Steev

Thank you all VERY MUCH for your insightful critique and feedback. ?? This project has been uploaded to Bandlab.com in multi-track form. You are all free join to "fork" it and revise it anyway you choose.. Only rules are you must join and be a member of Bandlab,com, hit the "fork" button, open the Mix Editor &  HAVE FUN! ?

OK, this is an experiment I'm conducting on how well Cakewalk by Bandlab, Bandlab Mix Editor, and artists work and integrate together for collaboration. This thread is a great example of complexities of the questions of "Should we Record, Mix, & Master our own work?" And my typical almost dogmatic response is a resounding "NO! That's against the laws of the Music Business. Just because we 'can' break the rules doesn't mean we 'should'." Especially when we have only one environment to "record" in the same room we "mix" in and trying to get a good "master" with all conditions above thru the same monitoring source(s) to sound good on other devices anywhere & everywhere else.

Because these are the 3 vital processes of creating, polishing, & finishing music projects that we are all guilty of doing that we really shouldn't be doing ourselves, but typically can't afford to do otherwise.

So I came up with a basic set of rules to follow in this business of music pretty much where success was founded and forged on breaking the rules. 

1.) Always record tracks with as little to NO FX as possible & monitor with "closed back" pro grade studio Headphones in recording sessions to avoid crosstalk/bleed thru on tracks.

2.) Never do a "Mix" session a song project on the same day as the "Recording" sessions take place. Waiting a week is better because the farther your mindset gets from the original recording session mindset the better.

3.) NEVER use "closed back" pro grade studio Headphones designed for recording sessions to monitor a "Mixing Session" with, and expect good results thru speakers. And the only way to get an accurate image of how the mixing session sounds thru speakers is to LISTEN to it thru speakers you are intimately familiar with. Preferably thru near field studio monitors, but any speakers you are used to that sound good to you will do.

4.)  NEVER master the music on the same day as the "Mixing" session, and when you feel you have your mix right, "Export" it to stereo .wav or surround sound file @ the same resolution as the recording project.. Waiting a month is better. The longer you wait between these steps the more "objective" you become and the better your your chances of hearing the music as a "listener" as opposed the listening as a creator, the better your "Master" will be.

I have been influenced and inspired by many great guitarists over the decades but if there was any one in the #1 slot on my bucket list to jam with, depending on the mood I'm in, Mark Knopfler is always tied for 1st place. And it's not even that he's my favorite guitarist, though most certainly high on the list. It's hard to describe in works, because it's more of a purely natural feeling of relating to his or vibe then it is a personal conscience choice to sound like or copy him or his style. More like when I hear Dire Straits I instantly get connected "in the zone" and can imagine my self simply picking up my Strat envision me playing what he plays as he plays it, and remember every thing with less effort than it takes to remember any song I've ever written myself. ?

Gotta LOVE the Bandlab Mix Editor. No it can't do what Cakewalk by Bandlab can do, but it's cross platform and quite proficient at running on Android, Apple, and Windows platforms, and CbB, or ANY other DAW for that matter can do that and the combination of the 2 are truly the stuff collaboration, recording and creating music dreams are made of in any way, shape or workflow imaginable. From MIDI or loop based composition to laying down and recording simple raw straight forward audio tracks like this, we are only restricted by our own limitations of our imagination.

 Because wanting MORE never got us where we are going, it only slows us down and truth be told, getting to the end of our journey doesn't rely on what tools we use, success solely depends on how well we use the tools that we have. ?

Sultans of Swing by Emitters | BandLab

On 6/20/2021 at 1:50 PM, scook said:

There are a few issues with this setup though

1) Do not have nested paths in the scan path.

The image shows both "C:\program files (x86)\vstplugins" and  "C:\program files (x86)\vstplugins\eventide"

The second path is unnecessary as any path under "C:\program files (x86)\vstplugins" will be scanned. 

Having redundant paths causes unnecessary work for the scanner and has caused scan errors in the past.

I had purposely added the "C:\program files (x86)\vstplugins\eventide" path because SONAR/CbB misses some of my "Eventide" plugins and doesn't register them all. And that may be a good idea to do for UAD plugins as well, as the UAD primarily runs it's FX in it's own ecosystem and only supports computer based VSTs which I found to create conflicts. I had so many recurring problems running UAD on my Windows computer I just gave up and confined the Apollo 8 system to my Mac where is benefits are sorely needed and appreciated.? With the advancements in today's current multicore x64 bit CPU's, VST 3 & ASIO tech, particularly with UA's main arch nemesis "WAVES", hardware accelerated  hybrid systems such as Apollo aren't as necessary as they once were with x32 bit Windows. And as far as front end (channel strips) go, Cakewalk's ProChannel is probably the #1 "best" overlooked channel strips in the world.

 

2) Do not leave the "Rescan Failed Plug-ins" and "Rescan All Plug-ins" enabled.

By default, these options are off and are meant to stay off most of the time.

They cause extra work for the scanner which can lead to scan failures.

These are intended to be used to resolve specific one-off scanning problems.

Once a scan is run with these options, they should be turned off.

Running both options at the same time is functionally the same as a VST Reset.

That's a great idea if you allow CbB's default settings to scan for VSTs every time it starts. But I turned off the "Scan plugins every time CbB boots" by default because that in itself is a lot of unnecessary work and adds a few seconds to a minute to boot times. The only time I run VST scans is when I add a new plugin or update existing plugins, which is very seldom compared to every time I start my DAW. And being my main purpose for CbB is creating music projects, I don't frequently experiment with trying out every new plugin I read about in endless cycles of install/uninstall, my Windows registry stays relatively lean & clean, CbB and all plugins I do have installed runs rock solid and stable, and I don't have 1/10th the problems of those that do.

 

3) Enable Scan in sandbox.

By default, this is enabled. This was added to improve the safety and reliability of the scanner.

Yes, I have mixed feelings about that, and I'm sure that "helps" when installing outdated plugins and any software obtained from dubious sources but does really improve  the safety and reliability of CbB if it's not running in a sandbox? ?

 

 

 

The ZEDi 10FX is a really GOOD sounding 8 channel mixer and has a built-in 4x4  24/96kHz USB audio interface. ??

1 hour ago, Manik Groove said:

Hello all,

Sorry guys if this is the incorrect area to post this question,but since it's so old of a program(and I don't have any reason to change it since I'm very good with it and no need to upgrade) I thought I'd just throw it out there and hopefully I can get some leads or answers to remedy it.

 

I have a very basic and generic question hopefully someone will be able to answer...I still use Cakewalk Pro Audio 9,and what I'm trying to do is select MORE than one output in the sequencer's settings...In other words,I use Coolsoft VirtualMidi Synth(a soundfont player),but I also want to select another output port to drive a USB midi interface to enable me to drive other MIDI instruments in addition to playing the soundfonts....Right now I can only select as an output port,the virtual midi synth or the interface to use...I can't use both as outputs at the same time....

