Hello Forum,

I am considering which DAW to use for voice over work. MC6 may fulfill my requirements, but the info on the Cakewalk site is a bit sketchy. Loops and SFX may be useful as well. Considering there is no demo, it is a risk to just buy it blind. I'll need reverb, a compressor, and delay for sure.

If you'd like to help, I have a few questions:

1) Is it possible edit waveforms to remove clicks and mouth sounds? Does it zoom in enough to do that?

2) Does it export to MP3, WAV and AIFF? Can I set the bit-depth and sample rate of the export.

3) Can I scrub to pinpoint artifacts?

4) Is it possible to control ASIO to 24-bit, 48,000?

5) Does MC6 support VST?

Would MC6 be okay, or would Sonar X1 LE be better? Both are in my limited budget. Sonar X2 is beyond my budget. 

Thank you for your help,

Lee.

I'll need reverb, a compressor, and delay for sure

Yes, MC6 comes with a reverb and a compressor, and I think it comes with a delay, but if it doesn't it shouldn't be a show stopper.  you can get all kinds of free VST FX which will work with MC6 (or any DAW which uses the VST format).

1) Is it possible edit waveforms to remove clicks and mouth sounds? Does it zoom in enough to do that?

MC6 is not a "wave editor"  it's a sequencer.  if you want a wave editor you need something like adobe audition or wavelab or products like that.  goldwave is a shareware wave editor - it costs $50 and the free use time is virtually unlimited anyway.

however, you can edit "clicks" and mouth sounds in MC6 using gates, EQ, compression, etc also.

2) Does it export to MP3, WAV and AIFF? Can I set the bit-depth and sample rate of the export.

I don't remember if it imports AIFF, but it does export wave.  mp3 it will export for 30 days and then you have to purchase the mp3 encoder if you want to use it longer than that.

or you can export to wave and then use a free mp3 converter available from the internet to convert your wave file to an mp3.

3) Can I scrub to pinpoint artifacts?

yes, I am pretty sure there's a scrub tool. 

4) Is it possible to control ASIO to 24-bit, 48,000?

yes, but that also depends on your soundcard capabilities.
MC6 is limited, however, to 2 simultaneous inputs and 2 simultaneous outputs, regardless of how many your soundcard has.

5) Does MC6 support VST?

yes - VST 2, not VST 3.

Would MC6 be okay, or would Sonar X1 LE be better? Both are in my limited budget. Sonar X2 is beyond my budget. 

I'm not familiar with Sonar X1 LE as a standalone product.  I thought it was only included in package deals with hardware.  and as such, it's pretty limited in what you get with it.

MC6 is a stripped down version of X1.  LE is also a stripped down version of X1, I think the main differences in the two are the plugins you get with them.  however, I don't have details about the plugins or features of X1 LE.
 
also, I'm pretty sure LE doesn't come with Soundcenter, which if you don't do any MIDI/softsynth work then it won't matter, but if you do, soundcenter is pretty dang excellent for being packaged with a $50 DAW!
 
here are some more links to help
http://www.cakewalk.com/Products/MusicCreator/
http://www.cakewalk.com/CakeTV/Music-Creator.aspx
http://forum.cakewalk.com/download.axd?file=0;2353369

Hello Beagle,

Thank you for your detailed  responses. What does the draw button do? I've just noticed in on a screenshot.
I think that with limited editing, the other features make it worthwhile as I may investigate creating beds.

Cakewalk are selling Sonar X1 LE on their website as a stater kit: http://www.store.cakewalk...ductid=10-X1G31.00-20E

It also includes the MP3 converter. Maybe they want to shift old stock for SX2.

Thank you once again,

Lee.

the mp3 activation is a pretty cool inclusion.  it looks like LE does come with soundcenter.

I don't know the other limitations of LE, tho and dont' know how to compare it to MC6.

and actually - they won't be shifting old stock for X2 because this is download only.  there's no "stock" involved.

as far as the "draw button" - I'm not sure what you're talking about unless it's in the PRV view.  you can draw notes in the PRV view for MIDI.

