bitflipper

Don't sweat it. Lots of folks here are on Win7. It's not an issue if the computer is dedicated to being a DAW, especially if it's normally offline. Most, like me, landed on Win10 for reasons other than audio. Everybody hated Win8, and few are embracing Win11. But 10 is working great.

You are describing what a limiter does. A limiter is a type of compressor, but with a sharp knee and high compression ratio. In other words, it takes no action until the signal level reaches a specified threshold and then clamps it down pretty aggressively. It's what you use in the situation you're describing. Cakewalk does include a limiter, but I suspect a poll would reveal that most users prefer third-party plugins such as this one. If that's too pricey for you, here's a free one that's pretty good, albeit harder to use. Depending on your musical genre, you may find a clipper useful. It's a type of limiter that's extremely aggressive, to the point of distortion. Most limiters try to not alter the sound by their actions. With clippers, sound alteration is the point. I rarely use them myself because they're too heavy-handed for my taste. A so-called "soft" clipper lies between a hard clipper and a conventional limiter. Here's a good one that's 30 bucks but you can try it out for free.

I was an 8.5 holdout for a long time, too. I didn't take to X1, was disappointed with all the problems that naturally came with such a major rewrite. Bought X2 and X3 too, but decided 8.5 did everything I needed, and had become so natural that it was transparent to the process. I continued to use XP for a long time, too. Same reasons. My motivator to change was a really good Kontakt library that was too big for the memory limitations of the 32-bit world. I resented the forced move at the time, but today I don't regret the change at all. I was able to put back the keyboard shortcuts I was used to, some going back to Cakewalk 1.0 for DOS. I still wish I had the option of representing automation in the 8.5 fashion, which I prefer, but got used to that change pretty quickly. For the most part, the transition was completely painless. All the old projects work in CbB (I even found an old floppy with Cakewalk 1.0 projects and imported them as well!). All the plugins from SONAR work, too. You can keep SONAR installed, as it and CbB can co-exist just fine, so there's no risk of losing past projects. SONAR's chief architect and all-around helpful guy Noel Borthwick is still on the case, adding new goodies and fixing anything that's broken. Is there anything I can do in CbB but couldn't do in 8.5? Not really. But stability is better (e.g. a crashing plugin is far less likely to crash the DAW) and some new features are genuinely useful (e.g. articulation maps). In terms of comfort and familiarity and not having to think about the DAW while creating music, I'm right back where I was with SONAR 8.5.

Yup, what doesn't kill you...

Getting old sucks. Yeh, you have the benefit of experience and the ability to keep things in perspective. But damn, sometimes it hurts. Earlier in the week I injured my back. I was taking a PA speaker down from a stand, packing up for Saturday night's gig. Tripped. My only thought was "save the speaker". Which I did. It never hit the floor. But in making the save I performed a move that only a pro gymnast should ever attempt, a twist like a shot putter winding up, landing on the floor with the speaker on my chest. I felt a distinct ripping sensation in my back while I was going down. In breaking my fall I landed on my left hand, the one with the gimp finger that can't straighten without excruciating pain. Next morning, I couldn't walk. I really didn't know if I'd be able to stand up and play, but I have never cancelled a gig. I have played with the flu. I have played the same week after having surgery. I have played on pain killers that made the room spin. But I've never not shown up for a gig. Fortunately my bandmates helped me move the gear, and I set up close to a wall and was able to lean against it. Not the best posture for blazing solos, but it worked. We've been playing a lot of early gigs over the past year, like 6 to 9. I love getting to bed before midnight. But last night's gig was 9 to 12. The last song, a rocker that I sing, took every ounce of energy I could muster and I was fully drained at the end. Fell into bed around 2:00 AM. Slept poorly. I dreamt I was in hospital after a car accident, woke up and thought "oh no, it wasn't a dream, it's real!" It wasn't, but it felt like it. Today I am shuffling around like I'm 100 years old and nodding off in a stupor from lack of sleep. It'll get better. But how was the gig? I am reminded of the one-liner my Dad used to say: "Aside from that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?" It was a great gig. Packed house, enthusiastic audience, got as much in tips as the paycheck. The band was firing on all cylinders, tight and punchy. I was reminded of why I keep doing it.

By all accounts, RME has the best drivers. I've never been in a position to afford RME, but I've read technical papers from them and I believe those guys are some serious bit-flippers. Also don't overlook WASAPI. It's what I've used for about the last 4 years after a long, long time with ASIO. Give it a try.

Anybody else automatically do the arithmetic when a celebrity dies, to get at least a little comfort from the fact that they were older than you? That was working for me until this morning when I learned that Lisa Marie Presley has died at age 54.

MMCSS is a feature of the Task Scheduler, the part of Windows that decides what the CPU should be doing right this millisecond. Windows is constantly juggling multiple tasks, and it's up to scheduler to make sure that tasks that need handling right away get their shot while low-priority tasks don't get ignored. It's a tricky business, and entire books have been written about the subject (which I have read so you don't have to). By default Cakewalk uses an MMCSS profile that favors audio. This could reduce dropouts and/or allow smaller buffers if you're pushing the CPU hard. You would only disable it if some non-audio issue cropped up as a result. For example, it can hurt network performance, but that's not going to be an issue for most DAW users. Apparently, some ASIO drivers like to tweak thread scheduling themselves, which is why applying MMCSS to ASIO is optional.

