Craig Anderton

The information was from MI Sales Trak, and so I still can't discuss specifics. What's more, MI Sales Trak only tracked retail during the time I was checking it. I can tell you that there were "bumps" when new versions were released, and Sonar Artist did pretty well, sometimes reaching the Top 10 at retail. But overall, Sonar never reached the same level of sales over time as most other programs. I think a major problem was ineffective marketing.

Note that you don't "give away" the work, you retain the rights. If a record company hears your music and wants to sign you, they have to negotiate with you, not BandLab.

That means there's a feedback loop somewhere. Check your PC's mixer. It's probably set to Record What You Hear or something similar. Sorry I can't be more specific, the computer I'm using doesn't have an internal sound chip.

Just to follow up on my comments about concerns regarding Microsoft and Apple...it appears that Macs using the T2 coprocessor are causing issues with USB and Thunderbolt pro-level audio interfaces. https://wccftech.com/apple-t2-audio-problems-mac/

Frankly, I'm much more concerned that Microsoft and Apple will be what eventually scuttles our DAWs. Microsoft wants to go more in a "services," cloud-based direction, because so far the shift has been very successful for them. It's possible that software companies will accommodate this trend by making more cloud-based programs, with an eye toward collaboration and a subscription-based model. If so, then whether by accident or design, BandLab would be in a better position than most to ride this trend. As to Apple, the iPhone business is flat, and although there are promises of a new desktop this year, details are vague. And if Apple really is going to ditch Intel chips for their own, I don't see any way they can ramp up to Intel's level of silicon wizardry before the end of the year. I can see this happening for their mobile and other I-devices, but not for a desktop capable of doing a credible job with a program like Final Cut Pro X. I wrote an article about this for Pro Sound News if you want to see more thoughts on the subject.

Well, I wrote a book of CbB tips, and thought BandLab would welcome the opportunity to make people aware of all the cool things you can do with Cakewalk when you wander off the beaten path, but there was never any interest on their part in making people aware of it. Ultimately Reverb.com thought it was great, and carried the book (where it has done well). I did think it was kind of odd when Noel started a thread about "the first book about CbB" when mine had been out for a year IIRC. However, I assume they didn't get behind it because there's no Cakewalk store or in-app purchases, although I never did get a response as to why there was no interest. I assume they didn't answer you because they don't have a clue where they would park what you did, and didn't want to promise you something they couldn't deliver in the short term (which does seem to be the way that BandLab rolls, and in general, that's a good thing). However, I agree that at least a "We're drowning right now, please be patient" note to you would have been appropriate. You did a lot for the community, in many different ways. If I were BandLab, I'd do anything possible to keep you in the fold.

Some mastering engineers receive stems that are more than one track - rhythm section, strings, lead vocal, all other vocals, etc.

One thing is I'd love to see Cakewalk support AAF import/export...

FYI - if a program supports VST2, it can support DX plug-ins through a wrapper. I use the Sonitus plug-ins all the time with Studio One.

Your comments are very relevant. I master primarily to LUFS (I like -11 or so a lot, and it doesn't get turned down much by YouTube). However, CDs remain relevant for merch tables and although physical sales are way down, there's still a market for them. So now I try to master for something that will sound right online, but also, make for decent CD levels (even if I won't win any loudness wars).

Chrome, of course

Don't overlook intersample distortion, where there can appear to be no distortion because the meters are measuring the level of the samples. However when reconstructed via the D/A converter, distortion can result. See the picture below (reprinted with permission from my book, "The Musician's Guide to Audio"").

It's a tractor beam to draw people into the BandLab ecosystem. And you can't sell add-ons unless people have the core program. As a precedent, consider IK's AmpliTube Free. It's a fine amp sim and free, but they make their money from people going to the Custom Shop and buying more modules.

Wow, I don't think it was always that way...thanks very much for the heads-up!!! I've alerted inSync's editor, so the article can be fixed. I thought Reason Intro was just a re-branding of Reason Essentials, but I guess not. The CbB forums - not just forums, but a collection of world-class proofreaders

How nice...the article was supposed to go live Friday, but Sweetwater published it when I asked if there was link I could reference. Here it is: https://www.sweetwater.com/insync/case-using-one-daw/

PreSonus introduced some USB-C interfaces at NAMM, but I didn't get a chance to check them out. Thunderbolt can be sketchy with Windows. You can use a PCIe-card based interface (MOTU, Lynx) for Thunderbolt-level performance with desktops.

