John Vere

I used to do clients and kept things tidy. Now I just keep spreading out and buying more gear !. My wife say's I better get it now before I retire and will have no money. I liked your idea of the bookshelf on that end wall. Put a couch or loveseat in there and throw rugs . I would still use your acoustic panels you bought if anything just to make it look official One day I'll tidy my studio and re build a little bit. I plan on using some wood.... I like the sound of wood. Studio "B" is our TV room and it has a wood ( 1" Fir) floor and a wood (2" spruce) ceiling which happens to be the floor of the upstairs studio A. It's a 12x12 room but has Clutter being 2 stuffed chairs and a loveseat. There are a lot of framed pictures on the wall ( diffusers?) and curtains on the windows.

That is my room treatment in a nutshell- 20 guitars, 4 amps. PA speakers, racks full of effects, =Clutter- the secret weapon.

If it happens again unplug your USB controller. I was thinking this after reading your first post. Only time a VST scan hangs anybody is if you have a dud VST in there, some crappy 32 bit freebee. I have always set mine to manual scan. If it is set that way it won't hang due to a VST that's why I figured your barking up wrong tree.

It was timely for me as I had not used mix recall in the past because I didn't think it would add the plug ins. I'm now just starting to depend on it as I get to the mixdown stage involving 64 projects. Who would of ever guessed at what Cook showed us. Steve is that in the instructions somewhere?? Add this to the 100's of tips I've gleaned from that guy. Anyhow this was on my wish list for a long time ago as I come from using my Yamaha 01v for mixing. You simply save a mix and name it. That same mix could be applied to all the songs on a album. Minor tweeks easily saved and re named but the bones of a mix were always there with all effects and levels pre set. Midi automation took care of the rest. So I was disappointed when I started using Cakewalk that it's mixer ( console) could not be saved. Now it can.

During the in between time after the Gibson shutdown (Nov-Dec 2017) and before we were told about Bandlab if you go to the old forum there was a lot of threads about this. The basic back up plan looked like this: Update everything in the CCC and make multiple back ups of all the installers found in the Command centers download folder. We also obtained codes form a few of the 3rd party VST's like Overloud. I think there were others. XLN and Melodyne have there own codes and are not a problem. But the one thing never resolved was there would be no way to authorize the versions of Sonar that used CCC in the future if the Gibson /Cakewalk servers were killed. Only versions X3e and back used the codes that we can use forever. SPlat needs that server and still does. Even the offline method involves this same server. Because CbB came along and solved this problem, we all moved on and for the most part it is not an issue UNLESS Bandlab goes down. It's up to the individual if your to worry about this , myself I'm not. Worse case scenario is I'd use CbB until it goes into demo mode. Then I would be back to using Splat until the 4 computers I have it installed on died. Then I guess I'm back to X3e ( OMG) or, Cubase? Music would still be made.

Forget it After I read Steves post below I got it to work ( There was a long thread here explaining how I couldn't get it to work. But it certainly doesn't work the way you would expect it. What I did was open a project that had no mix recalls and saved a few scenes.I then saved it and closed. I re opened and added BT EQ to a Buss. I save this as Scene 4. I "save as" and re named it. I closed and opened the original with no EQ on the buss. I changed scenes and back to scene 4 and the EQ did not appear on the buss. ( thuss my original rant) But after reading Steves post below I browsed to the Mix recall folder and dragged and dropped Scene 4 to the original song and bingo, the EQ appeared. I changed to scene 1 and it disappeared. I expected a new scene but Scene 4 worked to bring back the EQ. You can see in the folder below that it created a new mix scene called 5 but that does not show on original list only the "EQ" version. One thing is it does not save your re naming of the mixes. You can call them anything you like but they appear in the mix recall folder named with the project title and mix 1 etc. So a good practice is to always leave "MIX2 - and then place your name afterwards.

You can swap out any of the parts and use some of the better sounding VST's like the Studio Instrument collection. My tutorial on midi covers how to do this. http://www.cactusmusic.ca/sonar-tutorials TTs-1 is a good starting point to see if you like the file. There are many free VST instruments out there as well.

The minute I saw the picture of your room my reaction was, Oh oh, That's not going to work. And as said the "treatment" you tried is only going to help a little bit. For now forget the room and try this_ The idea mentioned back a few posts about building a small enclosure to put your mike in for singing would be something you could do cheap. You could use those foam things. I think that might help vocal recordings. Mikes on guitar amps don't usually pick up the room if they are close in. But you can do the same with an amp. I used to have this big box I made so I could crank my guitar and not scare the animals. And just don't worry about the way your speakers sound, mix on your headphones until you can come up with a plan of attack...like moving to a house with a nice room.

That was Scook not Juno, Juno just quoted scook. You can use a screen capture program, My favorite is OBS Studio which is free. Then I edit in Vegas. Not sure how Steve is capturing.

