Robert Bone

Sure - those runtime libraries are needed, because applications that are written in Visual C++ call routines that are release-specific for the runtime libraries those applications were calling, when they were compiled. Then, when they run, they require that same version of runtime library to be present, and crash, with an Address Exception, if that specific runtime library is not installed on the computer. That is why there are so many of those - they can all be installed right alongside each other, and in that post I put the link to in my earlier reply, I list the runtime library links in oldest to newest order, so you can just march down the list to install any that aren't already installed on your PC. Please post back, after you install any missing ones, and try loading and using those synths that were failing before. Bob Bone

Howdy - a common cause of one or more plugins failing in a VST Host, such as Cakewalk, is that one or more of the Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime Redistributable libraries are missing. If this is the issue, it is fortunately pretty easy to confirm, and to correct. I built a post, a while back, with the direct links, in order, of each of those runtime libraries, and you can compare the list in that post, against which ones show up as installed on your system. To see which ones are installed on your system, open up Control Panel, and click on the link that says Uninstall a Program. That will bring up the list of installed programs on your computer, and just scroll down until you start seeing a bunch of those runtime libraries in that list. Then, compare those against the list in the post I will post the link to, below. Install any of those runtime libraries that are missing, and when you are done, see if that corrects your issues with plugins causing crashes. Here is the link to the post I built (Please note: you need to install the x86 and x64 runtimes): Post with links for all available Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime Redistributables Bob Bone

GREAT news! They are keeping this deal going, through July, too. I am sooooooo stoked for those who were able to take advantage of this crazy 80% off sale price. Bob Bone

I have never gone through the disabling Nagle's Algorithm, or the Spread Spectrum - maybe check LatencyMon's post-monitoring report, to see if you have things in your system causing DPC Latency spikes that would interfere with the streaming audio processing that DAW software uses, such as Cakewalk, before embarking on disabling those two sets of settings. Bob Bone

I agree on the processing - I too prefer to control that from the DAW, and also concur on kits like AD2 that sound great played by themselves, but often have to be tweaked a lot, to get them to sit in the mix. I find the Native Instruments kits in Kontakt libraries to be absolutely amazing, and have generally switched to using those, as firstly I get more output channels available to split kit pieces to their own audio output channels in Kontakt, the sounds are amazing, and the mapping is at least on par with AD2, and quite possibly even provides more midi note choices. (the Kontakt Studio Drummer library, for example, has notes mapped from note number 22, all the way up to note number 105, and includes note numbers mapped to things like Hi-Hat fully closed, 1/4 open, 1/2 open, 3/4 open, loosely open, and fully open). Addictive Drums 2 also has a bunch of notes mapped, if you use their AD2 standard mapping in the Map Window. One additional comment on the kits in AD2 - a single kit, such as Studio Prog, when you pull up the kit in the AD2 instance, offers perhaps 20 different variations, which are all displayed in the kit window, so even if you have a small number of kits, there are still lots of those variations to pick from. Here is a link to info and links for downloading a drum map and project template for Addictive Drums 2 for Cakewalk: AD2 setting up a drum map in Sonar (Cakewalk) Bob Bone

Sure - did that help get you straightened out on that? Are you all good now? Bob Bone

I dunno - I have a separate midi track for each instrument, and I keep my midi tracks together, in my projects, so if I wanted to play a few ones from a solo violin instrument, I just have to click on that midi track and play my midi controller, and then if I click on the next midi track down, it might be the midi track for a solo cello, or whatever. some folks group their orchestral instrument midi tracks by section, such as Woodwinds, Brass, Strings, etc, plus, they often use templates with all of that stuff set up already, and because they use that template in many/most of their projects, they get used to knowing where the different kinds of midi tracks for certain instruments, or entire sections, are located, and that makes it easy for them to locate those tracks. I do not happen to do orchestral projects, at this point, but even with what I tend to use, I get pretty good at knowing which tracks are where. It likely boils down to how consistent tracks are grouped from project to project, as to how well someone could get a really good bead on which tracks are where. Bob Bone

