Cakewalk Next Has Arrived! Here Are My Early Impressions

After announcing Next and Sonar earlier this year, Cakewalk has finally released the beta version of its newest DAW.

I’ve been a Cakewalk user for over 10 years now. I started with Sonar X3, and have been using Cakewalk by Bandlab as my primary DAW since it launched in 2018. So I’ve been very excited to get my hands on Next to see what’s been cooking.

Now that I’ve had a chance to spend some quality time with the new DAW, I’ve got some thoughts.

What is Cakewalk Next?

Cakewalk Next is a brand-new cross-platform DAW built by Cakewalk and Bandlab. It’s made to be accessible for beginners who are new to music production, while also offering some tools that satisfy veteran producers. It also connects with Bandlab’s online platform, letting you publish tracks, access their sound library, and continue working on projects on your phone or web browser.

Next more or less feels like a desktop version of Bandlab’s online DAW. If you’re familiar with Bandlab, you’ll be very comfortable working in Next.

Access the Public Beta

As of this writing, Next is in the public beta. You can download it directly from the Cakewalk Next website.

Getting Started with Cakewalk Next

Once you start up Next, you’ll see a Quick Start menu with several options:

• Create — Start a new project from scratch, or choose from any premade templates.
• Recent — Open a recent project.
• Online Library — Download and open a Bandlab project from your online account.
• Demo Projects —  Open some pre-made projects for inspiration.

From there, you can record audio with your microphone, browse loops and samples from Bandlab, use the built-in instruments and effects, or do just about anything you’d expect from a full-fledged DAW.

Instruments, Sounds, and Effects

Wondering whether you can make banger tracks or not? Wonder no more! 

Cakewalk Next has no shortage of built-in instruments, sounds, and FX. It gives you everything you need to start writing new tracks.

Instruments

In total, there are over 360 built-in instruments. All of them come from Bandlab. And they’re all organized by tags, making it easy to find the exact sound you need.

Here are the default tags and the number of included instruments:

• 808s: 17
• Brass: 15
• Drum Kits: 34
• Drum Pads: 39
• Electric Basses: 11
• Guitars: 18
• Keyboards: 12
• Leads: 34
• Organs: 12
• Pads: 30
• Percussion: 16
• Pianos: 11
• Strings: 36
• Synth Basses: 45
• Synth Keyboards: 27
• Voices: 8
• Winds: 9

Keep in mind that some instruments fall into multiple categories, which skews the count a bit over 360.

XSampler & Pad Controller

Next includes a few basic samplers

• Xsampler — Lets you upload any audio sample to create a simple instrument. You can customize the sound with envelope controls, a filter, pitch shift, and more.
• Pad Controller — A 16-pad sampler for creating drum kits, grooves, and more. Upload sounds directly into each pad.

Bandlab Loop Browser

Cakewalk Next also gives you direct access to Bandlab samples from within the DAW. From there, you can browse from thousands of sample packs, loops, and one-shots. You’ll need an internet connection to use this feature though.

Effects

Next comes with over 45 built-in effects plugins. Again, these are ported over from Bandlab.

• Amp & Cab Simulations: 4
• Delays: 2
• Distortions: 12
• Dynamics & Compressors: 8
• Modulation & FX: 10
• Reverbs: 3
• EQs & Tone Filters: 3
• Other Plugins: 3

They all have simplistic designs, and most don’t have It’s everything you need to make great-sounding tracks from the get-go. 

Things I Like About Cakewalk Next

I’ve tried many DAWs over the years, including Pro Tools, Logic, and the original Cakewalk by Bandlab. While I prefer having the advanced functions of those other DAWs, I’m impressed with what Next has to offer.

For one, it’s incredibly beginner-friendly. It’s usable right out of the box, and you don’t have to install any 3rd-party plugins to make decent tracks.

And as someone who suffers from chronic “plugin acquisition syndrome”, I love all the instruments and effects that come with it.

Other things I like:

• Built-in loop browser makes finding additional sounds easy.
• Integration with Bandlab — you can save your project to the cloud, work on it from your phone or browser, then do finishing touches on your desktop again.
• Simple and clean GUI makes finding things easy.

Things That Could Be Better

As nice as Next is, there are some bug fixes and quality-of-life features I’d like to see added down the road:

Mixing console view

I feel like this is a standard feature that every DAW should have. At the moment, you can only mix your songs using the track view, which feels very clunky.

Built-in file browser

This would be ideal for accessing and managing loops, instruments, and sounds stored locally on your hard drive. As it works right now, you have to exit the DAW and open up your computer’s file browser to do this.

Adding favorites to the loop browser

The built-in loop browser is a wonderful addition. But Bandlab has so many sounds, and there’s no way to save your favorites natively within the DAW. Being able to add favorites would be a godsend, especially if you don’t want to open the Bandlab assistant or clutter your hard drive with files you don’t need.

Fix the glitchy sampler 

XSampler is a pretty handy tool for creating instruments from scratch. But at least for me, it starts glitching really badly when I start editing the sounds.

• Samples don’t play properly
• Sounds keep playing, even after releasing the note
• Pitch bend doesn’t return to the root note
• XSampler causes Cakewalk Next to crash

For me, it’s been the most problematic aspect of the DAW so far.

Update the GUI for effects plugins

This is extreme nitpicking, but I find it kind of strange that none of the built-in effects plugins have any sort of unique GUI. Just plain old dials without any personality.

They’re all the same effects from Bandlab, so you’d think they’d also port over the graphic elements. 

Not a dealbreaker. Just something odd I wanted to point out.

Is Cakewalk Next Worth Your Time?

I was certainly surprised by how much I like this DAW. At the moment, I’d say Cakewalk Next is a really competent DAW that’s easy for beginners to use and understand without much fuss.

Right off the bat, it gives you all the tools you need to record audio and create awesome-sounding music. And it’s free to use (at least during this open beta). So take advantage of it while you can!

That said, it’s nowhere near as robust as the original Cakewalk/Sonar or other comparable DAWs. So unless you’re attracted to Next’s exclusive instruments and sounds, you should stick with your other tools for creating music.