Before the shutdown, I was using Sonar, Studio One, Ableton Live, and Pro Tools (when I had to work on projects cut in a Pro Tools studio(. After the shutdown, I'm using CbB, Studio One, Ableton Live, and Pro Tools (when I have to work on projects cut in a Pro Tools studio). I even bounce around among DAWs a lot via AAF (hey Cakewalk - when are we going to have AAF import/export? I like it a lot better than OMF) and exporting/importing stems. I just wrote an article for Sweetwater inSync on the case for learning and using more than one DAW, I expect it will be published soon. I think it will be of particular interest to those who are concerned about the learning curve involved in learning a new program.

It's so ironic that Cakewalk and Gibson were the big "comebacks" at Winter NAMM 2019. Congrats Noel and crew!! (P.S. Program Meng's calendar with visa renewal reminders ).

I agree with that. However digital audio is an interesting animal, because it's all about numbers. Early sample-rate conversion algorithms simply didn't have the resolution not to disturb the numbers due to roundoff errors and such. As the resolution increased, so did the quality. But the other issue is that because they are numbers, anything you do is an operation - even just changing the level, passing the signal through DAC, or clocking it. In any A/B test, the playing field absolutely has to be level. Although the numbers in the digital data stream may be correct, that doesn't mean there aren't phase differences caused by phenomena like jitter after that data leaves the hard drive, including the second it hits the DAC. If a converter exhibits more jitter at 96 kHz than 44.1 kHz - which is technically possible - then the 96 kHz audio might sound inferior. Or, sound different and be interpreted as "better," the same way that people like the phase shift cause by filters in "character" equalizers. Monitoring a source with jitter, even small amounts, will sound different compared to monitoring after the data stream has hit a playback medium that re-synchronizes the digital stream. Overall, I suspect the deeper people get into why "identical" audio sounds different, they'll find that phase differences introduced after the data stream leaves the hard drive are the issue more than frequency response or amplitude. But I don't know...it may be that higher sample rates are needed not so much to capture frequencies, but preserve proper phase relationships. Paul Reed Smith has done some research along those lines, maybe I'll see him at NAMM and find out what he's been up to lately. And I still think DSD sounds better than PCM, but that it has more to do with the post-filtering than the data stream. Maybe. At least I think so

I still use 24/44.1. With 44.1 kHz, you can stream more tracks, projects take up less space, and audio streams more efficiently. However as I've pointed out many times, some sounds and processes created in the box sound better at 96 kHz. This is an obvious difference, not a wine-tasting kind of thing. However, CbB has upsampling so even in a 44.1 kHz project, you can render at 96 kHz and obtain the audio benefits of working at that rate. I'm not too concerned about using a high sample rate to reproduce high frequencies better, because the digital stream goes through a smoothing filter during D/A conversion that gets rid of the stair-stepping. I've NEVER met anyone who can reliably differentiate between a project recorded at 96 kHz that's played back at 96 kHz or 44.1 kHz. So if you can get the benefits of 96 kHz performance as needed at 44.1 kHz via oversampling, then AFAIC there's really no need to record at 96 kHz. You could make an argument that the signal degrades when doing sample rate conversion, and therefore, you're best recording at 96 kHz so you have only one potential sample rate conversion (if needed to do 44.1 kHz or whatever). While in theory this is true, sample rate conversion is way better than it was back in the early days of digital audio. CbB has excellent quality SRC, and I doubt anyone can hear a difference caused by oversampling.

Okay, but let's not get carried away. I've always said if people read manuals, I'd be out of a job

I have a Telecaster that's 53 years old. I can still get strings for it, or replacement pickups. I can adjust the truss rod and yeah, the frets show some wear, but it's still a kick-ass guitar. There's nothing wrong with old stuff that works. OTOH I also have a 2018 Gibson HP guitar with a titanium bridge, the G Force tuning that I find a tremendous time-saver, weight relief, push-pull controls with different tonal options, and a scarf with a deep cut. I don't need the extra bells and whistles; I probably could have played the Telecaster forever. But man, that HP...

I use an S 49 and it works fine with CbB for browsing etc. Just bear in mind that not everything is NKS 2.0 compatible. The ideal use case is if you have Komplete . If so, I highly recommend downloading the 7 GB instrument preview file. It's great to be able to hear a representative sound as you're browsing presets.

If the repair option doesn't work, the comments about Waves support are all true. I know musicians have gotten used to "DIY support," but Waves is an exception. Sometimes old files need to be cleaned out, and they know exactly which ones to nuke.

Waves Central has a repair option. That's helped me a couple times in the past when installs got out of sync with each other.