Pro Tracks
(Windows 98 SE/Me/2000/XP)
README.RTF

This file contains supplemental information on   Pro Tracks, Version 2.2. It was prepared on April 13, 2003.

Contents

Top Issues in PRO TRACKS 2.2
Video Updates
Import Audio Dialog Support Multi-Selection
Display Missing Plug-ins When Loading Project
New Key Bindings
New File Formats
Only use Clean Audio Folder in PRO TRACKS 2.2
Windows 2000/XP and PRO TRACKS
“Safe Mode” for File-Open
Windows Media Advanced Streaming Export in PRO TRACKS 2.2 Requires WM9
Compressed Broadcast Wave Files are Not Imported At Their Timestamp
Video Profiles Available for WMA (Windows Media Advanced Streaming Format) Export
OMF Files Always Open With a Timebase of 960 PPQ
Audio Performance Issues
Latest Sound Card Information
Midiman/M-Audio Delta 1010 WDM driver port names are labeled by number
New AUD.INI Variables for Engine Tweaking
24-bit Audio AUD.INI Variable
Audio Data “Queue Buffers”
Potential Problems When Recording Audio With Low Disk Space
Audio Clicks/Pops During Edit Operations When Input Monitoring Is Enabled
Ultrafunk fx:Reverb Output Mode Cannot be Changed During Playback
Accessing Dropdown Menus During Playback May Cause Glitches
Dropouts and Other Audio Problems
Reducing Mixing Latency
Wave Profiler Issues
AVICAP32.DLL May Cause Problems When Using Real-Time Audio Effects
Pro Audio 9 Pan Envelopes Are Interpreted As Track Envelopes
Console View and AudioX Console Record Meters Report Different Input Levels
MIDI Issues
NTONYX Style Enhancer Micro 2.0 Lite Plug-In May Cause MIDI Tracks To Stutter
Heavy Scrolling of Dense MIDI Data Can Cause Playback To Slow Down
Doubled Notes When Echoing Through MFX Plug-Ins
Quantize, Chord Analyzer, and MIDI Event Filter MIDI plug-ins stops MIDI input from being heard
PRO TRACKS Flags in Instrument Definitions
IgnoreMidiInTimeStamps TTSSEQ.INI Variable
Software Synthesizers
Some DXi Plug-ins Require Proper CD Authorization
“Pre Fader” Playback Meters will not Respond to DXi synths
PRO TRACKS Will Not Recognize the Reality Software Synthesizer Wave Driver
SoundFonts For LiveSynth Pro DXi Software Synthesizer
LiveSynth Pro DXi Path Length Limitation
DreamStation Presets May Not Initially Display Under Win2K
Tassman or Tassman SE May Not Load Using Matrox Video Cards
An Audible “Splat” Of MIDI Data Sounds After Stopping Playback
The Ends of MIDI Notes Are Truncated When Exporting Or Bouncing To Tracks
General
User-defined Track View Control Layout
Cakewalk Generic Control Surface Presets
Button Automation
Mackie Control ‘Previous Window’ Command May Not Function
Sonic Foundry Wave Hammer Plug-in May Cause Dropout
Sonic Foundry Vibrato Plug-in
Sonic Foundry Tremolo Plug-In
Track View Keystrokes Interfere When Typing in an OP Panel
PRO TRACKS Online Help Requires Internet Explorer
Note to Windows 98 SE and Internet Explorer 4.0 Users
Pro Audio 9 Files Sound Louder/Softer In PRO TRACKS
Responsiveness of Record Meters Depends on Audio Buffer Settings
“Create a Send Submix” Cannot be Used with Groove Clips
PRO TRACKS “Buffer Size Matcher” Audio Plug-In Appears In Other Cakewalk Products
Track Pan Is Not Sent To Aux Bus When Aux Send Is Set To “Post” Fader
Video Issues
Reject Loop take command does not work with audio
MMC is only available when PRO TRACKS’s clock is set to SMPTE/MTC
Layout of Aux Sends in Console View
Special Keys Reserved In Lyrics View and Effects Property Sheets
Hardware Notes
Problem Using 1 Millisecond Latency With Echo Darla Card
Roland U-8 Controller Application is not Windows 2000 or Windows XP Compatible
Frontier Design WaveCenter Issue
Arming An Audio Track From the Console View With the Frontier WaveCenter ISA Card Causes Errors
Limitations of Early Sound Blaster Cards
Creative Labs AWE Sound Cards May Be Noisy In PRO TRACKS
AWE Wave Synth and Audio Output
MIDI Time Piece tips and tricks
Gravis UltraSound
Upgrading to PRO TRACKS From An Earlier Version of a Cakewalk Product

Top Issues in PRO TRACKS 2.2

Video Updates

PRO TRACKS 2.2 allows you to set a video offset and trim for all media types, not just AVI’s.

The new Render Quality property page in the Video properties dialog lets you specify Preview mode, frame rate, and video size.

Import Audio Dialog Support Multi-Selection

The Import Audio dialog (File-Import-Audio) supports multi-selection, which allows multiple audio files to be imported simultaneously.

Display Missing Plug-ins When Loading Project

If any plug-ins are missing when loading a project, PRO TRACKS will present a list of which plug-ins are missing, as well as which specific tracks, aux buses, and virtual mains use the missing plug-ins.

New Key Bindings

The following new key bindings have been added:

•	Metronome during playback (on/off)
•	Metronome during record (on/off)
•	Internal Sync
•	MIDI Sync
•	SMPTE/MTC Sync
•	Audio Sync
•	Transmit MMC
•	Play in Mono(Stereo)
•	Snapshot (automation)
•	Disarm All Automation Controls
Enable/Disable Automation Playback

New File Formats

Changes to PRO TRACKS 2.x’s file format will make files created in PRO TRACKS 2.x incompatible with SONAR 1.0.x and previous versions of Pro Audio. New file formats have been created to help make the distinction, so you won’t be confused when PRO TRACKS 1.0.x won’t open them.  We recommend that you open your older files in PRO TRACKS 2.x, save them to the new file format and keep the older versions if you still want to work in 1.0.x.  PRO TRACKS 2.x will open all the older file types but will only allow you to save in the new formats.

PRO TRACKS 2.x file types: 

.cwp = Cakewalk project files (formerly .wrk)
.cwb = Cakewalk bundle files (formerly .bun)
.cwt = Cakewalk template files (formerly .tpl)

Only use Clean Audio Folder in PRO TRACKS 2.2

If you have an older version of Pro Audio or PRO TRACKS installed along with PRO TRACKS 2.2, only use the Clean Audio Folder utility built into PRO TRACKS 2.2.  Older versions of Cakewalk do not recognize the new file formats so it may report that it is OK to delete audio that may be associated with PRO TRACKS 2.2 files.  It is safe to run Clean Audio Folder in PRO TRACKS 2.2 because it recognizes both the new and the old file formats.

Windows 2000/XP and PRO TRACKS

To install and run PRO TRACKS in Windows 2000, Windows XP Professional and Home Edition, you must be logged in as a user with administrative privileges.  To use the product you must be logged in as the same user that installed the program; otherwise, you will not have access to your DirectX effects presets.