I use MC6 as well as other versions of MC and more recently X1e. 

As far as using it as a wave editor, YES...absolutely!  If you want to get rid of clicks and pops and mouth sounds like lip smacks and breaths, it is very easy. 

Beagle suggested using compression, and gates.... I don't edit that way. I simply place the time line ruler (now point) near the click or breath and zoom in. You can zoom in to the bits if you need to but I find that a bit extreme. A nice close up is sufficient. You can use the MUTE/process audio function to remove breaths and clicks. You can also use a volume envelope, zoomed in to do all sorts of things. eliminating misc noises is one thing you can do with an envelope. 

I have used a zoomed in envelope to remove a click from the middle of a vocal take. The envelope pulled the volume down and back up so fast it was not audible..... the click disappeared. 

MC & X1 come with a fair number of effects.... reverb, compression, EQ, gates, and a few other specialized things. They also support and come with a number of VST synths as well as audio and midi loops which you can use to create music behind the voice over stuff. 

There is a scrub tool. I don't use it much but I have used it intentionally and un-intentionally in the staff view. As far as using it to find and work on artifacts..... I'd simply use the zoom tool and do likewise for the clicks and breath noises. The best advice on artifacts is to not push your synth/audio effects hard enough to generate them in the first place. 

All cake stuff will export audio in a number of formats and yes, you choose in the "export window" all the details. I mostly use wave at 44.1/24 for exports. 

I have a third party Wave Editor (NCH Wavepad) to do my trimming and conversion to MP3. 

While the LE versions are less expensive, you need to be careful because they very often have things shut off or not included that would be included in the full version. 

Glad to be of service.

Guitarhacker


I use MC6 as well as other versions of MC and more recently X1e. 

As far as using it as a wave editor, YES...absolutely!  If you want to get rid of clicks and pops and mouth sounds like lip smacks and breaths, it is very easy. 
 

just to clarify - actually as I said above MC is NOT a wave editor.  A wave editor will allow you to make changes to the actual wave like with a draw / pencil tool.  Goldwave and even Audacity will allow you to do that.  personally I find that those kinds of edits are way too difficult to do without causing artifacts worse than the original problem.

Beagle suggested using compression, and gates.... I don't edit that way. I simply place the time line ruler (now point) near the click or breath and zoom in. You can zoom in to the bits if you need to but I find that a bit extreme. A nice close up is sufficient. You can use the MUTE/process audio function to remove breaths and clicks. You can also use a volume envelope, zoomed in to do all sorts of things. eliminating misc noises is one thing you can do with an envelope. 

I have used a zoomed in envelope to remove a click from the middle of a vocal take. The envelope pulled the volume down and back up so fast it was not audible..... the click disappeared. 

yes, I use this method as well and this works really well - probably better than gates, compression and EQ in most cases.

I hear ya Reece...  I was working on a tune today, editing a wave track with Melodyne.... a piano part. I wanted to "fix" a certain note in a chord.  Everything I tried sounded worse than the original problem..... so I ended up using ME to delete that note, and then a few more, and the small hole that was left in the music actually worked out OK. 

but the artifacts that were left after each fix..... ouch. And nothing more really than a simple stretch of a few milliseconds. 

Thank you all for your replies. They all helped.

I got carried away with asking about editing waveforms. Basic edits are enough for me.
Anyway, I purchased it. The level of zoom is what I was after, so all good there.

I can only export WAVs at 16-bit, 44,100. I don't see the extra encoding boxes as shown in the help files. More reading to do there.

Thanks again,

Lee.

The export level of 16/44.1 is CD quality and is perfectly fine for exporting waves. 

You should have a 30 day trial built in for MP3 conversion. BUt most of us here simply pick up a free MP3 converter from a reputable source on the net. 

This is the one I use: http://www.nch.com.au/wavepad/index.html

Audacity and LAME are some others that work equally as well. 

welcome aboard.