Dr.Gerry Posted December 22, 2020 Share Posted December 22, 2020 Hi All, I am a longtime Cakewalk user. I remember back in the day when Bandlab took over Cakewalk there was a lot of pushback from Cakewalk diehards. There were lots of comments suggesting that the Bandlab version of Cakewalk would not be as good as the original, that you would lose features if you changed to the Bandlab version etc etc. I personally wasn't too pleased by the Bandlab move as I had recently paid for the lifetime subscription thing for Cakewalk. Not long after that started to lose interest in my audio pursuits and just put Cakewalk away for a couple of years. I have recently had my interest stirred again and have been back into Cakewalk and doing some mixing. It occurred to me that my version of Cakewalk (Sonar Platinum) is now rather old (Version 23.10.0). I was wondering - a) Should I 'upgrade' to the Bandlab version of Cakewalk b) will I lose any features if I install the Bandlab version of Cakewalk c) if I do take the plunge, will the Bandlab version of Cakewalk install over the top of my current installation, and keep all my plugins etc And if there are any old dinosaurs on this forum, has anyone tried what I am considering, was it a smooth process, and is Bandlab's Cakewalk any better than the version I currently have installed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xoo Posted December 23, 2020 Share Posted December 23, 2020 a) Yes ? b) No c) Alongside (and keep installed plug-ins assuming you set VST scan paths correctly) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Tubbs Posted December 23, 2020 Share Posted December 23, 2020 (edited) Yea, upgrade away.. and it won’t overwrite your present version of sonar. Edited December 23, 2020 by Alan Tubbs Clarity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scook Posted December 23, 2020 Share Posted December 23, 2020 CbB installs as an upgrade to SONAR. IOW, the DAW, Cakewalk Content, ProgramData and User directories are version specific with Platinum and CbB having their own separate folders. The "Shared" folders are all updated to CbB which is backward compatible with Platinum. This includes the PC modules, DX plug-ins, utilities such as the plug-in manager and VST scanner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
razor7music Posted December 23, 2020 Share Posted December 23, 2020 Do it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Vere Posted December 23, 2020 Share Posted December 23, 2020 (edited) There have been a lot of stability and bug fixes added since the takeover. As everyone has said, just download the Bandlab assistant and install the new version. Leave you old Sonar alone. Bandlab will be a different icon on your desktop and will use all your settings and Sonar VST's. You might want to look back and read the new release documentation so you are aware of the changes and feature updates. You'll notice most are bug fixes, something we were crying out for before the takeover. I could not go back to Sonar. The latest https://help.cakewalk.com/hc/en-us/articles/360022009394-Latest-Release-Notes The complete list ( I think) https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aFOe_zJrd3x2EnaZ_Jc3iSbZPG2WANiCD4_RP83OjlA/edit Edited December 23, 2020 by John Vere Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr.Gerry Posted December 31, 2020 Author Share Posted December 31, 2020 Thanks for all the replies. It looks like installing is the recommended choice. I still have a couple of worries though. When I run the CBB installer it asks if I want to install Drum Replacer (and 3 other options), but I already have these installed as part of my Sonar installation. Why doesn't CBB recognise this? If I select to install these components, will they overwrite my currently installed ones? And speaking of overwriting - when I installed Sonar I just did a default installation, so all the Shared Paths etc are set to whatever Sonar set them to by default. When the installer for CBB runs, it says it is going to write to my already existing shared paths eg it wants to install plugins to c:\Program Files\Cakewalk\vst plugins. I fail to see how it can write to this folder without overwriting at least some of my existing plugins? When I ran the installer, Sonar was actually running, and I got a prompt from CBB that it needed to overwrite files that were in use. This is a pretty strong indication that CBB is going to overwrite stuff that Sonar relies on. Sorry to sound like such a nervous nellie, but given that Sonar is no longer available, if something messes up my current installation I have no means to rescue or reinstall it. I see scook mentioned that everything would be backward compatible with Sonar, but has anyone really tested this? I would imagine most people install CBB and then just use it rather than Sonar, but I just have this niggling doubt in the back of my mind.....again, sorry to sound like a bit of a wimp.....! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scook Posted December 31, 2020 Share Posted December 31, 2020 25 minutes ago, Dr.Gerry said: When I run the CBB installer it asks if I want to install Drum Replacer (and 3 other options), but I already have these installed as part of my Sonar installation. Why doesn't CBB recognise this? Just like upgrades from the past, the installer does not look for existing plug-ins. 25 minutes ago, Dr.Gerry said: When the installer for CBB runs, it says it is going to write to my already existing shared paths eg it wants to install plugins to c:\Program Files\Cakewalk\vst plugins. I fail to see how it can write to this folder without overwriting at least some of my existing plugins? When I ran the installer, Sonar was actually running, and I got a prompt from CBB that it needed to overwrite files that were in use. This is a pretty strong indication that CBB is going to overwrite stuff that Sonar relies on. ALL Cakewalk DAWs use the same "Shared" folders. As I mentioned above these are updated by CbB. They are backward compatible. I have SONAR X2, X3, Platinum and CbB installed. They all run OK. There are very few VST plug-ins installed with CbB and anything overwritten by CbB will be the same or newer versions of plug-ins that came with Platinum. For a complete list of the plug-ins included with CbB see http://www.cakewalk.com/Documentation?product=Cakewalk&language=3&help=Plug-ins.1.html Many of the plug-ins are DX and ProChannel format. These are installed in the "Shared" folder area. All Cakewalk DAWs must be shut down when performing an upgrade so the shared files can be updated. 