“Safe Mode” for File-Open

In some cases, a corrupt or incompatible DirectX, DXi or MFX plug-in will make it impossible to open a saved project file (CWB, CWP, CWT, WRK, BUN, or TPL files). If you have a project that uses plug-ins and will not open, PRO TRACKS may be able to open the project in “Safe Mode”. Hold the [Shift] key down while opening a file, to open it in "Safe Mode."  This applies to all ways that a file can be opened (the File-Open menu, the MRU list and the Quick Start dialog box).

When a file is opened in safe mode, the following behaviors take effect:

•	Only the Track view will be opened, and it will be opened in its default layout.  No other views will be opened or layouts applied. This allows projects which may run out of GDI resources due to having a large Console view open to open safely in Windows 98 SE.
•	The user will be prompted before each DirectX, MFX or DXi plug-in is loaded from the file.  For each plug-in, you can specify Yes, Yes to All, No, No to All, as to whether that plug-in or all subsequent plug-ins will be loaded. This allows any misbehaving plug-ins to be identified.

Windows Media Advanced Streaming Export in PRO TRACKS 2.2 Requires WM9

In order to export Windows Media Advanced Streaming (WMA) audio from PRO TRACKS 2.2, WM9 must be installed. You can download WM9 at:

http://www.windowsmedia.com/9series/download/download.asp.

Compressed Broadcast Wave Files are Not Imported At Their Timestamp

Broadcast Waves Files are normally linear PCM, but may also potentially be compressed MPEG  audio. Although Broadcast Waves support both linear PCM and MPEG, PRO TRACKS 2.2 only supports linear PCM broadcast Wave files. Compressed Broadcast Wave files are still recognized by PRO TRACKS 2.2, but will always be imported at the current Now time--as if they are normal WAV files--and not at their stored timestamp. This happens because MPEG files get imported through a file conversion process, which currently isn't set up to handle Broadcast Waves.

Since all Broadcast Wave files have the same file extension (WAV), the File | Import | Audio dialog can be used to determine which Broadcast Wave files are compress: if the file is compressed, the Format Tag field will display “Unknown (Broadcast Wave)” instead of “PCM (Broadcast Wave)”, and the Attributes field will display “0 Bits”.

Video Profiles Available for WMA (Windows Media Advanced Streaming Format) Export 

PRO TRACKS 2.2 only supports exporting of Windows Media audio, not video. When exporting WMA files, PRO TRACKS enumerates all “Profiles” provided by Windows Media 9, including video profiles. There is no way to discern between audio and video profiles.

You must be sure to select an audio profile when exporting WMA audio from PRO TRACKS. Choosing a video profile will cause the export to fail.

OMF Files Always Open With a Timebase of 960 PPQ

When opening an OMF file, PRO TRACKS always uses a default timebase of 960 PPQ. If the OMF file was originally authored at a different timebase (120, 480 PPQ, etc.), you should expect to see different tick offsets when opening the OMF file in PRO TRACKS. For example, if the original file used a PPQ of 480 and an audio clip started at 2:03:320, that same audio clip will be positioned at 2:03:640 when opening the OMF file in PRO TRACKS (the tick value is doubled since 960 PPQ has twice the resolution of 480 PPQ).

However, this won’t affect the absolute sample position of the audio data, and the audio will play back correctly. Audio in OMF files are referenced by sample position, not tick offset, so this is only a necessary PPQ display issue.

Note: The displayed Timebase can be changed at any time by going to Options-Project-Clock  and changing the Ticks Per Quarter Note value.

Audio Performance Issues

The following issues concern improving and troubleshooting audio performance in PRO TRACKS.

Latest Sound Card Information

Please read the Web page http://www.cakewalk.com/Support/Docs/SoundcardTips.html. If the soundcard you are using is listed on this page, please follow the instructions listed there for configuring and using your soundcard with PRO TRACKS. If you don’t follow those instructions, PRO TRACKS may not work properly with your soundcard.

Midiman/M-Audio Delta 1010 WDM driver port names are labeled by number

The Delta 1010 WDM driver version 5.12.001.6 and later labels ports by number instead of by name. Go to Options-Audio-Drivers; the ports are as follows:

1/2=Input1/2
3/4=Input 3/4
5/6=Input 5/6
7/8=Input 7/8
9/10=S/PDIF
11/12=Monitor Mixer

New AUD.INI Variables for Engine Tweaking

PRO TRACKS 2 includes several new AUD.INI variables for tweaking the audio engine. The default values yield the same engine behavior as PRO TRACKS 1.3.1.  The variables are all in the [Wave] section, and are as follows:

StopIfStarved=<0 or 1> (default=1)

Determines whether the audio engine should completely shut-down and put up a "dropout" indicator if the audio output queue becomes empty.  Note that a dropout will still occur if the input queue becomes empty, or if other exceptional MIDI or disk I/O starvation scenarios occur.  Setting this value to 0 yields engine behavior where the audio never will never stop during input monitor, but may click or pop instead.

KsUseInputEvent=<0 or 1> (default=0)

This setting is only utilized when the audio engine is using WDM kernel streaming drivers.  It determines how the engine decides when it's time to add a new audio buffer to the queue.  The default behavior is to add a buffer when the output queue has signaled buffer completion.  Setting this value to 1 has the engine add a new buffer when the input queue has signaled completion.

Tip: Depending on your driver, setting this value to 1 may improve your input monitor latency.

ExtraWaveOutBuffers=<n> (default=1)

Determines how many additional buffers (on top of the user-specified "wave out buffers" setting), to be allocated for use by the output buffer queue.  The default is to allocate a single extra buffer.  The purpose of this extra buffer is to allow output buffers to continue to be fed to the driver even in the case where the driver or O/S issues a premature "buffer done" signal.

Tip: Depending on your driver, setting this value to 0 may improve your input monitor latency.

24-bit Audio AUD.INI Variable

Use24BitExtensible=<0 or 1> (default=0)

PRO TRACKS has a new AUD.INI flag called “Use24BitExtensible=n” concerning 24-bit audio. It goes in the [Name of Your Audio Driver] section of AUD.INI. For example:

[USB Audio Device (1 in, 1 out)]
Use24BitExtensible=1

This flag will exist for each audio driver.

This flag will appear for all audio drivers Wave-Profiled in PRO TRACKS 2.  It will always be set to false (Use24BitExtensible=0) initially.  If you are unable to open a 24-bit capable audio device in 24-bit mode. Setting this flag to true (Use24BitExtensible=1) may fix the problem.

Most WDM USB-Audio devices will likely need to have this setting changed manually by the user in order to function in 24-bit mode. In some cases, drivers that can be opened in 24-bit mode with this flag off, will not be able to open with this flag on.

This flag has no effect on 16-bit operation.

Note: A flag of this same name used to exist in PRO TRACKS 1.x in the [Wave] section of AUD.INI.  The flag in this location is ignored in PRO TRACKS 2.

