Steve Moddelmog

Very frustrating that while the .cwp file clearly must have the name of the plugin (otherwise you'd have to manually load the desired plugin every time you re-opened a project), that information is not store in plain text. I have many, many old files from the days of dxi that I'd like to resuscitate and work on where the plugin now has a modern VST (Native Instruments plugins, for example), but I didn't do track notes back then and I'd never be able to figure out what plugin to load. If that information could be extracted from the file, I could replace, say, the dxi of FM8 with the most recent VST and then load the preset I originally used. Ditto for old versions of VSTs (say Absynth 4) with newer versions (Absynth 5) and load the preset whose name I found poking into the .cwp file. Yet the developers must know how to get that information - would really be great to see a tool created to do so. THAT would entice me to buy a subscription to the new Sonar.

I did the three-day trial of Sonar and learned the following: 1. A lot of my non-scalable VSTs are now so tiny in nuSonar that I can't use them. For example, Native Instruments synths except for Kontakt. 2. Due to eyesight issues, I need a theme where PRV has white keys / black keys and a white grid with dark gridlines. I could accomplish this with Theme Editor in CBB, but as of now there doesn't seem to be a theme editor for nuSonar. 3. Small thing but I've found it very helpful in CBB lately: in CBB, if you hover over the bar graph in the Performance Module, you get real time info on Audio Processing, Engine Load, and number of Late Buffers. This feature is missing in nuSonar. The only real advantage I found in nuSonar was the crispness of the text and graphics. Has anyone found anything else that is a super useful improvement?

Nothing free expected, but the payment model is not what is wanted. I have yet to see a user on these forums or in any CW social media groups say they were hoping for a subscription model.

SPLAT would be ok. A few CBB features I would miss, but nothing earth-shattering. If the ability to activate with Command Center ceased to exist, I have X3. I've used it a bit, and I do think that would be a step backwards and possibly a reason to look for a new DAW. But it would be usable in a pinch, and the advantage is it would open the hundreds of Cakewalk projects I have.

Thanks. I'm remembering this now...

Just installed SPLAT - "just in case." Why is everything greyed out in Plugin Manager, and where are my plugins? Yes, I've got the right paths identified, but SPLAT won't scan and plugin lists are empty.

I have thought the same thing - no more expensive to pay the fee every month than it was to upgrade once a year. But if you decided not to upgrade, you still had a usable product. Maybe improvements to these products happen so frequently (continually) these days that there really is no point where the developer can say, well, this is now a big leap forward so now it's time for you to pay an upgrade fee if you want these new features. So after the first year, from a cost standpoint it's kind of like saying you're paying an upgrade fee monthly - except if you decide to stop getting the upgrades, you lose the program altogether.

Weirdly, when I now click on the links for Bandlab Membership (from "how to get Sonar"), I don't see Sonar mentioned anywhere there or in the page on Backstage Pass. Am I somehow missing it? I could have sworn it used to explicitly mention access to Sonar.

Maybe. But I just found my Sonar XL (2?) CD and the copyright date on it is 2001 - 23 years ago. So it would have been running under XP. I'm pretty sure I have installed from that in Windows 10 with no issues, don't think I've tried with Windows 11.

Well, X3 is activated with a serial number and as near as I can tell does not require servers anywhere to activate. And since they recently updated the old Command Center, it seems like the intent is to continue to allow people to activate SPLAT and other software they bought from the old entities.

And it also seems clear now they aren't going to throw a bone to those of us who paid for perpetual licenses during the prior ownership (I bought every single version of "old" Sonar, so I have paid a fair amount). They certainly aren't obligated to, but I would have done it if I were in their place (meaning a modest discount).

One more thing... if they ARE planning to offer a one-time purchase option, why don't they simply say so? They are the ones that put the question on their website. They fact that they don't simply answer their own question "We plan to offer a one-time purchase option in the (near) future" makes me think they aren't planning to do so.

I'm just saying I've read those words on other companies' websites in the past, and "at this time" has proven in the long run to mean "no." As I said, grammatically it would suggest reason for hope.

There's been a change in language on the website that leads me to believe they won't offer a perpetual license. Previously, they referred to "early access" to Sonar being available through Backstage Pass membership. That language has been replaced by This: "Cakewalk Sonar is currently available through BandLab Membership [no reference to early access]. If you have a BandLab account, you can purchase BandLab Membership here, or learn more about it in the BandLab Membership FAQ." The question "Will Cakewalk Sonar be offered via one-time purchase or perpetual license?" is now answered by this: "At this time, Cakewalk Next and Cakewalk Sonar are available exclusively through BandLab Membership." While that doesn't grammatically mean there won't be other purchase options in the future, my experience with the phrase "At this time" on companies' website almost always means " we aren't planning on it." So I am considering my options: (1) continue to use CBB until it no longer activates, then switch back to SPLAT which should always work (I also have X3 if the SPLAT authorization disappears), (2) look into other DAWs that offer perpetual licenses (Studio One?), or (3) purchase the Membership and see if I can get over my extreme aversion to that model. Under Option (3), I'd like to be assured that my files saved in the new Sonar can always be opened by the original Sonar, understanding that using certain new features could create some issues when opening the files in old Sonar.