Hopefully this is understood,and I would love to find a workaround for this,as I have some other sound modules and a harmonizer I would like to drive through the midi interface in conjuction with and WHILE using the VMS as a playback device...

I am very familiar with CPA9 and really don't need or want to use another sequencing program...But if it is my only option to enable TWO outputs through the sequencer(if possible at all)then I will certainly use another program to enable me to do this...

I truly appreciate any and all help concerning this issue...I love VMS and would love to continue using it,but I fear I'm going to have to go back to bad sounding midi instruments because I'll have to use only ONE output strickly to drive my midi interface and not be able to use VMS....Cakewalk Pro Audio 9 allows you to SELECT more than one output,but it only sees and enables the top input selected.

Thanks everyone!

all you need to do is ADD more MIDI TRACKS for multiple I/O. 1 MIDI  track per instrument.

When you updated your UAD plugins the installer uninstalls the older version and replaces with the new. 

You most likely need to rescan your VST plugins so CbB can find the new plugin version, and all will be well again.

Yeah I've been using mine for about 5 years now and love it a good deal more then I do NOT love Auto Map which has to be installed for the basic drivers, but you don't have to use Automap. May require going into Windows "Services" and switching AutoMap to "manual start" from it's default setting of starting automatically with Windows boot, NOT GOOD because it will start searching for and find ALL plugins. Most issues I've had by turning Automap on, is it will search for and try to communicate with every plugin on your computer whether they are connected your your DAW or not, and not all plugins are audio/MIDI/ video plugins on Windows computers. Apple dropped support for and disabled AutoMap years ago which caused confusion for a bit because users tried to uninstall it, but you still have to install the driver package or your DAW won't even know it's there.

Other then that, my Impulse 61 has great keyboard action been my favorite and most reliable MIDI keyboard controller I've ever used, and it's one of the very few I can say that about that works with Pro Tools.?

I believe Auto Map is Novation's precursor into getting a jump on MIDI 2.0 which hasn't gotten off the ground yet, and until it does Novation isn't really going to give it much more development or support.

For CbB I just select "Impulse" from the MIDI chan. drop down menu and use it as a straight MIDI keyboard controller specifically mapped out by "ME" for synths and FX plugins and it runs along side and stays out of the way and never collides with my Behringer X-Touch DAW controller running in Mackie MCU protocol. The Impulse is also recognized and can be mapped to Bandlab's Mix Editor for limited mixing functions, which is still in development, and although the latency can be high at times, it's still doable playing Mix Editor's included synths. Not exactly optimal, but considering Mix Editor isn't even installed on my computer and is cloud based service, I'm kinda amazed & ultimately fascinated that it works at all.

For Reason I just select the preinstalled Reason Map & all is well, although I'm sure I customized and it tweaked it out a bit thru the years although I don't really remember how or what. That's one of the benefits of spending extra upfront for having a high quality MIDI controller, they last a long time and you don't have to think or worry about stuff like that until you get a new one and have to start all over. ? I'm pretty confident my trusty old familiar Impulse 61 will last in the music biz at least as long as me, if not longer.

Novation also has a map for Ableton Live but as a musician/composer I don't like or use Ableton Live or any software that auto loops or quantizes my playing into what it "thinks" is correct, so?????? I donno... Might as well use Automap with Abelton Live and make the nightmare complete and see what happens?....?.... ?.... But just because you "Can" doesn't mean you "Should".?

Raw tracks of "She's Leaving Home" by The Beatles composed entirely in MIDI created in CbB with Cakewalk TTS-1 DXi, Cakewalk SI Strings VSTi, and Reason Friktion Strings DXi, all performed on a Novation Impulse 61 MIDI keyboard controller.  Mixed on a Behringer X Touch Universal Control Surface, & stock audio FX Modules included with Cakewalk ProChannel and Bandlab Mix Editor.

I sincerely hope you enjoy listening as much as I enjoy  and APRECIEATE  playing with CAKEWALK by BANDLAB. ??

 ?She's Leaving Home? by Steev | BandLab

On 11/19/2019 at 8:43 PM, Michael Fogarty said:

So yes, sold (trying to) my keyboard to a friend and it is randomly shutting itself down. (I saw online this is a possibility as it has happened to others.) Is yours working? Has it always worked? Are you using USB 2? (he only has 3). Did you ever upgrade your firmware?

Much appreciated.

Huh, I've never seen a computer that only has USB 3.?

And contrary to popular belief, just because they SAY USB 3 is backwards compatible does NOT mean all USB 2 devices will work with it. I remember with the first version Scarlett gen 2 drivers, Focusrite gave a strict warning NOT to plug it into a USB 3 port. Although they finally resolved that issue, USB 3 didn't offer any performance benefits.

Also I do believe Novation is a subsidiary of Focusrite so I would sign in to your account and check with their support.

Did you try replacing the USB cable or using another MIDI port on the computer?

Impulse's have super fast MIDI transmission & ultra low unnoticeable latency so there's no need to use USB 3 and it would be wise and well advised to keep all USB 2 devices far and away from USB 3.1 ports.

Also I've found many people get confused with the mini USB-C ports found on cellphones with high speed USB 3.1 Type "C" (24 pin) ports can be problematic for any device that doesn't specifically have support for 10 GB/s data rate. USB 3.1 or Thunderbolt devices. Not only is USB 3.1 Type C have more connector pins and much faster then v3 it's also capable of monitoring power consumption and automatically throttle down or shutting off power for charging batteries. I noticed this happening when charging my iPhone. When the phone was fully charged it not only stopped charging the iPhone it also shut down power to the external USB hub as well.

 And while I've read claims that USB 3.1 is backwards compatible, you'll never convince my Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 gen 2 of that.

 And what makes it even more confusing is Yes you CAN plug  a Scarlett 18i20 gen "3" USB 3.1 interface into a USB 2 port with an adaptor, but you CAN'T do it the other way around.   Plugged into the USB Type C port, my normally rock solid Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 gen 2  may or may not disappear and disconnect at any time during a CbB project session and knock out studio monitors and headphone amp and switch over to the little speakers built in my display monitor. ?

I have never had any problems with my Novation Impulse 61 since I 1st unpacked it brand new & plugged it in, and flashed the firmware. I've never done that again because I never had any problems with it, there's no need to fix things that aren't broken. Of course I wouldn't even dream or consider plugging it into a port or doing anything with it that it wasn't designed for, but that's just me. 

