[CLOSED] Cakewalk 2022.11 Early Access [Updated to Build 12]

[Morten Saether]

We're pleased to announce Early Access of 2022.11! This release includes various enhancements and bug fixes for user reported issues. 

If you have encountered any of these issues, please check out this release and and confirm that your issue is resolved before we release the official public version. 

Please note that Early Access installers are update installers, which only update from a specific version. To install the 2022.11 Early Access build, you must be on the latest public release of 2022.09 or later. 

Download Cakewalk 2022.11 EA installer

If you haven't already done so, please read about the Early Access Program before participating.

Should you need to revert to the 2022.09 release, you can download the Cakewalk 2022.09 Rollback installer.

Please keep responses specific to problems or comments on this release. Unrelated bugs or feature requests should be posted in other threads or the feature request channel.

Thanks again for your participation!
The Bakers

 

Updated to 28.11.0.012

This build contains the following additional improvements:

• Quick group support for:
  • Track effect bin Bypass
  • Track effect bin Delete Effect (hold down CTRL+SHIFT to also remove an effect from any FX Chains within the selected tracks)
  • Individual effect bypass
• Fix: Orphaned envelope cannot be reassigned after replacing effect
• Fix: Envelopes are orphaned after undoing track effect bin Delete Effect
• Fix: [Regression] Track Inspector flickers and draws after the main app window is drawn when opening a project
• Fix: Control Bar appears cut off when switching back from a new workspace

 

2022.11 Highlights

 

Behavior changes

• The Use MMCSS option in Edit > Preferences > Audio - Playback and Recording now excludes setting MMCSS for ASIO drivers by default. 
  If your ASIO driver supports MMCSS by default, no action is needed. If your ASIO driver has an MMCSS option in its control panel, you need to explicitly enable it now to get MMCSS performance from the driver.
  If MMCSS isn't supported, you can explicitly select Enable MMCSS for ASIO Driver to get MMCSS performance from the driver.
  To check if the driver is running in MMCSS mode, hover over the performance toolbar and it should show the Audio Thread Priority as "Realtime". If it shows "Time Critical" or something else, try enabling MMCSS for the driver.

 

New Features and Improvements

Replace audio effect

You can now replace audio effects from track effect bins. To do so, right-click an effect and select Replace Audio FX, then select the desired effect.

You can use quick grouping to replace all instances of the same effect in all selected tracks. To do so, hold down the CTRL key while choosing the replacement effect. In order to also replace plugins found inside FX Chains, hold down CTRL+SHIFT.

 

Improved MIDI clip controller rendering

To improve legibility, MIDI controller events are now drawn darker and behind note events in MIDI clips.

You can also show/hide controller events by clicking the Track view View menu and selecting Display > Show MIDI Controller Events.

 

Navigate to Arranger sections via context menu

You can right-click the Show/Hide Arranger Inspector button  to access a list of all sections in the active Arranger track. This allows you to quickly navigate to sections without having to open the Arranger inspector.

 

Optionally send Send All Notes Off message to VST plug-ins

Using certain VST plugins can result in stuck notes after playback stops. You can now optionally send "All Notes Off" messages to all VST plugins when the transport stops, by enabling Send All-Notes-Off Messages on Stop in Edit > Preferences > File - VST Settings.

This option is off by default to avoid incurring delays when stopping playback when using many virtual instruments.

 

Added preference for enabling/disabling MMCSS for ASIO drivers

This allows you to enable MMCSS (multimedia time critical threads) independently from the ASIO driver state. 
According to the ASIO specification, drivers are recommended to run in MMCSS mode by default. If you wish Cakewalk to manage the drivers MMCSS mode, check the "Enable MMCSS for ASIO Driver" option.

Note: This option defaults to off, to avoid conflicts with drivers that already manage their internal MMCSS state. This is a change in behavior from past versions, so if your ASIO driver has an MMCSS option in its control panel, you need to explicitly enable it now to get MMCSS performance from the driver. 

To enable MMCSS for ASIO drivers, select Enable MMCSS for ASIO Driver in Edit > Preferences > Audio - Playback and Recording.

