Gibson Kills Cakewalk

[Prime Mover]

This makes me very sad. Cakewalk 9 (and then very quickly soon after, Sonar) was the very first DAW I started with. I did about a third of my music degree using it. Another third with ProTools, then DP5. It had some nice features back in the day... I haven't used it for 15 years though.

[Michael Canavan]

apparently Gibson is hemorrhaging, it's not the same sort of reason for crapping on the software division I think they had for letting Opcode die, but it sure feels the same..

https://www.thestreet.com/story/1428061 ... -debt.html

The worst part to me is I've always liked their guitars, own a 1978 Les Paul Pro, inherited a 75 Gibson Ripper and a J-160 from my stepfather.. Thankfully to me anyway all previous to the current CEO, but it's still a lame thing. My absolute favorite guitar looks wise of all time is a black Gibson Les Paul Custom with gold hardware, out of my price range now, and sadly the company is steered by someone running it ashore...

Someone mentioned, MOTU will get some good employees maybe if they want to. IMO they did some good plug ins, Z3ta+2, Harmor etc.

[Gravity Jim]

Gibson didn't let Opcode die. They tried to save it with a huge infusion of cash, but it was too little, too late: Opcode was on life support when Gibson owned them, and they didn't pull through.

But what they're doing with Cakewalk and Tascam/TEAC is pretty sad for we long-term home recordists. I hope this means more evaluations and eventual purchases of DP 9.

[Rick Cornish]

IMHO: Norlin wrecked Gibson... then the rest followed suit.

They still make a few decent guitars, but they’ll never be the company they were when they were headquartered in Kalamazoo. Here’s a relic:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/2545253 ... 757589633/

[mhschmieder]

Meanwhile, Epiphone quality has upped considerably over the past two years, just like Squier did a few years prior.

I have bought three top-end Epiphone instruments recently (none of them solid bodies) and even my picky guitar tech has been wildly impressed by the workmanship, playability, necks, and design concepts.

I thought Gibson had switched to being employee-owned and was going to get more "artist" input (maybe I should say "artisan" as "artist" might imply "performer") as a result?

[Michael Canavan]

Gibson didn't let Opcode die. They tried to save it with a huge infusion of cash, but it was too little, too late: Opcode was on life support when Gibson owned them, and they didn't pull through.

But what they're doing with Cakewalk and Tascam/TEAC is pretty sad for we long-term home recordists. I hope this means more evaluations and eventual purchases of DP 9.

I’ve never heard Gibson’s treatment of Opcode portrayed that way. I suppose that’s the perspective Gibson had on it, but the common narrative was/is that There was disagreement with the Opcode team on the direction to take Vision, and Gibson stopped development effectively killing the DAW. the truth is somewhere in the middle I would guess, but it’s obvious that Gibson does not value their software assets highly from their actions around them.

i would guess both Microsoft and MOTU get a chance at grabbing talent. Microsoft actually posted a recruitment statement for audio developers over at KVR a few weeks ago. Folks not wanting to move from Mass. will likely look at MOTU for sure!

[Gravity Jim]

Well, I know what the popular opinion was, but Opcode was weeks from shuttering the place, so they were looking for an emergency sugar papa. It's too bad it ended up being Gibson, but with their cash, they would have croaked much sooner.

[bayswater]

It's not unlikely that Gibson thought they might be able to revive Opcode. Whoever does mergers and acquisitions there has an odd approach according to analysts who point out they are not going to save their company by buying low growth companies that face the same industry issues they are trying to solve (like Cakewalk).

Analysts' warning is that investors will not get their money back, let alone a profit. Their debt is too far gone, and their cost reductions programs reduce income faster than costs.

They have a huge inventory. If they go under, what would that be worth? You might almost wonder if the plan is to strip mine the assets and cash flow ($1.2B rev annually) and dump the debt on the unsuspecting tax base.

Meanwhile on Monday, I found a really nice 1996 LH LP for C$599 and bought it. Sometime early 2018 Gibson could default and my LP might be worth a lot more.

[bayswater]

Meanwhile, Epiphone quality has upped considerably over the past two years

I agree. I got a LH Epiphone 335 a while back, beautifully made and sounds just right.

[mikehalloran]

Gibson dumped the Banjo division when it was making only $1M annually. The flood was only an excuse.

[MatFluor]

Hi there, just registered

Count me as a "Sonar Refugee" I'm that sense. I purchased it not so long ago and am - not happy about this decision.

But life and work goes on, and luckily I have only one Project to finish before I can switch without pressure.

I'm just waiting for tomorrow (Black Friday) and hope that Motu maybe will have a sale, but I honestly don't know. After evaluating DP in the past, I'm pretty confident.

In short: I chose Sonar over DP not so long ago because the UI of DP was mostly unreadable (blurry font issue) - that literally was the tipping point for me. Now I found a theme that makes this issue better, although still there (Windows obviously).

So, looking forward to join the MOTUNation in these dark times.

[James Steele]

Welcome!

[Tritonemusic]

I'm just waiting for tomorrow (Black Friday) and hope that Motu maybe will have a sale, but I honestly don't know.

SONAR is one of the products MOTU accepts for a competitive upgrade. You can get DP for $395.

https://motu.com/store_products/softwar ... grade-info

[mhschmieder]

I am heavily proselytizing DP on the keyboard forum. It's amazing how many don't know about it, or write it off because it doesn't get much press compared to others.

I was reminded that StudioOne (the usual recommendation being given to people) doesn't yet support AAF or OMF. DP probably still has the most file compatibility of any DAW.

[dix]

Gibson didn't let Opcode die. They tried to save it with a huge infusion of cash, but it was too little, too late: Opcode was on life support when Gibson owned them, and they didn't pull through.

But what they're doing with Cakewalk and Tascam/TEAC is pretty sad for we long-term home recordists. I hope this means more evaluations and eventual purchases of DP 9.

What I wondered at the time when Gibson let StudioVision die, and still wonder in the case of Cakewalk, is why wouldn't Gibson release the patents and source-code and let the app be open-source? Why kill it and screw all the users? ...I'm envisioning a situation like Linux where various companies, such as Red Hat, package open-source code. As I recall there were Opcode programmers at the time that were advocating for this.

Btw, one of the rumored reasons that Gibson didn't release StudioVision into the public domain is that they had lost source-code!