If you look at what people use in "real" studios" for near fields you do not see brands like Presonus or KRK. You do see Yamaha's, Auratone, Genelec , Meyer, JBL and others. Music stores tend to push certain brands and if the price is right there will be a lot of people using those brands therefore a lot of good reviews by amature users. But you won't find that stuff in a real studio. Not saying you need the top of the line gear to make good recordings but you do need to be aware of what it is your compromising and learn how to adjust your expectations. I don't think you need to spend any money, You just need to know how your speakers translate to the real world. Having something like the Yamaha's just makes this easier. And they do still make very similar versions of the NSM 10 in an updated powered version https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/HS8--yamaha-hs8-8-inch-powered-studio-monitor-black

Well this is a huge clue to me. Your monitors possibly are midrange harsh and not accurate. I read that they sound great for hard rock but suck for acoustic and clean sounds. What qualifies as an accurate monitor is a subjective subject so I won't go there, but myself I own a set of Yamaha NSM 10's for this reason. Speaking of inaccurate, I just bought a set of Mackie CR4. They are boomy in the low end but I knew that before I bought them. They were very affordable, look cool and meet the rest of my requirements. I needed real small, balanced inputs and the volume on/off on the front. I don't do final mixing on them just tracking. . So I quickly got used to their inaccurate sound and I ignore it. Possibly you need to do the same for the KRK's. That is why I asked you what your final mixes sound like on other systems. If they sound great, then your fussing over a detail that doesn't really matter in the end. If it bothers you, take your mixes to a music store and audition studio monitors. But bring lots of cash!

It is actually very easy to have 2 identical workstations. Sure there might be a few high end VST plug in's out there that don't allow 2 installations but most either do or use ilock type USB dongle. If the OP is just using stock Cakewalk supplied stuff there is no issue at all. It take a few seconds to copy over complete projects. Messing with stems would take a lot more work. I have worked between 2 computers for a long, long time now as I remember I started this with Sonar 7. I have never lost a project or had one go south on me. John the reason most of us do not trust bundle files is that there's a 1 in 100 chance they can become corrupted and then you are screwed. Project files if they become corrupted can be salvaged. Bundle files are a leftover from bygone days when hard drives were a lot smaller and transfer speeds were slower. There's no reason NOT to use project folders for transfers and backups. I also back up each project as a MIDI file. That is the most iron clad future proof format I know of. I can still open all my original files that I made in the 80's. And I would expect to still be able to open them 20 years from now. For many of us midi is a large chunk of the work that goes into the backing track part of our recordings. If your projects are all audio then you sure as heck want that Audio folder copied to back ups 100% intact.

OK that narrows it down to what I originally expected. First I'll say it again- upgrading and optimizing a computer for audio has zero bearing on what get recorded. You could use an old XP 32 bit 1.5Mz with 2 GB of RAM and the sound would be identical. ( if it didn't crash . Even though you "think" you've tried everything with your mikes etc you haven't even scratched the surface on possibilities. Most of what you have tried is pretty basic low end gear. And very good point by Mike above about using a treated room. And from what I've read in reviews those KRK's are not an accurate monitor so are not to be trusted either. Your's is a classic case of "Home Studio Blues" and all you can do is either make adjustments and changes to how your inputting with what "hardware" you have on hand or find the weak link and replace it. Your blaming the wrong "hardware" When I say Hardware I'm not talking about computers. I'm talking Mikes and Pre amps. Your font end. What you hear during tracking via headphones can also factor into what is wrong. Example, headphones that are bass heavy and no mid range would result in mid range heavy recording EQ choices.

Bundle is not the way most of use would do this. You just transfer the whole project folder(s) which should all be on a portable back up drive anyways. I've been working between 2 or 3 machines for years now and have never had any issues. As I said all your projects should be stored in a main folder and then that folder should have been backed up to an external drive for safe keeping. Make sure you date the containment folder. I have 3 DAW set ups right now. Main DAW is a typical i7 It has 3 Drives. No data on C. Working data on E and then backups on G. Then an i5 Laptop which has 2 drives same set up but no back up drive. Both have all the same VST's and are fully licenced so projects all run smoothly on both of these machines. It is worth noting that most all VST's like Melodyne and AD2 allow for 2 machines. Then the 3rd laptop is a 2008 duo core Sony with only 1 SATA drive which I use differently. All run the latest CbB as well as have Splat and various older versions still installed. Here's a step by step of how I copy from machine to machine. On my main DAW I use a Data Drive (E) to store all my projects. Each song ( project) folder is inside an ALBUM folder. Album folders keep different types of project tidy. -- Live Band performance, Backing Tracks, Original Songs, Sock Monkey Album Old albums and inactive stuff are kept elsewhere on backup drives . All are backed up to the 3rd (G) drive as well as an External drive whenever possible. I will date the new Folder, example _ "Original Songs Feb 24 2019 " after I copied it over to the BU drives. When I need to use the laptop I hook up the external drive and I copy over the latest version of the "Album" that will be worked on. Note: Now that Album is stored in a minimum of 4 places! I work on the songs and save them into that same folder and when they need to go back to my main DAW I simply Re name the Album folder using current Date'. I then copy it to the external, and then copy back to the E drive of the main DAW. I could now choose to delete the older folder but I usually don't do this until my (250 GB) SSD E drive is passing 60%. The Laptop is used for live recording and right now is living at my partners house over the winter. He is laying down all his parts ( audio only) to our 65 song "album" . I am also working on some of the same songs so it will only be a matter of copying his audio tracks once he is done back to the main DAW. The Sony I use in the Family room to edit and adding some additional instruments like Mandolin. Because I cannot authorize certain VST's I will just freeze synths first and save a special copy in a different folder marked as such. But if you can it is well worth the effort to fully load up your Laptop with everything possible as this also serves as a solid back up in case your main DAW goes south. If not, it's a minor hassle to either ignore all the warnings about the missing stuff and then just swap them out with what's on hand. I didn't freeze some songs and therefore I didn't have AD2 on the 3rd laptop so just swap it over to SI drum kit or even Session drummer. I actually liked one song better with SI drum kit.. now that's weird.

