Chaps

I've seen pops/spikes like that in a recording when some appliances were turned on but it sounds like you have ruled that out with additional recordings. What I would do would be to look for spikes in tracks and buses by turning on the Playback and Bus Meters' Hold Peaks and Lock Peaks options. Lock Peaks will only work if Hold Peaks is enabled. In the Track View you can enable them at Options>Meter Options>Playback Meter Options>Hold Peaks. Repeat that and enable Lock Peaks. Do the same with Bus Meter Options. You can also enable those options by Right-Clicking on the Track Inspector Track and Bus Meters and selecting the relevant Meter Options. You can also select those options in the Console View at Options>Meters>Playback Meter Options and Bus Meter Options. I would enable them everywhere because I'm not sure how independent they are with respect to each other. Then I would Loop the section with the pop and see if any of the meters were buried in the red where the pop occurs. That might help identify where the pop is occurring.

It does sound like that the 'C' and 'G' chords are a bit out of tune.

I think the lead guitar was buried in the mix. What I heard sounded pretty good so crank that puppy up and let it shine.

Speaking of that, here is a link to a related post I made a few years ago regarding a Scott Garrigus article explaining how to empty the Cakewalk Pictures Cache automatically. I followed the instructions and now my Picture Cache is emptied on a weekly schedule. Does it make a difference? I don't know, but it's something I don't have to think or worry about anymore. Automatically Empty the Cakewalk Picture Cache

Your other audio tracks are behaving normally? Is it possible that the imported audio is being inserted further down the timeline and it isn't visible in the area you can see?

I don't have any experience with that MFX but if you want to transpose the playback of an entire MIDI clip you can do it in the MIDI Track Inspector at the bottom where it says Key +. The transposition works when playing and auditioning notes in the PRV. You can drag the slider in half-step increments (which can be a pain in the butt) or use the Keyboard Number Pad. If you click and hold the mouse cursor in the Key + box and press the numbers on the left side of the number pad (1,4,7) it will lower the pitch of the playback in half-step increments. If you click and hold the mouse cursor in the Key + box and press the numbers on the right side of the number pad (3,6,9) it will raise the sound of the track's playback in half-step increments. Clicking and holding the mouse cursor in the Key + box and double-pressing 5 will reset the pitch to 0 (no change in pitch). It's a lot easier and simpler that I'm making it sound.

Is the audio track routed to a bus? If so, what is the volume/gain settings on that bus? Are you using the Pro Channel or FX in the audio track or bus? Are any other audio tracks affected by this volume loss?

If you do not have the effects you want in the program, one option is to download and install multiple free effects bundles from companies like Kilohearts or Melda Production. Both will require you to create an account and install their versions of Plugin Managers. While you can still download and install individual VST plugins, having them all in one place can be pretty convenient. Also, searching for 'free VST (the kind of effect you want)' can show you just how many free plugins there are. Melda Production MFreeFXBundle Kilohearts Essentials

Do you have a soft synth assigned to play the MIDI data from your controller?

You also have to create an account to download and get your activation number. Simple and quick process and the reverb sounds pretty good and what presets it has all seem useful.

The Command Product Center can install add-ons for Cakewalk Next, Cakewalk Sonar, and Cakewalk by Bandlab. My fault for not mentioning that in my earlier post. If you only install the add-ons for Cakewalk by Bandlab then you shouldn't have to sign in to the Sonar or Next versions, which are subscription services. The account you sign in with should be the same as the one you used to download Cakewalk by Bandlab.

I'm not sure of exactly which synth instruments Cakewalk by Bandlab comes with because I have all the soft synths that came with earlier versions of Cakewalk I own, and soft synths from other companies. But the synths that Cakewalk does include are add-ons and may require separate installation. If you have not already done so, I suggest downloading and installing the Cakewalk Product Center and logging in with your Cakewalk by Bandlab account. Open the Cakewalk Product Center and make sure Show Add-ons is enabled and install all available add-ons. The Cakewalk Studio Instruments should include enough instruments to get you started. You can also download and install other soft-synth from other companies to use in Cakewalk (many free ones to choose from). That gets more complicated but can also be very rewarding since Cakewalk by Bandlab is a very bare-bones product (which is why it is free).

If it is just a matter of moving an audio clip forward or backward, I would use the Nudge feature, which can be configured to move a clip by extremely small increments like Milliseconds, Frames, and Ticks. You can find the Nudge settings in the Track View Menu under Process. Also, I see your Snap Setting is at 1/16th note. If you disable Snap you can zoom in and move the beginning of the track manually. Snap can also be configured to snap to smaller increments like Milliseconds, Frames, and Ticks.

No. It wasn't listed in my products or downloads (I only had two of their products), and I was able to complete the purchase and download/installation after I received the same offer in my email. I tried several times using the link you provided and I would get as far as the checkout and nothing happened. I even tried it with my VPN disabled with the same result. Clearing my browser cache had no effect. Once I got the subscription email I clicked it and everything went the way it was supposed to with no glitches.

A strange thing happened to me when I clicked the link to install the plugin. I tried several times to complete the free purchase and nothing happened, even though I was logged in to my account. I was able to complete the transaction and download/install the plugin only after I got a link to the offer in my email and clicked that.