mettelus

Which driver mode and buffer size are you using? Driver mode and sample size can also be playing into this. If using Windows audio/Direct Sound/MME, low buffer sizes can insert hums, a little higher will insert pops/clicks, and higher (256+) are where VSTis begin to playback correctly. Some need up to 8K depending on the VSTi and driver mode used.

I may be oversimplifying this, but historically MIDI notes on the first beat were prone to be missed. As a result, many users start songs on bar 2 (or 3). Because that first bar is empty, there is nothing stopping you from partially filling it. Yes, there will be that blank space at the beginning, but you can set the now time there, or jump around the project via markers (need to assign keyboard shortcuts, but they are available).

Do you have a music shop near you that you can try things hands on? That would be ideal, even if a day trip, since there is so much variation between keyboards/controllers that come down to personal preference. I do not own the Modx6, but it seems it has a good deal of sound editting internally, so is hard to imagine running out of sounds. Plus it will double as a controller (there are free VSTis to play with if you look around). When you do buy something (whatever you end up choosing), be sure it is from a place with a liberal return policy. Just in case you change your mind after you get to truly use it, you will want the ability to adjust as painlessly as possible.

Therein lies the issue. Windows Media Player has a truckload of sound enhancements internal to the program. All media players have some sort of mixer to my knowledge, so in addition to Windows itself, each program would need to be checked. The export from Cakewalk will reflect the options of the export dialog, so if a media player sounds differently, check the settings for any mixers or sound enhancements. Based on your issue, it seems they are engaged in your media player.

Check your Realtek quick... "Sound" in Control Panel... then select the Realtek and "Properties." In that pop-up, go to the "Spatial Sound" tab at the top and make sure that it is set to off. Windows has internal FX chains (basically) that are accessible to programs that will color the sound coming out of the system. Some programs also have these internally (I believe VLC does), so you can also check them there... mixers, ambient environment, speaker fill, and other DSP effects. You want to check that those are all either zeroed out, or off. Bear in mind, that someone listening to your music is doing so in their own environment; so even though you may have them off, they may have them on.

The concept is interesting, but it seems to negate the rest of the signal chain. I have never been a fan of active electronics (but also not sure what that battery is for) in a guitar, but admit I like switches, and one set of pickups that are clean with proper dynamics can be sculpted during processing into most anything. I never saw the initial mention on these, but checked prices... New are $4000, used $1500, and seemed to be a lot of used ones about. The price difference doesn't make sense to me.

+1 to the above, 700 tracks is a lot and I presume that also includes a fair number of VSTis. I would recommend saving the folders mentioned above as track templates, then inserting them strategically into blank projects (by synth is a logical approach). Massive project templates can cause undue strain on a system, so it is better to use track templates as building blocks, then bounce and archive as needed for system performance. Also bear in mind that all VSTis are not scripted the same way, and consume resources differently. No DAW can control this; it is up to the user. Even the most powerful system will fall to its knees if loaded with enough "CPU hogs."

Max, that recipe would be worth shooting Noel a PM about. To my knowledge there has never been a recipe to reproduce this issue, but a recipe to prevent it might be just as helpful.

Right click the MIDI file and choose "Open with..." and then Cakewalk. This will import the tempo map, and if no MIDI output is assigned in Cakewalk preferences also insert TTS-1 and route the channels. Importing a MIDI file inside Cakewalk will strip off this data. I am not sure if the tempo information can be copied directly between projects though, so hopefully someone will chime in to that specifically.

If the guitar is new to you, you may want to consider having a professional set it up initially. Proper truss rod tension, nut height, and saddle height (should be done first) can play a lot into intonation that string length alone will not cure. If changing string gauge, these should be rechecked afterwards. Also be mindful of comments on the internet (even mine)... intonation boils down to checking harmonic string length vs. fretted string length, and the harmonic near the third fret isn't actually on the fret (is roughly 2.9) nor does it come close to matching the note when the third fret is fretted... this is why the 12th fret is used, since the harmonic and fretted positions there should match perfectly to each other.

I kept typing this on my phone but realized I needed to be on the computer. This covers a bit more than muddy base, but wanted to make it more complete for folks who may hit this thread later. Three quick items. First, as mentioned above, there is no magic formula, but references like this (can Google "EQ Cheat Sheet" to find others similar) give a nice overview of how frequency ranges of common instruments affect their character. Second, mixing is where you will often create issues, so placement of things on the sonic stage and minimizing frequency collisions will keep each instrument more clear. This old Fabfilter Pro-Q walkthrough by Dan Worrall (10:10) is one of the nicest I have seen and worth a gander to see mixing "in action" and why he is doing what he is doing. This is geared more to traditional instruments with defined frequency ranges, which leads into... Third, this comment I see as a (possibly THE) challenge... ... reason... synths (especially presets) are often WIDE, and cover a MASSIVE frequency range... two synths can be challenging, but several can make an absolute frequency collision nightmare. Some quick comments on how to deal with this (these are more than just bass, as synths create their own unique challenges): Narrow the frequency range of each synth with both a LP and HP filter - solo the track and dig into each end of the synth till you start to lose the main component, then back off a smidge. The only part required for each synth is enough to get the point across. Consider narrowing the stereo field of each - collapsing them some will allow left/right placement on the sonic stage as well as make mirror EQ (slight EQ cuts in one track with complimentary boosts in a competing track) easier. For repetitive riffs, consider setting them back in the sonic stage (compress slightly and lower volume 3-6 dB) - once a listener has heard it a couple times they will "get it," and backing them out of the mix a bit will keep them present, but not make them compete with other mix elements. Be very judicious with time-based effects (delays, reverbs, etc.) - due to the high frequency content of synths, it is easy to "smear" them and mud them up with just the effects used.