Couldn't the folks in the video clips also have already created some midi data for the different instruments shown in the clips? Then, simply playing the project, would let you hear the different sounds from their template. Just a thought Bob Bone

OK - here is the section of documentation on Quick Groups, which seems like it applies to what you want to do: Quick Groups Documentation SO, to do the same change to identical controls or effects in multiple tracks, you group the tracks, and follow the steps in the above documentation, to cause that change to be done to each track that you grouped. Please read the above doc, as I believe it contains the instructions to accomplish what you seek to do. Bob Bone

Wow - I would have thought I would have experienced this, at some point. Thanks for explaining.

Howdy, @scook. Have you encountered phantom exported notes, like described in the OP, from the combo of conditions you describe? I ask, because those are default behaviors, and I work primarily with MIDI, as a keyboard player, and I never have unexpected MIDI notesget added when I export, and I always accept the Enable MIDI Output as checked, by default, in the Insert Soft Synth Options dialog, and I also almost always leave MIDI track Input assignments set to None/Omni. Bob Bone

I have several audio interfaces, including a Presunus AudioBox 1818 VSL, with 8 preamp, an 8-port expansion for that, and a Yamaha/Steinberg UR-22 with two preamps, and those connect with USB 2.0. My 3rd is a UAD Arrow, which is a Thunderbolt 3 interface, and I use that for my laptop. All 3 work well, but unless I am tracking real drums, I use the UR-22 for the desktop, because it is much smaller than the Presonus, and I don't normally need more than the two XLR/mic inputs. I would suggest you try using a Driver Mode of Wasapi Shared, until you end up with an interface that uses ASIO drivers. Microsoft really tweaked up their audio processing in the Wasapi driver, and it may well perform better, with lower latency, than the ASIO4ALL has, and likely more stable. ASIO4ALL is just a wrapper, for I believe the older WDM driver, and WASAPI should perform better than it. I normally set ASIO Buffer Size, with the UR-22, or the AudioBox, to 128 for tracking/recording, and to either 1024 or 2048 for mixing/mastering. I could run at 64 samples, but then it can sometimes be a tad glitchy, so at 128 there is no audible lag, and it just breezes through tracking. My UAD Arrow can go WAY lower, down to 32 or 16, but I normally keep it at 32 samples for tracking, and 2048 for mixing/mastering. Most interfaces in the $150 range, and up, will come with ASIO drivers, and perform well, while also being stable. Bob Bone

THANKS! @Neel Modi for sharing all the maps Bob Bone

Maybe I am missing something - instead of a single stereo track, I generally keep 2 mono tracks, for left and right, using panning law -3 dB Center, sin/cos taper, constant power, and deal with stereo pan and width that way. I like to have the option of applying slightly different effects on one side or the other. Bob Bone

For whatever the worth, I have the TyrellN6 soft synth, and it loads up fine. so perhaps something wrong with something local to your computer - perhaps you have some Windows maintenance that is not installed? (Some Windows maintenance requires explicitly clicking on the Download and Install link in Windows Update).

If you export the drums, and then import that drum track to an empty audio track, then mute the original drums, does the new drum track play in sync with the other tracks Additionally, you could zoom in on the imported drums, and see if the transients line up on the beats, and if they don't, is it that they are evenly not lining up, or, do the drift farther apart farther into the song? Perhaps a sample rate mismatch with groove clips? Groove Clips? Have you examined the drum transients to make sure they line up with the guitar and vocals? If you freeze the drum plugin, and it renders the drum audio, does the rendered drum audio play back in sync with the other tracks? Maybe you could also export separate tracks, of drums, lead vocal, and rhythm guitar, as broadcast wave files, and upload them to some cloud-based file sharing site, like Dropbox, and post links here, so they could be examined. Other than some kind of issue with PDC (Plugin Delay Compensation) I don't know why they would sound different in the project or exported, but even there, I would expect any syncing issues to be audible prior to the export. I have never experienced your issues, so any of the above are just guesses, as I don't have anything come to mind- hopefully someone can jump in with a better handle on what to look at. Bob Bone

