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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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He can follow any path he chooses, as you can also.
Its your drive and you can do whatever with it you want that makes ya happy.
Just pointing out the caveat that is, indeed, there.
The Ferrari is a wonderful sports car.
Those trying to use a Ferrari for everyday commute through wind and snow, though, might think about a second car.
The man who can afford another Ferrari without breaking the bank may view that differently. He can drive it like he stole the doggone thing this morning...
--Mac
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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For those interested, here is a webpublished ongoing durability test project of SSDs going thru torture-test Write Cycles that supports what Matt is doingand advocating: http://ssdendurancetest.com/ Pitting the Samsung 640 Evo, Intel SSD 520. SanDisk Ultra Plus and Kingston SSDNow V300 against one another. So far, the Kingston has failed, at only 444.9 Write Cycles. Kingston has stated that they are going to replace under warranty. Of the other three, the Samsung and Intel have just crossed the 3,000 cycle upper end recommendation point, the Sandisk has doubled that and is just over 6,000 at the moment.
Is this really normal?
No. The tests preformed here must not be confused with normal use. They are designed to stress SSDs and simulate a really busy environment.
Normal workstation use would be more like 10-20GB written daily.
they also state:
Please note that this unit is heavily stressed and in steady state most of the time.
Which begs the question, how would normal heatup/cooldown cycles, typical of normal use powerup/powerdown, along with the Writes, stress the drives? Likely not in a good way, expansion and contraction testing of other electronics bears that out. Nothing is a single-input problem in my field. I would add the caveat that true testing should not involve a single example from each source. I would like to have multiple examples from each source, side by side under same environment and conditions, enough multiple examples to provide some modicum of statistical substantiation. As any practicing test engineer should. As usual for the intertubes, not. a. real. test. --Mac
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Nov 2013
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I don't think we really know yet about BIAB specifically. The number of files that BIAB updates then closes in the main /BB folder is very small, like 8, but there could be many in other folders if we researched it.
Wally, I have followed the precise advice you received, to put the OS and applications on the SSD, but no data. I have everything amply backed up, so I am willing to chance a drive failure. I run the Trim and diagnostic utility faithfully each week that tells me the SSD is still fine. The speed gain is too much to give up on my aging PC. I am not concerned because I have been building PCs for thirty years and teaching computer science for longer. In that time many hard drives have failed, and none of my new SSDs yet. I am careful where I save files...
I just got off the phone with a design engineer at a major hard drive manufacturer that also produces SSDs. I worked with him for many years designing in our power electronics (Spindle and Voice Coil motor drivers)for hard drives. He agreed that it's best to put your applications (and obviously the OS) on the SSD (faster) as long as files (i.e. music files) that are being written to are on the hard drive. Wally G
Yamaha Montage 6 Roland J80, D50, Integra 7, BK-7m, FR-8X, 1967 Fender Jaguar, Fender Strat, Fender 1965 Twin Reverb reissue, Selmer Trumpet, Akai EWI, Studio One 4 My WEB Site: www.gontowski.com/music
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Sep, yes, that would be easy to do in the future. Glad everything worked out.
An hour ago, I got my new 2014 drive! With the audiophile version, there are so many great files I'm considering doing what you did and running the RealTracks from the new drive from PG Music.
BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Wally, thanks for the info from your friend. Mac, thanks for confirming there is info supporting both views.
I treat every drive as if it will fail soon. When it does, I'm ready. So far, three SSDs are running well and two hard drives of the same vintage have failed (that's on three computers, in case you thought I had a monster machine). I realize this small sample is contrary to what is predicted, but I'm happy with what I have. When the SSD drives do fail, and they will, I will replace them with newer larger ones.
BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Nov 2013
Posts: 58
Enthusiast
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Enthusiast
Joined: Nov 2013
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For those interested, here is a webpublished ongoing durability test project of SSDs going thru torture-test Write Cycles that supports what Matt is doingand advocating: http://ssdendurancetest.com/ Pitting the Samsung 640 Evo, Intel SSD 520. SanDisk Ultra Plus and Kingston SSDNow V300 against one another. So far, the Kingston has failed, at only 444.9 Write Cycles. Kingston has stated that they are going to replace under warranty. Of the other three, the Samsung and Intel have just crossed the 3,000 cycle upper end recommendation point, the Sandisk has doubled that and is just over 6,000 at the moment.
Is this really normal?
No. The tests preformed here must not be confused with normal use. They are designed to stress SSDs and simulate a really busy environment.
Normal workstation use would be more like 10-20GB written daily.
they also state:
Please note that this unit is heavily stressed and in steady state most of the time.