It's been like a best friend for years now, other then Auto Map sometimes guesses/picks some strange controller settings for Waves plugins. Best work around I found for that is, I create my own MIDI Maps and store them in the DAW so I know what knob or fader is assigned to what parameter and DON'T USE or advise choosing Novation's AutoMap for MIDI channel input ports or plugins. It's pretty much been bulletproof and plays very well along side of my Behringer X Touch I use for controlling all audio channels and use the Impulse to control all MIDI channels, synths, and FX plugins.

On 5/29/2021 at 12:22 AM, user390096 said:

Waves CLA (Chris Lord-Alga) has several guitar/bass plug-ins that sound good, are cheap and very easy to use. Worth a trial.

Waves CLA Bass is an Audio/Amp VST plugin and it is frequently on sale directly from Waves for $29(us). Do you need it? Well it doesn't really do much more then you could already do with Cakewalk's ProChannel, so you don't really need it....... but............. It really works GREAT to VERY QUICKLY & EASELY dial in and spice up any bass/synth from.

Cakewalk TTS-1 (DXi) runs off Windows Direct X runtime component so your CPU & memory kinda treats it like it's a part of Windows OS and not an entire different process like a VST is, so it doesn't even register in the CPU or memory resource metering. 

TTS-1 is probably one of the most ignored, unexplored, and underrated synth EVER. And not only by the CPU & memory, but by CAKEWALK too. Oh how good could it be? It OLD  and it's FREE. And you only get what you pay for, right?

 Well I know of several people who overlooked it and purchased the VSTi version from Roland.com and paid $90(us) only to say; "Oh my, it may be prettier on the eyes, but in the ears IT'S THE SAME (bleep'in) THING!" ?

TTS-1  powered by several years of different release versions 15488 thru 15497 of Roland's now discontinued, but very genuine SoundCanvas GM/GS v2™ synth engines. Each version has several bass patches to choose from in each different version. Don't let it's simple DXi user interface fool you, dig in a little deeper you'll find that you can tweak & assign each instrument(s) to it's own audio channel(s) in Cakewalk's mixer where you can apply audio FX treatments to each instrument separately in groups of either 4 stereo or 8 mono chan. configurations. However, just like a Roland hardware synth, while it's "capable" of playing 16 instruments at once on 16 separate MIDI channels, doesn't mean you "should", because the more instruments you have playing on one synth engine(instance), just like the hardware units, the more sound quality "degrades", ESPECIALLY when using instruments with complex waveforms and lots of after touch, pitch wheeling, and modulation going on. To keep sound quality up, I typically never go over 6 different instruments channels assigned to one instance TTS-1. And 3 or 4 instrument channels can easily be used to create & CRAFT one hellava nice sounding BASS PART out of something like running an upright bass patch (chan 1) on one channel with a harmonics patch (chan 2) on another. And then assing a Fingered Bass patch (chan 3) along side a Fret Noise patch (chan 4) and mix to taste and assign all 4 channels outputting from the TTS-1 to one Bass "Bus" running thru Cakewalk ProChannel, or CLA Bass VST or both.  And if you can't carve out the bass sound/part of your dreams with that would make Bootsie Collins smile, then............... Oh never even mind. ?

SI Bass is (VSTi) is VERY EASY on the CPU, it's tweakable, it has a very nice selection of presets, knobs, and switches in all the right places, extremely fast tracking responds very well to my Fishman Triple Play MIDI guitar controller and my Novation Impulse 61 MIDI keyboard controller and can read/write automation. ?

Novation Bass Station is nice too, so is Native Instruments, etc, etc, and so on, they are ALL nice.. And CLA Bass VST 3 is a very low latency plugin is easy on the CPU & is a great piece for ANYTHING BASS. ?

I'm personally a big fan of the Cakewalk SI Bass's "Bassman.prog". I find it can be dialed in for a very natural realistic electric bass guitar sounds that'll make you wonder; "Is that REAL or is that Memorex?" I typically prefer recording/using my either my Fender P  or T-Bucket (acoustic) basses thru an Ampeg SCR-DI direct to audio and most times that's all I have to do.

But sometimes as the project progresses, I'll want a little cleaner sound here or more distorted sound there so I'll convert the audio bass track to MIDI an use the  SI Bass plugin as one of my favorites (at any price point) go to "reamp" bass guitar rigs. ? I'm a firm believer in it doesn't matter how much it costs, or what you use, it's it's all about HOW YOU USE IT.

You can even do really weird stuff too with CLA Bass like switch on "Input Monitoring", plug your bass guitar directly into your audio interface and start jamming. It also works surprisingly well with a Fender Telecaster for those of us old school blues guitarist aficionados like Buddy Guy, and those who LOVES the SNAP'IN CLEAN  sound and feel for country like Danny Gatton to the snarl'in sounds of Jimmy Page in Led Zeppelin all in the studio using their Tele thru a vintage 4x10 Fender Bassman  combo amps. ?

17 hours ago, chris.r said:

Thanks, I'll have a look.

Yeah, the Apple rubbish nonsense doesn't make me feel better, it's just proving that's not a way out for me. I only can feel even more sorry for their users. For now I have no other choice than to stick with Windows 10 and the mess as I can't seem to find a better way for the time being but I definitely don't like it that way. I wonder that there is a kind of general, common acceptance for that.

I'm not sure what you're trying to say. I could prolonge the doomsday for max 365 days in the regular security options and yesterday Windows decided time is up and started updating without warning, and I couldn't stop it. Maybe there are ways to edit group policies and alike but like I said I was trying to keep things fairly default. Besides I'm not IT literate to that extent.

yEAH, Well, yeah, UH HUH..  Here We Go Again and Again, and AGAIN same 'ol, SAME 'OL but you don't have to take it ya know, just say NO and you can always just shut down your computer once and for ALL again, and get rid of all the evil conspiracies go'in on between Apple & Microsoft's plans to GET YOU so they suck the live out of you. ?  Just say "SCREW IT! I'VE HAD ENOUGH! I'm just going to join Bandlab where I can rock out with ANYONE I want to, and do it all from the free Android phone I got from service provider, so HA!" 

?

8 hours ago, chris.r said:

Just took a short break from dealing with another forced Win10 mayhem and only came back to attest a disaster. The so called feature update broke too many plugins, my Steinberg plugins and apps are no longer working because probably e-licenser is now broken. Many plugins have got their authorizations cancelled, some of them crash Cakewalk now. A few apps suddenly not working and even hard to say where to start with repairing. Sandboxie broken, no more safe browsing. Also I've lost some tabs I'm used to keeping open for convenience along with some other info that's got lost as well. It's just proving this OS can only be stable for max of a couple months, not years as it used to be for me.

I have no idea how do you guys cope with it. I'm only several months on Win10 and already having enough of it. I really had it kept in default settings as much as I could, didn't help. It was fairly fresh install, still is. No way I'm the only one getting such trouble, am I? Now back to going through hoops to get the e-licenser stuff and other plugins working again. This is all sad.

