Stephen Rybacki

Thank you for the responses. I currently have a Nektar Panorama P4 that works GREAT in both Reason and Reaper -- just not Cakewalk. I'd make a switch of I can find a comparable piece that does the same things and recognizes Cakewalk as well. It's not terrible though since I also use a Yamaha MO8 that has a DAW Control function that DOES work with Cakewalk in a limited way - but is to my right, not front and center as the P4 is.

I know I can fiddle with ACT and such, but are there any currently supported surfaces that work with CbB (SONAR)?

All it takes to do that is a Kessler Syndrome scenario and we're there. It could happen too. Anyway, IF that does happen, I'll be too busy hunting and gathering to give much of a crap about pop music anymore 😂

Wait, the Internet is going to explode? I have mixed feelings about that 😀 Well, I know Reason pretty well and yes it has comping tools. Their focus in this last few years is using it as a plug-in with other DAWs. You can still use it stand alone, but I sense the majority of people have gone to Ableton, Studio One or whatever using their Reason investment as a super duper VST. The more I spend my time perusing how-to videos by a some of the fine YouTubers out there, the more I like it. Hi Craig, glad to see you're here.

Thanks folks for the thoughts. I might as well stay with SONAR until it doesn't matter anymore I guess. I've got to just settle in and do this daily and get a real workflow now.

Longish post but there is a question here. First off, I don't do this for a living. I am strictly a hobbyist who is really interested on the process of music production, and also a guitarist of the singer songwriter persuasion. I took a few classes at Berklee College (online) and acquired both Sonar X2 and Reason 6.5 as a result. For the mere $60 it cost me, I also bought Reaper. Since then (2013), I've tried figuring out all three (and upgraded each along the way) so that I have SONAR Platinum (which I got free as a result of participating in market research by then Cakewalk), Reason 12 and many Rack Extensions and Reaper 6. Needless to say to quote an old Indian proverb "If you chase two rabbits, you'll lose both" - I have not become really good at any of them. So I've decided it's time to focus on ONE DAW, and get to know if inside and out. Reaper, to me is rather obtuse and my brain doesn't work that way. Reason is really easy for me to use and I love the rack metaphor, but it is primarily targeted at the EDM crowd and MIDI music production. It has some fairly good guitar sims curtesy of Kuassa but nothing like say Overloud TH-U which is a great program. That leaves CbB with all the trimmings of SPLAT plus Overloud TH-U and Addictive Drums. Anyway, the TL;DR question...Is it worth it given my stated skills and goals (singer-guitarist and aspiring songwriter) to hitch my star to CbB? I can still use Reason an12 as a plug-in so I don't consider that investment as a loss. I love the workflow in the Skylight interface and I'm blessed with a kick-butt computer setup (Legion i7 8c16t gaming machine with a NVidia RTX3070 GPU and 32 GB of memory plus to curved 4k monitors), but I would hate to put in the effort in CbB if it is destined to be obscured (and as a result abandoned) by the PTP giants like Presonus, ProTools, etc. Can CbB be all I'll need for the rest of my life (I'm 63)?

No, I didn't actually. Didn't even bother to try since I'm on Windows 11. BTW, your Youtube videos have been very helpful!

Yes it is a FastTrack Pro, and I'm on Windows 11. The real goal is to be able to record my Yamaha MO8 synth, using digital if possible. But I can string a couple of 1/4" cables to my Focusrite if I need to do that just as easily. Thanks folks, great forum here.

OK, that makes sense. Thanks for the reply. I guess it'll remain my emergency backup.

I have an older M-Audio interface I replaced with my Focusrite, but that old interface has one thing that this Focusrite doesn't - a SP/DIF connection. So I'd like to have that as well. Can this be done, or is it more trouble than it's worth?

I don't know if this will help or not, but I have an original M-Audio MIDI-Sport 2x2 MIDI interface just languishing in a box somewhere. If you pay for shipping, you can have it if you want it. BTW, what does MCU actually stand for?

Thanks so much for the thoughtful reply. My i5 has 4 cores and an on board GPU by Intel and it runs Windows 10 beautifully. Very responsive. I guess i wasn't clear enough in my original post; I already do have Reason and yes it seems to run the things I do fine. It does however seem to take forever to start... Do you notice that? I'm on R11S with a bunch of rack extensions over the 8 years I've had it. I just happened to notice that both CbB and Reaper load up darn near instantly by comparison so that was where my question was coming from.

At present, I have 3 different DAWS that I am vacillating between - CbB, Reaper and Reason. I have an older i5 Ivy Bridge chipset machine with 28gb of memory and a pair of solid state drives -- meaning the long pole in my particular tent is the CPU at this [point. I was able to salvage new life out of this box for around $200 by getting the SSHDs and RAM upgrades vs paying $1300-$1700 for a faster CPU and less RAM and less hard disk space. Sidenote -- why do we still call SSHD drives "hard drives"? Anyway, my question is this; of these three DAWs, anyone care to weight in on which is the lightest in terms of base CPU usage, aside from VSTs etc?

You are right about Reaper -- it's very lean and extremely stable for sure.

I got started on SONAR with X2 Studio and Reason 6.5 back in 2013 for a Berklee class I was taking at the time. I loved using both, albeit for different reasons. When Gibson shuttered Cakewalk, I was SERIOUSLY upset since I by that time had SONAR Platinum with Lifetime Upgrades. Not to mention the Pro Channel upgrades, Rapture Pro and other stuff to boot. So, I leaned hard into Reason (currently have R11 Suite) even to the point of trying to learn synth programming (I am a guitar/mando player) which I do enjoy. But Reason has gone the way of others and now offers a subscription model that they SAY will not supplant perpetual licenses like mine. The good news is that Reason itself is a VST that can be added to any other DAW at will. So, I've decided that R11 is my last stop on the Reason bus line. I also spent $60 and got Reaper which is also cool, if maybe a bit arcane? It is sort of like SONAR, but missing the elegance in my opinion -even if it is powerful as all heck. I am not a professional in any way -- just an older music lover with a genuine need to learn new things like recording. Of all the software for this purpose I have ever used, I liked SONAR the best really. And so I am back to really give Bandlab a decent shot since they've picked up the ball and run so well with it. From what I see, it works and acts just like SONAR, right down to all the plugins from SPLAT working like they ever did in Cakewalk. So I am looking forward to reengaging with this community at this point. I am guessing you're all fans so feel free to beat me into submission sooner than later with effusive praise