Bandlab or Cakewalk By Bandlab

[DallasSteve]

I have Cakewalk By Bandlab installed and I was about to start studying how to use it.  Then I see on the Bandlab home page that they are promoting Bandlab, a 100% Free online DAW.  Would I be wise to learn how to use it instead?  Does it do everything Cakewalk By Bandlab does?  Do they look and operate similarly?  I've used Cakewalk before but it's been a few years and I need a refresher and was planning to watch some tutorials.  I plan to create multi-tracked song demos using a Midi keyboard.  I've read that Cakewalk By Bandlab is not being updated; will they be updating the online Bandlab DAW?  Thanks.

[scook]

43 minutes ago, DallasSteve said:

I've read that Cakewalk By Bandlab is not being updated

Where?

 

Cakewalk by BandLab has been updated at least every other month since it was released,

There is a dedicated section of this forum containing its update annoucements https://discuss.cakewalk.com/index.php?/forum/33-product-release-info/

 

BandLab runs inside a web-browser, primarily Chrome.

Cakewalk by BandLab is a Windows program.

The only similarity is both are free DAWs.

Try them both as see which one is for you.

Maybe you will like both.

 

[DallasSteve]

scook

Thanks for the reply.    So I would need to learn each because they are different interfaces (Bandlab online and Cakewalk by Bandlab)?

Here is the page where I read what I thought says it's not being updated, under Con - Old Code, pretty far down the page.  Did I misunderstand?

https://www.slant.co/versus/6429/26342/~pro-tools-2018-7_vs_cakewalk-by-bandlab

 

Edited February 12, 2021 by DallasSteve

[scook]

1 hour ago, DallasSteve said:

So I would need to learn each because they are different interfaces (Bandlab online and Cakewalk by Bandlab)?

Only if you want to use both of them.

 

WRT program updates one only has to look at the link I provided above to see Cakewalk by BandLab is actively being developed. 

 

 

[user 905133]

11 hours ago, DallasSteve said:

  I've read that Cakewalk By Bandlab is not being updated . . . .

Found it (under cons): "Since more than a decade ago no function has been improved."  Possibly you misunderstood this phrase. Possibly Slant is not as clear as it could be. 

As you commented, it is under the "Old Code."  To me it seems they are using "function" in a technical sense--as in functions, function calls, routines, etc. in the programming code.  Unless you know programming languages, you might not realize this and might read it in a general sense--user features v. computer code functions.

I think Slant is saying/trying to say that the computer code used to build the program users install has not yet been rewritten from scratch and uses computer code that hasn't been tweaked/retooled/made more efficient,  expanded upon/re-structured, etc.

That being said, from all the changes (bug fixes, improvements,  new features, etc.) I have seen over the past decade, I cannot imagine the code itself has not been changed.  But, I have never tried to reverse engineer the current version and a version from 10 years ago and I have no desire to do so.

Nevertheless, it is hard for me to imagine (as a user), that no function [in the code] has been improved over the past decade. I have reported a few issues I experienced and the developers have fixed them.  My guess was that changes didn't square with prior code and that the code was changed so as to fix the issues.

If you look at the history of changes just over the past year, much has changed in terms of Cakewalk's features and performance.  

If Slant meant that Cakewalk has been essentially using and building on the UI implemented with SONAR X1 but that many of the parts of the UI are still part of Cakewalk--Track View, Piano Roll View, Console, Browser, Event List, etc. (i.e., it hasn't been revised from the ground up and made to look totally different), that is a different matter.  

Maybe that's what they meant by the "Old Code" section and they weren't referring to functions in the technical sense.   

--------------------------------------

Aside: I also think their "Does not respect your freedom" diatribe is misleading and based on a hyper-restricted sense of "freedom" which I suspect comes from a technical, computer programming-activist stance. For an introduction to the complexities of "free as in freedom" mantra, see, for example, this.  

