Cakewalk is “dead”?

[JerGoertz]

Having been a (former) longtime Sonar user, I would be hard pressed to want to go near that buggy, quaking mound of mess, even for free. But maybe they've fixed things up in the interim... Half tempted to just install the thing to find out.

[digitalboytn]

Having been a (former) longtime Sonar user, I would be hard pressed to want to go near that buggy, quaking mound of mess, even for free. But maybe they've fixed things up in the interim... Half tempted to just install the thing to find out.

I was also a long term Cakewalk Pro Audio/Sonar user who jumped ship when Henry da Vandal jumped on...

I still used the program to open legacy projects,but I didn't want a bar of anything Henry was involved with...

But I've been using it again since Bandlab resuscitated the DAW and they have been making some great steps foward....

They have stripped out a lot of the bloat and as a result, the program runs faster and is more efficient than ever before...

I'm using Reaper 6 as my main DAW now and it's great, but I could go back to using Cakewalk as my main DAW and still get the results I need...

I also have a copy of Studio One 4 Pro,but it is not installed at the moment...

The bottom line is that most of the DAWs available these days have all of the features we need to get our work done in the audio world...

The most important thing is to be conversant with the workflow and work with any idiosyncracies that exist within the programs to achieve the results we are after...

Too often,we are quick to criticize the tools that we have at our disposal and not look at one of the major causes of failure within the supply chain...

Human error

[JoseC.]

I was able to get Cakewalk running in linux/wine. I'm not a coder,
but to me, that result indicates a solid no-frills codebase.
I'm not real happy with the daw needing Bandlab Assistant,
but even that is getting better with each new version,
and is part of the revenue model that allows the daw
to be actively developed, without financial cost to users.

I'd like the option of a paid version that was free of the Assistant,
just a bare installer in the Reaper price range.

I highly doubt their codebase is solid and no-frills. With so much legacy and considering how buggy Cakewalk has historically been, it's still probably horrible. It will take them a lot more time to fix it.

You need the assistant only for installing and updating. I usually remove it afterwards. When I need to update, I just install it again as you would have to do it anyway because the assistant itself needs updating occasionally.

But all that is just a bunch of assumptions from you, who stated only "academic interest". I see nothing academic in spewing opinions without having factual information to back it up, rather the opposite. As I said above, I see the Dunning Kruger effect running rampant around here.

[Erisian]

I highly doubt their codebase is solid and no-frills. With so much legacy and considering how buggy Cakewalk has historically been, it's still probably horrible. It will take them a lot more time to fix it.

I can vouch for the fact that it is neither buggy nor horrible and it comes with the option of downloading some of the best free vst instruments I have seen. If you have bandlab, try downloading the optional studio instruments and even if you don't get along with Cakewalk, you can use them in another DAW. Personally I think Cakewalk is pretty awesome.

[digitalboytn]

But all that is just a bunch of assumptions from you, who stated only "academic interest". I see nothing academic in spewing opinions without having factual information to back it up, rather the opposite. As I said above, I see the Dunning Kruger effect running rampant around here.

Sorry Jose,but you are way behind the curve buddy...

The "Dunning Kruger Effect" has been renamed the "Donald Trump Effect" now because he has smashed the model and taken it to stratospheric heights...

He's a funking expert on absolutely everything according to his own vain estimations and he is also the poster boy and the absolute definition of pure narcissism...

There are just not enough superlatives in any language to fully describe that man...

He gave himself a perfect 10/10 for his response to the Covid-19 pandemic that has infected and killed more people in the US than anywhere else on earth...

Well done Donny da Chimp...

You are a funking genius

Modest too

[trusampler]

Didn't Roland buy Cakewalk? Or did they sell it off by now? Sucks to hear a giant like Cakewalk get so much bad press now, they used to be good.

[chk071]

Extra special KVR Audio rule: It's not a political or HPC post when it contains the name "Trump".

[chk071]

Didn't Roland buy Cakewalk? Or did they sell it off by now?

They sold it to Gibson (or Gibson bought it), but, that was almost a decade ago, I think.

[pixel85]

Didn't Roland buy Cakewalk? Or did they sell it off by now? Sucks to hear a giant like Cakewalk get so much bad press now, they used to be good.

Yep... In 2008 Then Gibson bought them in 2013.

[Erisian]

Didn't Roland buy Cakewalk? Or did they sell it off by now? Sucks to hear a giant like Cakewalk get so much bad press now, they used to be good.

It's fake news. Probably a conspiracy.

Joking aside, try it out for yourself. I'm a user and I really like it. Most of these comments are from non users.

[chk071]

I wonder why it's supposed to get a "bad press" though. I never read anything bad about Cakewalk in the press, nor do I think that it has gotten a beating here, in this thread. There used to be a time where Sonar was quite buggy (which I can confirm, as I used to use Sonar X1 a bit), but, apart from that...

[GaryG]

The bottom line is that most of the DAWs available these days have all of the features we need to get our work done in the audio world...

You can't say the around here, what are people going to argue about?!

[chk071]

Well exactly.

The latest trend: "Why Studio One should have Bitwig's features."

[JerGoertz]

They have stripped out a lot of the bloat and as a result, the program runs faster and is more efficient than ever before...

This is encouraging to hear. Do you happen to know if this Bandlab version is backwards compatible with earlier Sonar versions?

The most important thing is to be conversant with the workflow and work with any idiosyncracies that exist within the programs to achieve the results we are after...

Too often,we are quick to criticize the tools that we have at our disposal and not look at one of the major causes of failure within the supply chain...

Human error

I agree with you on principle here... However, back when I used Sonar, the thing was crashing to the desktop about once every five minutes under mild-moderate VST load, using plugins that caused no problems in other hosts I tried. Ain't no issue of "workflow", "idiosyncracies", or "human error".

[Jace-BeOS]

I wonder why it's supposed to get a "bad press" though. I never read anything bad about Cakewalk in the press, nor do I think that it has gotten a beating here, in this thread. There used to be a time where Sonar was quite buggy (which I can confirm, as I used to use Sonar X1 a bit), but, apart from that...

Oh it has definitely gotten a bad beating on KVR. I know because I have been part of giving the beatings. I hope Cakewalk is better today, and I never wished harm to the employees doing the work, but it has a LONG and DEEP track record with me and it’s never going to be something I go back to. It was too abusive a relationship for me...

That said, I keep the current version on my mostly unused PC just in case I need to access Sonar projects or Windows-only VSTs. I’m happy it’s free for those who feel comfortable using it, but it’s inconsequential to me.