John Vere

That is an interesting thought. I think it was shortly before Gibson dumped us Thayer was this free version of Home Studio available through a magazine . I remember grabbing it as well as posting the links in the old Forum. I still have that file in my collection of Cakewalk files. Now you got me thinking it might be as you say. This is all just a backup plan to if things go wrong with this new development. Like most here I will most likely anti up and pay for Sonar. As Jesse just said it’s way to early to get our shorts in a knot about it.

The copy of the download folder not only backs up all of the plug ins and software it makes reinstalling to a new computer super fast. Run the Command Center install and then don’t install anything. Now copy the content of the backup file to the new download folder. Now everything goes fast.

Just click on the name field and rename them. If you are asking if you can bulk rename- no.

If you read my post you will see I said “ Other than Splat “ Sonar Platinum , Splat, was the first version to require servers. And once activated never needs the server again until you install it to a new machine or change your C drive. X3 and backwards as well as Most of the add ins came with there own installers and serial numbers. Worst case scenario for me would be returning to using X3. I’ll do that before I change DAWs.

What I'm not understanding is the worrying about the Gibson activations?? Other than Splat, all old Sonar version do not need the internet or any on line activations. As well as all the add on's. I can install any of that old stuff off line from my back up copies of all the software and plug ins. I have all my serial numbers and registration codes. I have all the installers. If you haven't backed all your stuff up from your account I have no pity for you on the day the Music Dies. So don't complain about servers anymore, you don't need them. Store it locally. The big question still unanswered is the same as for Splat, will they unlock CbB so those who don't wish to upgrade can carry on.

It’s actually a viable survey but gathering data from a handful of mostly loyal users doesn’t mean much . You intentions were good. Cakewalk could send out a proper survey to their entire user base which I believe is very large now. My guess is 80 % of those people only have Cakewalk because it was free. A lot of them probably never turn it on. Out of the rest most will be long time users who will either pay what ever the price is or continue using CbB. A few will leave as well .

Plug in demo mode will cause this.

I will be doing just that but the timing of all this is bad. I have 4 gigs lined up so my focus is on practicing and fine tuning some backing tracks. I also just redid my computer with 3 new SSD drives and upgraded from 10 GB to 32 GB of RAM. I just don’t have time possibly until later this Summer. Thanks for your support.

@User 905133 where did you find this quote. I'm looking for clarification regarding the removal of the Activation time out?

When I read through Jesse's announcement https://discuss.cakewalk.com/index.php?/topic/58304-introducing-cakewalk-next-and-our-new-brand-identity/ My first thoughts were " I saw this coming a few years ago" I mentioned the whole idea of them sitting around after Gibson gave the boot and some smart thinkers said " This is software with huge potential if given some bug fixes, but it's not cross platform and it has only a small loyal following. It seems to have some stigma attached to it in the recording community. What can we do to save it? It seems a waist to just toss it out. Why not fix the bugs, and then make it free for a few years to build up a much bigger loyal following? Then when we get the numbers up we can revisit charging for it again." I was bashed for even thinking this way. Anyways this is great news for all us long time fans of anything Cakewalk offers. And we will have 3 choices. That's going to make a big difference for many. This so much reminds me of the change to X1 from 8.5. We will most certainly hear the same rants and babble about the new Sonar etc. etc. Already people are freaking out. Why? If you don't like it you can do just like the handful of people who didn't like X series ( they are still around ya know) did and stay with the unsupported version of CbB forever. Yes forever. They have said that there will be one more update to CbB and in that I predict they will finally remove the activation time out. Why not. It would not be cool to kill CbB. That's why I'm confident they won't. It will become like 8.5, and the X series which all still have a fan club of users who thing CbB sucks. I use other software I never updated which is from around 2014 now. They have CbB in excellent shape right now so it will be a great DAW for years to come and probably a huge fan base that might still be using it 10 years from now, 8.5 still runs on W 10 ( 11?) so CbB could possibly run on W 21 It will probably become a sub forum. This is good news that they also decided to completely re vamp Sonar. Long overdue since X1. But it seems they are just re vamping and not ditching the original foundation. My concern is that they will not remove the clutter as in the 9 ways to insert a instrument track. Looking forward to getting a Beta version of Sonar so I can start making tutorials about it. Oh, yes the main reason I started this thread. You will notice I reverted to my old forum ID. I also had to take down all my Videos. Legal reasons with using the name Cactus Music. I own the name only in Canada. So that happening and the fact that Cakewalk will change anyhow. in the mean time you just need to use the Documentation which has all you need to know. https://bandlab.github.io/cakewalk/docs/Cakewalk Reference Guide.pdf

People will never get this right so I've stopped even talking about it. But in a nutshell Working with Cakewalk and on board audio= WASAPI Working with Cakewalk and a proper audio interface = ASIO. Nothing else to know. Only ASIO can be in sync when overdubbing audio. So if you are using WASAPI you can fix it with a loopback test and adjusting the timing offset. My office computer does not have an interface connected so I use the Realtek and WASAPI shared. It's connected to a pair of Mackie powered Monitors. I call it Studio B. I have never noticed any difference in running projects this way but I am not recording audio, just trying and testing plug ins and working things out while typing my narrations for videos. I read these old threads and realize how much I've learned since then.

It was not exactly stated but the quote most certainly reads that way to me. It makes perfect sense. Why pyzz off thousands of users when it would cost you nothing to do this. They said the only reason for the activation was to keep track of how many people were using the software. They no longer will need that info. It will also keep the pirates away.

