Bandlab Cakewak vs Cubase

[Boy Wonder]

I've used both Cakewalk and Cubase going back at least 20 years. My favourite was always Cubase, but those moments when it was just too unreliable and crashing all the time, I went over to Sonar/Cakewalk. I guess I must've been spoiled by Cubase's smooth workflow because, with Cakewalk, I had to do extra steps to get the same thing done. Unfortunately, ss someone who works fast to get their ideas down, Cakewalk is a hindrance. It's no secret that Cakewalk is able to do a lot of things, but in the end, its clunkiness (to me) is a turnoff and that's why I prefer Cubase.

[Trensharo]

Cakewalk has some tools that aid creativity, like Matrix View.

I think if cost is a factor, Cakewalk is unbeatable. Nothing else on the market offers a DAW that good for a comparable price. The UI/UX is pretty nice, so it has great OOTB usability, and it performs well.

I don't think there is anything fundamentally wrong with it. It just didn't keep pace with DAWs like Cubase and Digital Performer (it's historical competitors). The updates were very fierce for a while, but that seems to have slowed down a bit.

While it has a few nice features, itself, there are also significant feature disparities in favor of competing DAWs. This can create a lower Quality of Life in comparison to competing products. A situation where... it "works fine," but another DAW may be more optimal - or even just more fun to use (due to differences in functionality, or how those functions are implemented in the application).

Not talking about plug-ins and virtual instruments. I don't really factor in much of that when I choose a DAW, since I use predominantly 3rd party stuff that is the same no matter which DAW I use.

The big issue for me was the really weak Audio Editing, the clunky workflow when working with external editors and the really poor controller support (MCU Controller Support improvements seem to be the focus in the current EA Build). I'm really not a fan of Nektar's controllers, and they are pretty much the only game in town if you want great controller support in Cakewalk by BandLab.

Generally, I tell all Windows users looking for a DAW to use Cakewalk first, and don't spend money on anything until it stops meeting their needs or they have gained enough experience to gauge their own personal requirements (themselves) and can reliably choose a suitable (alternative) solution for themselves.

Newbies/Upstarts are very susceptible to peer pressure to buy products that may ultimately waste their money. Cakewalk is a great way to acquire something that is viable even for professional use while they gain experience and get to a point where they can make informed decisions for themselves.

I actually think I liked using Cakewalk by BandLab more than Studio One Professional. Studio One Professional just had features I needed or wanted, though even that I deleted once Cubase Pro 12 released and I no longer had a need for it (I would use it when I was traveling, so I didn't have to carry that fragile eLicenser dongle with me).

[xphen0m]

A good number of you in here stated exactly how I feel about Cubase vs. Sonar. Sonar never kept pace with competing DAWs, Cubase's audio and midi implementation is FAAAAAR ahead of Sonar's.

I made the mistake of mentioning my feelings about Sonar in a Sonar Users Facebook group....and got met with anger for stating what I feel is a harsh truth.

[jens]

There is a lot of noise and little signal in this thread so far. Why don't you guys get a little more specific?

[Trensharo]

Why bother? It will simply be brushed off as unimportant because the replying user doesn't think it's critical to his "workflow."

No one wants to do a full breakdown or review only to see the entire thing called irrelevant.

I did a 3 page bug report post on the Cakewalk forum only for people to complain about the formatting of the post (it was a really large bulleted list divided into different sections (for different functional areas of the application).

I ended up deleting it, and then had someone call me selfish because I did so. Not only in the post, but also in multiple Private Messages.

I was the one who spent over 15-20+ hours putting the DAW through its paces so I can perform pro bono work for the user community... but, okay.

No one wanted to address the actual issues (bugs, bad design, etc.) written in the post. They were just going on and on about how it's formatted. It was one of the most bizarre things I've ever seen transpire on a user forum.

[chk071]

I would be really curious what market share Cakewalk has these days.

[Blaster]

Why bother? It will simply be brushed off as unimportant because the replying user doesn't think it's critical to his "workflow."

No one wants to do a full breakdown or review only to see the entire thing called irrelevant.

