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2019.11/12 Feature Overview [Updated 06-Jan-2020]


Morten Saether

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Authors: Noel Borthwick, Morten Saether


Introduction

Following the major 2019.09 release, our 2019.11 release and new 2019.12 release contain over 90 bug fixes and feature enhancements. This release focuses on stability, optimizations, ASIO improvements, workspace (lenses) enhancements as well as fixes several long standing problems.  We've also implemented several popular feature requests from the community.

The following highlights are intended to provide an overview of the more significant changes. Please also refer to the new features section of our documentation for more detailed information on the features.

Please give us feedback on this release. We hope you like it!
 

2019.12 Highlights
 

Behavior changes

  • Improved audio resampling quality in WASAPI Shared mode.
  • The default MIDI Prepare Buffer size has been changed to 200 msec. Limitations preventing the MIDI buffer from being set lower have been removed. There should be no need to change the buffer size from the new default value anymore, since the engine automatically raises the internal size when necessary. 
  • On first launch, Cakewalk will reset the MIDI buffer size to the new default value of 200 msec (Preferences > MIDI - Playback and Recording > Prepare Using n Millisecond Buffers).

2019.12 release

 

2019.11 Highlights
 

Behavior changes

  • The Comp tool now respects the Auto Crossfade state.
  • When working in Take lanes, the Split tool will split across all lanes on the lower half of the clip.
  • The default MIDI Prepare Buffer size has been reduced to 20 msec. Limitations preventing the MIDI buffer from being set lower have been removed. There should be no need to change the buffer size from the new default value anymore, since the engine automatically raises the internal size when necessary. 
  • On first launch, Cakewalk will reset the MIDI buffer size to the new default value of 20 msec (Preferences > MIDI - Playback and Recording > Prepare Using n Millisecond Buffers).
  • Lenses have been renamed to Workspaces.

 

ASIO improvements

Automatic Dropout Restart behavior

Cakewalk analytics from the 2019.09 release, revealed the most common reason for audio dropouts to be ASIO device state changes. This dropout is most commonly triggered by users changing the latency or sample rate in the ASIO panel. 

In version 2019.11, the default behavior is to restart the audio engine when certain kinds of benign dropouts are detected. If playback is underway, the dropout is handled and playback resumes automatically from where it left off. This behavior can be changed in Preferences > Audio - Configuration File by setting the new RestartEngineAfterDropout flag. Set to False to revert to the prior behavior to display the dropout toast message. Note: If recording is underway when this happens, you will get a dropout notification as before.

ASIO latency updates from driver panel to host are more reliable

In prior Cakewalk versions changes to the driver panel were not always reflected in the host until closing and reopening preferences. You should see this work reliably now.

ASIO latency can be set from preferences slider for supported audio interfaces

For supported audio devices, in the audio preferences, the latency slider may now be used to change the audio buffer size without the need to open the manufacturer’s ASIO panel. For this to work the driver has to support reporting its latency metrics to the host and respond to preferred buffer size requests. If supported, you will see a latency slider with the min/max latency as recommended by the driver. If unsupported, the slider will be disabled.

Note: The slider will move in steps as suggested by the driver. One of the advantages of this feature is that you may have access to more granular buffer sizes than the driver panel offers. It is not guaranteed that every latency value supplied by the host will be acknowledged by the driver.

Please report your findings with your own audio interfaces.

New ini setting StopEngineOnASIOPanelOpen

A few ASIO devices require that the host should not use the device while making changes to device settings. Some devices may display an error or gray out the controls in the ASIO panel while others may silently ignore changes. In prior versions of Cakewalk the only solution was to exit the app for such devices. In 2019.11 you can set the variable StopEngineOnPanelOpen in Preferences > Audio - Configuration File (second property in the list). Setting it to True will automatically stop and release the ASIO interface allowing you to change settings in Cakewalk. 

Change preferences while audio is playing 

You may now open the Preferences dialog box and change settings even while a project is playing. If a change is made that requires the engine to restart, you will hear a small interruption in the audio while the changes are committed and playback will continue after the change. This has the following benefits:

  • Inspect or make changes to preferences without needing to stop playback or input monitoring.
  • Make changes to audio latency while playing audio to adjust audio processing load dynamically. Note: This only works with ASIO devices that can handle real time buffer configuration changes.

 

Tool changes

Updated Split tool behavior

The Split tool now supports single clip splitting across clips in Take lanes. On the lower half of clips, there is a new cursor to indicate when splitting the current clip image.png or all  clips image.png on the track. This cursor appears only if there are multiple lanes on the track.

The Split tool now also respects the Auto Crossfade state.