I might have missed it, but I didn't see sufficient credit given to Cakewalk's extreme flexibility and user customizability. Yes, there is a reference to customizability and the Theme Editor, but for me there is so much more that Cakewalk offers to support users' freedom to create. To take just one example, Cakewalk's Workspaces framework allows users to customize the UI with multiple user presets that are in essence personal workflows.

To me that shows respect and dedication to the users' freedom to work in a ways that best meet their needs.

There's much more (in my opinion) but I only mention this example here as I believe there is similar potential for misinterpretation.  I suspect the "Does not respect your freedom" criticism is based on a highly specialized, computer programming  activism stance.  Unfortunately, if you don't know about that technical, limited meaning, it is possible to draw erroneous conclusions.

I could be wrong.  

------------

Apologies to those who just want short, pithy comments and to anyone whose toes I might have stepped on.

 

 

Edited February 12, 2021 by User 905133
to add an apology

[DallasSteve]

37 minutes ago, User 905133 said:

Found it (under cons): "Since more than a decade ago no function has been improved."  Possibly you misunderstood this phrase. Possibly Slant is not as clear as it could be. 

As you commented, it is under the "Old Code."  To me it seems they are using "function" in a technical sense--as in functions, function calls, routines, etc. in the programming code.  Unless you know programming languages, you might not realize this and might read it in a general sense--user features v. computer code functions.

I think Slant is saying/trying to say that the computer code used to build the program users install has not yet been rewritten from scratch and uses computer code that hasn't been tweaked/retooled/made more efficient,  expanded upon/re-structured, etc.

 

Yes, that and this finishing comment in that Con:  "there are important components of that DAW that haven't been touched for almost two decades, and they will likely never get the upgrade they need."

[DallasSteve]

41 minutes ago, User 905133 said:

As you commented, it is under the "Old Code."  To me it seems they are using "function" in a technical sense--as in functions, function calls, routines, etc. in the programming code.  Unless you know programming languages, you might not realize this and might read it in a general sense--user features v. computer code functions.

 

Actually, I'm a retired computer programmer (C#) so I understand what a computer "function" is.  When they wrote "Since more than a decade ago no function has been improved" I thought they were referring to "function" in the layman sense of what functions the DAW can perform, but I'm not sure which was their intent.

[user 905133]

31 minutes ago, DallasSteve said:

Yes, that and this finishing comment in that Con:  "there are important components of that DAW that haven't been touched for almost two decades, and they will likely never get the upgrade they need."

Yup!  Unfortunately, there is no way to tell if the following is what they had in mind or if they were thinking of other "important components . . . that haven't been touched for almost two decades." I just took a guess, but who knows what they had in mind. 

1 hour ago, User 905133 said:

If Slant meant that Cakewalk has been essentially using and building on the UI implemented with SONAR X1 but that many of the parts of the UI are still part of Cakewalk--Track View, Piano Roll View, Console, Browser, Event List, etc. (i.e., it hasn't been revised from the ground up and made to look totally different), that is a different matter.  

UPDATE: I just checked the SONAR X1 on my XP PC: (c) 2001-2002. That fits with "almost two decades ago." But again, who knows what they had in mind. 

Edited February 12, 2021 by User 905133

[John Vere]

No DAW is perfect. And most free DAW's are a huge waist of time because they are very limited in features. 

 Cakewalk is a $500 DAW that the new owners just happen to feel like giving away with very few strings attached.  

And a big plus is real good support. Both from Staff and from the Community here. 

[DallasSteve]

12 minutes ago, pwalpwal said:

bandlab is an online thing that runs in chrome, cakewalk is a mature daw that's existed for years (even before your internet!)

I actually bought Cakewalk in a big box back in the 1980s.  It hurts me to think that I paid about $100 (1980s dollars) for it back then, and it wasn't nearly as sophisticated as the later versions.  I bought it again online about 10 years ago; that time I think it was about $40.  So is Cakewalk by Bandlab really old Sonar or is it really the old Cakewalk?

