Brian Walton

On 5/11/2020 at 10:05 PM, Starise said:

In your opinion, which DAW is the best for audio editing?  Cakewalk does pretty well for me for most of the things I do when it comes to audio editing. Sometimes I need to go close in on the waveform to see close detail. Do you see one DAW shining in that capability? 

I have heard that Pro Tools is the one to use for that. I have been tempted to download the free version of it to see how the audio editing in it works. I have Sound Forge  but wondered if there was something better.

No DAW is world class at this

Soundforge is the gold standard.

This isn't to say something isn't better, but if you have the Pro version (and since it was upgraded to 64 bit),  realistically it is highly unlikely you would need anything else.

Goldwave is fine, but looks horrific.

The annoying part of all of these is lack of real smooth integration in Cakewalk.

1 hour ago, antler said:

Is $49 the regular price for Scalar 1?

Yes, and I was only aware of one big price drop when it was out.  

Honestly I'd expect Scaler 2 to have an up-tick in price.  

I can't predict the future, but I'd personally expect $49 to be the new  discounted price (when it does go on sale) for Scaler 2.  Who knows though.  

I wouldn't say this about many programs, but seems like $49 is a reasonable price.      With Scaler 1 going on sale for $29 last year,   hopeful for a $20 upgrade  cost.

2 minutes ago, Fleer said:

Adaptiverb or die. 

I'd rather die than pay that much for a reverb that isn't a pedal or rack mount unit.  (considering the other options on the market)

8 minutes ago, Mesh said:

Overloud's Breverb is also a good one...been my go to. Should spend more time with Phoenix and Raum.

For free, I was a champion of Breverb, but Phoenix blows it out of the water for natual - not there kind of algo reverb (not a fan of the single ilok policy - so had to buy 2).

Great that Breverb  can be used on any project/machine though.  

3 hours ago, Reid Rosefelt said:

I already know the answer to this, but is there a single one of you who thinks they have enough reverbs?

I have Spaces II, Pro-R, all the iZotope ones, the Waves Gold ones,  the T-RackS ones, the NI Komplete and Raum,  the Steinberg stuff,  the Arturia freebie, many from the Best Service collection, Eventide 2016, and about 50 others I can't remember off the top of my head.   Plus some weird ones like Blackhole. 

Call me crazy, but I'm getting close to ready to call myself covered, reverb-wise.    I admit I do not own any Vallhallas yet, so fire away.

 

I love Reverb, but honestly  just a few are really all I need.

Phoenix

XenoVerb

Arturia Plate (was using WAVES Abbey Road, but so CPU hungry that I more or less gave up on it)

NI - Replica and Raum

Hyperspace CM

Overloud  Remaxtix for Convolution

Even with that I feel  like I don't really need the others I have

6 minutes ago, Reid Rosefelt said:

As they continued to promote regular Scaler 1 on the site, I wrote them to ask if there would be a free update if you bought it now.  A grace period. They didn't have an answer for me at the time.

But I see now that you do get a free update to Scaler 2 if you buy Scaler 1 between 5/13 and 5/26, which you can do HERE

 

Which if the other statements made about upgrade pricing hold true, seems like the upgrade will be  pretty reasonable.  I was expecting a bump in price  for the product overall, but this grace period suggests a timeframe where you can actaully order the thing for $49.  

10 hours ago, Angelo DiBraccio said:

Thank you you all for your comments.  Now I am totally confused.  LOL !!

The Samsung has unacceptable font rendering, I'm hoping that it's because the  GPU is all wrong. It doesn't support 4k, so replacing it is the first item on my agenda.

Maybe I'll be happy once I get a 4k  Graphics card.  

There are plenty of articles that advice against using a Smart TV for monitor.  I can't make a decision about the Samsung until I try a 4k card.