Audio Data “Queue Buffers”

Some DirectX plug-ins maintain a "queue" of audio data buffers while they are processing, and do not produce any audio output buffers until several input buffers have been received.  For PRO TRACKS to handle this situation properly, we need to create extra buffers to make up for the ones being queued by the plug-in.  This AUD.INI variable controls how many extra buffers we create:

[Wave]
ExtraStreamBufs=<n, default=4>

Some plug-ins deliver their output asynchronously after receiving input. This behavior is typical in plug-ins which implements delay compensation in DX. The result is problems during playback at lower latencies in PRO TRACKS. Some of the Waves version 3.5/3.6 plug-ins (UltraPitch, etc.) are affected by this issue.

To address this issue, increase the ExtraStreamBufs= value. For example, try ExtraStreamBufs=16.

Note: This setting does not increase the buffer size; it simply instructs PRO TRACKS to keep a
larger "pool" of extra buffers around in case it needs to feed plug-ins that deliver their output asynchronously after receiving input.

Potential Problems When Recording Audio With Low Disk Space

Make sure you have enough space on your hard disk when recording digital audio. Running out of hard disk space when recording can lead to unpredictable results.

If the disk space goes to 0, PRO TRACKS reports that it cannot save all the data and stops recording. Since there is not enough disk space to create the waveform image files for the audio, the newly recorded audio clips may appear to be empty when in actuality the data is all there, but can’t be viewed.

Audio Clicks/Pops During Edit Operations When Input Monitoring Is Enabled

During certain editing operations, such as deleting a part of a clip by time selection, you may experience audio clicks/pops if input monitoring is enabled. When input monitoring is enabled, the “pauser” that is executed on every edit command is closing/reopening its drivers. Some drivers produce a click/pop whenever they are opened, which is something that must be addressed in the driver itself.

If you are experiencing this problem, please check with you audio hardware manufacturer to see if an updated driver is available.

Ultrafunk fx:Reverb Output Mode Cannot be Changed During Playback

The Ultrafunk fx:Reverb plug-in has an Output that can be used to toggle between mono and stereo. Please note that PRO TRACKS cannot respond to this during playback, so this button should only be used when playback is stopped.

Accessing Dropdown Menus During Playback May Cause Glitches

It is possible to experience glitches, such as audio stutter, dropouts or Windows system sounds, when accessing menus during playback.

This problem is likely to happen under Windows 2000 if “Use transition effects for menus and tooltips” is enabled in Display-Properties-Effects.

The scrolling menus steal valuable CPU processing that is required by PRO TRACKS during playback, so we recommend that you disable “Use transition effects for menus and tooltips” when using PRO TRACKS.

Dropouts and Other Audio Problems

After installing PRO TRACKS, if you experience dropouts, stutters, glitches or other unexpected interruptions while recording or playing back audio, please consult the online Help built into PRO TRACKS for assistance. Locate the Help topic entitled “Dropouts and Other Audio Problems”.

NOTE: To locate an online Help topic, select Help-HelpTopics from the PRO TRACKS menu, click the “Index” tab, and enter the desired topic into the textbox provided.

Reducing Mixing Latency

If audio playback is working properly, but you find that PRO TRACKS is slightly “sluggish” when responding to adjustments you make during playback (e.g., when changing volume levels, muting or soloing tracks, adjusting panning, etc.), you may be able to improve PRO TRACKS’s responsiveness by consulting the online Help built into PRO TRACKS.  Locate the Help topic entitled “Latency” for assistance.

NOTE: To locate an online Help topic, select Help-HelpTopics from the PRO TRACKS menu, click the “Index” tab, and enter the desired topic into the textbox provided.

When you first run PRO TRACKS, the Latency Slider control in the Options-Audio… dialog box will be set to a value that will provide a balance between reliable playback of an adequate number of audio tracks AND a reasonably low latency when moving a volume or pan knob in PRO TRACKS's Track view or Console view.  As explained in the online Help topic, you may wish to experiment with the Latency Slider setting in order to further lower the mixing latency time. If you choose to manually configure the Latency Slider please note the following points:

Moving the Latency Slider too far to the left (minimum value) may put PRO TRACKS in a state where it can no longer playback audio or MIDI data. While in this state PRO TRACKS may briefly attempt playback before dropping out, or the application may visually appear to be playing back but no audio will be heard. To resolve this problem, simply move the Latency Slider back to a higher value (i.e., move the slider control to the right).

Wave Profiler Issues

Use the latest driver for your sound card

To properly configure PRO TRACKS for your sound card, the Wave Profiler depends on you using the latest driver for your sound card. Please contact your sound card manufacturer to ensure that you are using the latest driver.

Wave Profiler Does Not Query Audio Devices to Find Out if they Support 48kHz

Be aware that there is no error message when trying to record 48K audio on a card that doesn't support 48kHz sampling rate.

Some sound cards will crash if they are queried for >44.1kHz sample rates, so the Wave Profiler determines the correct settings at three sample rates: 11kHz, 22kHz, and 44.1kHz. It assumes that the same settings should be used for 48kHz and 96kHz sample rates. Because of this, it is possible to load a 48kHz project and use a sound card that doesn’t support 48kHz. This scenario does not present an error message, so PRO TRACKS may appear to record audio while no audio is actually recorded.

Wave Profiler doesn’t open drivers at 24-bit settings

The Wave Profiler doesn't open drivers at 24 bit settings. For more information on how to configure PRO TRACKS for proper 24-bit operation, please see http://www.cakewalk.com/Support/Docs/24BitTips.html and the “24-bit Audio AUD.INI Variable” topic below.

Wave Profiler Will Report Errors When Profiling Optical Channels That Are Not Connected

The Wave Profiler may present a "The following drivers do not support the current audio format/sample rate" error message when trying to profile optical channels on your audio hardware if the optical channels are not connected to anything. PRO TRACKS can’t open a digital-only device if it is not connected.

Wave Profiler Does Not Generate the Proper ‘Stream >16 bit data as’ Setting for the RME Digi 96/8

When profiling the RMEdigi 96/8 hardware, the Wave Profiler may report the  “Stream >16 bit data as” setting as "32-bit PCM, right -justified”. The correct setting should be "32-bit PCM, left-justified".

Wave Profiler will not work with the Digidesign Digi001 unless “WavePipe Acceleration” is Disabled

When using the Digidesign Digi001 hardware, you must disable “WavePipe Acceleration” in Options-Audio-Driver Profiles in order to use the hardware properly. This should be done before running the Wave Profiler.

Roland (Edirol) UA-3 Wave Profiler Issue When Using WDM Drivers

The UA-3 WDM USB Audio Driver reports incorrect DMA setting to the Wave Profiler. The UA-3 profiles with DMA settings of 520, and should be manually changed to 920. This is a hardware issue, and cannot be changed by the Wave Profiler.

Changing the value to 920 allows for reasonable playback at lower latency using WDM drivers, but even with the settings at 920, input monitoring may severely stutter regardless of the latency slider settings.

AVICAP32.DLL May Cause Problems When Using Real-Time Audio Effects

The symptom is a crash when using real-time audio effects, particularly during quiet or silent passages.  If this happens under Windows 98 SE or Windows Me, the problem may be rooted in this file.  The fix is to go to the \Windows\System directory, and rename this file to something like AVICAP32.OLD.

