Introducing Cakewalk Next and our new brand identity

[John T]

2 hours ago, Noel Borthwick said:

Right here in Cakewalk. Press that button.

I miss the Munch Button.

[Craig Reeves]

7 hours ago, Noel Borthwick said:

All the DPI awareness work done was for the Sonar application. Cakewalk Next is already vector based.

Cakewalk Sonar is a hybrid DPI aware application. Plugin's need to be independently made DPI aware for them to be scalable. By default, Sonar assumes that plugins are DPI aware and if there are scaling problems noted it can be disabled on a per plugin basis. There is a new "Enhanced Display Scaling" option in the plugin properties settings to control this.
However only a few Cakewalk plugins are fully DPI aware - for example the prochannel modules. For the others you may have to disable the per plugin "Enhanced Display Scaling" for them to work. When Enhanced Display Scaling is off we rely on Windows to handle the scaling when running high dpi monitors.
In the future we may update some cakewalk plugins to also be DPI aware like we're doing with Sonar but it's not on the roadmap ATM.
IOW High DPI support is not available across the board for all plugins. It depends on the specific plugin.

 

With the new vector-based UI, does this mean vertical zoom could show more tracks without scrolling? I've always envied how Logic, PT, Cubase, Studio One and all the other major DAWs could vertical zoom so much you could literally see 100+ tracks without scrolling. This would really help with people who do film scoring where they're working with templates of 200+ tracks or more.

Edited June 10, 2023 by Craig Reeves

[John T]

Reading through a chunk of this thread and just idly wondering if there's still a block function in this version of the forum. Can't seem to find it. Asking for a friend.

[Hillmy]

2 hours ago, Jesse Jost said:

The main takeaway right now, as far as the community is concerned, is that this change just better substantiates our operational reality. The Cakewalk brand, though it is part of BLT, is 100% committed to desktop-domain software products with a roadmap minimally entangled with other non-Cakewalk product roadmaps. 

You're telling me Cake is now offered as dessert when I get a BLT? ? Or maybe I am just reading that wrong because I am hungry. ?

[Hillmy]

2 hours ago, Noel Borthwick said:

Right here in Cakewalk. Press that button.

You actually made me open up Cakewalk to see if that button came up if I pressed that! ?

[John T]

33 minutes ago, Craig Reeves said:

With the new vector-based UI, does this mean vertical zoom could show more tracks without scrolling? I've always envied how Logic, PT, Cubase, Studio One and all the other major DAWs could vertical zoom so much you could literally see 100+ tracks without scrolling. This would really help with people who do film scoring where they're working with templates of 200+ tracks or more.

By the sound of it, it's currently just a global scaling level for the whole application. But independent zoom levels for some views would be a great feature for the future. 

EDIT: Mainly I'm thinking that I like my main / track view as it is, but would like to scale up my console view a bit. That kind of thing.

Edited June 10, 2023 by John T

[John Vere]

6 hours ago, User 905133 said:

Isn't that why an unlocked / one-time only activation version of Home Studio was made available (so that people would continue to have access to their projects)? 

That is an interesting thought. I think it was shortly before Gibson dumped us Thayer was this free version of Home Studio available through a magazine . I remember grabbing it as well as posting the links in the old Forum.  I still have that file in my collection of Cakewalk files.  Now you got me thinking it might be as you say. 

This is all just a backup plan to if things go wrong with this new development. Like most here I will most likely anti up and pay for Sonar. As Jesse just said it’s way to early to get our shorts in a knot about it. 

[JoeGBradford]

I have that - I updated from Sonar 8.5 LE that  got with my Roland APro 800 keyboard. I was quite happy with that until CbB came along so could go back if needed and it still works with Win 11. 

I'd prefer to upgrade to the new Sonar but it will only be worth it for me if it is under £100  as I am a hobbyist and only use on occasion

[Larioso]

3 hours ago, Misha said:

Sorry if question is silly or was already answered.

To my understanding  vector graphics might mean better overall I/O performance right?  My biggest issue with DAW recording is "Stopped Engine" thing.  Sometimes when trying different things I overstuff  projects with heavy VSTs. I know that is my issue and I should freeze , bounce  etc.  But besides that,  one big contributor is NVIDIA graphics adapter. It is known for causing issues with audio recording under Windows.   I was wondering if new Sonar vector is mainly  for "looks" or it might actually lighten up the I/O load?  