 

 

The "TV" as a monitor problem has nothing to do with a 4K card to drive it.

just trust the articles and stay away from them as an option.  Too much glare, reflections, flicker, etc.    They are fine if you are going to spend an hour a day in front of it, but if you are using it for long session and on a regular basis, they are painful to look at in that setting with computer type of content (ie.  not watching video)

6 hours ago, Angelo DiBraccio said:

Hi

I have two monitors I am testing that are still within the return window time frame.  I will keep just a single monitor for now,

The monitors are:

• Dell S3219D 32 " WQHD monitor
• Samsung 7 series  TU7000 43" Smart TV UHD  4k 3,840 by 2,160

I  read that the Samsung works very well as a computer monitor and I like the large display. I got a great deal at Best buy on an open box so I am hoping the Samsung works out.

Unfortunately, my graphics card does not support 4k, so if I decide to keep the Samsung. I will need to upgrade my graphics card.

If anyone cares to comment on these monitors please do.

Also, I am interested in advice on a suitable 4k Graphics card, that is reasonably quiet and that also handle moderate gaming. I'm not a gamer but I may want to check out gaming at some point in the near future.  Also my budget is limited.

Thank You

 

Out of the two I'd keep the Dell.  Wouldn't even consider the Samsung.  

That being said, neither would be my choice.  

3 hours ago, ensconced said:

In my experience, your fears are unfounded and not based in reality.

I have zero issues in the areas you speak, I have  v9, v10, v11 all working fine, it's as easy as. Follow the correct method, there is no problem.

I will leave you to your alternate reality. I'm out

It is actual reality.  My experience and you can look up the fact I wasn't the only one.  WAVES flat out refused to help unless an upgrade to v10 or 11 was made.

I followed the directions to a "t"  and  I have managed a large fleet of computers and IT professionals, I'm not exactly a novice in the area of software deployment.  

v10 are running fine on my machines right now, but v9 are still dead in the water and I have no inteniton on upgrading them.  

The OP wanted real world advice, and I'm not going to sit by and blindly say it is all perfect on the WAVES front.  

Example other user had to pay $200 to get them to work,a and others note issues as well:   http://forum.cakewalk.com/Waves-plugin-issues-SOLVED-m3765828.aspx

https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=515929

They also have one of the poorest liscencing terms in the business.  One single install per purchase.  

3 hours ago, Misha said:

ensconced,

Thank you! The Waves plugins I want are older, nothing  over complicated, and should last for a few years.  

 

I have over 20 WAVES plugins.

They should in theory work.  However, what version of the one WAVES plugin do you have?

If it isn't 10 or 11, I would be somewhat concerned that it will not work after you buy new plugins that are v11.  And WAVES won't support you on that plugin unless you pay for the WUP which will probably cost about as much as buying it on sale.

This isn't conjecture, this is from experience, where I have v9 plugins that literally no longer work (and I am well above average when it comes to computers, it is part of my full time job).

If you buy v11s now, I would expect those to continue to work for  3-5 years as long as you do not try to install Waves Central again, or purchase more plugins by them.  If you do, then all bets are off, as WAVES central Updates have historically been problematic.  

The VST standards changing are not your concern over that time frame, it is WAVE's own unreliable update and authorization process.  

I'd take a long hard look at what you are trying to get from WAVES and then consider alternative products.  

Omni Channel is one of the only ones I've found that is hard to find elsewhere for a reasonable sum.  PSP Ininistrip being an obvious one, but far more expensive (and the authorization method not being world better thanks to iLok.

They make good sounding plugins, but in my experience have been in the lowest end for reliability if you make changes to the system, and outside of the WUP (which is outrageous) they do not offer support even with their slogan of "your plugins should continue to work" for old versions.  Yes, those VST standards haven't been broken, but the authorization and install method got jacked up when they rolled out new WAVES Central and new Versions.

52 minutes ago, cclarry said:

Believe me, if you can afford to do the upgrade to Advanced, you should do it!
 

All of their top tier programs are something special.

I think I'd want Neutron Advanced as providing the most value to the average user.  The potential gains there seem of a higher order than the improvements of Ozone Advanced over Elements.  