Which begs the question, how would normal heatup/cooldown cycles, typical of normal use powerup/powerdown, along with the Writes, stress the drives? Likely not in a good way, expansion and contraction testing of other electronics bears that out. Nothing is a single-input problem in my field. I would add the caveat that true testing should not involve a single example from each source. I would like to have multiple examples from each source, side by side under same environment and conditions, enough multiple examples to provide some modicum of statistical substantiation. As any practicing test engineer should. As usual for the intertubes, not. a. real. test. --Mac Mac, That's it! You've put the fear of Silicon in me! I'm going to remove my SSD and replace it with a Rotating Hard Drive, and put my operating system there and everything else in my other hard drives.:-) Seriously, if you think about it, if you just put the BiaB application on the SSD, there isn't much writing going on just reading. I'm not a software engineer by profession, but I have written several C programs with about 11K lines of code for GPIB control of my electronic lab test equipment. I need to look at what's in the BiaB hard drive, but I'm assuming the BiaB application program is a .exe file. As far as I know that means it executes commands. You can't write to the .exe file and modify it. I will store samples, music files, etc. on the hard drive. I just got off the phone with another drive designer with one of the largest drive maker on the east coast that I worked with for 18 years. He confirmed that the SSD should contain the OS and your applications for fastest throughput. Just my 2 cents. Wally G
Yamaha Montage 6 Roland J80, D50, Integra 7, BK-7m, FR-8X, 1967 Fender Jaguar, Fender Strat, Fender 1965 Twin Reverb reissue, Selmer Trumpet, Akai EWI, Studio One 4 My WEB Site: www.gontowski.com/music
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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I don't think that leaving in the SSD and even running BiaB from it will likely "kill" the drive outright, its just that you should possibly expect a shortened Mean Lifetime Before Failure due to the extra Write Cycles above what System, etc. would put on a drive in what the computer and OS manufactures consider "normal" or "average" use.
What we crazies that make multitrack music files do with PCs is not considered normal or average by them.
Over the long run, I bet we still make up a fractional percentage out of the total of PC users. The mfrs just aren't likely to cater to that mall of a user group, wouldn't make good business sense.
I'm probably going to install it one day to my shiny new puter with SSD in it, too.
But the caveat is backup, backup, and backup -- mirror to another disk routinely, etc. -- and there are just so many folks who don't seem to keep that going for long like a few of us pro geeks do - and then they will be back to blame one of us for tellin' them it was okay to run that way.
--Mac
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Of course, backup thoroughly.
It has been advertised that an SSD is not degraded by reading, only writing. On my PC, eight files in C:/bb were updated during my session today, in addition of course to the song files on another drive. I rather think the mean time before failure of my SSD at that rate could be longer than the mean time before my failure. I still expect the drive to fail and keep my backups.
BIAB 2025 Win Audiophile. Software: Studio One 7 Pro, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus 192 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Slate VSX, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
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Ask sales and support questions about Band-in-a-Box using natural language.
ChatPG's knowledge base includes the full Band-in-a-Box User Manual and sales information from the website.
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Season's Greetings!
Wishing everyone a happy, healthy holiday season—thanks for being part of our community!
The office will be closed for Christmas Day, but we will be back on Boxing Day (Dec 26th) at 6:00am PST.
Team PG
Band-in-a-Box 2026 Video: The Newly Designed Piano Roll Window
In this video, we explore the updated Piano Roll, complete with a modernized look and exciting new features. You’ll see new filtering options that make it easy to focus on specific note groups, smoother and more intuitive note entry and editing, and enhanced options for zooming, looping, and more.
Watch the video.
You can see all the 2026 videos on our forum!
Band-in-a-Box 2026 Video: AI Stems & Notes - split polyphonic audio into instruments and transcribe
This video demonstrates how to use the new AI-Notes feature together with the AI-Stems splitter, allowing you to select an audio file and have it separated into individual stems while transcribing each one to its own MIDI track. AI-Notes converts polyphonic audio—either full mixes or individual instruments—into MIDI that you can view in notation or play back instantly.
Watch the video.
You can see all the 2026 videos on our forum!
Bonus PAK and 49-PAK for Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®
With your version 2026 for Windows Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, Audiophile Edition or PlusPAK purchase, we'll include a Bonus PAK full of great new Add-ons for FREE! Or upgrade to the 2026 49-PAK for only $49 to receive even more NEW Add-ons including 20 additional RealTracks!
These PAKs are loaded with additional add-ons to supercharge your Band-in-a-Box®!
This Free Bonus PAK includes:
- The 2026 RealCombos Booster PAK:
-For Pro customers, this includes 27 new RealTracks and 23 new RealStyles.
-For MegaPAK customers, this includes 25 new RealTracks and 23 new RealStyles.
-For UltraPAK customers, this includes 12 new RealStyles.
- MIDI Styles Set 92: Look Ma! More MIDI 15: Latin Jazz
- MIDI SuperTracks Set 46: Piano & Organ
- Instrumental Studies Set 24: Groovin' Blues Soloing
- Artist Performance Set 19: Songs with Vocals 9
- Playable RealTracks Set 5
- RealDrums Stems Set 9: Cool Brushes
- SynthMaster Sounds Set 1 (with audio demos)
- Android Band-in-a-Box® App (included)
Looking for more great add-ons, then upgrade to the 2026 49-PAK for just $49 and you'll get:
- 20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums with 20 RealStyle.