I sincerely feel sorry for every user that has to deal with similar issues now since Windows 10. And all devs that have to deal with fixes every couple month because of a new Windows 10 feature update, especially if they are trying keeping their software compatible win 64-bit AND 32-bit, Win10 AND Win7 (sometimes even XP), Win AND Mac OS (sometimes also Linux), intel AND now Arm processor, etc... they are heroes.

Lucky you who do not experience all that.

Here ya go bro, not everything is Microsoft's fault  support from their eLicenser 

Steinberg has always been VERY LAX in timely support and even difficult to deal with in terms changing & dealing with in keeping in touch with users & both Microsoft and Apple. They know well ahead of time of new developments and safety features "Requirements" before these rules take effect. And ONCE AGAIN eLicenser needs to report back to the Mutha Ship and get it's "Certification Approval" by MS & Apple "UPDATED". (even if you drive an old vintage car, you still have to renew is license plates registration.)

And if you think Microsoft is bad with Quick Moves enforcing "SECURITY" changes,  you would definitely NOT want to deal with Apple. With Apple ALL software and hardware has to be approved by them. And you CANNOT keep you favorite beloved audio interface for 20 years because Macs won't run old hardware AT ALL if the vendors keep support for current "time stamped" driver updates. They will also force you to change your passwords and dictate what software you can and cannot use depending on the age of your computer.  Other then adding RAM, you CAN'T upgrade components or your existing computer.. It's a very closed and tight fisted ecosystem, which only a fraction of the "choices" you have with Windows. And yet Mac users still have problems. ? I know, I'm one of them, and greatly concerned since Apple made the move to stop using Intel CPU's and start making their own "M" series processors rumored to give iPads BETTER performance than a desktop i7, I shutter to think about replacing my aging 8 year old iMac.? How well an M CPU handle Pro Tools and all my other apps designed for an Intel CPU, and is it gonna turn my NI Apollo 8x audio interface into a very expensive paperweight? When Apple switched from Motorola chips to Intel it blow up my MOTO 8, which thankfully worked with Win 2000. Oh WoWzEr we could be look'in at the price of a new car if things don't go right & QUICK ENOUGH....?

Well I'm not gonna bet on it, and I got some luddite blood in me, LoL and my Windows/Cakewalk Easy Bake Oven has always been more ultimately  powerful so if I can't stay in bidness with that, it's time for ME to retire. And lets face it, all the old schooler studio clients who have always INSISTED on working in Pro Tools are getting fewer and farther in between as are having to use Pro Tools for collaborating with other studios thru AVID cloud.

The new much younger clientele really don't seem to care what DAW I use anymore because they record their music at home and use all sorts of gear from Zoom, Tascam, Sony, Korg etc, and longer list of software #1 reigning "Champ" being "Ableton Live".  But I've found with the younger crowd picking a DAW and sticking with it long enough to really understand it is a rather complicated process in itself. It's like being a kid in a candy store, there's just too many and much too choose from and they want to take a taste of them all. As long as it gives them instant results selecting groove samples or laying track after track and layering layer after layer, until they feel it's GREAT, but just lacks something. And that's when they will come to me to master or remix, clean it up and make it POP & Sparkle to make it sound as good as it can get so they can "Drop" their new album for streaming, CD, and DVD, dood, like last WEEK.? Or as I like to refer to it, simply straightening out a sonic train wreck of FX, EQ, and dynamics, and possibly recording vocals and guitar tracks. And making sure copyright licensing/registering is up to snuff, not only on original tunes, but securing legal licensing for any cover tunes as well. And I HIGHLY recommend doing both. If you want to be one of those "Oh I only do ORIGINALS!" snobs then you better have one heck of a game plan for promoting your album, because doing a killer revision of one of your favorite tunes then represents your style is a GREAT way to show up on search engines and paying royalties is pennies on a dollar for that amount of otherwise FREE promotion.  People will click on your cover song by accident and like what they hear and curiously listen to your originals and become fans and tell their friends, so on and so forth, and hopefully spiral into mo' money 4 U and the more money 4 U means the more better and newer computer and software u can afford. ? RARELY do people seldom if ever click on a song by a band that they never heard before whilst searching for a song they know they want to hear on U-Toob, and if your music is recorded, produced, polished and SOUNDING GOOD people will buy it, and there isn't a better, EASIER, and freer way to do it then CAKEWALK by BANDLAB.

And the new and current CbB is not only are close as you can get to working a multi- million dollar pro studio where "everything works" as you can get, it's so nice, smooth, and stable now it instills a whole new level of comfort and confidence I've never really had to pleasure to experience before not having to worry about something breaking, that is, as long as you keep your computer's software & hardware up to snuff, staying up to date, Win 10 insures VASTLY improved super lower latency of Input monitoring using Waves v12 VST 3 FX is a whole new beautiful experience all in itself??, and those annoying sound engine dropouts I had with Win7 & SONAR are GONE.?? And last but not least, I've found the marriage between CbB and Bandlab.com new support and features for "Publishing" singles to albums are only second to NO ONE!? YES folks, Bandlab isn't just for streaming, you can upload albums up to UHD 24/96.wav quality and SELL THEM directly from Bandlab.com and guess how much it costs? Well if you kept up to date you would already know. ? Stop looking BACKWARDS and rationalizing excuses to stay there, the future is BRIGHT ahead of YOU and can do it. Oh YES you CAN!

I've never been one for trusting mastering straight from a DAW, but I've gotten some really, really GOOD & EXACTING results lately simply by strapping Ozone across the Master Buss. ? I've never had exacting results by doing this with SONAR. Cross referencing a stereo mixdown/master in Sound Forge Pro 10 nearly ALWAYS required tweaking to get right. But now .wav mixdown/mastering from CbB  and opening it Sound Forge Pro 15 Suite produces the same results.  And that means for CbB projects, I essentially only need to use SFP 15 for CD authoring and batch converting multiple audio formats at once.?

  Oh and BTW, your DON'T have to install "Optional Feature Updates" with Windows 10, only security updates. By default Windows " Update and Security" settings are set to "automatically" update everything, but you can and should switch it to "ask me first" or "manual" modes. This way you have months to read and research to pick and choose which feature updates you want at your leisure.

"Security" updates don't change your personal default settings, But "Feature" updates can and often will.

.

8 hours ago, Starship Krupa said:

Welllllll....in this case, we are getting what we paid for, it's just that we paid for most of it years ago. Our license fees funded the first 30 years of development, and now that code base is owned by a company that wanted to keep developing it and let everyone use it for free as a promotional, brand-building product.

