Do you have your dongle???

Digi_Snax wrote: I have recently started recording some music again and have consequently found that my Cubase SX program will unfortunately no longer open. I get this error message when I try to load it...

Anybody have any suggestions for how I can overcome this problem?

I have a suggestion. Buy your software. :shock:

What's a dongle?

As to buying it, I only use it to mix a few pre-recorded tracks every few years, and edit out some sound interference, so that I can eventually have some tracks that sound professional enough for me and the 2 or 3 other people who will ever hear them to somewhat enjoy.

It seems kind of silly to me to spend hundreds of dollars on a program for this purpose.

But I don't want to get into a debate about dl'ing software. If you don't want to help me because I dl'ed the program then fine, but if anybody could help me out I'd appreciate it.

Yeah, your on the wrong forum to ask questions about illegal software. Whether you realize it or not, it is WAY wrong. Get legit with your software and then ask away.

Cubase Essentials is $99-$150 depending on where you go. Sonar home studio is about the same. So are Tracktion 3 project bundle, Logic Express, Acid Music Studio and Samplitude SE(most of these are under $99). For that matter you can buy Reaper for $35! Get a grip. Save your money and stop making lame excuses. You've just lost all credibility. If any one of your projects should happen to gain any financial ground, I hope the SIIA comes knocking at your door with a hefty fine.

I've never considered for a moment trying to make any money from any musical projects I do. I only do it very occasionally as a hobby, and share my tracks with 2 or 3 other people. I record everything with Audacity, which is legitimately free, and had been using Cubase merely to edit out the little bit of interference I get when I punch in and out with the mic, as well as aligning different parts of the track. The only reason I don't do all this with Audacity is because when I delete part of a track or try to place something somewhere on the track it won't stay where I want it to.

If anybody can tell me of any free programs where I can carry out these simple tasks properly I would be quite happy to delete my Cubase program. Or even if anybody could tell me how to do it with Audacity. Whenever I delete part of a track in it, the remaining track moves forward to fill in the part I deleted, rather then just staying where it was. Likewise if I try pasting some audio part way through the track, it will just move to the start of the track. I imagine there must be some way around this, but I'm not good with all this stuff. I just enjoy recording, not all the fiddly stuff. But I do want my tracks to sound decent.

Basically all I need to be able to do is highlight parts of my track, and be able to drag them exactly where I want to, and have them stay there. That would pretty much mark the end of my troubles and need for another program.

http://www.kreatives.org

You'll get used to it. Use Audacity for finer control and Kristal to fix stuff.

(or use Audacity's volume envelope and set it low - zoom in lots)

I can walk you through the necessary editing in Kristal if you want.
Overview:
- Scissor tool.
- Cut in the middle of the bit you want to cut out.
- Slide each end using the square at the bottom
- Adjust the fade in/out using the triangle in the middle.

Also, sometimes if you are playing and the peaks in your tracks don't seem to line up with what you're hearing, stop playback, move the cursor back in time a little, and play again.

Not to sound daft but does anyone still use SX if it's not pirated?

Everyone who hasn't upgraded yet. There are plenty of reasons not to upgrade.