Split across all lanes.gif

 

Comp tool now respects Auto Crossfade state

When using the Comp/Isolate tool in Take lanes, the splits on clips will now respect whether Auto Crossfade is enabled or not. (Previous behavior was to always crossfade when using the Isolate tool)

 

Workspaces (Lenses) enhancements

  • Lenses have been renamed to Workspaces to better reflect their core function, which is to act as a global template for the UI layout/configuration.
  • The Workspace Manager has a new Description field that allows you to include a text description of each workspace.
  • On fresh installs of Cakewalk, the onboarding wizard lets you select an initial workspace (default is Basic). Note: The Help > Get Started command now launches the onboarding wizard.
  • Global keyboard shortcuts persist whether using a factory workspace or 'None'.
  • The Workspace Manager will now prompt to save changes to the current workspace if necessary.
  • In the Workspace Manager, the Save button is only available if the workspace has been changed.
  • You can select a workspace when no project is open.
  • Several factory workspaces have been updated to improve workflow.
  • Switching workspaces to 'None' no longer affects the active theme.
  • Switching Workspaces no longer affects project track and bus sizing. 

 

Workspace enhancements.gif

 

image.png

image.png

 

Option to display muted takes in parent track

The new Track view View > Display Muted Takes in Parent Track option allows you to display muted takes in the parent track.

Display Muted Takes in Parent Track Take lanes expanded Take lanes collapsed
Enabled

Parent track shows muted takes in gray.

image.png

Parent track shows muted takes in gray. Muted clips can be edited.

Clips muted due to lane mute are dimmed.

image.png

Disabled

Parent track shows muted takes as an empty gradient filled area.

The blue Comp clip header encompasses both the muted and unmuted areas.

image.png

Parent track does not show muted takes.

image.png

 

Display muted takes in parent track.gif

 

Control surfaces

Added Synth Rack support for Mackie Control surface. For details click here.

 

Simpler activation

Cakewalk requires periodic activation via BandLab Assistant. This process is more streamlined in 2019.11.

  • BandLab Assistant now has a Refresh Activation option. In the rare case when you need to reactivate Cakewalk, log in to BandLab assistant and choose the Refresh Activation option from the Cakewalk drop-down menu in the Apps tab. 
  • Cakewalk responds immediately to being activated by BandLab Assistant. If the app is in an inactivated state, launching BandLab Assistant and choosing the “Refresh Activation” option will automatically activate Cakewalk even if the app is running.

image.png

 

Misc

  • The minimum gap between Control Bar modules has been increased when Lock Module Order and Center is enabled.
  • Click the Sample Rate or Bit Depth fields in the Control Bar Transport module to open audio preferences.

 

Click Sample Rate or Bit Depth in CB .gif

 


Optimizations

  • Meters and now time display are now more responsive and uses less CPU when multiple projects are open. Rapid scroll and clip drag operations in the UI no longer cause meter and time updates to lag.
  • Various improvements to audio engine for better ASIO compatibility.
  • Optimized audio engine to set ASIO buffer sizes and sample rates more efficiently.
  • Minimized the number of VST3 start/stop state changes during project load. This greatly improves the load time for certain plug-ins such as Vienna Ensemble Pro.

 

Previous release:

2019.09 Feature Overview

2019.07 Feature Overview

 

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  • Morten Saether changed the title to 2019.11 Feature Overview [Updated 11-Dec-2019]

The US-600 is a discontinued device and drivers are not maintained by TASCAM. Did you ever have this device work properly with any prior version of Cakewalk?
We have not heard any information from you confirming this. Without knowing this there is really not a lot we can do to work around problems with faulty drivers.
Yesterday we released an update that addresses a problem with certain buffer sizes that affected one TASCAM user. You can install that update and see if it helps you. See this announcement in the early access forum

PS: Please translate your messages into English when posting here since you are more likely to get responses from other users that way.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Milton:  for what it is worth, I have been working with a TASCAM US-800 interface for many years, in both Cakewalk by Bandlab (CbB) and  Sonar Platinum on a Windows 10 64-bit machine, using the last TASCAM drivers, with no issues (other than it must be powered on AFTER Windows start, and before opening CbB).  Certain VSTi's and standalone audio apps will change the ASIO settings on startup (usually to highest buffer setting), but I am able to change them to the lowest buffer setting using the driver control panel (USPan800.exe I think) in the bottom Windows system tray.  My PC is an older Intel i5, 8GB ram, SSD for Windows and CbB

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  • Morten Saether changed the title to 2019.11/12 Feature Overview [Updated 06-Jan-2020]
  • 2 weeks later...
On 1/10/2020 at 9:47 AM, Milton Sica said:

Infelizmente, para mim, não funcionou. Só consigo algum resultado colocando o driver WDM/KS com o ruim de toda hora a aplicação apresentar a mensagem: image.png.e5b53dd041bf32122b582cc4b6dcca58.png

Google Translate:

Quote

Unfortunately, for me, it didn't work. I can only get some result by placing the WDM / KS driver with the bad one every time the application presents the message

 

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