There were some that were very upset that they had paid hundreds in licensing fees for a product that was now going to be free for everyone, but it's a fact that as a Cakewalk by BandLab user, I know that there is a lot of bonus material in that Platinum bundle that I can't get my hands on for any amount of money, and I also didn't get to use SONAR for all the time that the paid users did (although I did own a SONAR license back in the early 2000's before I set the hobby aside for a dozen years). I was using Mixcraft when Gibson pulled the plug. Mixcraft is a great little program, but a little program it is. I've found Cakewalk to be much more capable.

Ah yeah, I remember Mixcraft as a really nice all audio DAW almost completely designed after the original Mixcraft large format audio consoles hailed as Nashville's Finest. It didn't any MIDI support and they were boasting about that & the evils of open source MIDI support being 'the death of the musician'. ? I also remember it being the most "Cracked" DAW on the market and keygens for it were being placed at the top of the list on Google. ? It was really great for those who wanted to learn how to use a large format console, however not so much for the home recording enthusiast who just wanted to record their music as easily as possible and who could not  care less about learning the finer details of audio engineering, and especially for those of us who just wanted to get our song ideas down with as little opposition and argument as possible.

Oh yeah, as much as I hated to do it, I was one of the 1st kids on the block to replace my childhood friend/favorite human drummer with a Roland TR 707 MIDI drum machine as a studio drummer. But if I didn't I still be right there with him trying to record the perfect takes of "Stairway To Heaven" ?and "Freebird". ?

It kinda turns the meaning of "You Get What You Pay For" into a pretty funny oxymoron, doesn't it? So many people were gleefully downloading the cracked version for free by the time the bakers at Acoustica realized that there actually nothing evil about open source MIDI support they didn't make enough money to develop support for MIDI.

I also find it somewhere between hilarious and offensive how it infuriates some of my fellow CbB users that Bandlab doesn't charge anything anymore for offering continued support for such a powerful and highly sophisticated DAW. Talk about "LOOKING  A GIFT HORSE IN THE MOUTH!" I for one am not the least bit angry, and am literally ecstatic that Bandlab is going to such  great efforts of "Leveling the Playing Field"  offering such a HUGE box of tools in creating such an open source environment to let ALL of our creative FREEDOMS FLY and at a price everyone can afford to do it without having to STEAL ANYTHING! Thanks to Bandlab, EVERYBODY now has now been afforded the PRIVALEGE to take their talents and skills are far as their imaginations can go.. ? And that doesn't offend me in the least..

I was also one of those guys paying for upgrade SONAR Producer and PLATINUM and believe me, I got MORE then I paid for with all the bundled software.

It's all about attitude... Suspicious minds always have a dim and cloudy reflection in the mirror... Negativity attracts negativity, haters gonna hate.. Positivity attracts positivity, and thieves gonna steal.. And success is all about reading the room and being able to give some honest? to that mug in the mirror. ??☮

What Am I To You? 

On 5/24/2021 at 2:00 PM, John Vere said:

If you search there are plenty of threads on the topic of how to install the older versions to grab the goodies. There's even a document that list which versions came with what stuff.  

 For me now it's mostly just run Command center and I have everything ( all the Sonar goodies)  already downloaded to a folder I copy to the CCC download folder after I install CCC. Then the install goes very fast as it's not waiting to download anything. I could actually do this off line once CCC is authorized. 

 

Oh wow, THANKS for reposting this list John. I missed this discussion obviously several times maybe even to the power of 10(?)

There may be newer and even more powerful (in terms of functionality)  FX out there, but I've also found a lot of the older SONAR bundled FX & ProChannel modules have a certain simple signature beauty and musicality that can't be replicated. For instance, I've always loved the sound character and musicality of the Cakewalk Concrete Limiter adds to a "channel" even without applying any limiting at all it has a GREAT color sound being used as a simple gain stage. I only use limiters to stop the stray peaks into the red, but even if it doesn't happen, using Concrete Limiter as a simple "coloration" gain stage that seems to give my Focusrite Scarlett preamps a very pleasant touch of the boutique vintage ISA preamp flavor while using the N-Type console emulator module. It wasn't included or bundled with SONAR, it was a Professional grade add on purchased separately so it has it's own installer and S/N.  And of course it also sounded very good whilst SMACKING a waveform into a SOLID BRICKWALL so most SONAR users knew at the time purchased it to win LOUDNESS WARS which was all the rave back in the time for those who's opinions and beliefs centered around "He who has the loudest song WINS!" But you don't need to install older versions of SONAR or Pro Audio for the Cakewalk add on power house plugins. But you do if you don't want to live without to purchase rather pricy licenses for other rather choice goodies from 3rd party bundled favorites like Softubes, BlueTubes, both XLN's Addictive Drums 1 and 2, both need to be installed because they have arsenals of different sampled drum kits and kit pieces all of which I still use and rely on today..

Now are there better limiters out there. Absolutely, and the Cakewalk Adaptive Limiter is so colorless and transparent it's been my go to Buss Limiter for years is one of them, and one of which I haven't found to be rivaled by any other vendor to date. But it nor any other have or adds the rich signature of color to the SOUND Concrete Limiter makes. I have had to keep several different versions of SONAR installed dating back to v8.5 to keep some of my favorite  FX plugins that I don't want to lose. So having this list of what FX came from where is truly a beautiful gift and think of beauty, I will hopefully never have to use. ?? But never saying never is a double edged sward of a TRAP all in itself. 

 Typically I clone my system drives every 2 years or so to avoid simply wearing them out and up grade storage and as a result,  I lost track of what 3rd party plugins came with what versions of Cakewalk dating back 30 years or so, well beyond what CCC covers. This list not only is a great resource in helping communicate with others, no matter how careful we can be to avoid malware, virus's, exploits, and or simple system failure, keeping your computer off line or not, no matter how many backups we make, there is no such thing as being 100% safe. There is always a chance of losing or way and certain files disappear from having to start from scratch with a fresh clean OS system install. The "Ultimate PITA" having to manually search for, find and remember to reinstall everything. And in the case of CbC installing it all in the "right order" saves a LOT of problems and extra work. CbB will automatically search for and locate all your older plugins registered to Cakewalk and SONAR, but ONLY easy if they are already there before installing CbB.

One of my top and foremost things I love about Windows 10 is it's ability to perform a pretty much a clean OS install and update and keep all the apps, drivers and files in place. And most times if it can't, it won't update and roll back to the last successful installation. (Windows 7 doesn't do that) And if Win10 doesn't and crashes in the process that is typically ALWAYS the users fault for lack of maintenance, using illegally installed  (cracked) software running off of Key Gens that doesn't pass "Digital Signage" white lists security.? And so that basically means if your software is too old or stolen it won't be listed on the white list as registered from the vendors as being safe, and in most cases Windows will "disable" or simply won't install.

And unless you keep up with stringent and strict weekly maintenance and security updates schedule, like you SHOULD DO,  I typically DO NOT advise cloning system drives. 

