Lord Tim

For audio discs, the best way is DDP. But that usually requires mastering software to create or burn from the DDP image. The next best thing is BIN / CUE files. BIN is the audio data, CUE is the track list, and they go as a pair. You can rip a CD to BIN / CUE using http://www.anyburn.com/ To create the files: http://www.anyburn.com/tutorials/copy-disc-to-bin-cue-file.htm Send both of those files to your friend via WeTransfer.com or something similar, have him save them to the desktop and download AnyBurn. Then use this method to create a disc on his end: http://www.anyburn.com/tutorials/burn-image-file.htm (And choose the CUE file as the source image)

Well, do a better test than me so you DO know. Then show us your findings. I'll stick with scientific tests rather than subjective "my ears don't lie lololllol" tests any day.

5 minute test then: Loaded up a 1KHz sine wave in CbB, 1 second on, one second off, duration of 10 seconds. MCompressor was strapped over the FX bin at the default settings except for the ratio that I set to 4:1 so you can hear it better. Exported this as a WAV. Replicated this exactly in REAPER and loaded the WAV I exported in CbB and flipped the phase. Results: The threshold kicks in exactly in the same place, and the difference between the two is consistent with what I saw with the rounding errors I saw above. If you're hearing anything different then it's all placebo. EVERYONE's ears lie. It's entirely subjective. Null tests like this show us up for the fallible humans that we are.

Had a bit of time before a session tonight and I did a quick test. NOTE: CbB Pan Law set to 0dB center, sin/cos taper, constant power. Internally I'm using 24 bit depth, not 32 bit or 64 bit double precision. First we'll do some Self-null tests to ensure CbB isn't creating inconsistent results that don't null with itself, just as a control. ---------------- CbB Self-null test 1: Input files: 1KHz Sine - 24 bit, 44.1KHz stereo White Noise - 24 bit, 44.1KHz stereo Sine Sweep - 24 bit, 44.1KHz stereo Drum Loop - 24 bit, 44.1KHz stereo Output: 24 bit, 44.1KHz stereo files, all exported seprately. Reimported back into CbB along with the original input file and the phase inverted Results: All files entirely nulled to silence. ---------------- CbB Self-null test 2: Input files (all 24 bit, 44.1Khz mono): Kick Ride Snare Bass Hats Volume for each track set to -6db. Panning set to center. Output: 24 bit, 44.1Khz stereo mixdown Reimported this file, inverted the phase of this new track Results: Output meter showed -136dB maximum, or practically inaudible difference. I would expect that to be lower or 100% using 32 or 64 internal bit depth. ---------------- CbB Self-null test 3: Input files (all 24 bit, 44.1Khz mono): Kick (panned center) Ride (panned 100% L) Snare (panned 50% R) Bass (panned 50% L) Hats (panned 100% R) Volume for each track set to -6db. Panning as above. Output: 24 bit, 44.1Khz stereo mixdown Reimported this file, inverted the phase of this new track Results: Output meter showed -136dB maximum, or practically inaudible difference. I would expect that to be lower or 100% using 32 or 64 internal bit depth. ---------------- CbB Self-null test 4: Exactly the same setup as test 3, except MCharmVerb was in the FX bin on the kick and snare tracks with the same settings (see attached pic for settings). Output: 24 bit, 44.1Khz stereo mixdown Reimported this file, inverted the phase of this new track Results: Output meter showed -136dB maximum, or practically inaudible difference. I would expect that to be lower or 100% using 32 or 64 internal bit depth. ---------------- CONCLUSION: CbB completely nulls with itself for all intents and purposes - as expected - even with MCharmVerb and panning applied. ------------------------------------------------ REAPER vs CbB Null test 1: Input files: 1KHz Sine - 24 bit, 44.1KHz stereo White Noise - 24 bit, 44.1KHz stereo Sine Sweep - 24 bit, 44.1KHz stereo Drum Loop - 24 bit, 44.1KHz stereo Output: 24 bit, 44.1KHz stereo files, all exported seprately. Imported the CbB exports from CbB Test 1 for each respective file and inverted the phase. Results: All files nulled to silence. ---------------- REAPER vs CbB Null test 2: Repeated CbB test 2 but inside REAPER, same source files, same settings. Output: 24 bit, 44.1Khz stereo mixdown Imported the CbB export from CbB Test 2 and inverted the phase. Results: Output nulled to -48dB maximum. Not completely silent, but close to silent in a real-world situation. I would suggest this is due to rounding differences with the 24 bit file and the internal bit depth of REAPER mixing engine. ---------------- REAPER vs CbB Null test 3: Repeated CbB test 3 but inside REAPER, same source files, same settings. Output: 24 bit, 44.1Khz stereo mixdown Imported the CbB export from CbB Test 3 and inverted the phase. Results: Tracks panned away from center did NOT null with the default REAPER settings. Overriding the project defaults for each track to dual mono reduced the difference by 6db but the files did not entirely null, and no settings would achieve this. ---------------- REAPER vs CbB Null test 4: Repeated CbB test 4 but inside REAPER, same source files, same settings. Output: 24 bit, 44.1Khz stereo mixdown Imported the CbB export from CbB Test 4 and inverted the phase. Results: Obviously this will not null as per Test 3 because the panned tracks weren't correctly nulling due to the differing pan laws. Reverb decay did not null on the stereo sides, in a similar way to regular tracks panned off center did not null. ---------------- CONCLUSION: When tracks are panned center CbB nulls either completely or very close to 100% with REAPER. The minor difference betwen multitrack mixes can be down to rounding (ie: the exported files were 24 bit / 44.1Khz vs an internal 32 bit or 64 bit mixing engine, so the more tracks imported, the more there will be differences as they're mixed together). In modern pop/rock/metal/hiphop/etc music, apart from very quiet sections or the end of reverb tails, in real-world use, this is going to be practically inaudible. When tracks are panned off-center, the results don't null for any tracks not panned to center. This is due to differing pan laws. This will be audible for those tracks only, even in a modern mix, and can be compensated to match by raising or lowering the track volume. When there are stereo effects added, the results don't null for the amount of sound on the stereo part of the material. For time based effects, this can make the tails seem either louder or quieter depending on the settings and the width of the effect, and will definitely be audible in a modern mix. ------------------------------------------------ Bonus test: Importing the exports from CbB and REAPER into Adobe Audition matched the results seen above. ---------------- My take? I stand by what I said about pan laws being the biggest difference between how these DAWs sound. That doesn't make either one sound better, but just slightly different. The more tracks, the more stuff is panned, the more differences there will be. If I had more time I would repeat this with 64 bit settings to rule out rounding errors with the 24 bit stuff I was using, so don't take this as anything like a definitive scientific test. I'm sure others here could do it better. Ultimately, if you're finding that one DAW is dramatically better than the other then more power to you - use that DAW. If having slightly louder reverbs and some tracks a little differently balanced in REAPER when you're doing an exact apples to apples comparison with CbB, you'd probably get more benefit by actually listening to what you're mixing rather than comparing the differences between each DAW. Can you hear that -50dB track difference? I doubt it. Is a slightly louder reverb going to sound different? Sure. Will that negatively impact your mix? If it does, perhaps practicing mixing more than splitting hairs might be a good option. Reverb settings as used above:

