dmbaer
I assume you are talking about the Nov. issue, which I have yet to receive.
In any case, SOS has been making a number of small changes recently. The final page (a short editorial by a guest writer), for example, is now something different than what it's been for years. It would not surprise me in the least if they significantly pared back the DAW techniques pieces. The number of covered DAWs had grown to the point that it guaranteed a lot of pages being there that were certain to be ignored by a significant majority of the readers. Print publication (as opposed to online) is expensive. Of course, if they have advertising to fill those pages, a magazine publisher is not going to care all that much about whether the content is read or not (although the writers will certainly care!). Maybe the motivation is that the advertising was tapering off and the all those DAW technique pages could not be cost-justified.
Yes, the most recent issue. I went to online pub a few years ago and didn't like the experience as much as a real magazine, and to their credit they put out a great magazine. After I posted this I wondered why I didn't just ask them. Generally this is a very informed group of users who I thought might have an answer. Craig was the main author on all things Cakewalk there, though I had noticed him also writing for Studio One. That isn't a negative comment, just an observation.
I had reasoned that maybe since CbB is still seen as "up in the air" by a few, this might have been a factor. That logic doesn't quite fit though because they continued to cover it all the way through the transition.
I like the online mag you put out dmbaer. Soundbytes, I think I spelled it correctly. Probably more helpful technical info in there than any recent issue of SOS.
Most mags seem to be paring back. A mag full of mostly advertising isn't much fun to read either. Remember Keyboard Magazine? It's nothing like it once was.