I am not even a guitarist, and Jeff has been an inspiration for me most of my life. He could play anything, in any style, knew when to show off and when to back off. He and Tal Wilkenfeld were such a great duo.

ValhallaDSP's UberMod does it all - chorus, phasing, flanging, reverb, delay. Anything from subtle thickening to out-there wackiness. It isn't always the one I end up using, but it's always the first one I try. Price is always 50 bucks so you don't need to wait for a sale.

And now for something different. Japanese Funk. Although I'm not convinced the bass player is Japanese. Looks Filipino to me, but that may just be my love of all things Filipino talking.

My problem with Baby Metal is it's so...corporate. Which, in fact, it literally is. A business formed by a management company, it is about as organic as Circe du Soleil. But damn, the band is tight! And you can't hate on those girls, who exude a cuteness factor on the level of a box of puppies. Here's their big hit. You can find a video of them performing it at Glastonbury, sans lasers and fog, but the spectacle is an essential part of the show.

Sheesh, I can't imagine relying on batteries for anything at a gig. Well, we do have one wireless microphone that takes a 9V, but worst-case scenario we jam awhile while the singer replaces the battery. Or hook up a corded mic if she forgot to bring a spare battery. It wouldn't stop the show. As Mark and Noel said you can disable the battery-saving mechanisms to prevent poor CPU performance, but that's also going to greatly accelerate the drain on the battery. I doubt my laptop's battery wouldn't last a 4-hour gig. I'd also suggest making a profile specifically for gigging which has no unnecessary processes running. Definitely disable wi-fi.

I've been enjoying this band lately (thanks YouTube mystery algorithm). They're out of Argentina. It's all in Spanish, so as someone with only middle school Spanish skills I understand little of the lyrics. But the interesting guitar work is universal. Sometimes reminiscent of a laid-back Abraxas-era Santana, before Carlos started phoning in his performances.

OK, now we're making progress! Please try this: increase your buffer size to the maximum value, set the sample rate to 44100 and open a new project. Throw some audio in there and see how it sounds.

Let's start at square one. Do you see other sample rates offered in your Preferences? If so, then we can assume that the interface driver has informed Cakewalk that it supports them. If you choose a higher rate, does it "stick"?

I'm always reluctant to tell people to spend their way out of a problem. Sometimes, it's the only answer, but not always. That particular interface isn't one I've ever heard of. It could be fine, or it could be garbage. I'd stick with known brands such as Focusrite for entry-level interfaces. But again, I'd prefer to figure out what the problem is before throwing money at it. I'm still confused as to why you're "stuck at 8000". What happens when you try to set the sample rate at 44.1 KHz? Does the interface refuse, or does it let you set the rate but sounds bad?

I just got around to watching the Smokin' vid you posted. Holy Crap, those guys were good. Imagine the hubris needed to gather some guys in a garage with the intention of doing Boston material. If I was going to form a tribute band, I'd choose something easier! Like The Ventures.

Even the cheapest generic onboard audio interface should be capable of 44.1 or 48KHz. What happens when you set the sample rate to 44.1KHz? Does the driver refuse to do it, or does it accept the higher rate but sounds bad (e.g. clicks and pops)?

I didn't know who The Shadows were until I moved to England in 1969. I was listening to the radio and they were doing a game where they'd play a record and listeners could call in and identify it for a prize. Everybody guessed it was The Shadows, and everybody was wrong. It was in fact The Beatles doing a tribute to The Shadows, who they were big fans of. This despite nobody in The Beatles having guitar chops equal to Hank's. Like The Ventures, The Shadows remained popular in Japan long after their glory years had passed elsewhere. And to take it full circle, here's The Ventures covering The Shadows:

Cakewalk also has a MIDI plugin called MIDI Event Filter that, iirc, can filter out just about any MIDI events, including those from the pitchwheel.

It would appear to be a problem with your controller. Try this: physically disconnect the keyboard, open a new project, add a soft synth and manually draw in a note in the PRV. This should play back in tune. Make sure you're using an external reference to gauge the tuning, e.g. a tuner app on your phone. Because of their mechanical nature, pitch wheels are the most common point of failure on keyboard controllers. See how hard it will be to remove the wheel. If it's convenient to get to, have a peek inside. They vary a lot in construction. Yours may be a simple potentiometer that can be cleaned with a spray solvent made for that purpose. Or it may be a mechanical issue where the wheel isn't returning to zero because it's binding or sticking. There will usually be some kind of adjustment in there to let you zero the controller. Or just buy a new controller.

First thing I do when inserting a new track is to rename it. My memory just isn't reliable enough not to. Given your handle, I'm guessing the question may be in the context of mastering. There, I can see the value of using numbered track names and why it would be inconvenient if you re-order the tracks on an album. But I can't imagine a better default naming convention. Adding the number assures that each default name is unique, which is more important than any implied meaning of that number.