Jim Roseberry

CbB is the latest version of Sonar Platinum (new features and fixes). As was mentioned, install Sonar Platinum (to access your existing plugins), then install CbB. They'll coexist without issue...

FWIW, When people rave about any plugin or program, they're virtually never talking about the "light" or entry-level version. ie: If a musician/engineer is raving about ProTools, they're not talking about ProTools Free. 😉 Melodyne Essentials is included with many DAW applications... and it-is-what-it-is... an entry-level intonation correction tool. All entry-level products are essentially a "gateway" to the full version. If you need advanced intonation correction abilities (and most of us do), you're left with few options (none of which are low cost). Thankfully, there's an upgrade path... and Celemony discounts several times a year. Cubase's Vari-Audio (included with the full program) is fairly close to Melodyne. That's the best "no cost" option I've seen... and that's only helpful if you've got Cubase Pro.

I'm a bit late to this thread... but it's good to have this confirmed. I've been using Melodyne on bass tracks (to tighten up the pitch-center)... and to my ears it makes an audible difference. I wish I could do the same with polyphonic guitar parts... but I find the polyphonic algorithm causes phasing issues.

Absolutely agree with this. First class vocal instructor can make an incredible difference. I "warm up" for about an hour on gig days. It's made an incredible difference in my vocal agility/stamina. In short, don't be afraid to work your voice hard the day of a gig/recording. Right before we go on, I do vocal "slides" up/down... to make sure the voice is ready.

With 8GB RAM (if the OP is making use of virtual-instruments), the machine could be hitting VM Swap-file (in lieu of having enough physical RAM). This will absolutely *kill* performance. Additional unused RAM won't buy any additional performance. You need enough physical RAM to run your largest projects. Load said project... and have a look at the amount of RAM being used.

Has the OP checked the system for high DPC Latency? That's the first thing I'd check. High DPC Latency can cause glitches or drop-outs (depending on the severity).

Some plugins like Addictive Drums have an online "Sync" process that runs when the plugin is opened. This can cause CbB to take a bit longer to completely shut down. FWIW, I'm experiencing this with the latest CbB... (while mixing a project for a client). CbB will close... it just takes a little longer. If I have Task Manager open... and stop the AD "Sync" process, the Cakewalk process stops almost immediately after.

Do you have an MIDI controllers connected to the machine? I just mentioned this in another thread... A MIDI driver "not letting go" can cause the CbB (Sonar) process not to stop. A good while back, the Korg USB MIDI driver caused this exact scenario.

For DAW purposes, clock-speed is absolutely the single most critical factor. Not all processes in a DAW can be multi-threaded. ie: Playing/monitoring in realtime thru an AmpSim plugin at 96k using a 32-sample ASIO buffer size is not something that lends itself to being heavily multi-threaded. Virtual instruments like UVI Falcon only use a single core. In a perfect scenario, you want highest possible clock-speed... AND the highest number of cores you can get. What you absolutely *don't* want to do is choose more cores... at the expense of significant clock-speed. This is why Xeon CPUs (even though they're more expensive) are usually a significant performance hit compared to standard CPUs. They have more cores... but typically significantly lower clock-speed. Right now, this is why the Intel i9-9900k is such a great "sweet-spot" for a DAW. With the proper configuration, you can lock all 8 cores (16 processing threads) at 5GHz. That's super high clock-speed... and 16 virtual cores (8 physical cores). With quality air-cooling, the 9900k will do the above while running near dead-silent. To best the 9900k, you have to go high-end socket-2066 i9 (which is $1400+ just for the CPU).

During his original run with Journey, I thought Steve Smith was good. After leaving Journey, his level of playing went up dramatically. He became one of the best players on the planet. His playing is smooth/fluid... looks and sounds effortless.

A MIDI driver that's not "letting go" can cause CbB (Sonar) to not shut down. A while back, Korg's USB MIDI driver was causing this issue. When you close CbB (Sonar), open Task Manager and see if the Sonar process continues to run. Some plugins like Addictive Drums have an online "Sync" process. This can cause CbB (Sonar) to take slightly longer to shut down.

Thunderbolt works just fine on a PC (if you know how to properly configure it). A MacBook Air is a particularly bad choice for DAW purposes. The reason is simple, its CPU has *slow* clock-speed. When choosing a CPU for DAW purposes, the most critical factor is clock-speed. Not all processes in a DAW can be multi-threaded (spread across cores). Things like playing/monitoring in realtime thru an AmpSim plugin at 96k using a 32-sample ASIO buffer size (super low round-trip latency)... don't lend themselves to being spread across multiple cores. Some plugins don't make use of multiple cores. ie: UVI's Falcon More cores is certainly beneficial... but not at the expense of significant clock-speed. This is why Xeon CPUs (although more expensive) are often a significant performance hit... compared to standard CPUs. They have more cores... but (typically) significantly slower clock-speed.