Pro Audio 9 Pan Envelopes Are Interpreted As Track Envelopes

When importing previous Pro Audio projects into PRO TRACKS, please note that pan envelopes are interpreted as track envelopes, not clip envelopes.

Although Pro Audio 9 allows you to create clip level pan envelopes, Pro Audio 9 renders them as track envelopes. Thus, Pro Audio 9 pan envelopes are migrated as track envelopes in PRO TRACKS.

Console View and AudioX Console Record Meters Report Different Input Levels

The record meters in the Console view and the Yamaha DSP Factory meters use different algorithms to calculate the meter values. Both meters report peak values, but the algorithms may report slightly different values. This is normal and does not indicate a problem.

MIDI Issues

The following topics cover some MIDI performance and installation issues.

NTONYX Style Enhancer Micro 2.0 Lite Plug-In May Cause MIDI Tracks To Stutter

During dense sections in MIDI tracks, the Style Enhancer Micro 2.0 Lite plug-in may generate a lot of events (expression, wheel, modulation, pan, notes, etc.). It is possible to generate so many events that PRO TRACKS can’t render all of the events in time without a stutter.

One solution is to change the Auto Optimization settings within the Style Enhancer plug-in (click the Options button) so fewer events are generated. Increasing the Auto Optimization settings will cause Style Enhancer to generate fewer events. You can also use the Style Enhancer as an offline process.

Heavy Scrolling of Dense MIDI Data Can Cause Playback To Slow Down

Heavy scrolling of dense MIDI data can cause playback to slow down dramatically when using certain video drivers and graphics “Hardware Acceleration” set to FULL in Windows. This can happen if, for example, a maximized Event List view for a very dense MIDI track (many Note events and pitch wheel events, etc.) is scrolling during playback.

The root of the problem is that some video hardware manufacturers intentionally hog the PCI bus to achieve better video performance, but real-time applications like PRO TRACKS get bitten by this. When you're working in an application like PRO TRACKS, timing is more important than screen updates.

To address this, click the Start button in Windows and go to Settings-Control Panel-System-Performance-Graphics, and lower or disable “Hardware acceleration”.

Doubled Notes When Echoing Through MFX Plug-Ins

When (Auto) echoing MIDI data through an MFX MIDI plug-in, you will normally hear doubled notes. This is because PRO TRACKS echoes the original note, and you are also hearing the note after it is processed by the MFX plug-in.

For example, if you’re using the Transpose MFX plug-in set to transpose up 1 step, and you play a C4 note on your MIDI controller, you will hear both C4 and C#4.

If you want to use MFX plug-ins to modify live input, you need to disable MIDI echo in PRO TRACKS (Options-Project-MIDI Input).

Quantize, Chord Analyzer, and MIDI Event Filter MIDI plug-ins stops MIDI input from being heard

MFX MIDI plug-ins support real-time MIDI input. For example, you can add the Delay/Echo MIDI plug-in as a track insert effect, play your MIDI controller, and listen to the results of the plug-in. However, if you add the Quantize, Chord Analyzer, or MIDI Event Filter to a track insert, you will not hear the results of the effect(s).

PRO TRACKS Flags in Instrument Definitions

PRO TRACKS has several flags that you can use in instrument definition files for use with specific instrument definitions:

UsesNotesAsControllers=<0 or 1>

Some MIDI devices, such as certain mixers, use MIDI Note events instead of Continuous Controller events for automation. It is often desirable to treat the Note events as Controller events in order for them to obey the “Zero Controllers When Play Stops” and “Patch/Controller Searchback Before Play Starts” settings.

You can enter this variable in any instrument definition by using a text editor, such as Windows Notepad. The variable should be entered directly below an instrument definition. For example:

[Mackie OTTO-1604]
UsesNotesAsControllers=1
Control=Mackie OTTO-1604
Patch[*]=Mackie OTTO-1604
Key[*,*]=Mackie OTTO-1604

NoControllerReset=<0 or 1>

Any port/channel using an instrument definition that has a NoControllerReset flag set to 1 does not receive a "zero controller" message upon stop. You can enter this variable in any instrument definition by using a text editor, such as Windows Notepad. The variable should be entered directly below an instrument definition. For example:

[Yamaha Promix 01 Control Chan]
NoControllerReset=1
Control=Yamaha Promix 01 Control Chan
Patch[*]=Yamaha Pro Mix 01

This parameter should be used when it is undesirable to zero/reset controllers when playback stop, such as when using an external effects processor that uses MIDI controllers for real-time parameter control, or when using a digital mixer as a MIDI control surface (and not using the generic control surface plug-in). 

IgnoreMidiInTimeStamps TTSSEQ.INI Variable

IgnoreMidiInTimeStamps=<0 or 1> (default=1)

TTSSEQ.INI has a new flag called "IgnoreMidiInTimeStamps=n”, which goes in the [Options] section of TTSSEQ.INI. For example:

[Options]
IgnoreMidiInTimeStamps=1

All MIDI drivers timestamp incoming MIDI data before the data is passed to PRO TRACKS.  You may ask why we ever care about this timestamp, since PRO TRACKS knows the moment the MIDI is received, and can put it's own timestamp on it.  There are three situations where this timestamp could be important:

1.	Some very rare MIDI interfaces may do processing that causes them to send PRO TRACKS MIDI that "happened a few milliseconds ago" (has an old timestamp) or "is going to happen in the future but I'm giving it to you now" (a future timestamp).

2.	A more likely reason why PRO TRACKS might care about the timestamp is in the case where PRO TRACKS’s internal timing mechanism is occasionally late due to system load and vagaries of the operating system.  In this case the driver tries to give PRO TRACKS the data, but PRO TRACKS is delayed some number of milliseconds before it actually sees it.  If this occurs the timestamp lets PRO TRACKS know that the data actually came in N milliseconds earlier.

3.	In very rare circumstances, the MIDI echo will get progressively longer the longer PRO TRACKS has been running. This may happen if the MIDI timestamp from the MIDI driver is using a clock that is running faster than PRO TRACKS's clock, so after a while all the incoming MIDI data appear to be timestamped in the future and PRO TRACKS will wait that long to echo the data.

As you can see, MIDI timestamping is only useful to PRO TRACKS if the MIDI driver and PRO TRACKS use the same timing clock.

Setting IgnoreMidiInTimeStamps=1 fixes these problems, because it tells PRO TRACKS to ignore the MIDI timestamp and assume that the MIDI was received at the moment it was sent (which is what most MIDI drivers intend), with the caveat that if PRO TRACKS is late processing MIDI for any reason, the MIDI data will also be recorded late.

Another way to look at this flag is that it guarantees that MIDI will be recorded exactly as it is echoed.  If case 2 (above) occurs (PRO TRACKS is late processing MIDI) this is always audible as a delay in MIDI echo.  With the flag set to ON (1), any echo delay that is heard during performance will also be recorded, kind of "what you hear is what you get".

