I would like to see such console design in the next Sonar's updates. Why CW doesn't do it instantly? It is rather obviously, that such thing is needed.

MORE SENDS... 



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MORE INSERT FX:

 

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TRACK FOLDER IN CONSOLE: 



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make sure your voice is heard, post here http://www.cakewalk.com/Support/FeatureRequest.asp

I certainly like the concept of a Console Folder, like Track Folders.

Bob Bone

...with a toggle-able option to "always have console folders follow track folders layout" (enable / disable).

Wandering slightly off the main topic, I feel Cakewalk has gone broad rather than deep over the last few versions. I can see a rationale for it: you give yourself the largest possible market by having the widest feature set. But I'm not sure how that works out if you've not got the best of anything. Wandering back to the topic, I really like the basic design of the console view, but it feels like a bit of a lapsed initiative, as does Audio Snap and a few other features that have had all too infrequent updates. I'd really like to see them drill down a bit more into keeping a narrower feature set absolutely up to the minute. Obviously, there'll be a range of views on what the important features are, but some targets for development effort seem really strange and niche, like the play list stuff in the last update. I can't imagine that attracted a single new customer, nor slowed the departure of an old one.

like that console folders idea too.

I agree - hope you put in a feature request.

The X2 console is an area where I think Cakewalk went completely the wrong way compared to 8.5 (most notably in relation to size, not functionality). Here's my list of needed updates:


1. Create a scalable Console View. What's the point of having a dockable console view if the console channels are entirely too large to be useful when docked? The console view should shrink based on the size. I don't need the full channels, but maybe just a volume and a pan slider. See Reaper for how to implement this properly. This probably means using vectors rather than bitmaps for the Console View, but I'd happily welcome this. 

2. Thinner channels. I hate this about X2. I see way too few channels open at a given time. Thinner strips would be better. And I know, there are thin strips and wide strips...really there should be a happy medium between the two with no selectable sizes. Just shave a few pixels in width from the wide strips.

3. Make more effects visible and use smaller font in the FX bins. I'd really like to see more effects visible in the bin at a given time (maybe 5 or 6) with smaller fonts for the text. Next to the volume and pan sliders, the effects bin is my used area of the console.

4. Full screen mode. When I'm in mixing mode, I don't need to see anything other than the console. There should be a true full screen mode for the console where everything else (including the control bar, menu, etc.) is no longer visible. See Cubase 7.

5. Add more Quick Group keyboard modifiers. I love how I can Quick Group faders, but I'd like to see Alt added as a keyboard modifier for Quick Groups in the mixer. If two (or more) channels are selected and I'm holding down the Alt key while decreasing the volume of one fader, the other faders volume should increase by the same amount. If I increase the volume of one fader while holding Alt, the other volume of the other faders should decrease. This would be super helpful for things like adjusting the snare top/bottom balance or the kick in/out balance. I'd also like to see holding the Shift key allowing for making very small changes (if this isn't already in there). See the BFD2 mixer modifiers.

6. Move the channel EQ to the Pro-Channel. Now that the expandable/collapsable Pro Channel is here, the channel EQ should get placed with the other Pro-Channel effects in the Console View. 

Bonus Feature REQ: Improved routing. I hate the fact that busses and tracks are treated as two different things. They should be merged, and the output of one track should be able to be routed (and even recorded) to the input of any other track like a buss. This would allow me to record the ouptut of one track as the input on another for something like Realtime bounces, or just crazy routing configurations for some really insane effects. See Reaper. 

Some really good ideas there, funkybot. I hope you submit feature requests for them (see the link in a post above). Cheers, Ed

I think I like all the ideas being offered here. Good work guys.