Cakewalk Sonar Platinum is now free!

[toonertik]

According to Bandlab, it's also needed to authorize the software?

Maybe for first time installation and run...After a couple of days I un_installed the assistant coz it was a PITA... Cakewalk runs fine with out it... )))))

[dellboy]

In the end, Bandlab bought the IP for a price, and is offering it now free, and a lot of people sign up for their services, so, nope, it's not free. At least not in the sense that anyone gives out a gift of some kind. They surely have a plan with it, and the new customers.

I have been using it since last Wednesday or so, and up until today it has not cost me a penny.

Ok, they have my email address with Yahoo that I use for junk mail, which itself was free, but is not really free, because Yahoo have my email address.

This time last year I could have bought Sonar for $499. To purchase it they would have required my free Yahoo email address and I would have needed to agree for the Cakewalk command centre to be installed. Bandlab assistant downloaded and installed the software and after it did I disabled it and have not seen it since. And yet Cakewalk Bandlab works just the same as Sonar would have worked. In fact it appears to be the same demo program I already had installed but now authorized for free.

[THE INTRANCER]

Is there a quick way to filter out all the 32 Bit plugins without having to go into your vst plugin folders and delete or remove them manually ?

[Jace-BeOS]

Much more annoying was the audio engine randomly stopping. Very annoying. One of the constant irritations I experienced with Sonar. Thing is, that was Sonar 8.5.3!! In all the revisions since, Cakewalk never bothered to fix this?? How is a stopping audio engine even a design feature??

It used to be much more prevalent pre-X3, but there were a lot of coding fixes during sPlat that stopped it for most users, me included.

Since many cited issues may be system-specific (or even user-error), it's unwise to just accept someone else's list of problems as universal bugs... You need to try it for yourself.

Fair enough, except i was always the guy slandered with "his system is the problem" when i would report bugs and odd behaviors on the Cakewalk forum (like the weird graphical glitches posted about here; i had those too). I moved away from Windows and Sonar for many reasons and i only have mild curiosity about the current version of Sonar (or "Cakewalk by BandLab", sigh), and that's mostly just as a tool to maybe access old Sonar projects if i converted something badly. But it seems that i would be adding more complexity by using the most recent version, possibly adding more problems... so i will just keep the old PC with Sonar 8.5.3 when and if i need to access an old Sonar project again (getting less and less likely every day that i continue my projects in Logic, which i put a lot of effort porting them to).

[zzz00m]

Is there a quick way to filter out all the 32 Bit plugins without having to go into your vst plugin folders and delete or remove them manually ?

You can use the 'Cakewalk Plug-in Manager' under the 'Utilities' menu.

1. It's not one click quick, but you can scroll down the list of VSTi plug-ins, and as you see select each one, the path will display at the bottom of the manager window. You can click the 'Exclude' button for each plug-in you see with a 32-bit folder in the path. No deletion necessary this way. Sonar will ignore the excluded plugin until you enable it again...

Or re-organize your plug-in folders.

2. This is a bit more work up front, but is the cleanest way to go. I moved all of my 32-bit plug-ins into a separate folder from my 64-bit plugins. Then if there is one 32-bit plug-in that I want to scan in a 64-bit host, I just move that one to a sub-folder within the 32-bit folder path. Then add only that sub-folder to my Cakewalk scan path, and the rest of the 32-but plug-ins never get scanned. Keeps Cakewalk tidy that way!

[THE INTRANCER]

Is there a quick way to filter out all the 32 Bit plugins without having to go into your vst plugin folders and delete or remove them manually ?

You can use the 'Cakewalk Plug-in Manager' under the 'Utilities' menu.

1. It's not one click quick, but you can scroll down the list of VSTi plug-ins, and as you see select each one, the path will display at the bottom of the manager window. You can click the 'Exclude' button for each plug-in you see with a 32-bit folder in the path. No deletion necessary this way. Sonar will ignore the excluded plugin until you enable it again...

Or re-organize your plug-in folders.

2. This is a bit more work up front, but is the cleanest way to go. I moved all of my 32-bit plug-ins into a separate folder from my 64-bit plugins. Then if there is one 32-bit plug-in that I want to scan in a 64-bit host, I just move that one to a sub-folder within the 32-bit folder path. Then add only that sub-folder to my Cakewalk scan path, and the rest of the 32-but plug-ins never get scanned. Keeps Cakewalk tidy that way!

Thanks, I've just started doing this manually, there's a lot, around 150 or so which are 32bit that I didn't know were there. I've around 350 plugins, but only use a fraction of those. My regular 64 bit host has completely ignored them for the past 3+ years. I forgot about the plugin manager... so I'll see how effective that is.

[Woodgardens]

The illusion that this app is free is kind of laughable IMO
Considered how many paid for its development.

I paid for 20 years. I am not laughing.

I am sincerely happy to see it carry on, rather than be buried!

You are not laughing, but you are happy? Mmmkay..

[zzz00m]

The illusion that this app is free is kind of laughable IMO
Considered how many paid for its development.

I paid for 20 years. I am not laughing.

I am sincerely happy to see it carry on, rather than be buried!

You are not laughing, but you are happy? Mmmkay..

Yes. It's not laughable that it is free. What part of that do you not understand?

[THE INTRANCER]

Better free than dead

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

Actual on-topic question: is the Drum Replacer missing from this version? As an old Sonar user, I was actually interested in checking that out, but I don't see it under Region FX.

[zzz00m]

Actual on-topic question: is the Drum Replacer missing from this version? As an old Sonar user, I was actually interested in checking that out, but I don't see it under Region FX.

I still see Drum Replacer in the Region FX in Platinum, but have not installed Cakewalk by Bandlab yet. Maybe someone who has will chime in.

[Dasheesh]

What's the catch though?

They get you using the product and then start charging for it. Just like everything else.

The old cakewalk version was free for 30 days. Something to think about.

[Funkybot's Evil Twin]

What's the catch though?

They get you using the product and then start charging for it. Just like everything else.

The old cakewalk version was free for 30 days. Something to think about.

They're pretty clear that's not the plan. For isntance, there was this statement by one "Meng" (one of the Bandlab folks on the Cakewalk forum):

"Platform and future product updates will continue to be free, just like BandLab - innovation must push forward!

But don't expect Rapture Pro for example to be free when it is re-released (except for those that have bought it before in some way or form and have already created a BandLab account)"

I saw a similar FAQ on the Cakewalk site earlier but can't find it.

[THE INTRANCER]

Actual on-topic question: is the Drum Replacer missing from this version? As an old Sonar user, I was actually interested in checking that out, but I don't see it under Region FX.

This isn't in the free version...so I suspect this will be a paid addon...it would have been nice if it was included for free though... looks kinda cool.

[Steve Bolivar]

+1. I am much more upset by other companies. I'm glad that Cakewalk was saved and survived its announced death. And since Nick Rothwell is on board, I have good expectations about its future.

Are you sure it's Nick Rothwell aka cassiel and not Noel Borthwick. Did a quick Google search and nothing turned up.