MAGIX (or old Sony) Sound Forge

[ef37a]

Anyone here use it and know a way to brighten the bugger up a bit?

The GUI is dead-man's-face grey and the whole thing very low contrast.

Dave.

[N i g e l]

Anyone here use it and know a way to brighten the bugger up a bit?

The GUI is dead-man's-face grey and the whole thing very low contrast.

Dave.

Ha !

Yes I use it, I think Im still on "10" but I use it as was straight out of the CD.
Im not one for reskining things.

If you could tell me how to turn off the nagging prompts I would be most grateful !

I also have Audaciy [free] on my desktop which I use for similar [non DAW] purposes.

[ef37a]

Morning Nigel, thanks for the post.
What are the prompts about? I bought Samplitude Pro X 6 suite and SF came with that but I had to register and get that authorized with MAGIX to get it working. If you bought the CD then I think you should have a reg' code on it but you might still need to contact MAGIX. However, if the CD does not have a code but is otherwise kosher you might be able to blag an activation out of MAGIX? Takes some 'pushing' mind. Both I and son have done this in the past for Sam SE8 a magazine freebie that we needed to move to other computers.

Every time I fire up Samplitude I get a nag to buy the X7 (or is it 8 now?!) but that is just click to kill. There is a little app called "Samplitude Updater" so I guess if I uninstalled that the nag would stop but then I would not get updates!

My problem is a combination of a laptop with rather poor contrast* and old, tired minces. Sound Forge is just SO bleak and 'meh' that it is a strain to use. Not that I use it that much these days...

*Do laptop screens go low contrast with age? This is a Lenovo T510 but I have an HP i3 that had a new screen in it two years ago and it is much better. Once I know where I am with my bills I could get the Lenovo 're-screened' if it would help.

Dave.

[N i g e l]

The prompts are to upgrade from 10 to what ever is the latest.
My version came with Sony Movie Studio or Vegas. Its well old! I mainly use it for sample editing, my main DAW is Cakewalk.

The colour preferences are in

Options > Preferences > Display

That will help you add some colour but Im not sure it will get rid of the grey.
Its all very clunky

[Pete Kaine]

*Do laptop screens go low contrast with age?

You tend to have a backlight at the bottom of the screen panel, illuminating the panel. It's possible this is on the way out and it should be swappable, if you can locate the right replacement.

[ef37a]

*Do laptop screens go low contrast with age?

You tend to have a backlight at the bottom of the screen panel, illuminating the panel. It's possible this is on the way out and it should be swappable, if you can locate the right replacement.

Ah, thanks Pete. Once flexible friend has recovered from the last car job I shall take to my local laptop shop. Only a five minute walk away and great chaps.

Much the same seems to have happened to the display on my Brother printer/scanner but a torch sorts that on the rare occasion I need to see it!

Dave.

[ef37a]

It seems my Lenovo does not have a backlight (or at least not one that is configurable) Were it so the spacebar would have a 'torch' symbol on it.
However I tried the "Fn+spacebar" suggested and found I have a very handy magnifier! Leaps to 200%.

Dave.

[Wonks]

What about using an external screen?

[James Perrett]

On my Dell laptop the Fn + cursor up or down keys control the display brightness. On my Acer laptop it is the Fn + cursor left or right keys. Looking at a pic of the T510, it looks like Fn + Home or End (in the top right corner of the keyboard) control the brightness.

[ef37a]

What about using an external screen?

Yes friend Wonks, that works beautifully! I have a spare 22" FSTV that I can use but it is a faff to setup and one loses the advantages of a laptop. Cabling is also a bind as I have to use a miniDisplay Port adapter plus HDMI.

James., thanks for that. I did know there was a brightness control but had forgotten what it was! Helped a lot. And yes, even Sound Forge is a bit less glum.

Dave.

[sonics]

I remember how "grey" Sound Forge looked! It was my main 2-track editor for years until it became redundant.

Have you considered upgrading? If you're using Sound Forge Audio Studio (which is the version supplied in bundles, I believe) then the upgrade is only $29. It might give the screen a refresh?

If you're not tied to SF then other options that look much nicer come to mind. One of my favourite free options is Studio One Prime. That might do everything you need?

An external monitor would be an excellent option, too.

[ef37a]

Thank you Sonics. I really don't do FA these days. I just dropped a clip into SF to see the noise floor (from an SoS bod actually) because the meters extend to -120dBFS and Sam PX6 only goes to neg 90 AFAICT. SF came bundled with the suite. I am NOT spending any more money!

I was just annoyed at how sepulchral the GUI was and wondered if anyone new a way to pimp it up a bit. Now that I have boosted the brightness it is at least tolerable SHOULD I want to use it again.

The bigger screen is indeed a good idea. I used to run a PC into a 40" FSTV and sat just 1.5mtr from it. Bloody great! But changes to my living room arrangements (to get good hi fi stereo) mean that is no longer practical because I am too far from the screen. Mind you, until the fuel price **** hit the fan I was thinking of treating myself to a 50" telly for Christmas!

Dave.

[Mike_EH]

Can anyone tell me why Vintage Channel VC64 will not run on Sony Soundforge Pro 11 32bit? It opens in Sounforge but when I try to use it, it says that VC64 will not run under this host.

[James Perrett]

As I understand it, VC64 was bundled with older versions of Cakewalk Sonar and presumably won't work under any other host. It is no longer bundled with Cakewalk as the developer is no longer around so I would suggest finding an alternative.

[Mike_EH]

Thanks. I just assumed that as it was a VST plug-in, Soundforge would be happy to enable it.

[Wonks]

It was basically a reskinned version of the Kjaerhus Golden Channel, included with Cakewalk under license from Kjaerhus.

As the Kjaerhus Golden series sold between $70-$125 when they came out in around 2004, and the version of Golden Channel they provided to Cakewalk would have probably only made then $2-$3 per copy (or less), I’m sure there was some code added that tied VC64 to running just on Cakewalk.

[N i g e l]

that makes sense as there are several of the older "paid for" cakewalk DXi/VSTs that are heavily integrated into the main code. Rolands V-Vocal is an example that has tied me in. As Roland are no longer associated with cakewalk, that isnt included in the Cakewalk by Bandlab download but the main program will still support the hooks into the old plugins.

[Mike_EH]

Thanks for the info.