bitflipper

Yes, with a few exceptions 32-bit plugins work just fine in Cakewalk, and you don't have to do anything special. Just insert them like any other and CW will detect that they are 32 bits and automatically load the bridge. Most of the time it's completely transparent, so if you have a 32-bit plugin you like, chances are you'll have no problem with it. Yes, 32-bit VSTs are "ancient" (sheesh, if a few years makes something ancient, what does that make ME?). However, that doesn't mean they're going to sound any different, because what goes on inside the plugin is still essentially the same.

Are you sure it's actually DC offset? It's possible to have asymmetrical waveforms that look like that, and still be OK. Try placing a HPF on the track and see what that does to the waveform. btw, if it does turn out to be DC offset it's not necessary to fix in an external editor, as Cakewalk has a DC removal feature. It's under the Process menu.

I use this in every mix that has stereo tracks. Granted, technically you don't really need it since Channel Tools does the same stuff and quite a lot more. But if you need to pan stereo tracks the automation will be much easier with this. Especially on anything that's intrinsically stereo such as organ & Leslie, synth pads or pre-panned orchestral sections.

It's a good idea but not a cure-all. SSDs are best-used for storing read-only data such as sample libraries. For recording audio, it's unlikely to make a noticeable difference because when everything's working correctly write speed to the media isn't a major factor. Recording reliability is more about making sure other devices (e.g. network and video cards) and background processes (e.g. updaters, antivirus) aren't interfering with the process. Or... just spend a whole lot of $$$ on a souped-up industrial-strength computer so fast that it can easily keep up even when you are doing things wrong. Not everyone can do that, but fortunately knowledge is free for folks like you who are willing to apply the effort to figure this stuff out.

Zoom way in on the waveform where the pop is. You will see one of two things: either a sudden drop to zero or a sudden inversion of the waveform. If the former, your system didn't have enough time to process the incoming data, in which case increasing the buffer size is the easiest cure. If the latter, you may be overdriving the front end of your audio interface and need to turn down the instrument. There are many reasons for buffer overruns, such as inefficient hardware drivers. If you have wi-fi on this computer, try disabling it. As noted by David Baay above, anti-virus software is another of the usual suspects. Always exempt your audio folders from anti-virus scanning. Sometimes other background processes get in the way, such as automated backups and scheduled checks for software updates. Identifying and mitigating those annoyances is a time-consuming process, but that's what David's referring to when he says "a properly tuned DAW". The amount of RAM you have is a little on the low side, which can sometimes cause problems but probably isn't the issue here. Still, adding another 8GB of RAM would be a cheap upgrade you might want to consider.

Sounds quite nice, especially if you're into 80's synth stuff like Jean Micheal Jarre, Vangelis and Larry Fast. I think this would be useful to anybody playing within that realm (looking at you, Wookie), but especially if you don't already have software emulations of those classic synths (which Wookie does). Listening to the patch demo, though, I didn't hear anything I couldn't (adequately, if not perfectly) reproduce with synths already in my small collection. Admittedly, I do have Omnisphere, the king of pads and sweeps. But you can get a lot of those types of sounds from the free OBXD Oberheim emulator (although I've switched to the not-free but still inexpensive Oberheim 8-Voice from Cherry Audio). I'd suggest looking at Synthmaster next time it's on sale, and picking up a couple of Nori Ubukata's Dawn of Electronic Music patch libraries for it - they nail those classic tones.

Careful not to confuse correlation with causation. Plugins use RAM, too. As they are unloaded, they will release whatever memory they had needed to run. What you are probably seeing is the last plugin unloading after a long delay. That plugin is probably your elusive villain.

What John was suggesting was creating a new project with NO plugins. If that closes properly - as it probably will - start adding in plugins to determine which one is causing the hang. Disabling a plugin does not unload it.

1+1=10 Duh. But to be fair, F + 1 can also equal 10. Depends on how many fingers you're holding up. Two, or all sixteen.

I don't hate lo-fi guys. It is not a moral shortcoming. They are simply misguided souls who need our understanding and patience.

Best product name so far this year. Personally, I don't use loops, having studied the instrument for many years. You could say I was a Rhodes scholar. Mine ended up in a closet for years. I named it Dusty.

iDrums. From IKM, I think.

Sigh. Fortunately, none of the bullet points mention anything about "sounding better", or "sounds more like real Leslie". At least they have their priorities straight.