Do a null test with straight audio, and the pan laws set the same. If it sounds different, then one of the DAWs is broken. Algorithmic or evolving effects won't cancel entirely, but it'll be close enough to tell it's nulling out.

I've had good luck with an old laptop that doesn't have HDMI out that I wanted to run into a 3840x1080 monitor by using a USB to HDMI Displaylink adaptor, similar to the ones on here: https://www.displaylink.com/products/usb-adapters Not ideal but if you have the spare USB3 port, this could be the workaround that gets the job done.

Yeah, this is an odd one for sure. I'd probably be shooting Support a message in which case. It's hard to say if this is an interface thing, a Windows environment thing or something in Cakewalk that's gotten borked along the line. As a final thing to try before you do that, though, make sure Cakewalk is closed then open up File Explorer and navigate to %appdata%\Cakewalk\Cakewalk Core Look for AUD.INI and rename it AUD.OLD The next time you restart Cakewalk it'll rebuild your configuration file. That will at least rule out some weird-a$s setting or corruption there. But if that doesn't help matters, shoot Support a line I'd say. Good luck!

Just for troubleshooting, what happens if you change the driver mode to WASAPI Exclusive in Audio > Playback and Recording? Usually you're always better off with manufacturer supplied ASIO drivers but there's been a lot of work done using Win10's native WASAPI modes over the last couple of years. On my interface, I'm finding around the same latency as my ASIO drivers. I'd be curious to see if you get the same ~10ms offset.

Aha, OK! Ignore what I said then In which case, in Cakewalk open up Preferences > Audio > Sync and Caching (it may be hidden if you haven't got the Advanced view checked down the bottom of the window) Look for Record Latency Adjustment and make sure you have the right device selected and Use ASIO Reported Latency is ticked. If that's all correct, you might be able to put in a manual offset and fix the issue that way.

Your best bet is to remove ASIO4ALL and use the proper Avid driver which will report the latency correctly: Grab the proper Windows driver from here: https://avid.secure.force.com/pkb/articles/download/fast-track-solo-drivers Unzip it to a handy location (eg: Desktop) Go into your Control Panel Settings > Add / Remove software and uninstall ASIO4ALL Make sure your Fast Track Solo is unplugged, and install the correct Avid Drivers Plug it in, let it detect. Open Cakewalk and go into Preferences > Audio > Driver Settings and choose the Avid driver. This *should* fix the problem.