I did a 3 page bug report post on the Cakewalk forum only for people to complain about the formatting of the post (it was a really large bulleted list divided into different sections (for different functional areas of the application).

I ended up deleting it, and then had someone call me selfish because I did so. Not only in the post, but also in multiple Private Messages.

I was the one who spent over 15-20+ hours putting the DAW through its paces so I can perform pro bono work for the user community... but, okay.

No one wanted to address the actual issues (bugs, bad design, etc.) written in the post. They were just going on and on about how it's formatted. It was one of the most bizarre things I've ever seen transpire on a user forum.

I can see why people would have a problem with that. It's incredibly hard to discuss and/or handle such a thing in a clear, concise and transparent matter. A single post per item would give you way less complaints if they are to the point.

So I don't think it's weird at all. If you want to do an all in one big bug report/feature request document, send it directly to Bandlab/Cakewalk support and hope they will address it. If you want to discuss it or get feedback from other people, keep it short, simple and to the point.

[chk071]

I did a 3 page bug report post on the Cakewalk forum only for people to complain about the formatting of the post (it was a really large bulleted list divided into different sections (for different functional areas of the application).

I once asked a question about the implementation of the Maeckie HUI protocol in Cakewalk, which seems incomplete, because, some things on my MIDI keyboard don't work in Maeckie HUI mode, although I set it up correctly. At first, it was quite helpful, but, in the end, the reply I got was like "do it yourself if you want it to work", even though I told them that I have no idea what I should look into.

What they obviously didn't understand is that I'm merely a user, no hacker.

Reminded me a bit of how the VLC developers work in their forums. "If you want that feature, code it yourself." Yeah, well, thanks for the help. Asshole. Oops... I didn't want to say that.

[Saffran]

I once asked a question about the implementation of the Maeckie HUI protocol in Cakewalk, which seems incomplete, because, some things on my MIDI keyboard don't work in Maeckie HUI mode, although I set it up correctly. At first, it was quite helpful, but, in the end, the reply I got was like "do it yourself if you want it to work", even though I told them that I have no idea what I should look into.

Coincidence ?
Cakewalk have an update in progress about that.

[chk071]

Really? Nice. Gonna check it out again.

From what they told me, I was under the impression that they consider Maeckie HUI deprecated, and wouldn't do a thing about it.

Edit: Just took a look into it here: https://discuss.cakewalk.com/index.php? ... -build-13/

I'm not really sure if it changes something about the issues I had, because, I had to use the "HUI (Beta)" protocol, not the Maeckie Control Universal one.

[chk071]

Edit: Deleted.

[Trensharo]

Why bother? It will simply be brushed off as unimportant because the replying user doesn't think it's critical to his "workflow."

No one wants to do a full breakdown or review only to see the entire thing called irrelevant.

I did a 3 page bug report post on the Cakewalk forum only for people to complain about the formatting of the post (it was a really large bulleted list divided into different sections (for different functional areas of the application).

I ended up deleting it, and then had someone call me selfish because I did so. Not only in the post, but also in multiple Private Messages.

I was the one who spent over 15-20+ hours putting the DAW through its paces so I can perform pro bono work for the user community... but, okay.

No one wanted to address the actual issues (bugs, bad design, etc.) written in the post. They were just going on and on about how it's formatted. It was one of the most bizarre things I've ever seen transpire on a user forum.

I can see why people would have a problem with that. It's incredibly hard to discuss and/or handle such a thing in a clear, concise and transparent matter. A single post per item would give you way less complaints if they are to the point.

So I don't think it's weird at all. If you want to do an all in one big bug report/feature request document, send it directly to Bandlab/Cakewalk support and hope they will address it. If you want to discuss it or get feedback from other people, keep it short, simple and to the point.

Spam the forum with one topic per bullet?

I wonder what they would have stated about that...

It was weird AF.

I'll try to dig the thread up so you can see how idiotic those replies were.

[Saffran]

...

Ohh, you're the best. You're a god.
.
.
I feel sorry for Cubase to have to deal with you.

[Danilo Villanova]

Yeah people who report bugs tend to get slammed in the forum, it’s quite bizarre.

[Saffran]

It's not about the specific negative thing.
It is about how you say it.