Starship Krupa

You are not stupid, at least resetting your audio interface is not a marker of stupidity. I don't fully subscribe to "if it ain't broke don't fix it," although it's not good to fiddle about with these things when the thing we are fiddling with is in the critical path. All you need to do is take some deep breaths and make sure you have the latest version of Focusrite Mix Control. Then open it up and make sure that all outputs are set to "DAW" (unless you use it for system sounds, then things get a little different) and also the correct number you like to use in the DAW. I don't get fancy with the Saffire Pro, I just number them from the top down. I'm pretty sure that when you run Mix Control, the S/PDIF I/O will either be set to a number you aren't expecting or it isn't set to any DAW input at all. Focusrite Mix Control is notorious for being hard to get one's head around, but if you just stick to the routing panel and realize that what you're doing is assigning the Focusrite's hardware outs to corresponding outs in your OS and DAW like a patchbay that's usually all you need. Here's how my routing is set up. Mix control also sees "DAW 1 and DAW 2" as my OS' main outputs, so I have that assigned to my Cambridge Audio digital system. But if I didn't assign those to anything, they wouldn't show up as available to the DAW/ASIO driver or the OS.

Ugh, Wavesfactory, you came up with a stone classic plug-in, but why oh why must your installer ask me where to install the VST2 version before asking me whether I want to install the VST2 version?

Got another addition/addendum. It's been a while, which is a testament to just how accurate and comprehensive TYLIP has become. This time it's an "Also used in." ProChannel / Modules / QuadCurve EQ fly-out / Close Zoom Window is also the Close button in Add Track Flyout and the Set Properties dialog you get when you right click on a plug-in's name in Browser to edit its category.

@Gilvan has a series of tutorials in Brazilian Portuguese. I don't understand much of what he's saying, but I grew up listening to my mom's Gilberto (with/without Getz) records, so they're fun to watch. It's interesting to hear his cool accent narrating what he's doing. The tutorial I'm watching now is on using the Quadcurve to sweep for honks in an excellent solo bossa nova guitar performance: https://www.youtube.com/@GILVAMUSIC1

What you really need to do is read the entire 2000-page Reference Guide and watch every beginner tutorial you can find on YouTube. ....J/K ?

Microsoft Developer Pete Brown (a Cakewalk user) has a guide for tuning Windows 10/11 workstations for audio work. A system with those specs should be able to handle the load you're putting on it. Neutron is certainly a devourer of resources, but not that bad. Make sure you have hyperthreading enabled in your BIOS, that you're using the High Performance power plan, and use Task Manager to make sure there aren't any unnecessary processes running. Exclude your Cakewalk Projects folder from realtime Defender scanning.

Back in the day, I was only ever in pro studios as a producer or talent, never as an engineer. 8 track, then 16, then 16 via two conjoined ADAT's. I used to read Mix and others, so I knew about print-through, and not having loud sounds on a track adjacent to softer sounds so as to avoid bleed-through. "Whole Lotta Love" is of course the most famous example of audible bleed-through, and it's a totally awesome effect. Generations of stoners have doubtlessly tripped hard on that effect. I've even seen people try to duplicate it with a backup singer when covering the song. "way Way down insiiiiide woman woman...." sheer genius, the happiest of accidents. And for the people who despair of happy accidents occurring today in our precise world of DAW's, I can think of at least one I had with Cakewalk and (I think) TAL Noisemaker. I got a stuck note that sounded AWESOME as a pedal tone underneath my chord change in the chorus. Not reproducible after I stopped the transport, but I took note of where it had occurred and dragged the note out.

Those antique MFC dialogs are not themeable. My guess/hope is that as time goes on, the devs will convert them all to the newer format as seen in the Export dialog, at which time I can start pestering them to allow us to change the colors.

Those are "Track Headers." ?

