cparmerlee

stickman393
>> I hope Cake is working on a metro style app
 
God I hope not.

That's the first thing that came to mind.  What a waste of real estate.  Metro apps are for people who can just manage simple-minded tasks.  You don't address complex requirements that way, IMHO.
 
I would equate DAW apps with something like the Bloomberg terminal.  It is a special purpose user interface highly optimized for people whose lives depend on making many complex business decisions quickly.
 
You don't do that by wasting 99% of the screen space.  You bring as much essential information to the surface as possible.  The objective is coherent organization of complex information, not simply ignoring most of the information because it is "too hard".
 
I really hope nobody at any of the major DAW companies is foolish to go this direction.
 
That's not to say that organization is unimportant.  Of course it is, but Metro apps aren't better organized.  They are just dumbed down as if the target market is 2nd graders -- and unfortunately, that probably isn't too far from the mark.
 
This is about as useful as a "DAW on a cell phone".

You're missing the point. You don't need a full fledged DAW when your sketching out ideas on the go.
This app is great for that and how could you go wrong for only $5?

soundtweaker
You're missing the point. You don't need a full fledged DAW when your sketching out ideas on the go.
This app is great for that and how could you go wrong for only $5?

I have no problem with that idea.  It is the difference between a little "sticky note" app versus a full function word processor.  But if anybody is thinking about taking a "real DAW" in that direction, I think they will meet considerable resistance. 
 
I have a Zoom H4n field recorder.  Brilliant device.  Enormously useful.  It isn't a replacement for a DAW.

stickman393
>> I hope Cake is working on a metro style app
 
God I hope not.

My chime in the the Tablet market...

IK....iCrap galore...all at the expense of existing customers who 
own hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars worth of the NON SUPPORTED
software...

If Cake does ANYTHING (Roland already is, BTW) with iOS, Metro, or Android
BEFORE they get X3 or an X2b out I'm done with them....end of story...
That's all I'm sayin'....
 

cclarry
If Cake does ANYTHING (Roland already is, BTW) with iOS, Metro, or Android
BEFORE they get X3 or an X2b out I'm done with them....end of story...
That's all I'm sayin'....

And I would say your concern is well taken.  I have no idea whether Cakewalk is doing that, but there are certainly other software companies that have made similar blunders.  Without clear statements of direction from software suppliers, we have no choice but to speculate and make our plans based on educated guesses.
 
I recall Finale had a series of a couple years' releases where it seemed like they did everything BUT improve the main function of the program, which is notation, obviously.  They had lovely new button colors with your choice of 5 different themes for the same buttons.  They added lots of ancillary functions that met the "way cool" test but didn't actually help serious users produce better scores more quickly.  And it nearly put them out of business.  They did have to restructure with a $10M infusion of capital.  I would argue at least part of that was because they lost the focus on what the core mission of the program was.
 
And like Cakewalk, they haven't said a word about what they are doing with their flagship product for well over a year.
 
I'd like to think the people at Cakewalk are smart enough not to waste time and talents on "way cool" stuff when the basic DAW function is so badly in need of support.  I guess we will see in a few weeks whether your concern is a valid one.
 
I have always thought it wise to plan alternatives when a particular capability is really important to what I do.  I'm wondering if anybody has any opinions about which DAWs are most likely to get lost wandering around in the "metro app weeds" over the next few years.  Or a better way to ask the question, which DAW do you think is most likely to keep a really sharp focus on the needs of the "serious user" meaning small professional studios, professional songwriters and producers, and very serious hobbyists?
 

cparmerlee

soundtweaker
You're missing the point. You don't need a full fledged DAW when your sketching out ideas on the go.
This app is great for that and how could you go wrong for only $5?

I have no problem with that idea.  It is the difference between a little "sticky note" app versus a full function word processor.  But if anybody is thinking about taking a "real DAW" in that direction, I think they will meet considerable resistance. 
 
I have a Zoom H4n field recorder.  Brilliant device.  Enormously useful.  It isn't a replacement for a DAW.

I don't think anyone is thinking about making a full fledged DAW app until metro style apps support midi and vst plugins.
Minimum 3 years away.

soundtweaker
I hope Cake is working on a metro style app.

I hope the CW dudes are working on a desktop version.

cparmerlee
  But if anybody is thinking about taking a "real DAW" in that direction, I think they will meet considerable resistance.

 
I  have been worried that Cakewalk plans to do exactly that.  They've actually come out and said so, more or less, more than once.
 
Perhaps because the younger crowd just couldn't spend the hours necessary to learn to use a "real DAW".  I'm up to 9 months of studying all that is X2 Producer and I haven't covered more than a fraction of the functionality.  I've still to do anything useful with it, apart from recently throwing together a cool blues backing track to jam over (which I could have done a lot easier with Kinetic).
 
Maybe Xn will become a suite of simple apps.  One for each category of things you can do in Sonar.  Everything done on your smartphone...  I won't buy it.
 

John
I bought it and have tried it, briefly, and it is fun but I need to learn how to use it. 
 
So far I would say IL did a good job.

John, I'm curious if you are using this on a Surface RT or some other Win 8 Touch device. Can you divulge?
 
Thanks,

Paul P
Perhaps because the younger crowd just couldn't spend the hours necessary to learn to use a "real DAW". 

{get off my lawn, you young punks mode}
There really is a generational hazard.  Matter of fact: it is physically impossible to use a spreadsheet on a cell phone to do a complex task with the same accuracy and productivity as can be done with a good desktop setup.  Likewise, a tweet or IM is not the same literary challenge as writing a great novel.
 
We have a generation out there that probably never will experience that difference, and therefore will never be as effective as those that were comfortable with the real power tools.  But I guess that's OK because we have exported millions of the jobs that required people to use their brains on complex tasks.
 
I hope I never drive across a bridge built by an engineer that used his cell phone to do the structural analysis.
{/get off my lawn, you young punks mode}

While I certainly would not want to do everything on a smartphone (I use mine for calling people  and, I admit, reading books) in general I favor the evolution of technology. It seems that we sometimes look at new technology and put it under the looking glass of what we do now...and no I am not advocating a lemming like march to iStuff. But it occurs to me that the move to digitization of audio has, overall, been a good one. I don't miss noisy pan pots, razor blades or adjusting the azimuth of record heads.
 
For years I made fun of a competing DAW as a joke. Then, one of my favorite musicians and composers (Pat Metheny) did a project using it. I did a re-evaluation and realized that I was missing something really useful. Silly me I let my prejudices define my knowledge and come up short-sighted.
 
I think in the end the market will decide what is useful and helpful. I know the touch stuff in X2 is controversial but I think Cakewalk is and was doing a good thing proceeding with that. 
 
Just my two cents.
 
Regards,