John


"would be nice if you could store your mix in the DAW (in this case capture) & it would play back all your fader movement & effects automation through the mixer." 


Ah, that is what I do all the time with automation. I use an MC to do the automation. Most digital mixers can do this.  

MC?? 

MC = Mackie Control. 

Mod Bod

Sandmännchen


Hi Dave,

it is the Dark Blue Mixer for Sequoia and Samplitude from Birdline Skins
http://skins.birdline.gr/screenshots/screenshots_dark_blue_v12.html

Thanks.  I've been trying to ignore the skins for Samplitude.  I got hooked on the skins for Reaper and I spent more time diddling with how it looked than using it.  

That was one of the reasons Cake did away with colors and options...or so I heard early when X1 was released when they were asked "where did the colors and other options go?!" 
 
Their answer was pretty much "we didn't want to see people mess around with that stuff to where they "messed around" more than "they worked".
 
Though I can agree with that...WE should always have that choice. :)
 
-Danny

If thats true Danny don't you think that is rather paternalistic?

Danny Danzi

Mod Bod

Sandmännchen


Hi Dave,

it is the Dark Blue Mixer for Sequoia and Samplitude from Birdline Skins
http://skins.birdline.gr/screenshots/screenshots_dark_blue_v12.html

Thanks.  I've been trying to ignore the skins for Samplitude.  I got hooked on the skins for Reaper and I spent more time diddling with how it looked than using it.  

That was one of the reasons Cake did away with colors and options...or so I heard early when X1 was released when they were asked "where did the colors and other options go?!" 
 
Their answer was pretty much "we didn't want to see people mess around with that stuff to where they "messed around" more than "they worked".
 
Though I can agree with that...WE should always have that choice. :)
 
-Danny

It's the same philosophy Apple used in designing the iPhone. They wanted the OS to be as simple as possible and they thought people should be using the devices with as little fuss as possible, instead of fiddling with a ton of options. 


It's a good philosophy when designing a smartphone for Mr & Mrs Average. DAW users, however, are tech heads by definition. They know their way around a computer and they like to fiddle. You could spend all day setting up (i.e. "messing around with")  Sonar to suit your workflow. Screen layouts, track templates, plugin layouts, keyboard shortcuts, preferences, instrument definitions, drum maps and what have you. So why not colors? In an incredibly complicated piece of software that offers potentially billions of different parameter combinations, what is so special about custom colors that made Cakewalk think "hmm....that's just too much freedom"? It really is bizarre. My guess is that the new code that they wrote for the X-series was designed in such a way that retaining color customization would have been outside of their development budget (and time constraints). It was probably decided that UI bitmaps were going to be quicker, easier and cheaper to implement than a fully customizable, liquid layout. 

Liquid Sonar, Hm. I like it!

John


Liquid Sonar, Hm. I like it!

I almost had the Liquid Sonar experience a few nights ago in a forgettable incident involving an errant elbow and a glass of almond milk. 

John


If thats true Danny don't you think that is rather paternalistic?

To be honest John, I'm not sure what to think of it. Though I'm probably not saying what was said correctly, I know when I read it, it bothered me. It was when X1 was first released and someone questioned why so many things we could do in 8.5 and below were no longer there. Colors, tool bars, you know all the options we used to have?
 
One of the Bakers made a comment that was somewhere along the lines of "you should be working on music, not spending loads of time tweaking."
 
It was something to that effect. I just remember being pretty upset when I read it because I sincerely don't think anyone should make that choice for me even if I'm taking it a bit more serious than it is. At the end of the day, we STILL don't have colors or customization back. 
 
In all honesty, even though I'm not down with the lack of colors and options in X2, it's still a good looking DAW. It's just that when I'm used to certain options being there that are just stripped away because someone thinks I should do music without worrying about the appearance of this DAW when I work on it for 16 hours....and they make a statement like that...it's just the wrong thing to say to me.
 
I love choices...what can I say? Remember in most of the Windows systems...they allowed you to use a "classic" look so you'd not be totally out of your element? I thought that was a great idea. They sort of eased you into it. Once you learned the OS, THEN you could maybe experiment with the different looks. But you had that choice. As each new OS comes out...sure, we no longer want a Windows 3.1, 95 or 98 look that we need to revert back to. But it was cool you had those options when you bought a new OS.
 
I don't mean to sound like I want "old options". I just want OPTIONS and would like to congratulate the brainiac who thought it was a good idea to rip out the colors and incredible tool bar options we had in Sonar for many years. What a horrible decision. I bet he's either no longer with the company and doesn't use Sonar as often as I do. LOL! :) Ah I'm just being crabby....but it still was a bad move! :-Þ (watch knowing my luck, he's still with the company and will come on here and yell at me. lol)
 
I just feel so "locked" when using Sonar without options, colors, ability to call more shots and customize. You don't really notice this stuff until you do without all the stuff we used to have and then try a few other DAWs that have the ability to customize. Especially when you try something like Reaper that has a tweak for a tweak of a tweak and a color change for everything in it. I know it's only cosmetic and shouldn't be something I worry about, but I can't help what floats my boat.
 
At any rate, I'm looking forward to whatever the next X (or whatever it may be called) will be like. I hope thay've been listening to us and they give us something mind-blowing with options and all the stuff we've been asking for to be fixed, changed, or altered. I think if I had my choice, the first thing I want outta here is that audio engine thing.
 
It seriously has to go. That's another thing you don't notice how much of a nuisance it is until you use another DAW that doesn't have that. Granted, everything else in the other DAW may suck lol....but it beats that engine shutting down on me all the time at 64 or 32 buffers. Nothing else I use drops out on me other than Sonar at those buffer sizes. Anytime I record, as soon as I press stop, bang, dead engine. I just hate it...no one else has it, why do we need it? And of course...colors, options, better console with sends and visibility...you know...the same stuff we've been asking for that just doesn't seem to be important enough to implement. 
 
I don't ask anymore...I just do my work and try not to vent other than 3-4 times per year. When i vent it's because I'm passionate about the software and just wonder how many of these dev guys literally work with the software...not on it. Or, do they make changes for themselves because they can and shoot us the finger sliently? It really does make me wonder at times because some of the decisions that get made really surprise me. Here's hoping for a better Sonar. :)
 
-Danny

Is this dark color scheme you are using a Panup mod, Danny?

Danny, I'm in serious agreement with you on every point. 



With that said I should also say I am not that upset with the choices CW has made with the colors. Do I want them made for me? No, I don't.