With the flag set to OFF(0), the recorded data will be "fixed up" any time the timestamp on the data differs from PRO TRACKS’s internal clock when it processes the data.  If the MIDI driver's clock is in sync with PRO TRACKS's clock (which is normally the case), then the recorded data can actually be truer to the performance than the echoed data that was heard during the performance.  If the MIDI driver's clock is NOT sync with PRO TRACKS's clock this fixup can record data that is less true to the performance than the echoed data that was heard during the performance.

The bottom line is, if you are having throughing issues or record timing issues, you can try setting this flag to see if it helps.  It can make echoing have less delay and will always guarantee "what you hear is what you get".

Software Synthesizers

The following topics cover some issues affecting the use of DXi software synthesizers and software synthesizers in general with PRO TRACKS.

Some DXi Plug-ins Require Proper CD Authorization

Some DXi plug-ins may require CD authorization when the DXi is patched in an effect bin or the Synth Rack view. A dialog will appear, asking you to insert the DXi’s original installation CD, then requiring you to click “OK” or “Cancel”. In some cases, a crash may occur if you click “Cancel”. This is caused by an error in the DXi plug-in, and is not a problem with PRO TRACKS.

If you are affected by this issue, please contact the DXi’s vendor and inquire about an updated version that corrects this problem.

 “Pre Fader” Playback Meters will not Respond to DXi synths

A DXi synth is basically an effect/plug-in, and will be treated as such when patched in a FX bin. If the Playback meters are configured to “Pre Fader”, the DXi synth output can still be heard, but the meters will not respond to the DXi synth.

The reason is that that “Pre Fader” is prior to the FX bin, hence nothing shows on the meter when the audio is generated by a DXi synth.

Note that this is not an issue when a DXi synth is patched in the Synth Rack view.

PRO TRACKS Will Not Recognize the Reality Software Synthesizer Wave Driver

The Seer Systems Reality software synthesizer exposes a virtual waveOut driver, so that host applications can play audio and synthesized MIDI at the same time.

By design, PRO TRACKS will not recognize this driver, since all audio hardware must support full duplex. PRO TRACKS will not recognize any output driver that does not have a matching input driver, or vice-versa. Since Reality is such an “output only” driver, it is not available in PRO TRACKS.

SoundFonts For LiveSynth Pro DXi Software Synthesizer

PRO TRACKS includes several SoundFont banks that can be used with the LiveSynth Pro DXi software synthesizer. These SoundFont banks can be found in the Sample Content\SoundFonts folder on the PRO TRACKS CD-ROM, and the SoundFont banks will also be installed under C:\Program Files\Cakewalk\PRO TRACKS 2\Sample Content\SoundFonts by default.

LiveSynth Pro DXi Path Length Limitation

When using the LiveSynth Pro DXi “Browse” feature, there is a 128 character limitation for the path. If the path contains more than 128 characters, LiveSynth Pro may not be able to load the SoundFont bank properly.

DreamStation Presets May Not Initially Display Under Win2K

DreamStation presets may not display after initial installation. In order to correct this, simply rerun the PRO TRACKS installer only selecting the DreamStation DXi from the DX Instruments component list.  

Tassman or Tassman SE May Not Load Using Matrox Video Cards

In some cases you may experience problems loading Tassman or Tassman SE in PRO TRACKS when using Matrox Video Cards.  If you are experiencing these problems, please disable your video card’s hardware acceleration.  To do so, follow these steps:
1) Go to the Windows Start Menu and select Settings-Control Panel, then open Display.
2) In the Display Properties window, choose the Settings tab.
3) Click the Advanced button, then choose the Performance tab.
4) Slide the acceleration setting to minimum.
5) Click OK and try to open Tassman in PRO TRACKS again.

For updated information on these and other issues, check online support at:
http://www.cakewalk.com/Support

An Audible “Splat” Of MIDI Data Sounds After Stopping Playback

When playing MIDI tracks patched through DXi soft synths, a “splat” of MIDI note data sometimes occurs after pressing Stop.  This “splat” represents the release parts of the MIDI notes and only occurs when “Play Effects Tails…” is not enabled.  

To enable the playing of effects tails, select Options-Audio…, then choose the ‘Advanced’ tab and check the box labeled “Play Effects Tails After Stopping.”  Click ‘OK.’  MIDI tracks patched through DXi soft synths will now play through the entire release segment of the MIDI note. 

The Ends of MIDI Notes Are Truncated When Exporting Or Bouncing To Tracks 

MIDI tracks patched to some DXi soft synths will not render the synth’s effects tails when exporting or bouncing to tracks, even with “Play Effects Tails After Stopping” enabled.  This occurs when the end of the clip is flush with the end of the time selected for which events are being bounced.

To ensure that MIDI notes render their complete tail, select an extra amount of time in the timeline beyond the end of the final note events.  This should allow sufficient time for the MIDI notes to render their release tails completely.

General

The following topics cover general issues in PRO TRACKS.

User-defined Track View Control Layout

Control layout order on all Track view and Aux/Mains view strips can be defined in CAKEWALK.INI.

All non-fixed controls (controls not forced in the track header like Name, Mute, Solo, Record Arm, minimize and maximize) will layout based on these INI keys.  Each type of strip -- Audio tracks, MIDI tracks, Aux Buses, and Main Buses -- has its own section in CAKEWalk.INI. 

The layout order will revert to the hard-wired list if any of these scenarios are true:

1.	Any section is missing
2.	Any individual key is missing
3.	False value or name for a key
4.	Duplicate keys

All sections and keys must succeed, or PRO TRACKS reverts to the hard-wired layout order.

Note: Some controls need to be grouped together such as the Aux [Enable-Send-Gain-Pre/Post] controls on audio strips.  These appear as one entry for the entire group.  Most other "groups" consist of a single control to allow the maximum flexibility in the layout.

A Key-Value pair is defined as:

Wn=name

where n is the sort order, and name is the widget group name.  The name is not case sensitive.

In order to customize the control layout order, you must copy the sections below and paste them into CAKEWALK.INI. The layout below mimics the hard-wired layout. To reverse, for example, the Volume and Pan order, set W0=Pan and W1=Volume. These settings are loaded *ONCE* per strip when the strip is created, so you can for example make a change to the [MIDI Widgets] section and create another MIDI strip with the new layout (you don't have to restart the application), but all MIDI strips will have the same layout the next time you open the project.