OK down to feeding cats, making fresh pot of coffee, and starting some rice, and then I am finally able to jump in, with joy other things tugging at me

I want to circle back to trying to resolve the dropouts and such, using ASIO and the interface - I have a few other things to knock out of the way this morning, and then will start at the beginning of the thread, and try to find something perhaps I missed earlier, because of having several competing things going on, tugging at me in different directions - so I want to focus on this thread, and see if something can be figured out to resolve these for you. Bob Bone

OK - well, the WASAPI route was a plan B anyways - so it is coming up on midnight here, and I am pretty wiped out, however, after a good night's sleep, I am going to leave this thread up, so I can jump in and help you figure this all out, once and for all (I sincerely hope). I would have spent more time earlier, but I was trying to tame some Kontakt issues with one of the Komplete 12 drum libraries, and getting the mixer to present the Output drop-down, so I could alter each kit piece to go to a separate output channel. That was driving me nuts - sorry for the long explain. Anyways, I will give this my undivided attention in the morning, and do my best to help you get the dropouts resolved. Bob Bone

Well, I love it - I have a bigger interface, with 8-ports, and its companion expansion unit that gives me an additional 8 ports, but I only bother with hooking all that up unless I am recording drums, where having 16 inputs is just a happy thing. Most of the time, though, I just rely on my little UR-22. Never have had any issues with it, whatsoever, it just does its job - sampling at 48K and quietly working perfectly. My laptop has the killer little interface - UAD Arrow - it is a Thunderbolt 3 interface, and it is SMOKING fast. But, my desktop will never be able to have a Thunderbolt port, so I use the UAD Arrow for playing out live (I am a keyboard player, and use all soft-synths for live performance, running through a VST Host program to allow me to layer up zillions of combinations of sound from different soft synths). When you are recording, just make sure your ASIO Buffer Size is small enough to where you don't have a lag between playing notes and hearing them back, because that is a nightmare for trying to sync up to other tracks. I use 128 because it is low enough to not have any audible lag, and yet it is not so small a buffer size that it makes the CPU work too hard either - a nice compromise that works fine. Bob Bone

Well, THAT'S pretty weird - glad you are up and running - maybe it got tired of fighting with you, and just gave in.... Bob Bone

I have an HDTV for a computer display monitor (65" wahoo!), so I just have the TV's HDMI handle the audio, and I have a sound bar connected to the TV by a light-pipe cable, so that is how my Windows sounds play). So, it has been a while since I had some other arrangement, but I wouldn't think you would want your Windows playback devices set to the digital S/PDIF devices. What other choices do you have for that? And, are you using WSAPI Shared, or Exclusive, for your Driver Mode in Cakewalk? Bob Bone

When I track, on my desktop, which uses a Yamaha Steinberg UR22 audio interface, or my Presonus Audiobox 1818 VSL, I have my ASIO Buffer Size set to 128 samples, and for mixing, I change it to 2048 samples. For my laptop, which has a Thunderbolt 3 port, and I have a UAD Arrow Thunderbolt 3 audio interface, I track at 32 samples, and mix at either 1024 or 2048 samples, Bob Bone

Try temporarily disabling the device drivers for your WiFi, just before launching Cakewalk, then when done with your Cakewalk session, you can enable the WiFi drivers again.

Did you click Apply, after changing the Driver Mode? And then go look at input and output audio devices? I have been ASIO for so may years, I am digging deep for the above - not sure if that matters, but would be easy to check out by trying. I am on a phone call with a friend, so will have to get back to your thread after I finish that. Sorry