Mandolin Picker

And herein is the core issue. I have an older laptop (about 10-years old; AMD dual core with 2GB of RAM) that runs Windows Vista 32-bit and the last version of SONAR Home Studio. There is no internet connection on the laptop, so I am not worried about viruses, etc. I still use this laptop when I want to record a track or two. Then I transfer it to Cakewalk and mix, etc. Even though its an old laptop it still runs well and does what I need it to do. The Home Studio version also runs well and does what I need it to do. Now here is the rub. If Home Studio was under the new 'lease' option, six months after the last install it stops working. Not because anything is wrong with the software, or hardware, or anything else. It stops working simply because it runs past a particular date. That is planned obsolescence, and we are seeing it more and more (not just Cakewalk, so I don't want to seem like I am picking on them). If I have something that works regardless of whether it was given to me free of charge, or if I had to pay for it, I should expect to be able to use it for as long as I can keep it working. Do I expect the manufacturer (or developer) to support it forever? No. I don't expect Ford to support a 58 Edsel, but others may (and do). As long as I can keep it running, why shouldn't I be allowed to. If no one owns anything anymore, then we are always beholden to somebody.

And this development is indeed very discouraging

One thing to remember is the resolution of the screen. If it is an HD screen (1920 x 1080), it doesn't matter if it is 18-inches or 60-inches, it is still 1920 pixels across and 1080 pixels vertical. The bigger the screen, the bigger the pixels. So you may find that the larger screen is actually harder to read when you are close to it. You also can't "fit" anymore stuff on the bigger screen than the smaller one, because you are still working with 1920 x 1080 pixels. If you instead move to 4K, you now have 4096 × 2160 pixels, or slightly more than double the number of pixels from HD (true doubling of HD would be 3840 x 2160, so you get a few more pixels to work with length wise). You could place four times as much 'stuff' on the screen when compared to HD.

Windows 8.1 will most likely be my last version of Windows that I run. For me, it comes down to who does the computer belong to - me, or the company that makes the software the computer runs on. Microsoft (and many others) clearly believe that once you put their software on it, your computer and what you do with it belongs to them. The amount of 'telemetry' being sent back to the mother ship and the forced updates are my primary factors to moving away from Windows. In fact, the primary reason this computer still has Windows is due to Sonar/Cakewalk. I have switched over to Linux for just about everything else. I should also note that when Windows first appeared, I was a very big proponent of the software and the company. But as is typical, as the company got bigger things changed and not necessarily for the better. As they changed, so did I. So yes, my next computer will be upgraded, but not with Windows 10.

It was also a lot closer to real police work than most of the 'Police Dramas' on TV.

I have used mine for a variety of projects. Primarily I record myself playing - just for fun. Too old and not talented enough to even think about anything else in that regard. I just recently started editing the sermon for the church podcast. I have remixed our praise team a time or two since we got our new board since I can now extract each channel. I have also used it for narration of training slides when I worked in EMS and the health department. I created a demo for a software project for a dispatch system. The soundtrack included simulated emergency radio traffic, from dispatch to response (you could hear sirens in the background), on scene communications (with the sound of apparatus pulling up to the scene and the jaws of life running in the background), even had a helicopter landing and that unique sound. The video was showing the 'dispatcher' entering the information into the software, to match the communications. Did all the voices and then modified them to sound like different folks talking (didn't have Melodyne then). Creative use of EQ to simulate the sound of various radios. That was one of the most enjoyable and unusual projects I have ever done in a DAW.

In some ways, maybe. Perhaps its more just trying to take a shortcut to get the same results. Folks who make a living at music usually can afford the time to practice and to learn and apply the right techniques. Others of us, perhaps working at a regular job, may be able to get a little bit of time to practice a couple of days a week, if we are lucky. Recording, that may only be at night when everyone is asleep (as it is the only quiet time in the house) and since I have to get up early the next morning to go to work, I get only one or two takes in. The tech provides a short cut that helps me get to that 'on tune' sound. But the tech can only go so far. In my case, I'm now retired, and while I have the time nothing will improve this old voice of mine. So even if technology can put it on key (I consistently sing slightly flat no matter what I try), its never going to sound good.

Been following Graham for a while. The best thing I like about his approach is that it is back to basics. Use the plugins you have. That $500 plugin is not going to make a lousy recording sound great. However, spending time to learn to play better or sing on key will likely have a dramatic improvement on your recordings. He does get some push-back because of that, on occasion. But overall, seems to be more on target.

Continuing to use Cakewalk after SONAR was pulled. Looked at REAPER, and while it is not intuitive it is rather powerful. For me, the fact that they now have a Linux version is a huge plus. I really only use Windows for music any more, having switched over to Linux for most everything else. At some point Windows 7 and 8.1 will no longer be of use (and I really do not like Windows 10) and so I will be switching over to Linux for everything at that point.

What a nice early Christmas present. Thanks to all who helped keep Cakewalk not just up and running, but moving forward as well. It is very much appreciated.