John

It was one of the best when it was Sonar when it was paid for. With it being free now under the name Cakewalk it has to be the best free DAW around. I don't anything comes close. Heck, it is a top DAW whether free or not.

BTW if you were to use soft synths i.e. VSTis you wouldn't have this problem. I use Kontakt as well as a whole bunch of other VSTis to create sound. Once you have your sounds where you want them all you do is freeze the VSTis and the audio is now ready for mixing. In the distant past I used hardware synths which I still have. A Sound Canvas SC 8850 and a Roland XV 5080. Plus a drum machine. It was tedious to record each MIDI channel. Although the sound was OK they can not compete with a good sampled library.

If you use all 16 channels and you want each on a separate audio track you will need to solo one MIDI track at a time and record the audio from the Sy77. Each to a new track. Than you can mix it down to suit you. Or you could record once with all 16 MIDI channels into one stereo audio track. Once you do you wont be able to mix anything though.

Your problem can be easily fixed by don't use a SC (Surface Control) rather use a CS (Control Surface). ? Also in Cakewalk there is an indication called "where am I" that indicates what faders are being controlled by a CS. You can color this line any color you want so it sticks out for you. Also on a Mackie Control it also indicates what fader is controlling what channel via the display above the channel strip. It is one of the main features of a MC.

Starship Krupa I see where you are coming from. Its all good.

Starship Krupa wrote "Why are the menu commands for inserting new tracks up on the global menu instead of down in the Track Pane? Who knows. At least it has the buttons up above the Track Headers." You do know that there is a right click menu on the track header area for doing that?

The faster the clock the better. The more cores the better. Overclocking is not a good idea.

I took a look at it via the owner's manual. You have a nice hardware synthesizer. There are three ways you can use it with Cakewalk. It can be used as a sound module that takes MIDI from Cakewalk and generates audio that can be sent back to Cakewalk and recorded. Second, it can send MIDI to Cakewalk to be recorded as MIDI on a track much the same as audio is. A third way is to play in real time and have Cakewalk record the audio or the MIDI or both on tracks. The second way will let you use VSTis for sound. This gives you infinite sound possibilities. It all depends on how you connect the ins and outs of the Modx to the ins and outs of your sound card and MIDI interface. You will need both. Many sound cards have a MIDI in and out. If you have a sound card with MIDI built in and it can send and receive it than you wont need a separate MIDI interface. Also Modx has USB ports. These may be able to substitute for a sound card and MIDI interface. If it does than you will need to install drivers for it so Cakewalk can see it. The point is to connect the Modx so Cakewalk can see it. From there once you have recorded MIDI or audio into Cakewalk you can then edit or otherwise use it anyway you want. It appears you are connected and have a signal going from the Modx to CW. To record it set a MIDI or audio track to the input where the Modx is sending to. You must set the track to record. Unlike Cubase CW does not need or have input tracks any track can be an input by setting to record. Also it is vital you do not change the levels in Cakewalk. This must be done at the output of the Modx. Keep the levels at unity in CW. Unity is the normal position of the faders. It means there is no gain or attenuation of the signal. The meter will be record meters and with the setup outline above will give you an accurate indication of the true level. When you are ready hit the record button on the transport and you should be recording. If you have further questions please ask them.

One thing a new user should do is learn the language of the program. What terms mean what. Having an idea of the terms used will help one understand a particular DAW. For example Bounce learn about it. With Cakewalk you have the first fully non destructive DAW going back to its forefather Sonar. Others DAWs have adopted its non destructive environment. Keep this in mind when using it. In other words you don't need to worry too much about doing something that would destroy your song with Cakewalk.

James interesting account. I wasn't sure anyone was still using the StudioMix. I'm glad you are. It is built like a tank. It also has a find and gross scroll wheel. A very neat feature.

I'm not sure what you mean by a "software Controller". Please explain.

This may work.

Its a 32 bit plugin. That could be a problem for you. But try to enable it as an instrument. This may not work though. It will work for DX plugins.

I use a CS a Mackie Control. I do because some things are easier with a CS and faster. Also, some DAWs can loose focus but with a CS they are always in focus to it. If you do a lot of automation on multiple tracks in real time a CS is a very good way to do that. Further a CS gives one the feel and ergonomics of a mixing desk at a low price. I have been using a CS going back all the way to Pro Audio with a Cakewalk Studio Mix by Peavey. The MC (Mackie Control) is for me the best CS around.

Lets keep it civil please!

One thing we may forget is they were smart enough in acquiring a great DAW that had a built in user base with one of the best forums on the net. One can not overestimate the quality and traffic that this forum gives them. An intangible that probably played a roll in the acquisition.

Most often if it is not listed as using an IR it is most likely an algorithmic one. However, some Convolution Reverbs use IRs but don't allow adding others. They look and act like algorithmic ones but use IRs that are built in. The only real advantage to convolutions is the verity of reverbs types you can use with a change of IR. I am not that picky about my reverbs. I use the one that sounds right for what I want to get from it. I do like the Brainworx one I also like the Pantheon too. Breverb is OK I don't use it much.

I still have the Lexicon that came with Sonar. I also have this Brainworx . If you have the Sonar 8 you also have the the Pantheon reverb.

Cakewalk has had aux buses from way back and in all the years I have used Sonar and now Cakewalk I have never ever tried to freeze an aux bus. Never. One big reason is that its really an empty bus. Really, audio passes through it but a freeze would try to create an audio file incorporating all the tracks going through it. To me that seems troublesome. I just don't think its a good idea to do that. For your setup using an amp sim, I would use a simple bus and not an aux bus. I would have the GTs out to the new GT bus. You can adjust the amount of the amp sim as an insert plugin. Another way may be to route a send to an aux bus and the tracks out to a GT bus and freeze the GT bus. Or export it as a single stem that you can bring back in to the project.

Clearly. Its all good.

Get it here https://www.waves.com/account/maxxvolume-free

Bandlab owns the software known as Cakewalk formally known as Sonar. They have every right to offer it in anyway they want. For those that have had Sonar from its very beginning Bandlab came to our rescue when Cakewalk the company was shut down. We are grateful to Bandlab for keeping it alive and thriving. For anyone to demand Bandlab give the code to the world with out buying it as Bandlab did seems to me too presumptuous to be believed. I can't see any benefit to Bandlab or to the user base. Nor can I see any reason this would in anyway benefit Bandlab. If the OP wants Cakewalk to open source the code than the OP should buy the code from Bandlab and then give it away. At the very lease the OP should reimburse Bandlab for what Sonar cost Bandlab before proposing this absurd notion. Also as a practical matter at present we users have a robust development team that is able to know every line of code. That would not be the case if it were not controlled by a single organization. As to transparency that notion is not of any use to anyone. I don't need to know how Cakewalk is written to use it.

The OP may not know that this thread has some of the top members answering. It is a thread with a huge amount of the whos who of Cakewalk's forum. Even the chief programmer is here. I don't see how it can get any better than this.

I'm glad you have access.

I am stumped. I can't figure out why this issue is present. Sorry Robert.