This was around the same time that Cakewalk, Inc. released CA-2A with a similar introductory offer, IIRC. 2014? I was such a noob with mixing FX that it looked like the cockpit of a jet airliner to me, but the presets sounded great. Wow, I see that it's now selling for $249. I wonder, though, how many individual licenses they sell for it vs. as part of a bundle. I see that it's part of their Anthology bundle, which is currently on sale for $499. Between UltraChannel and Quadravox, both of which I got for free, my upgrade price for Anthology is $389. My guess is that people go for the Anthology bundle way more often than buying the individual plug-ins.

Kinda goes hand in hand, I think. "Do we update these to include VST3 and Apple silicon support?" In the case of Focusrite, they were probably developed on contract rather than in-house. They probably see it as a loss-leader that gets attention for the current versions. The loss-leader model for commercial plug-in developers has become more common since the days when it was pretty much the MeldaProduction MFreeFX bundle and ReaPlugs. I just recommended to someone on the Cakewalk Reddit whose trial FX had started inserting noise and silence that they check out the MeldaProduction and Kilohearts Essentials bundles. I realized that between just those two, they'd be getting over 70 FX to use for free. And those aren't just mixing FX either. The MeldaProduction and Kilohearts bundles include creative FX like reverser, tape stop and modulated filters, as well as in the case of the Melda bundle, tools like signal generators and analyzers (and the somewhat overlooked MNotepad, a favorite of @John Vere for scrolling lyrics, IIRC). The Plugin Alliance free bundle includes a really good all-in-one mastering plug-in, so just about everything is covered. Add to this these "legacy" offerings, and that's quite a haul of free plug-ins from commercial developers. And there's, y'know, that BandLab company who offers a full-featured Windows DAW for free....

For anyone who missed it, Cakewalk by BandLab was released 5 years ago as of April 4th. BandLab has owned the program longer than any other company since Twelve Tone Systems sold to Roland, and it has really thrived under their stewardship. Better than it's ever been. Thanks to the Bakers for making such an amazing program, thanks to the beta team and Early Access adopters for helping them keep the bugs out, and thanks to Meng and BandLab for seeing the potential and caring enough to come to the rescue. And, for heaven's sake, making it available for free! Also, thanks are due to the helpful people in the user community. Always ready to help.

I really like UltraChannel's new UI. They went to a darker, flatter theme, and the ability to resize it is really great. This may put it back in my rotation. It does some classic Eventide tricks, most notably micropitch. Back when it was introduced, I snagged it as a freebie, and since my plug-in arsenal was much smaller, I used it a great deal. But as I got more FX, it got shunted to the side. The UI was dated and small, and this fixes it.

@GreenLight, nice work on finding a solution. I, too, hope that as you say, there isn't a catch. Hmm. I wonder if this is one of those things like bit-perfect playback that some people are more sensitive to than others. When I discovered the difference between listening through the Windows mixer and Windows Media Player and using a player like Music Bee or AIMP that does bit-perfect playback, it was stunning. I sat up all night going through my favorite albums just grooving on all the detail I could hear. But it's hard to find anyone, even among musicians and audio engineers, who knows or cares about this. But even Neil Young, with his shot to hell hearing from playing so loud, can hear the difference. The same things he says are true, I experience as well: there's a greater emotional impact. And yes, I am very familiar with the wireless test. I worked in the engineering department at Nady Systems back in the mid 80's (when every metal band had to have Nady wireless rigs).

I don't recall this being an issue here, or if it was, it might just not have bothered me. Anyway, I too am a MComplete Bundle licensee, so my MeldaProduction referral code is now safe from the taint of personal benefit. Well, except by anyone who uses it while making their first purchase. Really, though, PM someone who doesn't have an MComplete license and get their code. Not public, so no harm to the forum.

I must say, the transition to Apple silicon has been a boon for Windows users in the form of these "legacy" releases of plug-ins that the developers can't be bothered to update to work on the latest Macs. I've lost track of how many we've seen. Audio Damage and Tone Boosters are two that come to mind. I know there are others.