- FLAC Files (lossless audio files) for the 20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums
- MIDI Styles Set 93: Look Ma! More MIDI 16: SynthMaster
- MIDI SuperTracks Set 47: More SynthMaster
- Instrumental Studies 25 - Soul Jazz Guitar Soloing
- Artist Performance Set 20: Songs with Vocals 10
- RealDrums Stems Set 10: Groovin' Sticks
- SynthMaster Sounds & Styles Set 2 (sounds & styles with audio demos)
Learn more about the Bonus PAKs for Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®!
Video: New User Interface (GUI)
Join Tobin as he takes you on a tour of the new user interface in Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Windows®! This modern GUI redesign offers a sleek new look with updated toolbars, refreshed windows, and a smoother workflow. The brand-new side toolbar puts track selection, the MultiPicker Library, and other essential tools right at your fingertips. Plus, our upgraded Multi-View lets you layer multiple windows without overlap, giving you a highly flexible workspace. Many windows—including Tracks, Piano Roll, and more—have been redesigned for improved usability and a cleaner, more intuitive interface, and more!
Watch the video.
You can see all the 2026 videos on our forum!
Introducing XPro Styles PAK 10 – Now Available for Windows Band-in-a-Box 2025 and Higher!
We've just released XPro Styles PAK 10 for Windows & Mac Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) with 100 brand new RealStyles, plus 28 RealTracks and RealDrums!
Few things are certain in life: death, taxes, and a brand spankin’ new XPro Styles PAK! In this, the 10th edition of our XPro Styles PAK series, we’ve got 100 styles coming your way! We have the classic 25 styles each from the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres, and rounding out this volume's wildcard slot is 25 styles in the Praise & Worship genre! A wide spanning genre, you can find everything from rock, folk, country, and more underneath its umbrella. The included 28 RealTracks and RealDrums can be used with any Band-in-a-Box® 2026 (and higher) package.
Here’s just a small sampling of what you can look forward to in XPro Styles PAK 10: Soft indie folk worship songs, bumpin’ country boogies, gospel praise breaks, hard rockin’ pop, funky disco grooves, smooth Latin jazz pop, bossa nova fusion, western swing, alternative hip-hop, cool country funk, and much more!
Special offers until December 31st, 2025!
All the XPro Styles PAKs 1 - 10 are on sale for only $29 ea (Reg. $49 ea), or get them all in the XPro Styles PAK Bundle for only $149 (reg. $299)! Order now!
Learn more and listen to demos of XPro Styles PAKs.
Video: XPro Styles PAK 10 Overview & Styles Demos: Watch now!
XPro Styles PAKs require Band-in-a-Box® 2025 or higher and are compatible with ANY package, including the Pro, MegaPAK, UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, and Audiophile Edition.
Introducing Xtra Styles PAK 21 – Now Available for Windows Band-in-a-Box 2025 and Higher!
Xtra Styles PAK 21 for Windows & Mac Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher) is here with 200 brand new RealStyles!
We're excited to bring you our latest Xtra Styles PAK installment—the all new Xtra Styles PAK 21 for Band-in-a-Box version 2025 (and higher)!
Rejoice, one and all, for Xtra Styles PAK 21 for Band-in-a-Box® is here! We’re serving up 200 brand spankin’ new styles to delight your musical taste buds! The first three courses are the classics you’ve come to know and love, including offerings from the rock & pop, jazz, and country genres, but, not to be outdone, this year’s fourth course is bro country! A wide ranging genre, you can find everything from hip-hop, uptempo outlaw country, hard hitting rock, funk, and even electronica, all with that familiar bro country flair. The dinner bell has been rung, pickup up Xtra Styles PAK 21 today!
In this PAK you’ll discover: Energetic folk rock, raucous train beats, fast country boogies, acid jazz grooves, laid-back funky jams, a bevy of breezy jazz waltzes, calm electro funk, indie synth pop, industrial synth metal, and more bro country than could possibly fit in the back of a pickup truck!
Special offers until December 31st, 2025!
All the Xtra Styles PAKs 1 - 21 are on special for only $29 each (reg $49), or get all 21 PAKs for $199 (reg $399)! Order now!
Learn more and listen to demos of the Xtra Styles PAK 21.
Video: Xtra Styles PAK 21 Overview & Styles Demos: Watch now!
Note: The Xtra Styles require the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition of Band-in-a-Box®. (Xtra Styles PAK 21 requires the 2025 or higher UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition. They will not work with the Pro or MegaPAK version because they need the RealTracks from the UltraPAK, UltraPAK+, or Audiophile Edition.
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