Originally posted by SonicDennis:

"After including DAO burning in Vegas 3 and discontinuing CDA4, we heard from a lot of people about how Vegas 3 just wasn't cutting it for the work they used to use and love CDA4 for, and would we please bring back CDA. So, after some time (insert calendar pages flipping by) and hard work (insert more calendar pages flipping by), we came out with the retooled and vastly improved CDA5. Now, you're telling us we should have just shoveled all of that functionality in Vegas? The masses would disagree with you there."

You mean you don't know? Aren't you part of the "masses"?

You don't know what CD architect is, because Sonic Foundry's marketing doesn't know how to market and continue developing requested features with one app and when they run into a road block they just dump the program. CDA 4.0 was discontinued because, they couldn't keep up with the driver support for new CDR drives, although CDA4 also had the ability to use MMC drivers, just the same way CDA5 accomplishes this same task.

They discontinued CD architect for almost 2 years, and then encorporated MOST of it's functionality into Vegas and now relaunch it like they're some kind of savior. Acting like we've been sitting back not getting any CD mastering work done
because it hasn't existed and they blantantly dropped support on prior CDA4 users. Now that's the kind of confidence you can have in buying the NEW CDA 5.0. It's nothing more than a dumbed down Vegas Video copy, with a few extra features that should have been added to Vegas for doing CD track assembly. Buy with confidense.

Reddude - I was maybe one of the the main 'mouths' in favour of re-introducing CDA. I did not want it in Vegas. I would have prefered it in SF than in Vegas, but stand-alone is the best possible scenario for the way I want to work. I have Vegas - all I want to ever do from there (wrt CDS) is a quick single track to CD.

If the original poster cannot understand what CDA5 offers, take a look at the promo stuff, then take a look at pretty much all other CD writing software. Notice anything different about CDA ?

geoff

And Geoff, I don't disagree with wanting to work the way you do. Remember CD architect started off existing within Sound Forge as a menu item. Sound Forge is a stereo editor, so wouldn't it just make logical sense to incorporate a few features within sound forge to accomplish this task? Sound Forge already has a plugin chainer, which is identical to the NEW CDA5.0 one. Now, just add the functionality of a 2nd audio layer option and editing ability, along with the volume envelopes, adding track ID's and walahhh...Everything you could ask for to assemble CD's with all the bells and whistles that sound forge offers. Why would I want a seperate app to assemble the songs, when most of the processing and mastering get's done within Sound Forge? Because I like to take all the extra steps of saving the files and importing them into yet another app? Wouldn't it be a better idea to be able to do simple editing and layering of events within Sound Forge? Also to have the ability to make a processing adjustment (ala normalize,DC offset,reverse audio) when assembling those tracks. Why do I have to have 2 seperate applications to do mastering? Wavelab figured this one out, what's wrong with Sound Forge? Maybe because they would rather sell you 2 apps than one?

Having Vegas, doing this maybe ONLY a preference of MINE. You have your preferences and I have mine. I have done enough mastering jobs, that I like the ability to have a multi-track editor when assemblying tracks, and I am very thankful that Vegas now supports this. I have a large selection of Sound FX CD's (400) and my clients come to me to take advantage of this, because they can assemble their songs in order and then create skits inbetween them if they wish during assembly. I can't do this with YOUR preference way of working. I would have to go create the skit seperately, and mix it in Vegas...then import it into CDA and do additional processing to it to have it match up with the sound of the rest of the tracks being assembled. Then once they take it home, evaluate it for a couple days and decide...hmmmm..maybe I didn't like that ONE sound FX or want it edited differently. Your way, I would have to go back to the mix in VEGAS, make the adjustments and edits. Then go back to CD architect and re-edit that also, by getting rid of the old event and then replacing and re-arrange it with the new event. Now I have to do twice the amount of editing because it's in 2 seperate apps. What a pain in the ass!! If it's within Vegas, I just make the simple edit, and burn the new CD.

If you just have simple assembly and edits of stereo tracks when putting CD's together...then fine, CDA will do the job for you. It won't cut it for me, so give me the rest of the functionality in Vegas that a CD authoring app should have. Don't tell me, we changed our minds because the "masses" want it that way. If that's the case, then I feel proud that my mastering ability and creativity level in mastering is above the masses and will attract more jobs for me. Thank you very much!!!

red

Hey, I liked using the old CD Architect as a plug in from Sound Forge. When I got Sound Forge 6 and it wasn't there I called Sonic Foundry and asked about it. I am glad they came up with a new version although I liked the old version. It would be cool if this were a plugin to Sound Forge 6.

CDA4 was not 'just' a menu item. It was a separate software plugin application that required the presence of SF to host it (albeit presumably just to host the menu item and some basic housekeeping). SF XP (?) was bundled so you didn't *have* to buy the full SF app. Once started, CDA4 had no connection with or similarity to any part of SF 'underneath' it, apart from the output meter display.

I would have preferred it to be stand-alone. I was dissappointed with the decision to downgrage SF5 to TAO and give Vegas DAO facilities. In my mind the reverse would have been more logical. However you have an application for a multitrack (more than stereo) environment, so you are happy with DAO in Vegas, and I'm pleased for you. Now I have CDA5 and I'm pleased for me too. The sort of editing I require needs the functionality of SF, which is equally accessable from CDA5 and Vegas .

geoff.