25 minutes ago, Dr.Gerry said: Sorry to sound like such a nervous nellie, but given that Sonar is no longer available, if something messes up my current installation I have no means to rescue or reinstall it. I see scook mentioned that everything would be backward compatible with Sonar, but has anyone really tested this? I would imagine most people install CBB and then just use it rather than Sonar, but I just have this niggling doubt in the back of my mind.....again, sorry to sound like a bit of a wimp.....! SONAR Platinum is still available in your old Cakewalk Account along with the Cakewalk Command Center to install it. If you have trouble accessing your old Cakewalk account support@cakewalk.com can reset the account password. I would recommend you make sure you have access to the old account even though you may not immediately have need for it. I am pretty sure that everyone who replied to this thread along with many of the forum users have performed the upgrade from some version of SONAR to CbB. The upgrade follows a decades old pattern of SONAR upgrades. This one just has a slightly different product name. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr.Gerry Posted December 31, 2020 Author Share Posted December 31, 2020 Thanks scook. I really appreciate you taking the time to provide such a detailed response. I honestly did not know that I could still get access to my old Cakewalk account and download everything. When CBB came about I thought it was the end of anything connected with Sonar, including being able to download it. Looks like it's time to take the plunge. Thanks again for your responses to my questions, they have been much appreciated. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeeringAmps Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 2 hours ago, Dr.Gerry said: Looks like it's time to take the plunge The water's fine Gerry. Cakewalk (Sonar) is better than ever! tom just remember; Do Not uninstall Platinum. Some of your paid VST/VSTi want it to stay on the disc... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Vere Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 When you get a chance log on to Command Center and check everything is up to date. Even Platinum. Then for sure make a back up copy of the command centre download folder. It will have all your irreplaceable installers stored there. Also go to your my products page( I think that’s what it is called) and copy paste all you serial numbers to a word document kept this safe it’s worth a lot of money and if they ever do shut down the server it will be lost. just to add I have installed the Bandlab Cakewalk on at least 6 systems that all had old versions installed. Everything still works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr.Gerry Posted January 1, 2021 Author Share Posted January 1, 2021 Thanks everyone for your advice. I took the plunge today. First thing I did after installing was to fire up Sonar to make sure it worked, and it did! Then I fired by CbB and it worked too! Happy days. As you all seemed to suggest, I probably won't be spending much time in Sonar now. John Vere, that is extremely good advice, thanks. I'll do that as soon as I finish this. Seeing as how everyone was so helpful, here's a couple of bits of extra goodness I came across today. 1. There's a great special on at Plugin Boutique at the moment if you like Izotope stuff. You can get an upgrade from any version of Ozone or Neutron standard or advanced to the 'Tonal Balance Bundle', which includes Ozone Advanced, Neutron 3 Advanced and Nectar 3 Plus for $149US (about 190 Australian Bucks). Seeing as how I had a couple of the qualifying products I had to grab this to celebrate the successful installation of CbB. Just to buy Ozone Advanced on it's own would set you back a whole lot more than this. I know some people don't like Izotope's stuff, so apologies if I have offended anyone! 2. If you have never heard of a plugin called GullFoss, head over to www.soundtheory.com and have a look. It's a bit pricey, but it's quite an impressive piece of kit. Seeing as how I bought the Izotope bundle I don't have any money left to buy GullFoss at the moment, so I am looking at selling another one of my kids, or a kidney - only kidding, it's not quite that expensive....an arm or a leg should suffice. Anyway, thanks again to everyone for your help and advice. Happy New Year to you all, now I'm off to play with my new toys (as soon as I have backed up my Sonar stuff!) PS I hope I haven't broken any forum rules by mentioning products or vendors above. I have no connection to either company, I just like their stuff, and if you haven't heard of Plugin Boutique before, it really is a good place to buy things. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeGBradford Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 Glad everything has worked out for you. Check out the Deals sub forum here for news of other bargains. Larry there is hot when it comes to spotting new deals! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Campbell Posted January 12, 2021 Share Posted January 12, 2021 Another fellow 'old timer' here... Definitely check out the new 'arranger' feature. I'm sure there's other stuff out there but that one is my favorite. ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siordanescu Posted January 13, 2021 Share Posted January 13, 2021 Upgrade to Cakewalk by Bandlab and never look back! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now