What do your VST instruments sound like? If they sound good then there is nothing wrong with your set up. Your just not recording through a signal path that's working for you. How are you monitoring? What brand of monitors ? If you make a CD of the recording does it still sound terrible elsewhere? If you say your monitors sound great with VST's and pre recorded material that will rule out half of what could be wrong. Computer settings, software, updates etc have no bearing on how digital recordings sounds. It will record exactly what is processed at the A/D convertors. Only item at play would be your interfaces ASIO drivers. It is possible for those to become buggered so make sure you at least download the latest and/ or re install them. Bad sounding audio is a hardware issue. Either you front end is not up to it or your back end is crappy sounding. We can easily rule out the back end if you say it's OK. You could try 10 different mikes and still not get the sound your after. You could use 10 different pre amps etc. It's a lifelong quest to gather the right gear that sounds the way you want. What works for one does not work for all.

I was going to buy a MTK but I didn't really need the multi channel interface. We bought the Signature 10 just for our duo's live performances. We use backing tracks so that's all I wanted the USB for. It's been mostly stored in a road case but I needed a 3rd DAW set up the other day and set it up. Been working flawlessly for a few weeks now and the pre amps etc are possibly the best I have on hand. I never liked my 6i6 pre's.

I agree, BIOS is not something that has any bearing on how software runs, if anything a few system setting have reverted to default that you need to go and tweak but I doubt that is the issue. When in doubt, re install the software from scratch. Before I update Bios I always read the list of "why". It usually is nothing that will make my life better so it's been years since I've had to update a BIOS.

The new Sound craft boards are my favourite right now. I have the Signature 10 as my Studio B set up. So nice to leave stuff plugged in.

The reason the pre amps failed was a design flaw that some mixers have. You have the XLR jacks which are not a problem for phantom power even if a mike is none phantom. But you also have a TRS input jack in parallel and if you plug a guitar cable in with Phantom power on it gives the pre amp a 48 volt hit where it doesn't belong. My solution was to plug those TRS inputs with Silicon. so it would not happen again. Generally it's a good idea to always leave phantom power off until all connections are made. But the switch was very small and hidden on the back. I don't think there was a warning light either. As it was I generally used a Mackie 1604 mixer to feed the Yamaha via the Mackies direct outs. I also used this massive 24 ch Soundcraft board that had a million patch points, all XLR. It was 4 feet wide!

A screen shot might make this more clear.

But I repeat as you seem to have missed my post. How is your Midi playback from the sound modules patched in to your system so that you can hear the output? This has not been made clear. You will not hear them if only the midi cable is connected to the 6i6. Below is what you said is your wiring. I don't see any audio cables. My wiring setup is: MIDI keyboard out to MIDI in on the 6i6 MIDI out on the 6i6 to MIDI in on the Ketron SD-2 MIDI module MIDI Thru from the SD-2 to MIDI in on the Roland JV-1010

It's funny because as far as older projects with audio goes, As time goes by I discover better ways to capture audio so re doing stuff usually leads to a better finished project. The only trouble is I've gone over that hump of being at my "best" as far as guitar playing goes. As most of us geezers are aware our finger slowly let us down. Singing I just have to sneak up on that mike and catch it in a good momment. What was that little Feat tune Old folks Boggie " When your mind tells you something that your body can't fill" So let me know if you get it working as then there is hope!

The OP has had 3 day's or more to respond so we still don't know if this is midi or audio or both.

As Noel said you can apply a mix scene from an identical project. This is the case when you have made a template and have used that template to record a band live. You will end up with multiple projects that are all the same from song to song only the audio is different. BUT if you add a new effect that will not show in the next song you use the mix scene with. Mix scenes do not add vsts or sub routings etc. But if your template was well thought out and you had added all foreseeable effects this can work. If not, make sure to save the pre set for the new effect you add and then it's easy to add it to the other songs.

It's just me.. I just don't get along with Audio snap, never have I ever gotten anything it does to work and I guess I'm just not "getting it". With me it's sort of how much time I'm willing to spend learning a feature. I'm always willing to give it a try but if it takes too long to get things working, I return to my tried and true methods.