Craig Anderton

If you can handle pitch shifts, speeding up/slowing down preserves fidelity the best. When stretching, what happens to the transients depends on how the stretching algorithm is implemented. The same stretching algorithm can exhibit subtly different characteristics in different programs. For example, a program might prioritize preserving attacks as much as possible, and apply stretching after the attack. FWIW, where you place the markers to change tempo also affects the fidelity of stretching-based tempo changes.

Regarding room tuning and such, remember that the level at which you listen to music matters because the frequency response of your ear varies depending on the level. K-System calibration is still useful for calibrating monitor levels.

Don't overlook the ability to render at the existing tempo, then bring the file into Sonar to create tempo changes that help the song "breathe." I did an analysis of several songs' tempo in Sonar, the results are pretty revealing. Please circle back if you need more info on this.

There's stiff competition from Windows 11

FWIW if you're talking Dolby Atmos, it can render to binaural audio that works well on headphones and earbuds. Of course, it doesn't have the impact a full-blown surround system with a bunch of speakers. However, with so many people listening on headphones, Atmos mixes are a step up. There's a sense of fullness and space you don't get with stereo. Lately I'm posting both Atmos (headphones only) and Stereo (speakers or headphones) mixes on my YouTube channel, like how labels put out mono and stereo versions of the same record during the transition from mono to stereo. The Atmos version gets more clicks.

What people seem most upset isn't about the Artst/Pro/+ split, but that Professional users can no longer buy the addons they bought in the past. The only way to get the addons is through a subscription.

It depends on the company. But there are also niche reasons for subscriptions, like collaborating on a project where you don't share the same software. You can subscribe for just long enough to complete the project. For example, you can buy a perpetual license for Pro Tools Artist. Then you work on a project with someone who uses Pro Tools Studio, and uses features you don't have. You subscribe to Studio for a month or two, and then drop the subscription when the project is done. I believe companies that offer perpetual and subscription options will always have the best model. A big advantage of that model is you can subscribe for a year, but if you find you really love a program, then you can buy a perpetual version. The sense I get from people is that they'll refuse to buy a subscription if it's the only option available. Hey, I'm still using GIMP instead of Photoshop . Paradoxically, I think more people would buy subscriptions if perpetual licenses were also available, because then they'd have a safety ned.

FWIW, when subscriptions first started appearing I did an analysis of outright purchase + paying for updates compared to subscription costs. After several years, it turned out to be more or less the same because updates were less expensive than an initial purchase. The main advantage of a subscription was you had new features immediately instead of having them rolled into an update for which you had to pay. So, a lot of the decision-making process involves how often a company updates their software, and whether you need those updates. Cakewalk has a very good track record in that respect compared to, for example, Pro Tools.

FWIW, Cakewalk is one of the few programs whose MPE implementation handles MIDI guitars with MPE mode (Zivix Jamstik), not just Mono and Poly modes. This is essential for using MIDI guitar with multitimbral instruments. I know, I know...I'm probably the only person here who cares about this. But it's an example of Cakewalk being on top of some things that are missing from other DAWs.

Perhaps another possibility is that Bandlab has bigger fish to fry at the moment.

Here's an example. I did a preset pack for the Line 6 Helix. Subsequently, Line 6 came out with an update that improved many of the cab sounds. I made the changes for my own use, then approached Line 6 about offering a free update to people who had bought the original pack. They had no problem with the idea, but the company they were using to fulfill orders simply had no way to modify a system designed to sell things to new customers to a system designed to give free updates to existing customers and a different version than it had offered originally to new customers. I ended up including the revised presets with my downloadable Helix book. I ran into the same issues with Sweetwater Publishing about offering periodic, free updates to my eBooks. To their credit, they modified their order processing to give users with previous versions free updates, but it wasn't a trivial undertaking. I believe they're still working on how they can modify the system to sell significant updates (e.g., like going from v1.0 to v2.0) at half-price to owners or previous editions. I figured it would be easy to do...wrong. Despite Sweetwater being a technologically hip company, it took them quite a bit of effort to bulletproof the system.

Not just PreSonus - also Universal Audio, Avid, Waves, and Native Instruments, among others. It seems the industry is going in the Burger King direction - "have it your way." The beauty of software is that the Bakers can tweak the model easily over time. Also, I can vouch from personal experience that making backend changes to accommodate different purchasing models can be a nightmare. IMHO the Bakers are doing a fine job of nurturing Sonar and keeping it alive and growing. I don't think there's any question they deserve compensation not only for their current efforts, but for the work put into the program while it was free. It seems the only question is what form that compensation should take.

I'm involved in graphic design. It's important to remember that graphics, like music, is a fashion industry. Pastels have made a comeback in recent years, especially for websites. They're traditionally associated with sophistication, but one of the main reasons for using pastels is they retain impact because of the difference you can create between the original hue and the whiter/paler variations that create pastels. Technically, pastels start with a base color and add white. So, designers can determine how much contrast they want between elements by how much white they add. Fashion-wise, this is also a natural progression from the "dark look" that was prevalent for so many years and added black to base colors. I don't know Cakewalk's motivation for going in a pastel direction, but it looks to me like they're aiming for 2023/2024 more than women and children.

To be fair, when Cakewalk introduced the "membership" label, it was because the software was rent-to-own. Even though you paid monthly, eventually you would own Sonar outright. At the time, "subscription" meant you paid or the program went belly up. I think subscription still has the same meaning today. They wanted to differentiate between the two.

I've noticed companies that tried to go subscription-only (most notably Avid and Waves) went back to offering perpetual licenses as well as subscriptions. UA, PreSonus, and iZotope - who are all doing very well - offer subscriptions and also offer perpetual licenses. The reality is that subscriptions benefit some customers and perpetual licenses benefit others. Offering both increases the potential customer base. I would highly recommend that Cakewalk learn from the mistakes of others, they've already done the R&D