matter. If they thought that people's regard mattered, they wouldn't be stock market analysts. Fortunately, there are alternative products to everything on that list, including the DAW itself. Me, when I look at the psychology of what seems to work for subscriptions, what I see working historically is entertainment content, services, and consumables. Not so much for things that are "durable." Content is fine, I'm okay with my $15 a month Netflix, I get that much entertainment out of it, it's worth the price of a burger and fries. Consumables and services....yeah, there are deals to be had on razor blades, auto maintenance and the like. I don't have room for a gym in my home, so if I wanted to work out on machines, gym membership. And if you're a business, the lease model may be desirable, not having to deal with buying a building full of new furniture when the old stuff gets too banged up, just have the accountants send the payments off, makes it easier to see how much you're actually spending per year. But for individuals, I think we (or at least a large percentage of us) see software as more like "durable" goods. We want to choose just what we buy individually (I like this company's compressor, I like that company's reverb, etc.), we fear lapses in our ability to pay the subscription, and we want to be able to take a break from using it without having it nagging at us that we're not using it enough to justify $20 a month. People don't like feeling forced or coerced and we really don't like having things taken away from us. I can see where PreSonus' move feels like all of those things to loyal users. Also, it violates one of my principles, which is, to get people on board with one of two alternatives, do it by making the alternative you want them to choose better, not by making the other one worse. PreSonus are trying to do it by making the perp license worse. How should companies do it instead? Have subscriptions that grant you a discount over the perp license over a year's time, along with exclusive premium services and/or content. Don't make entire pieces of software otherwise unavailable. Loop libraries, presets, soundware, distribution, premium support are all great subscription perks. And never, ever block off something that used to come with a perp license.

It looks like people are upset that getting this new soft synth is only possible via subscription. Are there other features that are subscriber-only?

Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to imply that it had. I was trying to draw a parallel between the transition from 32-bit Windows apps to 64-bit ones and the transition from Intel Mac apps to Apple Silicon apps. As something that might cause some companies to decide that it wasn't worth updating their products. Which is what I thought may have happened with Project 5, but then you informed me that the move to 64-bit programs was well along its way when the plug was pulled.