I definitely can agree it's regular Windows behaviour, but it still seems really touchy in this context for some reason (not saying this is any different to how Windows does it in any way, but how I tend to click on things in the browser "feels" different, for want of a better explanation). If there was some way to lock the filenames globally, that would be fantastic and save me a lot of _.wav files.

+1 on this, I've done this far too many times myself.

It's got to be something that's tricky to fix. There was a lot of work done on zooming a year or so back which improved things a lot, especially with folders, but this just seems to be the last hold out. That said, for me it's more of an irritation than a show stopper and I'm glad Articulation maps and Arranger tracks and that kind of thing got the attention lately - that's making a BIG difference to my workflow. Hopefully the lanes zoom will get a look in soon.

Throwing in my usual +1 to this.

Using workspaces is an excellent suggestion. It's a lot more powerful than even experienced users give it credit for in some ways.

I'd agree with that, and I'd also add that it would be cool to use icons as well as, or instead of text. You could do it similar to the Small / Medium / Large / Auto size modules for everything else, and have small be just icons, medium be text, and large be both perhaps. Fitting 12 icons in a module would be super easy and great to save space.

Yeah, I can say I've had this happen a couple of times randomly over the last couple of years too. @scook is on the money - if it's failing for you for whatever reason, just use a hosting service like Imgur.

I'll, uh, refrain from any gags about plugins I guess... 😒 (Can you tell I've been editing all day? Sigh. Sorry, guys!)

Wow, that's a good point! Lucky I got that CbB tattoo on my butt, hey? 🤔 (You'll all have to subscribe to my OnlyFans to see that, naturally 😉)

If you want to convert the MIDI tracks to audio, freeze the tracks first, or bounce them down to new tracks inside the project and archive the MIDI/Synths. If you're just doing a Save As and saving the project in the same location, it won't actually copy anything anywhere - you'll need to choose a new folder to copy everything over. For example, you might have your original project like this: C:\Cakewalk Projects\Project Name\MyProject.cwp and the audio would be in C:\Cakewalk Projects\Project Name\Audio If you just did a Save As in this same directory, you wouldn't really be copying anything, you'd just be making a different project referencing the same audio. What you'd want to do is make a new folder somewhere, eg: C:\Cakewalk Projects\NEW PROJECT\ And then you'd do Save As / Copy all audio with project and navigate to the NEW PROJECT folder. That'll save the MyProject.cwp file in that folder, and copy over all of the active audio files into an Audio sub folder. The NEW PROJECT folder and everything in it is what you'd copy to your backup media or a new computer. If you open the MyProject.cwp file in this NEW PROJECT folder, it'll reference the WAV files in the Audio subdirectory in that folder, rather than the previous location. In other words, everything in the NEW PROJECT folder is its own self-contained thing now. (Obviously these are just example names, call this stuff whatever you like ) But as I said and you discovered, this is basically replicating your existing project, so if you do try to open this on a machine without your current synths or effects on it, it won't play properly, so freezing or bouncing down the synths to a new track is a good idea regardless I think.

1. Yes 2. Don't worry about it 3. One file per clip means that if you've, say, copied in a hand clap sample 40 times into a project, rather than referencing that one WAV, it'll save an individual copy of each. In some ways that can be handy, but usually it's just a big waste of disk space. After you save the project to its new location, you should see the audio files being copied over. I'd double check that everything is there by closing Cakewalk down, reopening it, and then opening up the new version that you saved, just to ensure everything copied over OK. I've never had this go wrong on me, so I personally don't bother any more, but it's good for your own peace of mind when you try this out the first time.

Your best bet is to do Save As, and save the project to a new location, ensuring Copy all audio with project is checked in the Save dialog. That way, you'll get only the active audio you've got in the project and the CWP file saved to that new location and none of the other unused takes. You should be fairly safe to delete the original project folder after that.

Fantastic!

No, that's actually wrong. 1. Find an audio clip. (Not a MIDI track or clip) 2. See if you can find a pitch envelope anywhere, either on the track or clip level. 3. Tell @Josh Wolfer he's actually correct. I agree with the OP, this would be a pretty great feature to have.

Your best bet, if you haven't done so already, is to use the supplied ASIO drivers for your 18i20 - they're always going to give you the lowest latency out of everything. Make sure there's no other ASIO drivers on your system because you'll find things like ASIO4ALL or the Generic Low Latency Steinberg driver can cause you issues too, even if you're not actually using them. HP can be fairly problematic on some models, and might need the inbuilt audio driver disabled, and the power settings checked too. But definitely start with choosing the ASIO driver first. I'd recommend unplugging the 18i20 first and then going to the SUPPORT page and downloading the latest drivers, installing them and rebooting, then reconnecting the 18i20. Then start Cakewalk up again and choose ASIO as the driver. This should at least give you a baseline to work with, if it doesn't solve the problem completely.