[MIDI Widgets]
W0=Volume
W1=Pan
W2=Trim
W3=Input
W4=Output
W5=Channel
W6=Bank
W7=Patch
W8=Key
W9=Time
W10=FX
W11=Chorus
W12=Reverb

[Audio Widgets]
W0=Volume
W1=Pan
W2=Trim
W3=Input
W4=Output
W5=FX
W6=Aux
W7=Phase
W8=Interleave

[Aux Widgets]
W0=Send
W1=Return
W2=Output
W3=FX

[Mains Widgets]
W0=Volume
W1=Balance
W2=Interleave
W3=Output
W4=FX

Cakewalk Generic Control Surface Presets

The Cakewalk Generic Surface plug-in allows you to use any generic MIDI control surface with PRO TRACKS. Many presets are included, but some functions may not be obvious. Below are descriptions of some of the presets:

Preset Name	Preset Description	
Control Freak (Programs 37-38)	Download PRO TRACKS 2 profiles from http://www.kenton.co.uk. The PRO TRACKS 2 profiles should be downloaded to programs 37 and 38.	
Control Freak Studio Edition	This preset uses the factory programs. Program 0 = volume; Program 1 = Pan; Program 2 = Send 1 Level, etc.	
JL Cooper FaderMaster (1 track)	Use factory program “U1”.
Fader 1 = Volume
Fader 2 = Pan
Fader 3 = Send 1 Level
Fader 4 = Send 1 Pan
Fader 5 = Send 2 Level
Fader 6 = Send 2 Pan	
JL Cooper FaderMaster (Pan)	Use factory program “U1”	
JL Cooper FaderMaster (Send 1)	Use factory program “U1”	
JL Cooper FaderMaster (Send 2)	Use factory program “U1”	
JL Cooper FaderMaster (U1-U6)	Factory program “U1” = Volume
Factory program “U2” = Pan
Factory program “U3” = Send 1 Level
Factory program “U4” = Send 1 Pan
Factory program “U5” = Send 2 Level
Factory program “U6” = Send 2 Pan	
JL Cooper FaderMaster (VolPan)	Use factory program “U1”
Faders 1-4 = Volume
Faders 4-8 = Pan	
JL Cooper FaderMaster (VolPn2)	Use factory program “U1”
Faders 1, 3, 5, 7 = Volume
Faders 2, 4, 6, 8 = Pan	
JL Cooper FaderMaster (Volume)	Use factory program “U1”	
Roland MCR-8	The Roland MCR-8 should be configured to use Mode 3 when using the supplied presets.	
SAC-2K (Mute + Solo)

Note:  a dedicated SAC-2K control surface plug-in is now available for download from the Cakewalk web site.	Make sure the SAC-2K mode = ACTIVE, and always use the “1-8” group.
SHIFT+>> = Play
SHIFT+<< = Stop
Pan = Rotary encoders control track pan
Snd/Ins 1 = Rotary encoders control Send 1 Level
Snd/Ins 2 = Rotary encoders control Send 2 Level
High = Rotary encoders control Send 1 Pan
HiMid = Rotary encoders control Send 2 Pan
From = Move track bank to the left by 8
To = Move track bank to the right by 8
SHIFT+From = Move track bank to the left by 1
SHIFT+To = Move track bank to the right by 1
1-8 = Arm for Recording
Num+1-8 = Arm for Automation
Enter = Record Automation	
SAC-2K (Record Arming)	Make sure the SAC-2K mode = ACTIVE, and always use the “1-8” group.
SHIFT+>> = Play
SHIFT+<< = Stop
Pan = Rotary encoders control track pan
Snd/Ins 1 = Rotary encoders control Send 1 Level
Snd/Ins 2 = Rotary encoders control Send 2 Level
High = Rotary encoders control Send 1 Pan
HiMid = Rotary encoders control Send 2 Pan
From = Move track bank to the left by 8
To = Move track bank to the right by 8
SHIFT+From = Move track bank to the left by 1
SHIFT+To = Move track bank to the right by 1
1-8 = Mute
Num+1-8 = Solo
Enter = Record Automation	

Please visit our web site at www.cakewalk.com for additional presets and custom control surface plug-ins.

Button Automation

When automating buttons, such as mute or any plug-in effect with a button (e.g. global bypass), the first automation data that gets recorded is first button click AFTER you press Record automation.  In other words it does not record the state of the button when the Record automation is engaged.  As a result, when you rewind the track, the button doesn’t reflect the state when you started the transport. As a work-around, you can manually insert a node on that envelope to set the button to the correct state. 

Mackie Control ‘Previous Window’ Command May Not Function

The Mackie Control surface has a NEXT WIN button, which is used to cycle through all open windows—pressing NEXT WIN puts the focus in the next open window. Likewise, you can press M1+NEXT WIN to go to the previous open window. Please note that M1+NEXT WIN may not work on all systems. This will be addressed in a future update.

Sonic Foundry Wave Hammer Plug-in May Cause Dropout

The Sonic Foundry Wave Hammer plug-in may cause a dropout in PRO TRACKS while looping (global looping, not Groove clips). The dropout is more likely to occur with low latency settings, and may not occur until after the loop has repeated several times.

Sonic Foundry Vibrato Plug-in

The Vibrato plug-in does audio pitch shifting by producing longer buffers for lower pitches, and shorter buffers for higher pitches.  In other words, it does a pitch-shift without keeping the timebase constant.  The result of this is that the Vibrato ultimately produces more output data than the input data we give it.  So this will cause a dropout, because PRO TRACKS has no way to buffer up this extra data indefinitely.

Sonic Foundry Tremolo Plug-In

The Sonic Foundry Tremolo plug-in is currently not compatible with PRO TRACKS.
Track View Keystrokes Interfere When Typing in an OP Panel

At the time of this writing, there is a known problem when typing text in an Open Plug-In Technology panel (such as MOTIF Voice Editor). When typing text in a text field, all keystrokes that are also used as shortcuts in the Track view will be “stolen” by the Track view.

A temporary work-around for this problem is to first open a PRO TRACKS view that doesn’t support keyboard shortcuts (such as the Big Time view) before opening the OP panel.

Please contact Yamaha to obtain updated OP panels that do not exhibit this problem.

PRO TRACKS Online Help Requires Internet Explorer

PRO TRACKS uses an HTML based online Help system, and requires Microsoft Internet Explorer in order to use the context-sensitive online Help. Internet Explorer is most likely automatically installed on all PRO TRACKS-compatible operating systems (Windows 98 SE/Me/2000/XP).

Note to Windows 98 SE and Internet Explorer 4.0 Users

In order to view PRO TRACKS's context sensitive HTML Help, you must download and install the HTML Help update from Microsoft's web site. Click on the link below then download, install and run the file 'Hhupd.exe' from the 'Products Download' section.   

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/htmlhelp/html/hwMicrosoftHTMLHelpDownloads.asp	

If you are currently using Windows 98 SE and Internet Explorer 5.x, this update is not required.

Pro Audio 9 Files Sound Louder/Softer In PRO TRACKS 

Pro Audio 9 has a setting in the Audio Options dialog box called MIDI Volume Mapping. This setting determines how many dB that a movement of a volume fader produces. This setting is not stored in each project file, so PRO TRACKS can’t tell precisely what dB scale was used to produce the file you’re opening. If the volume sounds incorrect:
1. Open PRO TRACKS’s aud.ini file (find it in your PRO TRACKS folder and double-click it). 
2. Change the line that says VolMethod=”N.” If N=1, change N to 0; if N=0, change N to 1.
3. Save the file and close it.
4. Reopen the Pro Audio file in PRO TRACKS. If the volume sounds correct, save the file in PRO TRACKS. 
5. If other Pro Audio 9 files were opening correctly in PRO TRACKS , change the VolMethod=N line in PRO TRACKS ’s aud.ini file back to what it originally was, and re-save the file.
Another, although extremely rare, case is due to the fact that PRO TRACKS's audio TRIM range is +/- 18dB and pre-PRO TRACKS files had a audio VEL+ track parameter whose range is greater (in the quiet direction) I.e. a Pro Audio 9 file could have a VEL+ (on an audio track) of -127 which would make the track silent, whereas in PRO TRACKS the audio track would only be reduced in volume by 18dB.  