It shouldn't make that great of a difference if the guitar intonation and nut are set properly. However, wear on the nut, string height, and finger pressure will all play into how accurate intonation on the open string is to fretted ones. I have one guitar that has a locking nut that was not installed properly, and although I moved it, I tune that guitar via a G chord (3rd fret, 2 fret, open, open, open (or third), 3rd). The reasoning is that the G chord is the most common 6-string chord I use. *IF* (and more important than which fret to tune on) the node at the nut is dead-on, and intonation at the bridge is set properly, matching harmonics on the 5th fret to the 7th fret on the next higher string (except for the A->C jump) will give the most accuracy. The higher the frequency, the easier it is to match beat frequency. Doing this will *not* take into account string height/finger pressure... it is easy to bend a note out of tune with finger pressure on the fret alone. You can easily find open strings to be perfect, but how much they need to be bent to fret them will cause them to drift. I am sorry this isn't a "yes/no" answer, but the setup of a guitar will play a lot into intonation... if setup accurately, where/how it is tuned will not be as noticeable. Playing with a tuner at various locations can reveal a lot... even a perfectly set up guitar will have some level of frequency variation across the fret board.

Does your image software allow creation of the USB boot media (from another machine)? It may even allow that USB to be a different OS than the image, but not sure. My computer doesn't have a ROM drive, and the one time it got flaky, Macrium Reflect created the USB then booted from it without needing to touch the BIOS. I am not sure if you have tried the USB boot option yet, but that saved my situation a while back.

Comments and behavior in this thread are disturbing enough to totally distract from any bug fixing. So much so that it brings other "coincidences" in the past month to mind immediately for me. On March 24, the OP posted this thread, which was immediately replied to by a person who joined March 17th. A bunch of videos were then posted, and this very thread was then posted by the same OP, but the concerned party didn't respond for 5 days... although posted an hour+ video in response to feedback from a similar thread, which has since been locked. OP then makes a comment "If Bandlab fixed the bugs and offered to give him some financial support, I bet he'd be more than happy to make awesome Cakewalk tutorials." Although the direct response to that comment was already made, the person in question then responds to someone they downgraded repeatly with "If I'm to be an ambassador of this program and take part in deep bug crushing and such, I think it's quite logical that I deserve compensation." (Ref this post in this thread) 3 and 4 above were so far out in left field that they brought attention to the rest. Cakewalk responded to the bug issues in all threads, so that tends to make the other behaviors stand out. As the other thread was locked before there was any reply and associated antics here, I am struggling on how the thought process moved from A->B. It now comes across as a "social media experiment gone bad."

Before jumping to a conclusion, I would recommend testing your system first. DAWs are primarily 2D, so are not intense on graphics. High end graphics cards are geared to provide 3D rendering to unload the CPU, which is not necessary for a DAW. As your CPU is high end, you may see core loading a little higher since the CPU will be needed to render graphics, but I doubt you would really notice it. Even on a "high end" graphics card, the delta in 2D benchmark over something generic isn't much at all... you only see massive jumps in performance for 3D.

Revenue gimmick for weddings... They auction off to the highest bidding party for which person stands on a grounding plate during the ceremony. Sadly, I wasted all of that money on a day with no storm 😭

Not sure what Mesh is after, so Stutter Edit may not even be an option. As far as price, it was like $25 (or even $10?) at one point around Christmas time (I had to check to realize it is still listed as $199). Another disclaimer with that particular one, is it really falls into the "RTFM" category if you want to do composition with it. I think that its main purpose was for live performance above all else (i.e., creative screwing around).

If only a few note values need re-assigning, Chuck's solution may be faster. It seems the OP is moving individual notes (painful), but his method will select entire rows, allowing you to shift-drag (to preserve timing) them all to a new value (and should hear the kit pieces as you drag too). For a lot of note values, a drum/key map may be more efficient, especially long term. If you go this route, be sure to save the mapping with a descriptive name so you know what it is and can find it later.

Tantra, as in this? Not heard of it, but think that is it. What are you looking to do? There are a lot of VST(i)s that have "random" functions to them... and I mean a LOT... That Tantra plugin seems like most can be done with StutterEdit from the demos that are streaming along now (manipulating/mangling existing audio)... for StutterEdit in particular, shutting off the "Stutter" module opens up a lot of its capabilities... most of the presets tend to use that module in an excessive way (due to the plugin name), but there are many more modules that are all based on manipulating sound buffers into the plugin.

The top picture on that page is easier to read, which is "Chasebliss Audio" The color of it leads me to believe it is the "Warped Vinyl HiFi" pedal, but not certain. I have not heard of them, but that is the brand at least.

Good grief... The people who name these things are working in the wrong industry, I think.

I didn't realize the title till I replied. 8 bars is roughly 6 seconds, which is tight for a solo of any kind.

As you do not have a preconceived solo in mind, this option would yield more interesting results. Bar X to Bar Y type of thing. Creativity gains ground when people are asked/told what to do, but not how to do it.

I have never heard of that either, but the video makes it look like a visual patch cabling system. Such an overlay would be very nice for complex projects or routings (there were similar feature requests in the old forum). When opening old projects (or collaborative ones), there is always that time spent getting acclimated to sends, busses, and MIDI channels that this might help with. It also mentions FFT for routing without going into much detail.

You may want to consider editting the original post to something like "[Solved for now] Help with Focusrite 18i8" Otherwise this thread will get SB comments till the cows come home... at that point GirlDairy's thread will come back to life.