Of course if you are a Mastering Engineer, Ozone Advance would pay for itself at the $166 price.

3 hours ago, JoeGBradford said:

I think Elements will be more than enough for me ?

It is actually quite powerful on its own.   If they were not giving it away, it is a no-brainer purchase on sale.  

While the "re mixing" functions of the higher tier options are kind of mind blowing.  Arguably that stuff should be handled by the mix in the first place (which most of us are likley the author of).  

14 minutes ago, Tezza said:

I've got the 3 SSD's and a 6gb 1060 gtx card so that should be fine. I'm using Vegas 16 with Hitfilm 14 bridged and they are fine with the transcoded footage if necessary. But yes the motherboard, CPU and RAM are a bit ancient which is why all I need to do now is update those and all should be OK. I'm running a 3rd generation i5 with 8gig ram.

The system can cope with 8 bit 4:2:0 1080p 25fps footage straight out of the camera's but it's a bit slow when you start proper editing. I used to have a video editing business many years ago and when you have worked with 10 bit 4:2:2 or 4:4:4 footage it's a different experience. Here, I am aiming for 10 bit 4:2:2 1080p 25fps (Avid DNxHD) recorded footage which the GH4 can record externally to an Atomos Ninja, I don't need 4k and the older Aotmos Ninja's that record to 1080p in this format are as cheap as chips right now.

At the moment, I am "bouncing up" 8 bit footage to 10 bit to test the system because I don't have the external recorder yet.

If all I am doing is youtube talking head shots in 8 bit 4:2:0 then the system can handle that easily. It's when you want to start adding more sophisticated editing elements like chromakey, lower thirds or graphical overlays, color balancing and using LUT's, V-Log and filters and projecting in real time on to a second monitor etc. This is where 10 bit 4:2:2 video starts to shine because you don't get the video color degradation and banding you get with 8 bit 4:2:0 footage, you end up with a more polished final product. If you want a good experience with this then you need grunt from the CPU, especially with Vegas.

I think I can get away with a 9th generation i5 upgrade because that processor is so much more powerful than mine. Sure, I could shoot 4k but then I would need a 4K recorder to get to 10 bit 4:2:2 and then an i9 processor and then those NV hard drives or whatever, also a motorized gimbal and slider because 4k is hard to shoot properly from a micro four thirds camera etc all adding another $4000.00 to everything. Even then, judging by what I've read, I would probably have to use proxy files. Not really necessary for what I'm doing. I think all I need is the CPU, Ram and motherboard upgrade and then the Atomos 1080p external recorder and then I'm set. I might chuck in the extra cash to get it to an i7.

 

 

Yeah, sounds like your software and RAM then.     8 gigs of ram is bare bones considering Win10 can eat up almost 4 of that.

Vegas and Hitfilm are not that efficient.

One of my machines is a 3rd gen i3, with external graphics card adn 16 gigs of RAM.   I can run 4 1080P multicams without much issue, at a medium bit rate.    Of course I also have a better machine.  But giving a point of reference using a 7+ year old computer.  

If you are doing a bunch of advanced color grading , etc that certainly can bog things down.  On old machines sometimes you have to do the grade/effect part render that into something to actually edit on.  

4K is also a nightmare from a processing standpoint...and yes, proxy is a must, which is super annoying.   Only reason to do it in my mind is if the footage is required to be in that for submission to NexFlix or similar.    

50MBPS is also a pretty high bit rate.  Since most Blurays are going to be in the 30ish range (and literally max out at 40), the question also becomes does your camera offer a more modest bit rate, to help lessen the load?    If hundreds of millions of dollar projects can release on 25-30MBPS , I'm a firm believer that working well above  that isn't really necessary.  If you have quality glass, it isn't going to really matter.   And if the release format is Youtube Talking Heads, all the more true.  It just gets annoying seeing the work get dumbed down so low anyway.  