I'll check that out... 😉

I can't bring myself to use one of those... though the Dr was recommending it for sinus issues. Feel like I'm drowning myself...

The wife absolutely loves hers.

I agree... Samplitude started out as a really advanced (realtime) audio editing application. It had many realtime processing options decades ago... which was revolutionary back then. I'd LOVE to see that "Static Clip Gain" control added to CbB. I'm mixing a project for a client as we speak... and it would certainly help speed up the process. Yes, I can work around it... but it's not the same. It would be a huge time saver.

I think that's the way many are working (spreading sections of each part across tracks (for separate processing of each section, etc). This is why many productions are using more than 24 tracks. If you listen to any one point in the song, there's usually not that many different parts playing simultaneously. With BG Vocals, it's common practice to triple-track each harmony part (left, center, right). This helps a couple of voices sound more like a group of singers. If you've got three-part harmony... and put each section on separate tracks, the track count quickly adds up. In the case of mocking strings/winds/brass, it adds realism to have each part tracked individually. In my case, when doing "punch-ins" to fix a section, I don't like punching-in on the original track. All my punch-ins are recorded on separate tracks. I prefer DAWs that allow processing per-clip in addition to per-track. DAWs that don't allow processing per-clip force the user to spread those parts across multiple tracks. I do think there's also the, "Because we can!" factor. With the processing power available today, folks are going to use it... (for better or worse)

If turning off Input Echo in CbB reduces the "hiss", then the issue isn't Melodyne... but rather the monitor chain.

FWIW, I'm well aware of the destructive processing option. 😉 The static gain change to which I'm referring is non-destructive.

I've been lobbying (for a good while) for a static "Clip Gain" parameter. 😉 This static clip-gain parameter would ideally scale the waveform up/down. This makes it quick/easy to level out the volume of tracks. Clip Gain Envelope works... but it's a slower process (and no waveform scaling).

Not all processes in a DAW can be multi-threaded (spread across multiple cores). Some virtual-instruments (like UVI Falcon) don't make use of multiple cores. Playing/monitoring in realtime thru an AmpSim plugin using a 32-sample ASIO buffer size is not something that can be heavily multi-threaded. For these and other similar reasons, it's not always possible to have completely balanced load between cores. This is why CPU clock-speed is still the single most important factor when it comes to DAW performance. More cores is certainly beneficial... but not at the expense of significant clock-speed.

If you have a library that loads particularly slow, put that library on a M.2 Ultra SSD. M.2 Ultra SSDs use 4 PCIe lanes... and sustain ~3500MB/Sec SATA SSD sustains ~540MB/Sec Conventional HD sustains ~200MB/Sec This will allow projects using the Ravenscroft 275 to load much faster. FWIW, I had the same issue with HALion 6's library (loaded slow). Put the library on a M.2 Ultra SSD... and it loads fast.

So sorry to hear this! Thoughts and prayer for you and your family

Only worth it... if you use it. 😉 Neve channels are (IMO) one of the best gear investments you can make... But I'd only recommend to those who are into recording/mixing for the long-haul.

I've brought this up in numerous posts recently. If you compare playing thru a real guitar amp vs. plugin thru an AmpSim plugin, the real amp responds more smoothly to transients. Craig Anderton has written about this in numerous articles. Craig is the reason why current Les Paul Standard HP models have the dip-switch option to reduce these types of transients. Using a compressor on the way in (to record) can help the AmpSim respond/sound more like a real amp. I agree with CJ in that you've got to get your guitar sound "up front". If you're doing much more than using a high-pass filter and maybe a subtle EQ boost/cut, the sound (up front) isn't right. Same with live guitar tone; If the sound engineer is using radical EQ, he/she is doing more damage than good. If you've got a nice studio channel, that can make a massive difference in the quality of result from an AmpSim plugin. Something like the Neve Shelford channel (world-class DI/preamp, quality EQ, and versatile compressor) is ideal for use with an AmpSim plugin. Of course, this type of channel-strip costs as much as a (real) quality guitar amp/cab. The DI/preamp alone can make a very significant difference in tone. ie: A passive Fender P or J bass recorded thru a cheap DI sounds weak/anemic. That same bass recorded thru a Neve DI/preamp sounds amazing. The tone is just there... no struggle. Used lightly, the compressor will help the AmpSim mimic the way a real amp responds (more smoothly) to transients. Finally, the EQ section can do wonders to shape the guitar tone. ie: Dial up a Friedman BE-100 amp model (popular Marshall clone). Set the Shelford's mid EQ to the 1.8k setting... and add a slight boost. The resultant sound is a great "Mid pushed" Marshall tone. I can't stress enough just how significant the difference from using quality DI/preamp. Using a typical cheap DI makes it much more difficult to achieve great guitar/bass tone.