And being if you choose to "Keep your File"  Windows 10 installer "clones" an exact "image" your system files and Windows Registry before updating, than checks and reexamines it before registering the update as "safe". And it does all this work in a matter of an hour or 2, what could take Win 7 users WEEKS of tedious, time consuming, & frustrating work to do. Of course Win 7 users wouldn't know that, so they can only compare it to rationalize excuses based on opinions, misinformation based on beliefs that everybody is out to get them. One of my all time favorite is Windows 7 x64 can run XP x32 at the same on a virtual machine, 10 doesn't. No is doesn't, because it has much better support for legacy support for drivers and x32 software so it doesn't NEED to run XP in the background and waist  all that CPU & RAM resources. Not only that, my CPU, memory, and buss speeds running in high performance mode are WAY TOO FAST for XP and cause critical stability issues so even older x32 bit apps run better and smoother on Win 10. And even the few x32bit programs I have left on my computer don't support ARA or VST 3 and I DAMN sure don't want to lose that MASSIVE boost of speed and power. And I don't know of any of my favorite music creation software that will even run on Windows 7 anymore. Win 7 users can't even upgrade to Melodyne 5 anymore, and boy oh BOY, even SONAR runs noticeably smoother and better on Win 10, and you can do things so much easier and things you haven't even DREAMED of with CbB then you could with SONAR.  Ya'all luddites don't have a CLUE to what you're missing out on.

A good example is while the latest release version of SONAR Platinum can't support VST 3 plugins it supports them on very thin ice. With SPLAT I can only safely run Reason 11 Studio by Rewire, and that means I have to run BOTH DAW's at once,  as the Reason Rack Extension VST 3 plugin which can handle up to 16 channels of Reason Synths/Plugins, but will only run a limited amount of Reasons synths before ALL 8 cores on the CPU meters start bouncing into the red zone and it crashes SPLAT. With CbB I don't have to Rewire and run Reason the DAW at all, can as many instances of Reasons VST Rack synths and FX, PLUS Reason's SSL 9000 mixing console entirely "within" CbB  as a VST 3 plugin(s) and never bounce any single core CPU over 50%-75% at once or EVER crash CbB.

And Melodyne 5 editor works so much better and "Region FX" loads crazy FAST. Last time I used it to correct an accidental major chord on a guitar track to a minor chord then bounce it back to an audio clip and shut down Melodyne, the whole process took less than 30 seconds. And it's pretty much the same converting and entire dull sounding poorly recorded in a garage stereo audio drums track to MIDI. Now nobody "needs" to do things like this, but if you care about higher PRO SOUNDING quality made insanely easier, you'd have to be out of yer rabid ***** mind NOT TO.

9 out of 10 times Win10 gets it updating right, and it will even tell you what went wrong and need to fix before you try again, and it WILL update successfully if you don't interfere. And if you get impatient and SHUT OFF your computer during the process before Windows says to.... Calling your computer stupid is stupid, and YOU just BROKE YOUR COMPUTER, not Microsoft. ?

And so to close this 'lil rant, yeah, SONAR is certainly more then good enough for rock & roll, and sometimes a Windows update changes my config settings back to default, it can be annoying, but only mildly so. And now I know it can happen it doesn't annoy me in the least because now that I'm aware it can happen, or not, I'm half expecting it so it only takes a minute or so to fix change them back in settings.

 And sometimes Microsoft changes and moves things around, but so does Apple & Google, and they always have valid and good reasons for it.  So if you're the type of control freak user that thinks you are smarter then the 1000's of developers at Microsoft, Apple, Google, and CAKEWALK and think you can come up with a secret plan trick Windows & EVERYBODY ELSE into doing what you want them to do, you DO NOT want to update to Win 10 or anything else for that matter, like the current and absolute BEST of the BEST version of SONAR/CbB ever created and continuing to EVOLVE and get better & better then any other DAW's out there. But you'll never know that unless you change your habits and give it a TRY! ? And until someone how to develop software that can read our minds, we're all going to have to keep up with THEM, they don't have to hold themselves back for us, nor give us an endless supply of support.   ?out of ? of Windows users using a decently configured mid grade computer without any "hacked" software manufactured in the past decade I know of that were reluctant to change gave Win 10 a ? after experiencing using it for a week. They all said it was a tad slow and sluggish at first, I originally thought so too about 3 years ago, but they ALL said the ONLY regrets they have is not doing it sooner. 

Because, like Windows, Apple, Android, and even Lennox, things can only IMPROVE thru CHANGE.

Welcome to the forum ChrisSphere, in the future please clearly state the model of the device or software you're having problems with. There is a very good chance someone here will have it and know the exact answer and solution within minutes.

1st thing I would recommend doing open Cakewalk and hit "P" on your computer keyboard to open Cakewalk's "Preferences", click on "Instruments" in the MIDI section and select Yahama XG, be sure to click and drag on all 16 output channels to select and highlight them all and click on "Apply". For Yamaha XG drum Kits select the output channel you want (typically chan 10) click on "Apply" again before closing the dialog box. This creates a MIDI map(s) that can be easily accessed for I/O thru every MIDI track in Cakewalk's track/sequencer. This may be all you need to do to get the DAW and synth to communicate properly and to get things up & running to work well.

2sd thing I would recommend doing is going to Yamaha Support website and see if they have a download for an Editor/Librarian and a detailed  MIDI Map specific to the model of your synth that you can import into Cakewalk's list of Instruments, and that will help your workflow easily go from working "well" to working "great".

Yahama makes a whole slew of synths from ultra inexpensive to knee buckling expensive and as you would expect they are not all created equal and may not all send and receive "system exclusive data" with a DAW. But you should still be able to use your Yamaha's keyboard as a controller to play CbB's included synths like the TTS-1 and it utilizes Roland SoundCanvas synth engine, and Cakewalk's bundle of "Studio Instruments" are very nice as well.

Good luck and have FUN!

I have a friend using UVI Relayer in Studio ONE & it didn't take me long to fall in love with it's extremely well thought out GUI, I found it's very easy to dig in deep and tweak it to do exactly what I wanted it to do.

However, comparing apples to oranges,  as pleasing and impressed I was with giving Relayer a spin, I personally prefer the Waves HReverb, but that mostly based on experience & familiarity.

And for a freebie, it would be really hard to beat the trusty old Cakewalk Sonitus Delay.

44 minutes ago, mdiemer said:

Everyone has a right to express their opinion. That's a what a forum is. If you don't agree with it, fine. Don't read their posts. To say you're getting tired of reading this or that opinion kind of smacks of elitism. Just because you disagree with how they see the world, that doesn't make you right and them wrong. Or vice versa. You can also block people whose posts,  writing style, age, or whatever,  you don't like.  I do.  But honestly, nobody cares if you're getting tired of reading opinions you disagree with.

