scook

Yeah, V-Vocal requires a minimal install of the DAW because it is not a regular plug-in and is not on the advanced install pick list. It is part of the SONAR core installer. True Piano Amber is on the advanced install pick list.

I don't recall if there is an advanced install option in 8.5 but my guess is there is. Near the beginning of the install process there should be an option to run an advanced install. The advanced install option provides a checklist of plug-ins to install. Even if there is not an advanced install option, re-running the installer will not hurt anything.

If it opens in safe mode but intermittently fails otherwise, it is likely plug-in related. If the project is hanging (the spinning blue circle) create a hang dump and submit it for analysis. For info on how to do this see If there are any 32bit plug-ins in the project, they are the first things to suspect. Relying on unsupported, unmaintained plug-ins is a bad idea.

My guess is the project is MIDI only routed to the MS GS Wavetable synth. This means the project has no audio to export. The MS GS Wavetable synth is an external hardware synth. The easiest way to create audio in the DAW is use soft synths. One way to setup a project that is general MIDI to use a soft synth is File > Save the project as a MIDI file. Make sure there are no MIDI output devices enabled in Preferences > Midi > Devices File > Open the MIDI file. This will automatically add and setup TTS-1, a GM soft synth, to play the project. From there you can freeze, bounce and export audio because the MIDI tracks will be routed to a soft synth which is routed to an audio track in the project. Of course, one could manually add soft synths and audio tracks too but for now, the method above may be easier, at least until you figure out the basics of MIDI handling in the DAW. It will also give you a good example of how to setup a project. Going forward you may want to Learn how to use the project templates supplied by the DAW. Learn how to add soft synths to a project. This will make creating projects with MIDI data much easier. This is covered in the documentation and there are several video tutorials. One was linked in one of the previous replies. There is an entire section of this forum dedicated to tutorials on how to use this DAW.

For the same reason the freeze option is disabled

https://discuss.cakewalk.com/index.php?/topic/35369-audio-from-midi/&tab=comments#comment-289267

One way is keep the track view on the main screen and move the multidock to the second monitor and keep the console view in the multidock.

If you want all the content bundled with X3 uninstall CbB, install X3 and re-install CbB. If you just want the plug-ins bundled with X3, run the X3 installer and select 64bit and the advanced install option. This will give you option to select which plug-ins to install.

FYI, every major release has a feedback thread. It is a good idea to review that thread before posting about the current release. Problems with the current release should be posted there. The 2021.11 feedback thread is

Which version? The latest is 2021.11 build 16. Currently build 16 is only available from the Cakewalk Web Installer.

DAWs have nothing to do with plug-in activation.

Plug-in categories are stored in %appdata%\Cakewalk\Library\Library.db This is used by the "Soft by Category" plug-in layout.

If you elect to use Melodyne as a regular VST plug-in consider reading the Melodyne manual about how to transfer audio into the plug-in. Bear in mind, once audio is transferred to the plug-in, unlike regular effects plug-ins, Melodyne becomes the source for audio playback. There are three ways to use melodyne as a stand alone editor as a regular VST plug-in as a Region FX The first two require the audio to be loaded into the tool/plug-in so that Melodyne can process the data. As a Region FX, Melodyne processes the data on the fly. Refer to signal flow diagram to see where Region FX perform their processing. Try using Melodyne as a Region FX.

I don't use the Cakewalk preset management system but the method describe in the OP is the only documented way I know to transfer presets managed by that system between machines. Of course, the import/export process in the Plug-in Manager only handles Cakewalk and user presets maintained in the registry by the Cakewalk preset manager. It does not handle ProChannel Presets (stored in Cakewalk Content), PC module presets (stored in the registry) or presets maintained in the individual plug-in managers (location depends on the plug-in) or any other plug-in preset files stored on disk.

Yes, contact support@cakewalk.com (the current support for Cakewalk by BandLab) for password reset as long as you created an SSO account as described here https://help.cakewalk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360021858293-What-happened-to-Cakewalk-SONAR-What-happens-to-everything-I-paid-for- The old Cakewalk company email server was shut down when the company went out of business. That is why the password reset emails are not sent.

From the download page Minimum System Requirements As for interfaces without a working ASIO driver, a lot of effort has gone into getting the DAW to use the regular Windows audio drivers.

If there is no dump in %appdata%\Cakewalk\Cakewalk Core\MiniDumps try setting ExceptionHandlingSeverity to 7 in Preferences > File > Initialization File For more info about the setting see the Improved plug-in exception handling / crash reporting section of http://www.cakewalk.com/Documentation?product=Cakewalk&language=3&help=NewFeatures.024.html

This should be unchecked to stop the DAW from resetting Kontakt volume. Note: this is a per-project setting.

CbB transport changing volume in Kontakt may be the "Zero Controllers When Playback Stops" setting in Preferences > Project > MIDI

Removing BandLab Assistant or Cakewalk by BandLab will not affect your BandLab account, files uploaded to your BandLab Account or Cakewalk by BandLab projects created on your PC . The BandLab DAW is a chrome-based web app. Except for the web browser there is nothing to uninstall. BandLab Assistant is, as the name suggests, a tool to make using BandLab eaiser. It also was the first method of installing, activating and updating Cakewalk by BandLab, a Windows-based program.

BA keeps track of what it has installed using registry entries. It is possible to force BA to reinstall by editing the registry but the Cakewalk Web Installer allows reinstall without messing with the registry.

What I'm seeing is that auto-save doesn't create multiple versions. Each auto-save overwrites the existing one. That's right because auto-save is not not part of versioning. My reply was an attempt to explain the differences in the two features.

Something to pass the time during inclement weather (as long as the power lasts)

Auto-save relies on the program to determine when a project snapshot should be taken. Versioning relies on the user to tell the program when it is time to create a version. If auto-save stored in the versioning system, it may be full of copies made over too short a time possibly removing the last "good version" a user manually saved. The same could happen if one constantly manually saves the project with too small a number of versions to keep If one wants to retain frequent "versions" for some projects and not blowout the "number of versions to keep" setting for all projects, one method is File > Save Copy As (may be bound to a shortcut) in the current project folder giving the saved projects meaningful version-like names. Although, I would not use the versioning system naming scheme.