donaldpritchett Posted April 10 Share Posted April 10 (edited) Hi all, I’m new to music production and I downloaded the now free Cakewalk and I really like it. But I have some concerns about the future of this software now it has been bought by BandLab. What direction do you think it’s going in? Is it worth investing my time in this software? I’m not that happy with the included plugins, so I’m wondering whether I should stick with Cakewalk and buy some plugins to go with it, or spend my money on another daw like Cubase. What do you think would be the best way to spend my money? uno online Edited April 11 by donaldpritchett Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Gelzleichter Posted April 10 Share Posted April 10 You Might want to try demo versions of other daws and see what works for you. I have been using Cakewalk for so long I have no desire to change. Being new to music production, you Probably don't have a work flow established. Try a variety of things before investing in a daw. 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeeringAmps Posted April 10 Share Posted April 10 (edited) 2 hours ago, donaldpritchett said: have some concerns about the future of this software now it has been bought by BandLab They've owned it since April 2018. 2 hours ago, donaldpritchett said: What direction do you think it’s going in? Forward 2 hours ago, donaldpritchett said: not that happy with the included plugins What Cubase users own ZERO third party plugs? Really? 2 hours ago, donaldpritchett said: What do you think would be the best way to spend my money? Demo Cubase, if you like it, its on sale at 30% off $405.99. (reg $579.99) Pretty much Cubase updates about every 18 months, currently the upgrade 12>13 is $69.99 (again 30% off, reg $99.99) For me Sonar (which will replace CbB [Cakewlak by Bandlab]) is a no-brainer at $14.99 a month. (this is BandLab's Backstage Pass "package" that includes access to Sonar) see here for details Membership Once pricing is sorted I will undoubtedly "purchase" Sonar... (as we all know, you never really "own" software, just a license to use it....) t Best advice: Use CbB until pricing on Sonar is sorted, as Dave said above, demo a bunch of DAW's; what have you got to lose? Edited April 10 by DeeringAmps 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wookiee Posted April 10 Share Posted April 10 @donaldpritchett in the 6 years that Bandlab have owned the IP of the software, they have done more with the software than either Roland or Gibson ever did and Bandlab did it for free, unlike those previous owners. The original flagship version SONAR Platinum, came with several synths, Dimension Pro, Rapture, Z3ta +, Session Drummer 3, SI-Intruments, Applied Acoustics (AAS) Strum and Lounge Lizard, Overloud's Cakewalk addition of TH3, and Melodyne essentials full licence. Along with the Nomad Factory suit of FX. Plus the Sonitus FX suite. This cost around $450.00 to buy new. There were a number of additional Pro Channel modules you could purchase. Three other FX, two mastering ones, a Linear Phase EQ and Linear Phase Multiband compressor along with an Adaptive EQ. Who knows what the new Bandlab Sonar version will come with, I suspect we will be pleasantly surprised, we just have to be patient. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeGBradford Posted April 10 Share Posted April 10 You really don't need to worry about the limited number of virtual instruments as there are hundreds available for free on the web - many very, very good ones that give some paid ones a run for their money! There are threads in the Instruments & Effects forum which list many of the free VSTs 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeGBradford Posted April 10 Share Posted April 10 Here you go! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Baay Posted April 10 Share Posted April 10 In my view you can't go wrong using the free CbB until it will no longer activate because it's been fully superceded by Sonar. There should be plenty of warning about that to give you time to decide whether to subscribe to Bandlab, buy Sonar outright (if that ends up being an option) or port the (presumably few) projects you will have created in the mean time over to a different DAW. I'll also wager that even when activation is discontinued, you'll still be able to launch CbB and open projects to extract/export audio and MIDI, save plugin presets, etc. for some time to come; you just won't be able to save changes to the project file as is currently the case when not activated. CbB and Sonar have a good complement of VST FX already included, and I'm sure the bundled synth content will grow over time as the product is re-monitized. But, as has been suggested, few users restrict themselves to bundled VSTs for long, and that shouldn't be a major consideration in my view, given the vast number of free and inexpensive options available. The most important thing is that the DAW has a workflow that fits your compositional style and feels intuitive and inspiring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starship Krupa Posted April 10 Share Posted April 10 Whatever DAW you go with, if plug-ins are what you seek, Kilohearts' Essentials, MeldaProduction's FreeFX Bundle, Native Instruments' Komplete Start, IK Multimedia's Sampletank CS (and other CS instruments and FX), Soundpaint, and the free Vital synth will give you a pretty deep collection of stuff for absolutely free. No DAW user at any level should pass those up. The abundance of great free loss-leader software is the reason that I've never felt restricted by the relatively small array of plug-ins that Cakewalk ships with (although don't neglect the Pro Channel FX, which are pretty excellent). Given the choice, I'd much rather pay as little as possible for the DAW itself and pick my own plug-ins. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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