Dave C

I see threads about specific items or theme editor, but did not find one about just a simple request for a few color choices to be added back. The new themes are mostly ok. A variant of Cosmic would work for me if a few key colors could be user controlled. I cannot deal with the bright orange or purple highlights very well, they are fatiguing colors. Blue looks great but is only on bright themes. Also, some of the indicators for which controls are selected on tracks are just tiny white dots in the four corners and would be more visible with color control. These are the types of colors we most need to control, in my opinion: 1) Main highlight color (orange, blue, purple, etc) should be a user choice - or at least vary the themes a bit more 2) track colors bright or dark option with any theme. The tracks are really drab and hard to see in all views (arrange, piano roll except cosmic or dark theme). The old theme editor should not be needed to allow PRV and track coloring to be brought back, I would hope. 3) track headers can no longer have custom colors 4) the selected control on track needs a brighter color (match highlight, or thicker border or both) since it is just four dots on the corners 5) allow our own selection for plugin type colors (VST3, VST2, other categories, etc) 6) allow our own selection for overall browser text and highlight color 7) text color and highlight selection throughout app would be even better than just the browser Even if we could get these added gradually, a few per release perhaps, it would be a huge relief to the eyes. None of the current themes is great for me and as easy to see and work in as the previous software version allowed. On a side note, it feels after the vector overhaul, the GUI still needs a revisit for readability, and minor cleanup. There are some dropdowns that are too vertically thin to read well, the FX bins should be able to be wider when tracks are made wider so we can read the plugin names, etc. Core plugins need similar work. Overall Sonar is on a great path, but the GUI conversion took a few things a step back. I find it one of the better looking DAWs, but having some usage issues lately compared to CbB. Thanks for listening, D

EDIT: Just realized there is a dedicated feedback forum. Please move the post as needed. My apologies new to the new forum (was active for many years on the old ones) A couple things of note about the Core plugins. I like them overall, especially as they are high DPI, and I assume they have the Sonitus or better sound engines. A good start, however: The interfaces have a few things that are not improved or even worse than Sonitus: 1) Tiny knobs can be hard to grab. Some graphics elements are tiny even though the window can be made much larger than Sonitus. Strange to have so much empty space on higher DPI plugins. Take a look at FabFilter, which scale beautifully from compact to full screen. Wish Core could go full screen and truly take advantage of vectore drawing. 2) Plugins open without being maximized or holding their window size once closed and reopened. This means if you want the pin thumbtack alwasy visible and the windows as large as possible, you will have to resize every time you open a Core plugin. Most other plugins I use remember their instance size once set. 3) Some of the plugins scale with windows size and some are fixed. Some are much bigger than Sonitus, some are the same small size and harder to use. Not ideal and confusing, and would like to see the whole package updated to a V2 with full screen, larger controls, full mousewheel and shortcut support, etc. 4) Mousewheel does not work in many places. Sonitus allowed setting EQ Q with mousewheel for example. Now we have to use a knob that requires extra mouse click. 5) Tab stops seem to be all reading order, not always the best order. For a multiband anything, tab stops should go vertically within the band before getting to the next band in my opinion. Thanks for listening.

I'm very late responding, but I hear where you are coming from. I agree the programming team found a few themes that are not hideous, and I actually find Sonar quite attractive compared to many DAWs, but to me that still doesn't mean the color combos work well for everyone. For some users, certain colors are not pleasant or can even be hard to see. I've been able to fix that with a few clicks on over a decade of Cakewalk versions until now. I try to ignore cosmetic changes and get to work myself after updates, and I also and don't obsess on customization, but bright oranges, reds, purples, white backgrounds, etc are hard on my eyes. I like dark greys for interface elements and blues/greens/muted yellows for highlights as I can see them easier. None of the canned themes combines all that. I think the views that are substantially bright or dark should be pickable whatever the theme (dark piano roll for example is far easier on my eyes) and the main highlight colors such as sliders on tracks and the toolbar should let us choose the color. No need for a crazy customization, just a few choices.

My first time back in the forums since Sonar X1-2. Been using Cakewalk since Pro Audio 9. I get that the custom themes had to be removed to go to vector graphics. Not an issue. The removal of controls to set some very basic colors on the interface is however, very frustrating. If I cannot customize piano roll background, track names, etc, or the main highlight color in a theme (orange? purple? come on thats not going to work for everyone) it is not just annoying but makes visual use of the software fatiguing and slows workflow. Cakewalk, please step up and put this basic feature back ASAP, or at least provide more default themes like Mercury but with a dark PRV like Tungsten has, and please let the highlight color be set by user. I think most would be happy with some basic control here, and not sure we need another total theme editor, just let us pick major interface colors again! New Sonar coming from CbB should not have been released with this removed in my opinion, especially when it is advertised as the same or better but is not in a couple aspects. I was actually surprised to find this change when I installed and realized this ability was gone, since I am not sure how colors that were not part of theme editor before CbB were not removed. I am not thrilled about the subscription model, but I hope it is worth it to invest in this future for Cakewalk, and that we get some updates in a resonable time, while Next is also likely consuming a lot of resources.