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On the fence with Cakewalk *SOLVED*


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So, I’m on the fence right now with Cakewalk.  I’ve been spending a lot of time reacquainting myself with the DAW.  I found myself spending considerably more time with it than my other DAW (MixCraft 8 Pro Studio).

I really like Cakewalks GUI, and the many customization options as well.  However, my biggest issue is with various bugs that make the completion of a song very difficult at times.  I use VST’s exclusively, and I don’t do audio recording into the program.  I do a lot of detailed editing to tracks as well via the piano roll too, but these little glitches often derail my compositions.

I constantly save my work as I go, but I often hit bugs that require me to close the current project or program altogether, and when I reopen it, the issue is still present.  I’ve had several projects ruined because of the bugs, including my most recent project that I’ve been working on for several days.  

For whatever reason in my latest project, I cannot add an instrument track that loads properly.  I’ll create the track with my selected VST, and it shows up in the console, but not in the main recording screen.  The console will show 6 tracks and the main screen only 5.  I’ve made no changes to settings either.  It just won’t add an instrument track now.

I think I’m going to shelve the program until the next update.  I’m not going to make a big fuss either because after all, this is a free DAW with free VST’s and plug-ins. 

I’ll still tinker with it, but for project completion, I think I should stick with my current DAW.

SMD

Edited by SynthManDan
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Apart from adding an instrument track, and it showing up in the console but not the main recording screen (I take it you mean track view), you've not been specific about the other bugs.

The adding instruments issue, I suspect is down to you using a lens that was set to 5 tracks when you created it. 

If you set the lens to "none" up in the top right does the issue go away?

image.png.7232b6321d3589f95c281c47537c4ebc.png

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That's a pretty big flaw. I'd say it would be a dealbreaker in any DAW.  If you don't want help, fine - use your Mixcraft. But if you'd like to get it working I suggest you edit the name of your post to something that describes the problem -- so people will read it -- and include a few more details in your post, like what soft synth won't load, has it worked before, how are you trying to load it, etc. Best of luck!

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17 minutes ago, msmcleod said:

Apart from adding an instrument track, and it showing up in the console but not the main recording screen (I take it you mean track view), you've not been specific about the other bugs.

The adding instruments issue, I suspect is down to you using a lens that was set to 5 tracks when you created it. 

If you set the lens to "none" up in the top right does the issue go away?

image.png.7232b6321d3589f95c281c47537c4ebc.png

It’s not a lense setting issue.  I can start a new project and go beyond the 5 tracks I used for my composition.  It just stopped adding them to the track view.

 

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28 minutes ago, Larry Jones said:

That's a pretty big flaw. I'd say it would be a dealbreaker in any DAW.  If you don't want help, fine - use your Mixcraft. But if you'd like to get it working I suggest you edit the name of your post to something that describes the problem -- so people will read it -- and include a few more details in your post, like what soft synth won't load, has it worked before, how are you trying to load it, etc. Best of luck!

I’ve asked for help when needed.  It’s when I start to do detailed editing beyond simple recording and mixing.  I get crashes from the included Effects Plug-ins.  Sometimes just opening a previous project crashes the program, which then causes other issues within the project when I get it to load.

I’m not trashing Cakewalk.  It’s just not currently working out “for me”.  I didn’t say I was completely giving up on the program, just that I’m on the fence due to some stability issues.  

As far VST’s used, I’ve been using the included Studio Instruments, and Xpand!2.  I know other users are successfully running Xpand!2 with Cakewalk.  I’ve been wanting to test the programs stability using only what was included, but I can’t do that because the TTS-1 is glitched, which is why I’m using Xpand!2 in its place.  

SMD

Edited by SynthManDan
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The Baker's monitor this forum, so more detail and specifics are much more likely to be addressed. Details of what plugins, workflow that caused the crash, dmp files, and even the project in question will get significantly more attention toward resolution. Typing forum posts take time, so including those details has merit toward your own time.

I do realize some aim at sensationalism, but those posts will roll off into oblivion.

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Have to agree with the previous replies.  If someone posts with that type of title and few details, I kind of think their mind is made up and they just need to vent.

For me, the program is rock solid. Occasionally, I'll get some weirdness and that's when I ask for help from the forum. I haven't left without some solution or workaround yet. Then, it's back to making music!

No DAW is perfect. Some may work better with some systems for whatever reason, or just a matter of user preferences and familiarity. You just have to decide if you want to move forward when an issue comes up or throw in the towel.

Edited by razor7music
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I can totally relate here but not like you might think.

See I don't run into hardly any bugs using Cakewalk (especially these newer Bandlab versions) this program does everything I want it to and then some.

But if I was using another DAW and my workflow was disturbed by normal operations, I would change back to my original DAW or one that worked for me.

The upper hand here (IMO anyway) is the developers. They are really helpful. They are constantly going out of their way to ask users for test projects to fix issues. The choice is yours really.

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If you are going to re-install and are comfortable editing the registry make sure to clean up the registry as part of the uninstall. Here is a post about it

Although I would not perform a re-install preemptively unless I knew the install failed. Instead I would work with Noel first.

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@SynthManDan

I can understand you may not want to troubleshoot your issue in a forum thread.  You can always open a support request and deal with resolving the issue in a more formal manner.  Here is the support link:  https://help.cakewalk.com/hc/en-us/requests/new

I would reference this thread, note that Noel has requested information and provide a link to the project experiencing the issue, in the support request.

While it might be a pain to request support it is likely the only way the issue can get resolved.  Getting your issue satisfactorily resolved helps you while whatever the developers find out will help them to make Cakewalk by BandLab a better DAW which helps all of us.

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I did the reinstall, and I’ve been digging into the program to see if I can get it to bug out on me, and it’s running very stable now. I feel that I should explain why I wanted to try the reinstall before bothering Noel.

The power company in my city has been doing some major tree cutting to clear the lines.  Unfortunately we’ve been dealing with power surges, and even disruptions in our internet due to their maintenance.  I actually had several downloaded programs go wonky because the internet and power were interrupted during the downloads.  

I don’t always stand by my computer for big downloads.  I did step outside for a bit when Cakewalk was downloading.  If there were interruptions in the power and net service I wasn’t in the house to see it.  So, I thought a reinstall might be in order since I had other downloads with issues during those interruptions.

Sorry if people thought I was knocking the program, I just wanted to wait until I had time to try the reinstall.  Unfortunately life kept me a little busy lately (wife and four kids.....)

Almost forgot..., the first time I did the download when we were having power issues, I did it via WiFi.  The reinstall was a direct connection of my computer to the router, with no power or net interruptions.

SMD

 

Edited by SynthManDan
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48 minutes ago, John said:

Thank you or letting us know the details. I'm very glad that things are working well for you. I would consider an un-interruptible power supply just in case. 

+1 to this.

Power outages are one thing, but brown-outs are deadly to computer equipment.

I've had HDD's grind to a halt on their platters, and SSD's die completely due to a drop from 240V to around 50V.

A UPS is a sound investment. If you pay the extra to get an inline, you also get the advantage of having a clean generated sine wave and no switch-over glitches because it always runs through the battery. I heard a noticeable reduction in the noise floor when I started using one.

But even the cheaper ones at least give your PC the chance to shutdown gracefully.

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