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New PC with Bandlab Sonar (free version)

tothemax

tothemax

Nov 1, 2013
1,463
1,701
Annapolis Area
#1
With the Windows 11 EOL scheduled for mid-October I followed some of the input from other tech savvy members and built out a new PC (rather than purchasing a refurb. as normal). For a little over $800 US I was able to build out a high performance studio PC and as I was loading software decided to go with the new version of Cakewalk, Bandlab Sonar. It is installed and working with my mixer. While is looks similar to Cakewalk, it's going to have a pretty good learning curve. Even the free version has a lot of new features. There is an annoying banner bar about upgrading to a subscription, but aside from that it appears fully functional and I should be able to import my legacy Cakewalk projects. As I get everything back in order I'll follow up with observations on the new Sonar product.

Update: Imported a few projects from Cakewalk, a couple worked fine and a couple crashed Sonar. The ones that played sounded OK. Looks like it should be an easy transition. Very few of the features that are included in the paid version are items I use. So, time will tell if there is any reason to upgrade to the paid version.

Cheers

FYI: For any WIN10 users, Microsoft has extended free security patches through next year. No bug fixes, just security updates... These YouTube's are pretty informative. The guy can be a little over the top, but good Info.



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#2
Ran into a major Faux pas with the Sonar install. By default the driver mode is set to "WASAPI Shared" and with the setting the Tascam USB driver does not function correctly. It is an ASIO based driver and the Sonar driver mode has to be set to ASIO. The main misfunction was that I could play legacy projects but not "send" from the mixer. Also the channel names were a little confusing, in Cakewalk on WIN10 the 16 tracks displayed as mono stereo tracks 1 R, 1 L, and 1 St for both tracks combined. In Sonar they were all over the place, with the correct driver mode they are good now. The old system took some time to get fully dialed in, so why would this be different?

Cheers
 

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