Maybe Philip was running X3 using (a) different location(s) to install plug-ins. I've had to blast through changing permissions on my Programs folder and it was not a walk in the park. Usually I've had to take ownership, then sit there while Windows grinds through changing ACL's on however many dozens of GB of executables and support files. I got it to work okay, but I have a lot of experience as a Windows NT admin. I don't know if most people who use Windows (or Macs) even know that there is such a thing as folder/file permissions, and I don't blame them if they don't.

As far as I know, this kind of thing is handled by the individual instrument, not Cakewalk.

I try to avoid installing plug-ins under any specific host’s program directory structure, because who knows, I may not always want to use that program. C:\VST or D:\VST usually work and are easy to find.

It’s unfortunate that you had those issues, but it is unusual (obviously not unheard-of). The SONAR-to-Cakewalk migration is designed to go as seamlessly as any other SONAR update and usually does.

At 44.1K/256 buffers, the delay is about the same as being 6’ away from a sound source, just factoring the speed at which sound travels. MIDI itself has its own delays. My system is based on an i7-6950X and I have no special issues with latency delays, but I also have even older systems with even less CPU power that also have no trouble. The code that makes up the heart of Cakewalk goes back many years, and itself tends not to challenge older hardware. The most punishing use is hosting plug-ins. The thing to watch out for is individual plug-ins that induce further latency. I find that to make a more perceptible difference than where my buffers are set (as long as they’re 768 or under). If I want to have “comfort” FX while tracking (as opposed to ones I want to print), I make sure to use FX that don’t add latency (the Sonitus suite is light on CPU use, as are the Dead Duck FX, Kilohearts Essentials, and MeldaProduction FreeFX bundle processors, all free to use) and I add them to individual tracks, not buses. Then I can use whatever I want when mixing and latency is not an issue. I can track live guitar through VST FX just fine, but not all VST FX. The ones that are made for processing guitars tend to induce less latency delay. No “trash can slap back” unless of course I want that. ? So if you’re getting audible latency that affects your ability to play in sync, and that latency goes away when you bypass all effects, try re-enabling them one by one and take note of which one(s) cause the latency. (And be sure that you stop and start your transport each time you disable/enable an effect to give Cakewalk a chance to recalculate delay).

Is this in Track View or Console View or both? To make it visible again, Track Manager is the answer. It's in the Tracks menu in Track View and Strips menu (?‍♂️) in Console View. Tracks and buses can get hidden by accident, hitting the wrong keys.

Can you explain further? Is the issue that when you use SONAR to record you get distortion? Or is it when you open an older SONAR project in Cakewalk by BandLab and record you get distortion? If it's the first, the solution is to record using Cakewalk by BandLab. Cakewalk b BandLab can open older SONAR projects for further recording. If it's the second, are you hearing this distortion as you record or on first playback? Have you tried creating a new track in the older project (new, not by duplicating) and recording on that? I would carefully examine every setting on the tracks in the new and old projects, especially Gain (not fader volume, but the Gain control), but also any ProChannel module settings. The ProChannel has effects built in that can cause distortion (it's supposed to be intentional, but if the modules have gotten switched on by accident it will happen). And of course, any 3rd-party plug-ins. The settings may be getting messed up somehow going from SONAR to Cakewalk. It is not common, I'm just guessing.

I guess you missed: Which is indeed the most likely solution. Since this question is a very basic one, it indicates that the user is likely new to DAW's in general, but certainly Cakewalk specifically, and will really benefit from knowing where to find some fundamentals. Cakewalk's online documentation can be hard to navigate, and as with anything written from the perspective of a high level of understanding, explanation of basics can suffer. That's why there are so many tutorials and supplemental information on the basics. If I know that my issue isn't a basic one, because I've already tried several things, if I don't want people replying with basic answers I list the things I've already checked and tried. I can't expect the people offering the answers to manage my feelings. And in the vast scale of possible emotional injuries, having a stranger on a forum underestimate my DAW skills is pretty survivable.

Realtek is the maker of the onboard sound device in most PC's. Some Realtek driver installers include an ASIO driver for the Realtek chip, which if it worked correctly would be a great thing, but it usually gets the kind of result you are seeing. You don't want to use your onboard sound chip anyway, so follow scook's instructions: