Misha

Hi Peter. I've likely spent couple of hundred of hours in trying to minimize / eliminate Dropouts &Stuttering during past decade on several machines. Spoiler* my problem went away completely when I bought new computer. My previous PC was decent enough (i7 9000 series 12 core, nvme, 32 ram, etc) , but still chipset/cpu where causing certain I/O bottleneck scenarios that played badly with DAW + Plugins. Biggest offenders in my case were certain VSTs. Especially the ones made by Izotope after about 2015. From EQ to Ozone. I've sent them numerous emails, corresponding with a couple of their coders, etc. They confirmed the problem, but could not fix it. Also some plugins from IK and if I use several "look ahead" plugins. At the end everything was solved by a new computer with different processor & chipset. Have you tried pressing FX button on upper bar to temporary disable ALL FX on the project to see if plugins are the cause? If everything runs smoothly, start introducing plugins one by one to find offender. P.S. Nvidia has a reputation for being a problematic with audio recording. There are a few guides available how to adjust it's specific controls to maximize performance for audio recording.

Max, My BC is version is 2.67 (there is an "i" symbol on BC UI, it shows the version) Glenn, Thanks! Seems I got same Win11 and 23H2 patch. Mystery... I emailed Fred at BC, hopefully he can shine a light on this. BlueCat is an awesome plugin and I hope I will figure out why dragging tracks in Cakewalk doesn't work for me. I have plenty of "sounds" via Kontakt, Halion and few others, so chaining EZK Midi Out>to various synths + FX works very well for my use. I just save presets like EZK>Sonic, EZK>Kontakt and recall them via one click instead of prepping tracks each time. What is also extremely helpful that BC allows for multiple VST windows to be opened and closed in one click. And of course switching to another audio program(s) and get whole chain just as you left it. P.S. Glenn, I listened to a few of your tracks on reverbnation. Good stuff!

Glenn, I've just recently got BC Patchwork. Yeah, but you and Max don't have this issue I opened a ticket with BC with all the info. (Including a link to this thread) P.S. If it's not too much of a trouble, can you tell me please your BC and Windows versions? Thanks.

Max, Thank you for testing! Mystery.... I tested this scenario on two different machines. Win 11 / Win10 Cakewalk by Bandlab (latest, run as admin) + BC Patchwork - latest 2.67. Both VSt2 and VST3 version of the plugin. Saving EZ keys session and re-opening brings a blank project. ---------------------- Done more testing... This time around I've used (Kushview) Element, which is in a way similar to BlueCat Patchwork. Same deal. When midi track is dragged over from Cakewalk to BC>EZK2, it populates cells, but not the chords. So it seems, Cakewalk doesn't transfer data correctly to a plugin that resides inside a "shell" such as BC or Element. But since you and Glenn were able to drag MIDI track from Cake to it successfully, I really don't know what to make of it.

Glenn, well If yours is working, I don't get why my doesn't. BCat Audio support told me it's related to Cakewalk... Video is from Win 11 machine, I've done further testing. New machine, this time Win 10. Fresh install of BCat patchwork both VST2 and VST3... Same deal (in both) - it doesn't transfer chords, only cells of correct time... I wonder, what version of BC you have? Maybe I need to dumb it down?

Glenn, Thank you for testing! Now this is strange. Here is what I get:

Thanks. It has something to do with Cakewalk, as this works in other software. Also, as I mentioned in initial post: "If I just drag same MIDI file (same file that sits on Cake's track) from a folder on desktop directly to EZkeys in BC Patchwork it imports it without issues." As a workaround for single file, that ^ works, but if you are making a more complex composition, it becomes an issue.

Because my intended use for BC Patchwork is inter-software hub/chainer for certain plugins. Meaning, I can have particular chains and plugin specific stuff saved in one instance of the BC plugin, open it in another software and it will sound exactly same as I left it. And a few other reasons. Would you be kind to test? Steps: 1)Load BC in Cakewalk 2) Load EZkeys in BC 3) Drag a Midi file to that instance of EZ inside of BC. Did chords populate for you? Thanks.

Hi Folks. Maybe some of you have this combination of plugins, or just know what's going on.... Here is the situation: I have EZkeys2 inside of BlueCat's Patchwork plugin. When I try dragging chords to EZkeys from Cakewalk's MIDI track it doesn't populate those chords in EZkeys. If I have EZkeys on a separate track by itself, I can drag in chords from Cake's track without issues. If I just drag same MIDI file (that sits on Cake's track) from a folder on desktop to EZkeys in BC Patchwork it imports it without issues... Anybody knows what's going on? Thanks! P.S. When I drag chords from a midi track to EZK in another software while EZkeys are inside of BlueCat patchwork, it imports them OK.

To me, it's very flexible UI, where you can disable all unnecessary bologna. The only DAW (besides mobiles like Cubasis and N-Track) that truly works with touchscreens. Extremely smooth workflow with take lanes /take lane clips when tracking. Not invasive> pushing paid content (I hope it stays that way). Very natural track viewing management: resizing vertically, horizontally independent of others. Bitwig and Mixcraft which are closest in that respect in my view are still miles away. Bunch of others, these are just from the top. P.S. Ohh yes, one of the best musical community forums. If I get stuck, I usually get help within hours if not less (Thank you!!!)

+1 on the request, but if to start something like this, it would have to be more than just labels to be inline with a few other DAWs.... A true full featured Chord Track with ability to drop in / import block chords MIDI and force midi phrases on track(s) to follow that Chord Track.... A theory extension similar to Cubase would be nice too This is my main "wish" for future Sonar.

Tell it to my laptop It's not a powerhouse gaming machine at all... but has a "lucky" combination of intestines to handle Cakewalk plus multiple instances of very heavy duty plugins without any sacrifices. I was genuinely surprised by what this laptop can pull. P.S. I've read somewhere that one shouldn't trust numbers that something like latencymon produces with Win11. But honestly, I didn't even need to "comfort" check latencymon on new machine. It just works, with internet, Bluetooth on and other audio programs opened on the background. It would be great if a tool existed that can specifically emulate DAW+interface+ stress under X+Y+Z and give you proper benchmark. Latencymon in my view just too broad, and if you don't know what you are doing, you can cause more damage than you started with.

I wanted to share my experience with hardware + Cakewalk on a separate topic, but this seems a good fit. Similar to Alcoholic Anonymous I must admit, I am a plugin glutton. I like to keep things active (unfrozen) so I can easily make changes in real time. My last computer was a decent machine i7, 12cores, nvme, 32ram, USB 3.2 blah blah... That PC had hard time with Izotope plugins(Nectar, Ozone), IK Lurssen mastering, several Kontakt instances, some dynamic plugins with "look ahead", oversampling, etc. I spent dozen of hours "tunning" that machine. Done a full reinstall couple of times. Don't get me wrong, I was able to get by, but needed to plan / adjust workflow , huge buffer size, slimmer projects, freezing, that kind of thing. Last year, I finally decided to upgrade computer. Seller had awesome return policy and I took a chance on refurb Thinkbook Plus (3rd gen- 12th Gen Intel i7-12700H 2.30 GHz). What can I say? This is probably everything I wanted out of PC for music making. For fun of it, testing limits, I loaded 3 (!!!) full instances of Ozone, Nectar (full rack), Kontakt and other heavy duty stuff in a single project in Cakewalk, it didn't choke on 512 buffer. My conclusion is that something in architecture changed and life became beautiful. No more I/O bottlenecks. Of course this is very different from computer to computer and I just got lucky with this particular model. The point I am trying to make is this. While my previous computer had abundant resources that superseded all software pre-requisites by nearly double fold, it was struggling with I/O, with music making. While there are many things you can do to improve efficiency, we, PC people are also at the mercy of specific manufacturer/model of computer. THE END.

Nice!

Drink cold water, it will pass. ---- In my experience, all NEW software has a special introductory price. I think Cakewalk/Sonar is not going to be different. If you take a median price of "pro" DAWs, do the math + introductory discount.... and counter in competition, my guess different tiers of Sonar (excluding subscription) will range from $100 - $300. After promotional period price will likely increase. Place your bets ---- It would be fun if Bandlab ran a "Price Is Right" campaign. First 3 winners who are closest would get a discount voucher

And there we have it. Thank you Noel!

Starship, Thanks! And thank you for the tip on other tools. I wish there was a way to flip Ctrl function for the "two way" crop/extend on the Smart Tool, but easy enough as it is. Thanks again!

Hi Folks. When I have several take lanes on track and clips overlap (on two different lanes) I get this tool, see attached. Which, works with both clips simultaneously. Reducing one clip > extending the other and vice versa. I don't want that. My workaround is to switch to Edit tool to reduce or extend clips individually. I guess this feature is too smart for me, as I can't find the way to bypass or turn it off. Is it possible or that's baked in? Thank you!

John, Nice run through! I looked into Mixcraft myself long time ago and rediscovered it last year. It was probably the closest to the workflow that I like, but Cubase of course is feature packed. Bitwig is interesting too, but has a lot of shortcomings. However, Sonar will definitely be my choice #1, if proper license(s) are offered. It has several items that no DAW that I know of has, that are important to me. Plus a great knowledgeable & helpful community. I learned about half of the things I know about DAWs here

C'mon, what teeth are for?

Got the email today from Steinberg: "Save 30% on Cubase" Are they hearing the drumbeat we don't? I remember at the time of Gibson saga they were the first ones to "reach out" with friendly offers Bandlab, don't fall asleep, we are counting on you and the right decisions you will make on licensing and pricing.

"Demo is what you have when you can try software but you haven’t bought it yet." I downloaded Sonar without registering with "backstage pass". It runs, but saving is disabled. To me that's sort of a demo

Yesterday, as some of you did, I received Native Instruments 2024 newsletter. Cutting all the blah, it specifically mentioned this: "We also understand subscriptions aren’t for everyone, so don't worry – our perpetual bundles won't be going anywhere." I agree, it's not healthy not disclosing if perpetual licenses will be available for Sonar.... Especially now, when working demo is available. While I do have faith that Sonar will not be a subscription only gig, very recently I was looking at a few competitors and made a probable choice if things will go sour. That was after reviewing Sonar demo. The reason - because non subscription options were not mentioned. This is not a "threat" of any kind, just want to show, if it matters, how some of millions of users think. I do like new look/feel of Sonar and will be among first in line if non sub. options will be offered. P.S. I also think it will be noble for Bandlab to permanently unlock the software that was purchased before Bandlab's takeover and if they want to be extra nice, unlock Cakewalk by Bandlab permanently...

I like Mike's videos. Nicely paced, thorough. Subscribed to his new Sonar channel. Would definitely vote for him to become "official" Sonar guy for tutorials.

Ben, Thank you for acknowledgement!