 Your whole "Why Should You Care" pot calling the kettle black post smacks of elitism.

Well THIS forum is about Cakewalk technology, and opinions really don't have much value here or anywhere else for that matter and should be taken with a mere grain of salt.

The fact of the matter is running a DAW off line just for the illusion be safe is not only delusional, because you have to go elsewhere online to get HERE into this forum and update your DAW, so losing about 90% efficiency  of the business of creating and publishing music. Sounds like a WHOLE LOT of extra unnecessary work to me. Creating music that nobody can hear is like a tree falling in the woods that no one witnesses happening.

 And SOME of us DO care enough about helping each other out and debunking myths about technology based on misguided opinions and beliefs.

As far as opinions go.... I have the same opinion of recording music on an antiquated Windows 7 machine as I do about recording music to tape.

 It's one thing if you can't afford a new computer, but it's another and utterly SELF DEFEATING REDICULOUS  thing entirely to REFUSE to. ? And both Cakewalk & Bandlab services and updating/upgrading Win 7 to Win 10 is TOTALLY FREE OF COSTS & demons & goblins out to get you. But not necessary free of BOOGIE MEN & FEMALES searching relentlessly to maybe jam, collaborate, or maybe just DANCE to your music.? 

Well that is if it's good enough or.................. Even exists! ??

55 minutes ago, InstrEd said:

My teenage daughters say the same thing to me about forums. Dad they are so old fashioned. What can I say I'm not a spring chicken.  I started way back in the day with dail-up modems and CompuServe BBS.  These young whipper snappers don't know how good they have it  

Yeah, now my grand kids say the same about me! ? I go back to the days of recording to tape. I was the first kid on my block to get my hands on on old 8 track Skully the size of a washing machine I had to keep in it's own air conditioned room (so it wouldn't overheat) next to my recording room space.

  I spent more time in maintaining it to keep it going then I did recording music. It ate "2 tape to the tune of about $2 (us) per minute or more of recorded music. Typically more, because all editing had to be done with a grease pen and razor blade so needless to say the more beer we drank the more tape ended up in the trash can. ??? Did you ever try to cut & splice together 2" magnetic tape with Scotch tape whilst drunk?

 Anyway recording was rather pricy back in the day. To get an idea of how pricy it was, it cost LESS to purchase a brand new Apple Power Mac & Pro Tools then it did paying for studio time for ONE ALBUM!? And that was before pressing it to vinyl or much more affordable cassette tapes which didn't have near the sound quality of .mp3's ?

 Yeah, I don't miss those days in the least, and any young aspiring musician suggests me giving advice and or helping achieve their romantic dreams of recording to tape and making a vinyl recording gets nothing more then a BIG 'OL BELLY LAUGH out of me.

Any when anyone asks me if I still use my vintage Teletronics LA/2A any more I yell NO at them and tell them that "Vintage" is just a 7 letter word for an "Old & tired Piece of CRAP" that not only needs new capacitors, but near constant cleaning & maintenance. My CA/2A vst plugin needs NONE OF THAT NONSENSE. If it breaks, which it hasn't done yet, all I need to do is reinstall it, and it can do things the original hardware can't do. Like NOT take up valuable studio rack real-estate, run independently on EVERY TRACK and will it run in stereo. 

I'm pretty active on Bandlab.com and involved in several collaborations and always try to get users to come here and join the forum.

 The biggest troubles I have convincing them is Bandlab's Mix Editor which is actually a 16 track cloud based DAW is all they feel they need and is getting better & better almost by the day with more functions and adding new FX plugins to an already sizable bundle of very cool modern & vintage FX.

 Can anyone guess what the BL-1176 can do? Well it can't do all what a NI 1176 or a Waves 1176 plugins can do, but it's close enough for a veteran to recognize as an 1176 signature, and the newbies may not actually know or care what an 1176 is, they know enough about it know it makes their tracks jump out and sound GOOD.

And it's now so shockingly GOOD & POWERFUL some don't feel the need to learn a new DAW and others can't install Cakewalk on their Android, iOS devices, or Mac computers, so they don't even bother. 

That, and many, many young users don't like to hang out in forums with us geezers that remind them of their "Parents" ??

Yeah, try to put yourself in their shoes before offering them advice.  To a place where, to them, "Old School" is Taylor Swift or Beyoncé... ?

I was wondering if this has happened with other CbB users. It's not really a problem because CbB DOES in fact playback the audio files, so more of a curious annoyance. 

Although everything is saving and running working properly, it's a strange glitch that happens from time to time when freezing synths and creating "Region FX" with Melodyne.

3 hours ago, Lord Tim said:

Just want to say it's nice to have disagreements on here and it still be respectful. This place is pretty cool.

So true, and while in any and every forum there are always a few who will debate & argue to the bitter end for the sake of debating and arguing, they has always been a very a small crowd here in the old & new Cakewalk forums which for decades maintained an enormous wealth of support from knowledgeable users more then willing to help in a pinch, as well as great and rapid response from help from CbB Support Staff for technical issues and solutions.

 And THAT in my opinion, are the ingredients  what has kept and made Cakewalk the most solid, innovative, and mature DAW out there.

The facts of the matter the changes and progression the DAW has gone thru are STILL well documented and archived in the original Cakewalk Forums since "12 Tones Inc." early collaboration efforts" with Microsoft & Roland Corp. helped develop and define the language of what we now know as the GM Spec. (general MIDI)  starting in DOS> "upgraded" to Pro Audio v1- v8.5.

 Then Roland's further "updates" and "Upgrades" manipulated, massaged, tweaked and refined SONAR technology in to WORLD'S MOST CUTTING EDGE IN TECHNOLOGIES, And and manipulated, tweaked CHANGED, & rolled them up into  1st. MOST POWERFUL & COMPLETE DAW that can run a SMOOOTH operating  double precision sound engine that could run in x64 bit mode on an x32 bit Windows computer. What's that? Like 10 YEARS before ANY other DAW could to it?  FINALLY Microsoft figured out how to do it with Win 7's first reliable and stable x64 OS build. ?

 And then Gibson Brands took over and, well I have to say that I really, REALLY ?LOVE their guitars!? ??? And while my first choice & love will always be my Fender Stratocaster I can't honesty say I love my Les Paul any less. ? Just differently.. ?

And now, BANDLAB is running the show & doing it differently, and making our recording experience SO MUCH richer, easier, FUN, faster, and rock solid reliable. And actually pushing up the "Bar" to new levels that are literally redefining what is even possible. ?

But it took years of updating & up GRADING to get to the point of "Maturity" where there's no more need to have to "upgrade" the OS or DAW. To where we only "need" to update the OS & DAW for newer, better, and faster hardware & software performance & security reasons. And Microsoft and Bandlab are offering these bone chilling services for free of charge for all that want them and if you don't like them can be all so easily be rolled back to the last known reliable installation.

