Misha

Hope Dies Last

I am not like a bloody dog. Judging by my avatar, it's predictable that I am a cat lover. But I do despise the philosophy of when somebody makes certain promises they don't keep, especially considering years spent "building trust", but even more, cheap talk of bystanders somehow justifying this behavior instead of challenging unfair practice of keeping in the dark most dedicated group. But hey, what do I know.

Here we go again. I know several people who used Cakewalk/Sonar for years (decades!) After Gibson swallowed too much than it could chew, they moved to other DAWs and never looked back. These customers are forever lost and it's all because of greed. Bandlab should either keep promise it made in 2018 (I can attach a copy of the letter if some "forgot"), or clarify if it will be subscription only going forward, so people can make their final decisions, manage their time and move on.

https://www.bandlab.com/products/cakewalk

That's a $1,000,000 question. We tried calling for help, crystal ball, voodoo dolls, spells, potions, mirrors, bats, candles, frogs, goats, etc. It's a great mystery that no one here can solve. As of now, you can rent it for about $180 a year - can't purchase it.

Did you forget Windows 2000 or 8? Never ending BSOD's 11 is OK, once you disable all the nonsense and figure out particular settings. At least... once you do, you can be confident it will last a few good years... unlike the future uncertainty of the DAW that most of us enjoy.

Seems like pressing a single button in Cakewalk to see if works with basic/core project items is easier than editing values in regedit, but hey it's your time and your computer. Hope something will work for you.

Did you try clicking a single magical FX button in Cakewalk I suggested? Cores and ram has little to do with your issues. Seems your specs are sufficient. My new computer has same amount of Ram (32), but less cores as previous. Runs much, much better. Processor, different chipset architecture and I/O bottlenecks mainly are causes of issues you are describing. In my view, #1 thing that gets overlooked is you have to set your power scheme to High Performance. Even if you have crapware installed, it should make a difference how Cakewalk runs. Usually it is set to "balanced" by default.

Did you remove bloatware that came with new computer? One simple test you can do is while in Cakewalk press FX button on upper header panel to disable all VST FX. If project runs fine with disabled FX, start enabling FX one by one until sick one is found. My previous computer was fairly fast, but something in it's processor architecture or chipset would not allow me to use Izotope plugins. And I tried many (many!!!) things trying to make them work. Nothing helped. I gave up on those plugins. A new computer, which is NOT a gaming computer takes Izotope without any issues. Different architecture made a world of difference.

You don't have to convince me. I know

Nope. I am not overthinking, I am confused. Exactly, because it's corporation it should understand "target" audience. By kiddos I mean somebody who grew up with touchscreens and more intuitive controls for loops, triggering, etc. There is nothing bad about it, just different. Gorillaz made whole album on ipad decade and a half ago and it's awesome. However Cakewalk/Sonar never appealed much to beatmakers. To some - yes. Is it capable? Yes. However, mainstream Cakewalk users seems to be in Pop (traditional), Rock and a few other bread & butter electro/acoustic genres. "Next" looks to be the right starter path for what it seems they (BL) are trying to achieve, but Sonar seems to be a misfit for sub only. I want to pay, just not for subscription. Rent-to-own or buy it outright would work just fine. Unfortunately other tools don't have particular tracking feature that Cakewalk has. I tried most. So it will be a trade-off to adopt to something that I've got used to for many years. Actually, I use Cakewalk on daily basis. That is what is bothering me the most. I am afraid that if I start to deep learn another DAW it will slash many many hours of scarce time I have to write tunes. Spending a few minutes to show my dissatisfaction with how I think BL handled this release, that I (and many others) had high hopes for is not biggie. Collective bargaining had worked in some cases

I am also tapedeck oldschool yardstick linear. That's the point. If Sonar adopts some kind of funky looper that kids will love, that is great, I have no issues with the progress. I do have issues how Bandlab treats those "oldschoolers" like me who simply want some kind of confidence as far as DAW goes for the next few years. If I was young and into EDM/beats, likely Sonar - for$ would likely be on the bottom of my list. I did try FL for the fun of it and I can see how it can be useful for newer genres. It's not your fathers Fruity loops. It became pretty advanced DAW since last I have tried it. I didn't find the features I need, but thumbs up to Image Line. Still not sure who BL is aiming for holding Sonar tethered to credit card. I just can't see people joyfully jumping on their subscription wagon for the Sonar.

That what is bothering me... as I don't understand how is tying Sonar to sub only will help BL. Traditionally Cakewalk was used by a more mature audience, kiddos went different route years ago... FL, Reason, Ableton. Now they are mature boys & girls. I don't know a single person who switched to Cakewalk from those who started recording ~15 years ago. Even those who I personally convinced to get Sonar Home pre 2018, as it was cheap and even free at some point, switched to other DAWs. Point is, likely they will release normal licenses at some point, but why disturb long term followers in such way? From my understanding, most of those who sticked around from pre-2018 don't want a "subscription". (But most are ok Rent-to-own). The only piece of information that was publicly made was Noel mentioning "other" ways they are looking into for obtaining a license. Ball is obviously in BL's court, but it's getting heavier by the day.

Trying to wrap my head around this ridiculously strange Sonar "release" While many threads hint that Bandlab is not interested in us, longtime users... Lets try to understand why they tied Sonar to subscription? Judging by content Bandlab hosts... it seems mainly aimed at more modern - kiddo music. Just think for a moment. Kids who are into beatmaking, EDM and similar music will unlikely to use Cakewalk by choice. Don't get me wrong, Cakewalk is perfectly capable of delivering, but there are sooo many options, and some of these crafted specifically minding those genres (that Bandlab widely represents). Froot Loops (Starter at $99 for perpetual) or even Bitwig - perpetual licenses of light version which were given out for free at one point. Why would a kid sign up for $180 pocket drain? To become "famous"? Social stuff? I don't know (and I don't want to know). But intuition tells me Sonar will not be their decision maker. Maybe a byproduct. So why Bandlab is taking a swing a us, most loyal group? Remains a dark & unhappy mystery. I am confident they will leave Cakewalk by Bandlab alone for at least a year, but without known expiration date, as of now to me it's a dead man walking. I will put my urge of switching DAW on pause for a few months in hope that they either release normal licenses or at least clarify plans for the future of Cakewalk & Sonar.

Here is another flat earth conspiracy: Now, that the wording in FAQ of discontinuation is gone and with today's announcement by Jesse, I think it is safe to assume they will keep Cakewalk alive for at least a year or two. Perhaps much longer. Maybe they are just working to add certain features on top of HD GUI to add value to Sonar, so when it's ready for perpetual license release, there will be enough feature differences to seduce us, dear valued customers. For example, if it offered chord track / assist and it would be only available at higher tier, I would consider getting that version.