Responsiveness of Record Meters Depends on Audio Buffer Settings

The responsiveness of record meters in PRO TRACKS depends on the buffer size set up in the audio configuration dialog (Options-Audio-General). If you want responsive record meters and you are not running low latency WDM drivers, you can set the "Buffer Size" between 10-20 ms and boost “Buffers in Playback Queue" to a number such that the "Effective latency" is as determined by the profiler (i.e. as low as your hardware can handle without dropouts).

By keeping the buffer size low you can maximize the record meters responsiveness while still keeping the effective latency high enough.

The PRO TRACKS record meters (and input monitor meters) are metering the live data stream as it exists within the mix engine. Because of this the meters response is gated by your latency buffer size. All meters live directly in the data-streaming path.  As a result of this, meters are actually measuring every single sample that flows through the audio engine. Since there is no polling involved, there is no way the meters can miss even very high transient clips. However, in the case
of record meters, since the input data stream is buffered by the latency size, you may see a lag in the meter response with regards to what you are hearing, which is equal to this size. At lower latency sizes (10 ms or less) this should be imperceptible, but you will notice this if you are running at around 40ms or higher latencies.

Note that if you have input monitoring turned on, the meters will be in sync with what you hear through the bus, since you are also hearing audio delayed by the latency size.

“Create a Send Submix” Cannot be Used with Groove Clips

When using DirectX audio effects offline, the “Create a Send Submix” option on the Mixing page is disabled if the selection includes any Groove clips. If you wish to use this option with Groove clips, you must either Groove-disable the clip or use the Edit-Bounce to Clip(s) or Edit-Bounce to track(s) command before applying the audio effect offline.

PRO TRACKS “Buffer Size Matcher” Audio Plug-In Appears In Other Cakewalk Products

This plug-in is only intended for PRO TRACKS, but will show up in other Cakewalk products (such as Pro Audio 9) that support DirectX audio plug-ins. The Buffer Size Matcher plug-in is only used internally, and is not listed in PRO TRACKS’s list of available DirectX audio plug-ins. PRO TRACKS knows about this special-purpose plug-in, and is smart enough to suppress it, but it will show up in other DirectX host applications since it is a standard DirectX plug-in. Simply ignore this plug-in if you see it in other DirectX host applications.

Track Pan Is Not Sent To Aux Bus When Aux Send Is Set To “Post” Fader

When an audio track’s Aux Send is set to “Post” (post fader), the audio track’s Pan control will not be sent to the aux bus.

Video Issues

Video Optimizations

Poor video frame rates may be caused by a variety of circumstances:

•	Always load video files from a hard drive that is separate from your audio drive.
•	If you have a lot of meters visible in PRO TRACKS try hiding playback meters.
•	The following Cakewalk.ini variable allows you to tweak the frequency by which PRO TRACKS updates the user interface in response to time changes. Changing this to higher values such as 50-100 may improve video frame rates, by reducing the load on the system.

The INI entry should be created under the "WinCake" key in cakewalk.ini as below. Set it to a value in milliseconds. Smaller values cause the user interface to update more frequently and larger values cause less frequent updates. The default value is 40 ms, which works well for most applications.

[WinCake]
NewTimeUpdateDeltaMs=40

Compatibility Issues

Some MPEG files captured on Pinnacle Systems miroVIDEO and Shark video capture cards may not load properly in PRO TRACKS. To load these files into PRO TRACKS, you should use a video program to convert them to AVIs in a "generic" codec like the Radius Cinepak codec or Intel Indeo codec.

Pinnacle Systems miroVIDEO DC30 Pro:

Windows 98 SE/Me:

The Windows 9x drivers for this board are incompatible with PRO TRACKS. Attempting to load a video file compressed with the miroVideo hardware codec will cause the system to freeze on loading the file itself or on stopping playback of the video.

Windows 2000:

The Windows 2000 drivers for this card appear to be compatible with PRO TRACKS. Video files compressed with the miroVideo hardware codec will load and play in PRO TRACKS. However to take advantage of the hardware codec you will need to add the following entry to your aud.ini file (found in your PRO TRACKS installation directory):

[Video]
UseAVIDecoder=1

This entry forces PRO TRACKS to use the AVI decoder filter which wraps the miroVideo codec.

Problems loading video files

Certain Video files that are authored for streaming do not contain information about the number of frames.  PRO TRACKS requires this information in order to load and edit the file.  If you have a file that will not load, then try re-encoding the video with key frame information.    

DV video playback

PRO TRACKS supports playback of video files encoded for DV. Note that DirectShow sets the display of these files by default to half resolution for performance reasons. You can change this default so that the files display at full resolution by changing the DV Video Decoder properties as follows:

Open the video properties dialog, and access the Decoder property page from the Video Settings tab by clicking the "Decoder..." button. From this property page you can change the default to full frame NTSC. Note that you will have to reload the DV video after changing this setting to see the video at full resolution. If you wish to always view DV videos at full resolution, you may check the "save as default" box in the Decoder properties dialog. Note that this saves the settings system wide for all DirectX applications.

Multi-monitor Video Support

PRO TRACKS supports multi-monitor video playback. To view a video on a separate monitor, you must first float the video view, and then move the view to a secondary monitor. Once the video view is on a second monitor, you may now switch to full screen video mode on the second monitor.

Video Adapter Issues

If you are using one of the following video adapters:

Matrox Millenium
Hercules Dynamite 128
STB Velocity 
Any video card based on the S3 chipset 
Any video card based on the video Riva TNT or Intel i740 chipset

Or you experience audio problems during times of high graphics use, please visit the web page http://www.cakewalk.com/Support/Docs/VideocardTips.html for important information about how to configure your video adapter when working with PRO TRACKS. If not properly configured, these particular video cards can cause “bus contention,” disrupting normal audio recording and playback within PRO TRACKS.

Some users have reported errors in PRO TRACKS’s StudioWare View when using certain types of video cards.  Specifically, video cards based on the NVIDIA Riva TNT or Intel i740 chipsets are known to cause illegal operation errors when opening the StudioWare View.  Cakewalk has found that this problem can be remedied by downloading the most recent reference drivers from NVIDIA and Intel directly.

To download reference drivers for Riva TNT-based video cards, please visit NVIDIA's website at:  

http://www.nvidia.com/Products.nsf/htmlmedia/software_drivers.html

To download reference drivers for i740-based video cards, please visit Intel's website at:

http://support.intel.com/support/graphics/intel740/

(Please note that NVIDIA and Intel provide these reference drivers "as is", and as such the drivers are not supported by the manufacturer of your specific video card.)

For the latest information on video adapter issues, please see http://www.cakewalk.com/Support/Docs/VideocardTips.html.

ATI Radeon WDM Rage Theater Audio Driver Issue

Most ATI Radeon video software includes the installation of a driver called the ATI WDM Rage Theater Audio. When Pro Tracks is first launched, it attempts to perform a wave profile on this device and the application does not to launch. Since it is not a valid WDM audio device, in the sense that it can be used for recording audio, it must be disabled prior to launching Pro Tracks. 