On 5/4/2020 at 9:14 PM, Tezza said:

Thanks for that, this is the same for me in terms of using my computer for video editing work as well as music. I can do 25fps 1080p at around 50mbs/s either Canon DSLR or Panasonic GH4 type footage but with some strain on my current system. With my current camera, I can move to 10Bit 4:2:2 which I would like to try. If I'm going to get better performance with video editing and DAW from AMD simply because I can afford a more powerful processor from them then that is looking good at the moment.

Heat might be an issue though, from what I'm reading the AMD processors run hot, heat means noise and I don't like noise. My computer is pretty silent at the moment and I would like to keep it that way.

Your problem likley lies with your Graphics Card and the Software you are using for editing and has nothing to do with your computer processor (unless you don't have an external GPU and that would be the mistake right there).

Or your machine is like 10+ years old (or has a pathetic amount of RAM)

36 minutes ago, Mark B said:

Jan 18 Vacuum Pro ?

Not sure, but requires ilok and is only $10 at Plugin Boutique, so not exact an earth shattering deal at $1.

14 minutes ago, Starise said:

Great deal on these magazines. I bought a handful and will probably buy more copies of CMM. Hard to go wrong if you see an article you like. What's BitWig 8 track? Is that their trial version? That looks like a free download.

8- track version of the software 

Complete waste of time with Bandlab being free.  ?

I've never found much value out of the article format.  The plugins that are bundled are excellent though.

27 minutes ago, trager said:

I can’t believe I dare question the king twice in one day, but are you sure you still get the IK freebies for the back issues? I really thought the special stuff like that (the non-CM branded stuff) was time limited. I’ll be delighted to be proved wrong again.

I'm tempted to try to get the White, because that is one I missed.  However, it did say it is a limited time deal....the question is if it is being enforced.  

2 minutes ago, 57Gregy said:

In the old days, as you probably remember, the old Cakewalk had a range of programs, from Music Creator (which I started with) to SONAR. Each one more refined and including more stuff.

Yes, though even as a beginner with Cakewalk I jumped in with Sonar 2XL Producer.  

It wasn't until the Sonar X series that I downloaded the really stripped down versions to see what they were like.  Realistically those looked like the exact same program just with fewer options and add-ins.  

A beginner can use Cakewalk Bandlab, but it doesn't really offer much in the way of easy music creation, it assumes you know about Music Theory - or dependent on drag and drop audio files/midi files to try to create something, or treat it like a digital tape machine where you actually know how to play an instrument.  

It seems the shift these days of what a "beginner" means in music production is a complete lack of knowledge of music (chords, notes, etc), and with that trend to cater to these individuals there are tools that can effectively reduce the need for some of that knowledge.    

I don't think Cakewalk needs a stripped down version, it just could use a few added tools to better cater to such individuals.  Think built in chord track, EZ Keys, and Scaler.  

On 5/2/2020 at 9:52 AM, E-Wolf Music said:

               I first want to say thank you Bandlab for making Cakewalk free and the hard work you guys have done for the past 2 years to make it more stable and faster. Looking at how good things are going I can see the potential of Cakewalk competing with the big DAWs like FL studio, Ableton, and logic pro. My main issue with Cakewalk is the lack of essential  instrument plugins needed to make modern music . I understand that Cakewalk used to be about $500 which meant that beginners were not who they were appealing to, but to the pros who did not really need built-in instrument plugins because they can afford to buy or have amassed a lot of plugins throughout the years or pros who mostly used Cakewalk for recording, mixing and mastering. However, the Cakewalk Sonar then doesn't have the advantage the present Cakewalk has, which is a loyal fanbase of people who haven't even used Cakewalk before : "Bandlab Users."  Let's use logic pro for an example: Logic pro's success can be seen in their business model which is, "Attract beginners with Garageband and hope that they would eventually upgrade to Logic Pro." Cakewalk now has more than 3 million people using Bandlab and some of them have upgraded to Cakewalk. In fact I was one of them. I used Bandlab for a year then came to Cakewalk.