I assume you mean shortcuts for the "nudge" function. They are on the numeric keypad.

Noel, can you explain what you mean by that? If I load an existing project, CbB knows what preset I used for each plugin and properly loads those presets. And if I have modified them in some way without saving over the existing preset or saving as a new preset but then saved the project, I'm pretty sure those modifications get loaded with the project too. So I'm sure I'm just not understanding what you're saying. Thanks.

So true. Not on the subject of making music, but years ago Gillette or Schick or some razor-maker attached the term "Pro-shave" to one of their products. I remember thinking, wow, I'm pretty good at shaving - maybe I could go pro.

I used to have 32-bit SPLAT installed alongside 64-bit Cakewalk by Bandlab. That way I could easily run old projects and not have an these headaches. Now I can't figure out how I did it - I think the installation sequence must be very important, because if I install 32-bit Sonar with Cakewalk already installed, it destroys the plugin database. But I'm certain I used to do it. Can anyone point me in the right direction for doing it? Maybe uninstall both, then install 32-bit Sonar first, run it so 32-bit and dxi plugins are found, and then install Cakewalk?

Seems not worth it to pursue. I do have P5. I could install and then wrap "Dimension" with dxishell, which I've had pretty good luck with converting other dxi's to VSTs. But it wouldn't recognize the wrapped dxi as the dxi that was used in my 16 year old project, so I still wouldn't know the preset that was used (or the settings). If I knew those, I'd just load them in Dimension Pro. ("Dimension" doesn't happen to be one of the few dxi's that work in 64-bit Cakewalk by Bandlab (such as PSYN II and Pentagon), does it?) As I said above, I do wish there was a way to get Cakewalk to cough up the info on presets and modified settings used for each plugin in a project. The info has to be there or it wouldn't know what to do when you load any project. Would be very useful with many plugins such as Native Instruments, Wusik, etc., that get new "identities" when they are upgraded. Would save me from having to have, for example, seven versions of Kontakt loaded (the same project with "Dimension (NOT Pro)" also uses Kontakt 3, which was a little tricky to authorize since it expects NI's Service Center, not Native Access, to authorize it). I've wised up recently and, unless I forget, I add the preset name to the Track notes so I know exactly what's what when opening in future installations.

Of course, even if I can get it working with dxishell, I won't know what settings or preset I used. I know that information has to be embedded somewhere in the .cwp file - I wish someone would develop a tool to extract it. Would be very helpful for working on old projects that use old versions of Native Instruments plugins, for example, where every update is actually a new program and you'd like to be able to find what the preset was in, say , Absynth 2 that you originally used in the project and load it in Absynth5, without having to install Absynth 2 just to get to the info.

Ah, I do still have my P5 CD. And I've had pretty good luck wrapping dxi's with dxishell. I'll give it a try. Thanks!

Oh, ps to that. I recall buying Dimension Pro and then it later came included with Sonar starting with Sonar 8, and I had issues with then having Dimension Pro installed with two different serial numbers. But I don't think that could be my problem here - pretty sure both of those versions of Dimension Pro showed up in projects as "Dimension Pro," not "Dimension."

I'm trying to open an old project from 2007. Two plugins weren't found: Kontakt 3, which I have somewhere and can install, and "Dimension." The missing plugin is not identified as Dimension Pro (which is installed and should be available). I noticed in a spreadsheet I have of what plugins came with what versions of Sonar that there was a Dimension LE that came with Sonar 7. I know the missing plugin is come variant of Dimension Pro - it actually loads the same little graphic in synth rack view that loads with Dimension Pro. Does anyone know what version of Dimension ?? would just be identified as "Dimension" by Cakewalk / Sonar?

I don't see anything in the BIOS settings that looks like it has to do with CPU throttling - I can pretty much tell what everything is for and there's just nothing like that. Maybe having no setting is HP's intention for this model. Thanks for the link to CoreTemp. I downloaded it, and the "hottest" Core (Core 0) is currently 69 degrees C.

And here is Bing's answer: It seems that acpi.sys is a common source of DPC latency for many users who want to use their laptops for music production. According to some online forums123, there are a few possible solutions you can try: Perform a clean install of Windows 10 and update all your drivers and BIOS2. Set your power mode to best performance and adjust the minimum processor state to 100% in the advanced power settings24. Turn off C-states, Intel TurboBoost, Intel Speedstep, and Intel Speed Shift in the BIOS2. Disable or uninstall any unnecessary devices or programs that may cause interference, such as ACPI-Compliant Control Method battery, Intel Dynamic Platform & Thermal Framework, Bonjour, MaxxAudioPro, OneDrive, etc2. Use a third-party program like Process Lasso or Process Hacker to set the process affinity or suspend the ACPI.sys threads25. Switch to a different audio interface with better drivers, such as Scarlett 18i83. I hope this helps you with your problem.