Thanks.

It is for looks and to a large degree 4k monitors where you might want to scale things up to see them.

- this is to my understanding anyway

 

Your problems, try a couple of things

- run LatencyMonitor and see if that is causing audio dropout and engine stop

- set priority in Nvidia panel to performance

- there is also a setting in Cakewalk/Sonar configuration how long dropout is accepted before dropping engine

- any wifi in windows is often culprit, set it to flight mode and disable when doing audio work

- my laptop turnes even off power to network card in flight mode to save energy

[User 905133]

"I remember grabbing it as well as posting the links in the old Forum." 

Maybe that's the one I grabbed. I looked in the old forum for the post earlier today, but didn't see it.

 

[Misha]

Larioso, 

Thanks, I have done all kind of troubleshooting and just accepted the reality not to use something extremely heavy for tracking/composing and freeze tracks if computer goes overboard.

I just though that rendering vectors are a much "lighter" process then of rendering image content.  It would be super  nice if one day Cakewalk would get a more detailed performance monitor, similar to latency mon., but that would pinpoint particular active  I/O vampires related to current Cakewalk  session. Including hardware bottle necks,  total plugin load, sorted by intensity, and links to address particular  found issues.

P.S. I am only guessing, recommended hardware  is 8 code CPU for new Sonar.  Perhaps they found a way to spread load more evenly. Can't wait to try it.

 

[Matt Rayner]

I see Munch's "Scream" is still much lamented! Was it CWPA 6 ? A great release!

Some people went mental about it, however.

But the one that really sent people over the edge was the very first Tool Tip splash that opened with the new app:
"Pizza goes well with beer."

Haha! People left in droves! Someone must've got a rocket, as CWPA 7 was the most boring (and cluttered) release ever.

Anyway. BIG THANKS to Bandlab for the free years of this amazing DAW. Can't wait to see new Sonar and Next.

[Noel Borthwick]

3 hours ago, Hillmy said:

You actually made me open up Cakewalk to see if that button came up if I pressed that! ?

That feature is only in the new version of Sonar

[Will.]

5 hours ago, Noel Borthwick said:

Right here in Cakewalk. Press that button.

? 

There goes my coffee. 

[Noel Borthwick]

1 hour ago, Matt Rayner said:

But the one that really sent people over the edge was the very first Tool Tip splash that opened with the new app:
"Pizza goes well with beer."

I totally remember that!

[Greg Wynn]

4 minutes ago, Noel said:

I totally remember that!

I remember both the “Pizza goes well with beer” tool tip AND the nod to Munch button !

 

 

 

[Hillmy]

17 minutes ago, Noel said:

That feature is only in the new version of Sonar

Now I have to get Sonar! ?

[Quinellipe Zorn]

On 6/6/2023 at 6:59 PM, Teksonik said:

Right....here we go. We all should have seen this day coming.

In one way having Sonar generate a revenue stream is beneficial as it funds future development and current support. Hopefully it will succeed so a day like this one doesn't happen for it, finding out development has stopped. 

So on one hand I'd like to support the new endeavor but.....having been a paying customer up to Sonar X3 I don't know how much I'd be willing to pay to get back on the train.

Knowing this day would come eventually I never let myself fall too much in love with CbB so it's not one of my most frequently used DAWs.  But I wouldn't want to lose it because it does serve a purpose although not a critical one. Hopefully the last free update of CbB will continue working on Windows for the foreseeable future but of course once development stops on a piece of software you're on your own.  

So for me to purchase an update of something that has been free, that update has to bring something of value equal to the update price.  We'll see what the future holds.....

I'm just curious what purpose CbB fulfilled for you?

[Quinellipe Zorn]

On 6/6/2023 at 7:22 PM, RBH said:

Very much looking forward to Sonar specific Plug-in and VSTi development. It's really great to see a long term plan moving forward - and great team of Bakers staying dedicated to the product. You folks really are stand outs in your field.

I missed the "feature" of "Sonar specific Plug-ins".   Not a fan of proprietary/DAW company-sponsored singular platform plugins.  No disrespect to the greatness of the Cakewalk strip!

[Quinellipe Zorn]

Just to give my own input to Bandlab, I'd like to see both a subscription model and the prior ownership model.  I don't see subscriptions as bad, I see them as "a" viable option, the ideal company providing both "ownership"/perpetual licensing and "rental"/temporary licensing models.