Technically, the term "pan" only refers to how mono tracks are fed into a stereo bus. With stereo tracks, "panning" is a bit of a misnomer, because a stereo track is really two mono tracks tied together and already hard-panned left and right. The pan slider is actually a balance control, like one you'd see on a hi-fi amplifier. It simply turns down one side or the other. Consequently, the track's stereo image does not change, just one side gets quieter. If you move the slider all the way to the left, the right channel completely disappears, possibly losing important information. This is not a problem for mono tracks, only stereo. A better way to "pan" stereo tracks is to use a plugin such as Channel Tools, which lets you actually position the left and right channels as if they were two mono tracks. That lets you actually alter the stereo image, e.g. making it less wide or shifting the whole thing to one side while preserving both channels' information. Things really get messed up if your interleave is wrong. If a stereo track's interleave is set to mono, the two channels are combined and the track becomes effectively mono. If a mono track's interleave is set to stereo, then the track is duplicated to get (identical) left and right channels at the output. In either situation, the pan control may not behave as you expect it to. A further complication happens when you insert a stereo effect onto a mono track. That turns it into a stereo track internally. Consequently, any panning choices you make should be based on it now being a stereo track. But if the interleave is still set to mono, the output of that track will be treated as mono. Sometimes that's no big deal, sometimes it'll leave you scratching your head wondering why that ping-pong delay is only pinging and not ponging. I know, it's complicated. But you can avoid problems by keeping the appropriate interleave and only change it if using a plugin that you know is going to switch the track to stereo, such as a chorus plugin.

I'm going to move this thread over to the Articulation Maps subforum, where more people are likely to find it down the road. Thanks for your contribution, John.

You almost got me again, Larry. $16.79 is a great deal. This time, though, I checked my plugin inventory first and found out I already have it. OK, so I apparently have too many plugins. In my defense it's still a far smaller collection than bapu's hoard.

You deserve the recognition, Jerry. You've long been an inspiration to me. There were some surprisingly philosophical and historically-relevant responses in there.

Most sustain pedals have a switch so you can configure it as either momentary-on or momentary-off. It can sometimes get accidentally toggled. Another thing that happens a lot with sus pedals is that the microswitch connected to the pedal can fail or become intermittent. Switches are rated for a given number of activations, and sustain pedals activate them a lot. Another common problem is broken TS connectors. If yours unscrews (as opposed to being molded), take a look inside at the connections. If you have an ohmmeter you can easily test the output of the pedal. You should measure an open circuit until the pedal is depressed, at which time the resistance will fall to zero or near-zero ohms. Fortunately, sustain pedals are fairly cheap. I'd just be inclined to get a new one. If it turns out to not be the problem, you'll still have a backup for the day when it does eventually fail. [EDIT] we were typing at the same time. Glad you got it sorted.

I know there are some serious orchestrators here, and this content isn't targeted at them. This will appeal more to the casual composer who just dabbles in pseudo-classical genres. Like me. Anne-Kathrin Dern is a working composer out of Los Angeles, originally from Germany (like another famous composer we all know and love, whose company she once worked for). Her background includes creating sample libraries for CineSamples, so she's very knowledgeable about that stuff. She's been doing this quite a while, despite her apparent young age. No, you won't recognize most of the movies she's done; they are third-tier flicks like Hallmark Christmas specials and kid's shows. But she's done a lot of them, makes a living at it and knows her sh*t. The channel's content ranges from orchestration/composition tips to library reviews to how-to techniques to the recording process. It's the latter category I find most interesting, as she explains how a cue gets from ITB mockup to live orchestra. Plus she's way cuter than Rick Beato.

Please don't. At least not unless you're testing it in a virtual machine. USB drives are the perfect attack vector for malware, because they automatically run software as soon as you plug them in. Yes, it's a real thing. Think about it: what do the sellers expect to get out of this? They have to know they won't make any money on SSD sales, since burned customers will be returning them and Walmart will drop the product after complaints roll in. I predict you'll start seeing warnings pop up about how your system has been compromised, with a helpful 800 number to "Microsoft Support".

I use a browser extension called Fakespot, which points out fake reviews and other warnings. This is what popped up when I went to that page: By "seller" they are not referring to walmart.com, but to Enlightened, the actual seller. I tried to find information about the brand, but couldn't find anyone selling it other than Walmart. I am tempted to buy one just to see what the deal really is. There has been a rash of bogus flash drives lately. What's worse, the device reports a spoofed capacity value to the O/S, resulting in missing or corrupt files if you try to write to it. Not what you want to back up your important files to. Some even come with malware pre-installed.

Those channels are probably meant to be used with line-level devices. I have similar channels on my Yamaha mixer and use them with an MP3 player at venues that don't have music for intermissions. The easiest solution is to move your keyboard to two of the other channels (1-10) and pan them hard L/R, as suggested by 57Gregy. (Except that channel 1 should be left and channel 2 should be right, as nature intended ) If all your other channels are already spoken for, then an inexpensive preamp could also solve your dilemma. Can you just crank up the volume in Cakewalk? Sure. But you'll also be cranking up the noise floor, which may or may not be an issue, depending on how quiet your mixer is.

This is unrelated to the original post and unlikely to be a CW bug, critical or otherwise. Whatever has gone awry is specific to your system. First, re-scan your plugins and see if any are still missing afterward. If that doesn't fix your problem, make sure the scan paths are still correct. Those pathnames are stored in the registry under HKCU, which may have changed if you've logged into Windows under a different user name than you normally use, have re-installed Windows, or have reorganized your file system (e.g. moved the Cakewalk tree to another drive).