Reading Jesse’s and Noel’s posts it sounds like the current version of CbB will get one more bug fix and then be left available for free forever. They never said anything about removing it. It will be the 3rd version. It will be the same version of Cakewalk as what we have right now for as long as you can run it on a current Windows system. I think that is a very cool offer for most of us who are just fine with what we have. They don’t have to do that. There’s no users agreement saying they can’t just pull the plug and when your activation runs out in 6 months you would be forced to pony up. They aren’t doing that at all. So we will get one last bug fix and they said they are removing the activation time out with that update. So be sure and update when offered. This CbB version of Cakewalk will still work for a long time yet. For me that can be at least 10 more years. I still run it on W7 on a backup computer. I have lots of 10 year old software that works just fine. Really the bottom line is what we now have will no longer be supported so if you have any issues don’t complain. But they are not demanding money from you for continuing to use their software. They are simply offering a new DAW based on Cakewalk that will be supported and will open your old projects. So I really don’t understand people already worrying about what it will cost? It’s still free. It’s as solid as a rock right now and let’s see what the bug fixes are. I look at this as an offer to upgrade if I so choose so.

This is not a Cakewalk problem the answer is in the user manual for your audio interface. Most also have Videos with tutorials on the web site. I will assume you have plugged your desktop speakers into the audio interface. When you use an interface it handles all audio. Every audio interface I’ve ever used has a level control for the headphones and a main volume for the speakers. You simply turn up or down the playback system you want to listen on.

I’ll repeat this again. There is a lot of value in what we got with Sonar. When Gibson walked away anyone with any sense backed up everything to do with Sonar in at least 3 or more safe locations. This includes the Command Center Download folder. All the registration codes and install files, backed up and safe. To depend on a web site for valuable software you own and paid for is asking for eventually loosing it all. If and when you do get access to it Back it up! They have been very good about bailing people out but that could change. It’s not their problem really, it is Gibsons.

It’s always a plug in. And just today TTS-1 froze Cakewalk again for me. I didn’t loose anything, I was just re mixing a finished project. The minute I tried to change the volume of the TTS-1 track Cakewalk froze. I re opened the project and immediately replaced TTS-1 with Xpand which is better sound quality anyway. It’s always a plug in if Cakewalk freezes or crashes. I wonder if they will stop including TTS-1 in the new versions?

That’s weird mine is just white. Possibly you are using a customized theme that makes it harder to see.

Good to know. I guess I better get on it and try the trial version.

And everyone poo pooed me about 2 years ago when I predicted this. I said I thought giving it away for a few years, build up a much bigger user base and then start charging for it was a smart business plan. The ultimate free Demo. I wonder if the last release of Cakewalk by Bandlab will continue to be the most popular and continue to require re activation periodically. Sound like Sonar will not really be Sonar but a brand new DAW. Not sure I need that myself.

They say you need to install CbB last but on one machine I have I installed 8.5 and X3 much later on and nothing happened. I think it’s something like personal preferences get overwritten. I Unchecked everything but the plug ins I wanted during the install using the custom install option. And Command Center can most certainly be installed later and run. I have all the goodies from that backed up in a dozen places so no need to re download.

There are a lot of options so here is what I have done. Export all audio you think will survive the tempo change without noticeable artifacts. You won’t get away with that much of a change in tempo with important tracks like bass and vocals. Even 5BPM change can trash audio. But what you can do is plan on redoing everything but at least give it a try first. The big trick is that all the audio has to be a complete clean track from start to finish. No edits etc so that’s why we create the stems. Export as stems using Tracks. You can include what you want at this point like processing and automation. I use. 48/32 no dithering. Delete all audio from the tracks but leave the track itself. This leaves you with only midi which you can safely change the tempo. So now bring the stems back to the project and drop them in the original tracks. Now apply Audio snap to them audio follows tempo. Now change the project tempo and assess the damage. Carry on from there.

That’s what I’ve just decided to do myself. I’ve been working on 35 of my originals for a last 20 years Some started life on 8 tracks an had real drums and bass etc. When I tried to blend those with my newer songs it was impossible. So l created a band using the VST’s I liked best and used that band on almost all the 35 songs. I used presets and velocities etc to have a very consistent sound. But each song is still different and after a year of mixing and re mixing and listening on as many playback systems as possible there was one song that turned out better than the rest. So I looked at that songs mix under the microscope and applied what it had as best I could to the rest. This has gotten me very close to the songs sounding like what I wanted which is what you would hear at a live concert of the music. Most of the success of this was due to using a balance of listening as well as good analyzing tools. I’m almost done but I put it aside about a month ago due to having to focus on playing gigs. Some of the gigs I play my originals at so I made backing tracks. This involves muting the vocal and guitar buses. This became yet another eye opener for the analyzing a song and mix. I thought I was done with recording and editing. Nope. I promised my family that I will get them in the can and move on soon. What I do with them doesn’t matter to me. I wrote them to play live.

What is cool about track templates is that they also add the associated buses. I actually use track templates more than project templates. Open a blank project and populate it with the track templates you’ll use. Done.

https://www.steinberg.net/promotion/ This is a heck of a good deal for Wave Lab Elements that’s the version I’ve always used. Solid as a rock for over 20 years for me. And once installed it never asks me anything about updating. I’m still on version 7 and I’m going to upgrade which is only $36 sort of a no brainer for software I definitely need and use almost daily. My workflow is 10x faster than if I use Cakewalk or anything else because it’s just a better design for working with audio files.

There’s also a way to use tool copy to open an audio clip in a wave editor directly from Cakewalk.