To disable the WDM Rage Theater Audio driver, go to: 

Start | Control Panel | System, click on the Hardware tab and click Device Manager. Expand the Sound, video and game controllers option, then right click on the WDM Rage Theater Audio device. Select the disable menu item. 

Re-launch Pro Tracks and the wave profiler will profile your sound card properly. 

Reject Loop take command does not work with audio

At present, the Transport-Reject Loop Take command only works when recording MIDI data.

MMC is only available when PRO TRACKS’s clock is set to SMPTE/MTC

In the Options-Project-MIDI Out dialog it is possible to enable/disable MMC options regardless of the project’s clock setting. However, be aware that MMC is only available when PRO TRACKS’s clock is set to SMPTE/MTC.

Layout of Aux Sends in Console View

The Console view supports a special CAKEWALK.INI setting:

[Console View]
TileConsoleAuxSends=<1 or 0, default=1>

When set to 0, the send sliders and enable buttons for an audio module are lined up top to bottom and do not wrap. Tiling occurs when you have more than 4 aux sends configured). This option is useful if you prefer to use more vertical space in the console than horizontal.

Special Keys Reserved In Lyrics View and Effects Property Sheets

The shortcut keys for starting and stopping playback (SPACEBAR), recording (R), and rewinding (W), do not work in the Lyrics view or Effects property sheets, since these keys are used instead to enter text.  When the Lyrics view or an effects property sheet is the active window, use the buttons in the Transport toolbar to start, stop, record, and rewind.

Hardware Notes

Problem Using 1 Millisecond Latency With Echo Darla Card

PRO TRACKS may have problems if you configure the Darla card to use a latency of 1 millisecond in Options-Audio-General. To solve this problem, make sure the latency is set to at least 2 milliseconds when using the Darla card.

Roland U-8 Controller Application is not Windows 2000 or Windows XP Compatible

Please be aware that the Roland U-8 Controller application is currently not compatible with Windows 2000 and Windows XP, and will crash if launched in either of these operating systems.

Frontier Design WaveCenter Issue

When using the Frontier Design WaveCenter card, you may experience the following error messages:

“PRO TRACKS caused an invalid page fault in module CW10AUD.DLL…”

-And/or-

 “PRO TRACKS caused an invalid page fault in module KERNEL32.DLL…”

This problem is related to the WaveCenter driver, and does not indicate a problem with PRO TRACKS. This problem will only occur when all WaveCenter drivers (ADAT+SPDIF) are enabled. The WaveCenter does not allow you to open both ADAT and SPDIF channels at once, and this problem occurs when PRO TRACKS is trying to open all drivers for input monitor. To address this problem, disable either the ADAT or SPDIF driver.

Arming An Audio Track From the Console View With the Frontier WaveCenter ISA Card Causes Errors

This is caused by a limitation with the Frontier WaveCenter ISA card. The WaveCenter ISA card does not permit you to open both ADAT and SPDIF channels simultaneously. The solution is to disable either the ADAT or SPDIF channel.

Note: this is not an issue with the Frontier WaveCenter PCI card, which will not allow you to enable the optical SPDIF and ADAT Optical device at the same time.

Limitations of Early Sound Blaster Cards

Certain early models of the Sound Blaster cannot do both MIDI input and wave output at the same time. Thus, if you've selected "Creative Labs" as a MIDI In device in PRO TRACKS 's Options-MIDI Devices dialog, wave audio won't work.

Note that MIDI output will work fine along with wave audio: you can select "Creative Labs" from the list of MIDI Out devices. The problem occurs only when you've selected the "Creative Labs" MIDI In device.

Creative Labs AWE Sound Cards May Be Noisy In PRO TRACKS

You may experience excessive background hiss when using an AWE sound card in PRO TRACKS. This is because PRO TRACKS requires the use of true full-duplex audio hardware, and the AWE sound card is not a full-duplex sound card. The AWE sound card will record in 8-bit mode, and plays back in 16-bit mode.

AWE Wave Synth and Audio Output

You cannot use the AWE as an audio device if you use the “s/w Synth” or “Wave Synth WG MIDI” as a MIDI output device. Audio playback and the software synthesizer won’t work at the same time, because the software synthesizer ties up the AWE audio device. In order to use the AWE as an audio device, go to Options-MIDI Devices, and make sure “s/w Synth” or “Wave Synth WG MIDI” is not selected as an output device.

This is a limitation of the AWE software synthesizer driver, not PRO TRACKS.

MIDI Time Piece tips and tricks

Below are comments to help you use the MIDI Time Piece (MTP) made by Mark of the Unicorn (MOTU.)

System Exclusive tips
"FAST 1X" mode of the MTP may exhibit strange behavior with System Exclusive send. This is a result of the MTP's "middle-man" processing techniques. The MTP Windows driver won’t send System Exclusive through the MTP byte by byte; instead, the MTP stores System Exclusive in a buffer to be sent out in larger, faster packets. This causes checksum errors on a Sound Canvas, for example.

We are able to send System Exclusive to the Sound Canvas in FAST 1X mode by lowering the TTSSEQ.INI's SysxSendPacketSize parameter to 344. However, note that if you want to try this yourself, you’ll need to find a number that works on your computer system. In short, use FAST 1X mode with System Exclusive "at your own risk."

MOTU starting template
MOTU provides a starting template for their setup software called WINDOWS.MTP. Make sure that this is loaded before using the MTP as an interface in PRO TRACKS. The MTP driver will access the MTP's current state as configured by WINDOWS.MTP rather than reinitializing it. This will let you customize the provided template using MOTU's MTP software, and then access this setup in the Windows driver.

Connecting two MTPs
When connecting two MTPs together for 16 input/output ports, put the unit assigned to ports 1-8 first in the chain. Then connect the network cable from the back of the first unit to the network input on the second unit (ports 9-16.)

Gravis UltraSound

PRO TRACKS supports sound cards that use "patch caching," such as the Gravis UltraSound. These cards load sounds from your hard drive as needed. If you are using this kind of sound card, the Update Patch Cache command on the Transport menu will be enabled. When you choose this command, PRO TRACKS examines your song to see which patch numbers you have used. It gives this list to the sound card, which loads the required sounds. This process can take some time, so PRO TRACKS lets you decide when to use Update Patch Cache to "recalculate" the patches used. (PRO TRACKS also performs the "recalculation" when you use File-Open or File-New to open or clear a song file, and when you switch between multiple open files.)

If you are using the Play List view, please be aware that there may be a delay between songs, because the sounds required for the next song need to be loaded. This doesn’t mean that there is a problem with PRO TRACKS. This is just the way such a sound card must work.

Upgrading to PRO TRACKS From An Earlier Version of a Cakewalk Product

PRO TRACKS SETUP does not overwrite your existing MASTER.INS file. That file contains the instrument definitions that PRO TRACKS loads every time it starts. SETUP installs new .INS files for each supported manufacturer. These files contain the latest complete set of available instrument definitions.

To learn how to import any of these .INS files, see the online Help topic titled "Importing Instrument Definitions”.

END