Hey everyone, I have some old tracks that I need to convert but they were all done using the old Cakewalk FX plugins. Is there any trick to getting these to work? I've installed them, have serial numbers, but they just aren't recognized by the VST scanner.
 
- David

They are 32bit DX effects. They will not work in 64bit SONAR. You need to install a 32bit version of SONAR if you want to open the projects and have the plug-ins seen by SONAR.

That's good. I am using the 32 bit version of Sonar X3 but they still don't work.

They are pretty old, are you running SONAR as supervisor? You may need to make sure they are not excluded. Check here for more on recognizing DX plug-ins. Do you have an older version of SONAR installed? Maybe a little more info about your setup would help.

You mentioned a VST scan. Those effects are DX plugs. You won't find them in the
VST folder. In Studio X3b I right click for effects, then have choices between
VST2, VST3, and DX folders.
 
Have you checked the DX folder?
I don't have them as I'm on 64 bit, but since you are running 32 bit
perhaps they can be found there?
 
I also remember reading somewhere that there is a DX to VST
converter that will allow you to run older DX plugs as VSTs. I haven't used
it but perhaps someone on the forum has. Google search?
 
Good luck!
 

Here's the window I get when I try to double-click the effect:

 
I checked the DX folder (and sub-menu) and the effects are just not there. They are, however, installed in their respective folders: C:\Program Files (x86)\Cakewalk Audio FX Pack 1 (etc.)
 
 

you can't use 32 bit dx effects in a 64 bit host

And to add to that, some of the older DX plugins aren't DLLs, so they can't be "wrapped".   FXReverb, unfortunately, is one of them.   I've occasionally considered installing 32bit SONAR just to access some of those older plugins. 
 

As far as I understand he IS using 32bit X3b.
 
I tried loading up my old FX3 program...very interesting!
 
I downloaded the free FX3 from Cake but they are out of serial numbers.
While it's free, it takes a serial number to run the installer..? Why still have it
up for download?
 
I hunted down my old disk and number from 2002. Tried to install it
on a machine with XP3 - would not install...even with the exact serial number
off my card. I suspect the runtimes or whatever have changed too much.
 
You mentioned other Cake FX. I have those on X1 on my old XP machine.
They were left over from earlier Sonar installs.
If you still have your older Sonar Disks you can install Sonar whatever
alongside XP3 and perhaps that will give you most of the DX FX you need.
 
By the way is your operating system 64bit? That would make a difference.

Klos Studios
I downloaded the free FX3 from Cake but they are out of serial numbers.
While it's free, it takes a serial number to run the installer..? Why still have it
up for download?

Just use FX1 or FX2 serial. That's what I did last year when I was spinning my wheels to try and get those packs into 64bit.
 
I gave up on trying to make them run in 64bit but IIRC I was able to get them to work in X2a 32bit but I honestly can't remember how.