Microsoft's Win 10 installer is now so good communicating with your computer thru telemetry it will not only REFUSE to install on a computer/system and "Automatically Roll Back" the OS on a computer that doesn't meet requirements, it will also tell you WHY. At which point just sit back, go get something to munch on, watch Netflix, take a shot of whiskey or twist a doobie, and by all means, just don't panic and please "DON'T TOUCH IT!" This totally inappropriate time to pitch a fit and get rebellious.   Just let Windows Installer/Uninstaller do it thing all you wasted was a couple of hours away from your computer.

Of course there are some things that will always slip thru the cracks, like you may have to re register certain software, or drivers for a 20+ old Edirol PCR MIDI controller won't work anymore. In which case you will have to manually find your way to Windows Update in settings and roll it back yourself. Microsoft's Installer has the wisdom and courtesy  to keep an image of your system in a "Temp File" for 30 days. Bandlab allows you to roll back CbB to the last known install should some unforeseen problem should occur as well provide free multi-track storage for ALL music projects on Bandlab.com with the added BONUS of BONUS'S.... The incredible Bandlab Mix Editor. My FAVORITE free backup DAW. ? I for one, never thought I'd live long enough to experience a very functional and powerful  cloud based DAW that works on ANY PLATFORM, let alone a "free" a cloud based DAW that would even work at all.? But Mix Editor does, and thru a near constant and often times annoying "updates" and tweaks, Bandlab's Mix Editor is rapidly becoming the world's best DAW second only to Cakewalk. ??

And these tools are being openly and generously shared with everybody, and puts us all on an equal playing field with nothing standing in the way of our freedom to express ourselves anyway we choose in any style or genre. No matter who we are, where we come from, how experienced we are or inexperienced we choose to or not to be, young or old, rich or poor, nasty or nice (like me), we are all equally free to choose to go anywhere our imaginations can take us.....

 I truly believe both Microsoft and Bandlab get a lot of unfounded negative static oversaturated in "Opinions" "based on "beliefs".

Well for any of those that "care", in my "opinion" neither deserves that. I "believe" they should both be nominated for Nobel Peace Prizes outstanding achievements in both social and technological awards. ?

And for those of you who don't care.... Have fun as long as you can in your basements. It may take a bit of dumpster diving on craigslist, but you can still find the parts and peripherals needed to keep any old computer running. Just be careful out there, lottsa dirty trickster boogiemans and femans on craigslist. ??

Oh well, it's 1/2 past high noon on Tuesday, time for me to play and lay down some Les Paul/ Marshall guitar tracks, which I only during the afternoon as a courtesy to my neighbors whilst jamming with the windows open on a beautiful 70℉ day.  due to the Marshal amps relatively LOUD sweet spot for that "just the right amount of feedback" my mojo desires and lusts after for this particular song.?? It is this guitarists opinion that if you really want a nice creamy delicious ever so slightly overdriven Les Paul & Marshall amp to sing as pretty as any bird thru the air without any effects. And even my 50 watt Marshall needs to be cranked up loud enough to make a single 12" Celestion LIGHT UP  and work for  a living, it's still gonna get LOUD up in here?. If I don't want to capture the playful interactions between the guitar pickup and speaker cabinet I don't even bother with the Marshall, I'll just go all 21st century and use my extremely trusty new tech Line 6 and monitor thru headphones which I do 99% of the time. ? And now is the time for me to shut up, play my guitar and  work on (and maybe finish) one of the five music projects I have waiting for me to finish in CbB 2021.04 before even thinking of checking out "What's New" for updating to the latest version 2021.04 #1.

Good Day! ☮

3 hours ago, MisterX said:

Would you consider a car that requires security related fixes 150 times a year to operate properly SAFE?

I wouldn't.  I'd rather consider it poorly designed (or  made).

YES! It's preventive maintenance. There's no such thing as perfection, but it keeps your system as safe as possible. I'm pleased that they are making such an effort to try to keep ahead of the real problems that Hackers never stop trying to cause. And that's never ending story. Just like a 10 year car that wasn't properly maintained, it becomes more problematic and expensive to keep on the road the a new car.

12 hours ago, Craig Anderton said:

I recommend at seminars that no matter what Windows DAW someone uses, they really owe it to themselves to download Cakewalk. There are several unique functions that other DAWs don't have. I think many people have moved on from the "one DAW must rule them all" mindset, and use more than one DAW. It's easy enough export/import tracks, or even drag and drop, to use multiple programs for what they do best. There's no reason why you can't track or edit in one program, and mix in another.

It would be one thing for me to recommend Cakewalk if I expected people to shell out another $300 - $500 in addition to whatever other program they're using, but jeez, it's free. The guitarist/engineer for 60s folk-rock icon Melanie used to live in the neighborhood, and he used Sonar Platinum for all her projects. He was one of those people who was leery of Windows 10 and switching from Sonar to BandLab, but I talked him into it Turned out he wished he had done it sooner.

 

Didn't Ray Charles record his last album with SONAR?

I really believe the term "it's free" has a serious and often times paralyzing "Stigmatizing Effect" on decision making. I know when I hear "it's free" slows me down a bit and it raises the hairs of the back of my neck having been burned so many times before, but both Windows 10 or Cakewalk have been around long enough to produce an overwhelming amount of testimony on how good, safe, and effective they are.

 I've always cringed at the question when asked "What DAW do you think I should get?"

My answer for over 20 years + was usually SONAR because it's so versatile feature rich it has something for anyone's style and workflows, which all so many would argue was too pricy and over bloated with features they don't feel they need, and now CbB which turns the discussion 180° around to "it isn't pricy enough." to be true for such a powerful and feature rich DAW ?

And so to dig out of that quagmire I suggest Reason 11 Studio, starting at $300 and has a super large arsenal of instruments and FX with a sweet SWEET sounding new and very powerful & authentic large format analog mixing console modeled  after the world famous shockingly pricy  SSL 9000k desk.

 But last and not even close to the least, don't know how or want to learn how to use Reason as a DAW or even know what an SSL mixing desk is or can do, no problem. Reason's new Rack Extension allows everything in Reason to run as a VST3 plugin in any DAW. Running it in Cakewalk's synth rack, I must rate it as "The Synth Rack from Heaven." If you can find or tweak the synth sounds you want, then they most likely don't exist. As it has each instrument running on it's own MIDI tracks running on Cakewalk's sequencer, and audio tracks within Cakewalk's mixer, or any other DAW that supports VST3 very efficiently with a surprising low hit to computer resources, and if THAT ain't a serious kick in the gas and serious compliment for any DAW, I don't know what is.?? But utterly useless for those who don't like or refuse to use synths in their music.?