Note: Some drivers default to MMCSS off in their control panel. If you wish to use MMCSS for these drivers, you will need to manually enable it in the driver control panel or enable this new option in Cakewalk. 

 

Performance module shows audio thread priority

The audio thread priority is now displayed in the Control Bar's Performance module tooltip, which can be useful for troubleshooting purposes.

If the main audio thread is running in MMCSS mode, the tooltip should read like this:

Note: If the tooltip shows "Time Critical" when MMCSS is enabled in ASIO mode, it's possible that the driver is not using MMCSS, or has set up MMCSS incorrectly.

 

Bug fixes

•  Drag and drop of audio from track with patch point crashes
• Crash when trying to open project with incomplete event archive (audio events with no filename saved)
• Crash deleting instrument track with Spitfire Audio BBC Symphony Orchestra
• Application can crash on load with certain track templates
• Loading a project while another one was open could result in incorrect tempo being displayed in tempo track 
• Regression: Mono hardware outputs always output as stereo
• Tracks sourced from aux track L/R/S always show a stereo record meter when armed
• Second export of Mix Recall tasks has unexpected error
• Previous MIDI loop takes can be heard during comping and/or Auto Punch+Mute Previous Takes
• Overlapping Arranger sections when moving section with overwrite on empty project
• Opening a project that is already open causes the document modified state to be cleared and re-initializes the open project
• Bouncing with selected aux tracks alone doesn't automatically include sources routed to the aux track, leading to silent output
• Now time should not be set during Arranger move/resize operations during playback
• Multi-dock draws incorrectly, and views do not open after opening certain projects
• Clip Map fails to draw correctly on AudioSnap clips
• Offset tempo map loses resolution 
• Browser collapsed state fails to persist when opening project
• Incorrect docked view order after project load
• Primary audio thread not running at MMCSS priority in WASAPI mode
• Undo delete effect doesn't restore MIDI Input enabled state

 

[Lord Tim]

OK, this smashed a couple of wish list items for me! Sensational! ?

[scook]

On 11/2/2022 at 12:40 PM, Morten Saether said:

Undo delete effect doesn't restore MIDI Input enabled state

Not sure why this only addresses MIDI input.

Undo does restore "Enable MIDI Input" property and MIDI track output routing, if any

BUT

Undo does not restore "Enable MIDI Output" if previously enabled and any associated Instrument/MIDI track input settings.

[scook]

On 11/2/2022 at 12:40 PM, Morten Saether said:

You can now replace audio effects from track effect bins. To do so, right-click an effect and select Replace Audio FX, then select the desired effect.

Replacing a plug-in that uses MIDI I/O does not preserve the MIDI setup.

IOW, plug-in properties of the new plug-in has "Enable MIDI Input" and "Enable MIDI Output" deselected regardless of the plug-in's capabilities and the settings of the plug-in being replaced. Moreover, any routings to and from the plug-in to instrument/MIDI tracks are also lost.

[Keni]

Love that I can see controllers behind notes, but can I edit them there too? So far I haven't stumbled on how to enable such (if available). My attempts to edit continue to deal with notes only unless I open the controller in a controller view below the note-screen

[scook]

Deleting a plug-in from an audio FX rack is incomplete if the plug-in has automation driven by remote control.

Immediately after delete, the plug-in label is retained in FX rack but is inaccessible. The plug-in is actually deleted and is gone when the project is re-opened, however; the automation is orphaned.

[Keni]

18 minutes ago, scook said:

Deleting a plug-in from an audio FX rack is incomplete if the plug-in has automation driven by remote control.

Immediately after delete, the plug-in label is retained in FX rack but is inaccessible. The plug-in is actually deleted and is gone when the project is re-opened, however; the automation is orphaned.

Is this new to the early release? Wait. Some of it. The orphaned automation has been around longer.

[murat k.]

1 hour ago, Keni said:

Love that I can see controllers behind notes, but can I edit them there too?

Yes you can with the Inline Piano Roll View.

[Keni]

1 hour ago, murat k. said:

Yes you can with the Inline Piano Roll View.

Interesting. I’ll have to check it out tomorrow. I haven’t used that view in a long time as it always felt too small/confined for most of my needs. Handy for aligning midi notes/events to audio though...