[John Vere]

It is the top version which was Platinum. Only difference is it doesn't come with the 3rd party stuff anymore. Only SI Instruments and TTS-1. But not a problem if you know where to go for plug ins. 

[Noel Borthwick]

I'm sorry but that article is so full of misguided nonsense I'm not even going to bother commenting. For one I'm not sure when it was posted since the information is completely out of date and speculates on things the author clearly has no knowledge about.

I will comment on the commonly quoted reference about "old code". Developers don't rewrite code unless it makes sense to do so. Cakewalk is continually being refactored and new features being added while actively improving the existing features. I wish people didn't write stuff they have no understanding about

Here is a link to an article that mentions all the achievements since BandLab acquired Cakewalk. The link Scook posted covers in detail all the improvements and updates to existing features.
 

[user 905133]

3 minutes ago, DallasSteve said:

  So is Cakewalk by Bandlab really old Sonar or is it really the old Cakewalk?

Neither.  See comments from others. 'Nuff said! 

[InstrEd]

it is free so download and give it a whirl?

 

[solarlux]

10 hours ago, DallasSteve said:

scook

Thanks for the reply.    So I would need to learn each because they are different interfaces (Bandlab online and Cakewalk by Bandlab)?

Here is the page where I read what I thought says it's not being updated, under Con - Old Code, pretty far down the page.  Did I misunderstand?

https://www.slant.co/versus/6429/26342/~pro-tools-2018-7_vs_cakewalk-by-bandlab

 

I can say Cakewalk is better than many DAWS there. I used Fl studio. CUbase, Studio One. I like Cakewalk and information in article there isn't true, i think people prefer paid products but Cakewalk is better than many paid products. I see Cakewalk in future as best DAW of all. I was obsessed with Studio one but i started to use Cakewalk and i like it and i don't need Studio one anymore.

Edited February 12, 2021 by solarlux

[solarlux]

1 hour ago, Noel Borthwick said:

I'm sorry but that article is so full of misguided nonsense I'm not even going to bother commenting. For one I'm not sure when it was posted since the information is completely out of date and speculates on things the author clearly has no knowledge about.

I will comment on the commonly quoted reference about "old code". Developers don't rewrite code unless it makes sense to do so. Cakewalk is continually being refactored and new features being added while actively improving the existing features. I wish people didn't write stuff they have no understanding about

Here is a link to an article that mentions all the achievements since BandLab acquired Cakewalk. The link Scook posted covers in detail all the improvements and updates to existing features.
 

Totally agree about code. C++ exists also long time and never gets old : ) I think article author doesn't have any programming background. Also agree about why reinvent wheel and rewrite existing code : ) 

Edited February 12, 2021 by solarlux

[solarlux]

Cakewalk in composing can beat every DAW! Snap to scale and poly audition of chords and piano roll all together unbeatable.

[InstrEd]

2 hours ago, Noel Borthwick said:

Here is a link to an article that mentions all the achievements since BandLab acquired Cakewalk. The link Scook posted covers in detail all the improvements and updates to existing features.
 

Thanks Noel and I agree with you the Bakers are doing a fantastic job with the DAW we love.    If you're on Windows 10 download it and give it a spin. Maybe it might not be your #1 DAW but still nice to have on your system just in case.

[solarlux]

7 minutes ago, InstrEd said:

Thanks Noel and I agree with you the Bakers are doing a fantastic job with the DAW we love.    If you're on Windows 10 download it and give it a spin. Maybe it might not be your #1 DAW but still nice to have on your system just in case.

Cakewalk is so easy and very good look at video how easy to build chords and fast in Cakewalk. Absolutely best DAW

 

Edited February 12, 2021 by solarlux

[InstrEd]

14 minutes ago, solarlux said:

Cakewalk is so easy and very good look at video how easy to build chords and fast in Cakewalk. Absolutely best DAW

That is subjective. Don't get me wrong ,I love CbB but there are other DAW's that I like and use for other reasons.  I come to the conclusion that there is no one best DAW out there.  If CbB fits your needs use it and be happy.