                During my first year using cakewalk, I and other Bandlab users had  issues with Cakewalk which was that Bandlab had more ready mordern sounds than Cakewalk, which did not make sense. It took me two months to get some free instruments that I can use and it took me 6 months to find a drum sampler and  a normal sampler which is an important plugin used to produce almost every mainstream music we've heard now. You would expect that the flagship daw of Bandlab to have more sounds than it's beginner daw. I know these are two different companies that have joined but it doesn't make sense to get this frustrated and consider downgrading back to Bandlab when you not want  to level up your skills as a music producer.  There more than 3 million users using Bandlab and I can guarantee that a lot of them would upgrade to Cakewalk. This is an advantage no other daw except for logic pro has and can put Cakewalk on the map as the daw to use in the years to come. I understand creating plugins is tedious and might take time  to make but I believe that like how Cakewalk was partnering with different big brands, Cakewalk should try to create a relationship companies that are providing already made free plugins to bring these plugins to Cakewalk to make it the default plugins. Some of these companies are even ready to help if anybody who wants to add their software to anything. Here are the free professional plugins from companies I believe Cakewalk should try in creating a relationship to put these plugins in Cakewalk by default. 

 

Another widely used plugin in Cakewalk. A Sample Based keyboard emulating the Yamaha Grand Piano, Steinway Grand Piano and other presets.  I have a lot of paid pianos but this is still one of my favorites.

 

I spent a lot of time writing this because I remember wasting 6 months trying to set-up Cakewalk whereas it took me 3 days to start making music on Bandlab. The new generation is the future of Cakewalk and I can see the potential of Cakewalk. It just needs instruments for beginners. 

 

 

 

 

 

All those are basically in the free instruments thread here and then some.  Why it took you 6 months to find such a thread here.....that is a different question.  

We don't need bloatware with Cakewalk when such free options exist. 

Cakewalk isn't designed like an app on your phone for beginners.  It is a professional grade tool to record and produce music.  I agree it could use some improvements to make things easier for a beginner...but that isn't related to the instruments included.  Things like a Chord Track are what Cakewalk could benefit from.  

Cake does come bundled with enough instruments to make music with.   Most of which never get used by someone that does some research to grab better quality free ones.  

On 5/7/2020 at 7:47 AM, Cristian said:

How about a fix for their installer to stop messing up the libraries...  
Imagine buying something like Hans Zimmer Strings: an expensive, proprietary (i.e. non-Kontakt) library.
You can only download it a few times and then the installer messes it up.

Please tell me which player other than Kontakt plays Kontakt files.

A definition of proprietary might be needed here.

2 minutes ago, kitekrazy said:

It's the turbo one.

Nice, that should handle just about anything....the qeustion as it seems you have found is it a time killer for actual productions becuase it has "so " much control.

When I was looking at it for use, I thought this would be fun to play with, but just too much for day to day use.  

18 minutes ago, kitekrazy said:

I have that really complicated looking one from Melda.  I think I will eventually learn how to use that instead of getting more verbs.

Which one, they have like 6 reverb plugins, and all their plguins have complicated features?  ?

Haven't tried it, but bump for good software authorization practices!  

$100 for an  amp plugin is absurd.

As someone that has actually played a real ODS and a few real Trainwrecks, I'm always curious about simulations of them (even clones of a clone as this is), so I may run a demo at some point just to try them out.  Video Demos didn't knock me out, but expetations are in tow.  No plugin would try to simulate the real dynamic range of a Wreck, becuase  most guitar players have trouble with the control of the real thing, we want things that are easy to control and make us sound good...not point out the limitations in our playing abilites.    

4 minutes ago, Carlos said:

I don't know what Boris FX Continuum Title Studio (never heard of it) but free is free, right?

Other than the program didn't get added to my account and the installer links when to no-where.

It is a legit program for creating advanced Titles for video.

1 minute ago, Carlos said:

I HATE to death when they want you to send your usage analytics... (Era bundle)... but free is free... right]?.. hahaha

At least they let you opt out during the installer, other programs just plain spy on you.