Thanks for the idea.

Edited November 4, 2022 by Keni

[apt]

On 11/3/2022 at 1:40 AM, Morten Saether said:

You can use quick grouping to replace all instances of the same effect in all selected tracks. To do so, hold down the CTRL key while choosing the replacement effect. In order to also replace plugins found inside FX Chains, hold down CTRL+SHIFT.

Thanks for the update!

But it's kind of weird that Quick Grouping only works on that new feature, but not on other "more basic" operations on effects, such as plugin on/off, rack on/off and deleting plugin.

Edited November 4, 2022 by apt

[Noel Borthwick]

12 hours ago, scook said:

Replacing a plug-in that uses MIDI I/O does not preserve the MIDI setup.

IOW, plug-in properties of the new plug-in has "Enable MIDI Input" and "Enable MIDI Output" deselected regardless of the plug-in's capabilities and the settings of the plug-in being replaced. Moreover, any routings to and from the plug-in to instrument/MIDI tracks are also lost.

Replace is not intended to handle routing. You will have to set that up manually.

[Noel Borthwick]

12 hours ago, scook said:

Deleting a plug-in from an audio FX rack is incomplete if the plug-in has automation driven by remote control.

Immediately after delete, the plug-in label is retained in FX rack but is inaccessible. The plug-in is actually deleted and is gone when the project is re-opened, however; the automation is orphaned.

Is the label persisting a new issue? Automation being orphaned is as intended but the plugin placeholder should be removed. I’ve never seen this…

When a plugin is deleted any related envelopes are orphaned and can be reused for something else or deleted. They are also kept in case you undo the delete, in which case they are reassigned to their parameters.

[Noel Borthwick]

2 hours ago, apt said:

Thanks for the update!

But it's kind of weird that Quick Grouping only works on that new feature, but not on other "more basic" operations on effects, such as plugin on/off, rack on/off and deleting plugin.

Every quick groupable operation is custom code. You don’t get it for free. We’ve only made the most commonly used features quick groupable.

[FJ Lamela]

Thanks a lot Noel, i'm testing.....

[scook]

1 hour ago, Noel Borthwick said:

Is the label persisting a new issue? Automation being orphaned is as intended but the plugin placeholder should be removed. I’ve never seen this…

When a plugin is deleted any related envelopes are orphaned and can be reused for something else or deleted. They are also kept in case you undo the delete, in which case they are reassigned to their parameters.

Yes, it works as expected in 2022.06 build 34. Delete the FX and all traces of the plug-in are removed including the label in the FX rack and automation.

Delete the plug-in in 2022.11 build 6 and an inaccessible label is left in the FX rack and the automation is orphaned. Restart the project and the label is gone but the orphaned automation is still threre.

 

[scook]

Running screen caps for delete, it appears the automation is no longer being orphaned.

Here is a screen cap deleting Sonitus Wah in 2022.06

and the same in 2022.11. Notice, the plug-in label remains after delete

[FJ Lamela]

1 hour ago, scook said:

Running screen caps for delete, it appears the automation is no longer being orphaned.

Here is a screen cap deleting Sonitus Wah in 2022.06

and the same in 2022.11. Notice, the plug-in label remains after delete

I have been able to reproduce the problem and therefore I can confirm it.

It happens with both Dx and VST2 and VST3 plugins.

[FJ Lamela]

Another example with crash at the end!

Edited November 4, 2022 by FJ Lamela

[IgoRr]

19 hours ago, scook said:

Immediately after delete, the plug-in label is retained in FX rack but is inaccessible. The plug-in is actually deleted and is gone when the project is re-opened, however; the automation is orphaned.

+1  Yes, I confirm that this is exactly what happens. In addition, I repeated the experiment twice, and noticed that after removing the plugin, with several clicks on the inactive icon, the Cakewalk crashes completely, as in the example of F.J. Lamela. This can seriously damage the project in an unfortunate set of circumstances.

[Jonathan Sasor]

@scook @FJ Lamela @IgoRr please note the build link in the original post has been updated to version 008 which should resolve the delete issue. Thanks!