Sonar 7

[kit]

Hey all, I've only posted here a couple of times, and I've just spent the last half hour on here researching Sonar, but there isn't much info to be found. I'm looking at Cubase 4 and Sonar 7. Hit me with what you've got, I'd like to hear your honest opinions.

Kit

[Sacalait]

Cakewalks been into the midi thang since the late '80's. So a huge amount of expertise there. As for an audio app, it's the best I've EVER experienced. You CAN'T go wrong with Sonar 7.

PC

[pianodano]

You won't find much around on 7 but otherwise:

Sonar Users: Let's identify ourselves so we can nework.

How many "Low-Enders" are using Cakewalks Sonar?

Dang, how bout that last address. That's weird.

Danny

[river]

Can't speak for Sonar 7, I'm using S6 Producer. The biggest changes in versions happened from 5 to 6. The new features in 7 were not enough to make me jump for my particular purposes, but I'm extremely happy with S6 and the features/add ons that come bundled with it. Does any other app currently offer a 64 bit audio engine? I'm using 32 bit based on DAW limitations, no regrets. FWIW, I'm more of an audio than MIDI guy.

[doncaparker]

I can't help you compare, because I have never used any recording software other than various versions of Sonar. I currently use Sonar LE, and I'm very happy with it.

You don't have to go all the way up to the top version of Sonar to get a good product (Home Studio is nice, etc.), but make sure to get a relatively current version. Earlier versions had quirks like a metronome that wouldn't make any noise on its own. Pain in the arse.

[kit]

Originally Posted by pianodano

You won't find much around on 7 but otherwise:

Sonar Users: Let's identify ourselves so we can nework.

How many "Low-Enders" are using Cakewalks Sonar?

Dang, how bout that last address. That's weird.

Danny

Thanks bro.................

[casrec]

Hello all, Sonar 7 Producer in my opinion is the most powerful DAW on the market today for any platform. I Have been using Sonar since version 2 and I have never looked Back. The folks at cakewalk have then and since been developing an amazing program. There are so many powerful tools that are just not in other programs and would probably cost you thousands to by these tools separate. Just research and compare yourself. Cubase I don't think can compare to Sonar 7 Producer. The only thing I will say is that Logic 8 might have the upper hand on stock plug-ins like comp's, eq's and reverbs. although cakewalk does have lexicon and a very nice convolution verb in the box. And all the plug-ins in sonar are definitely workable and I use them all the time. I am a proud Sonar 7 Producer x64 user running in Vista Ultimate 64. And this system works great in my middle-end professional recording studio.

P.S would love to talk with other Sonar users and also other small studio owners out there.

[rodreb]

Been with SONAR since version1. Love it!

[henge]

Originally Posted by river

Can't speak for Sonar 7, I'm using S6 Producer. The biggest changes in versions happened from 5 to 6. The new features in 7 were not enough to make me jump for my particular purposes, but I'm extremely happy with S6 and the features/add ons that come bundled with it. Does any other app currently offer a 64 bit audio engine? I'm using 32 bit based on DAW limitations, no regrets. FWIW, I'm more of an audio than MIDI guy.

Reaper is 64 bit.
Hengehttp://www.gearslutz.com/board/images/smilies/ylsmoke.gif

[kojak]

been using cakewalk since pro audio 9 and couldn't be happier...even the stock plugs are pretty damn good. i use the channel strip one quite regularly. truthfully, most of the major platforms all do the same thing now, it's just a question of how you interact with it...while a lot of the other programs focus on making it seem like analog gear (which certainly has its merits, particularly if you're making the jump from analog to DAW), cakewalk is more suited to you if you're already familiar with computers and the way they work.

that being said, making the jump from analog to sonar certainly isn't tough either, it's very intuitive that way. in any case, as a total platform solution, i really dig it. ableton does some snazzy things if you're really into the electronica/dance thing, but overall i'd say sonar is definitely the one.

[derjonas]

hey everyone, a happy new year (still) to u.
Using the search function i found this post about sonar 7. My favourite german audio magazine just tested it and i feel like "switching" my daw in a while now. Cubase sx 3 doesn´t support an internal 64-bit float and an old logic version, that runs on my pc also sounds a bit crapy. Thats what i think, cuz i´ve been working with different daws during the last weeks to compare them. And I found sonar 7 to sound exremely good. It has an internal 64bit-sound engine AND its quite cheaper than cubase 4. Has anyone experienced problems running waves plug ins within sonar 7?
theres is an update out with almost 70MB size... And they fixed a lot of problems, s.o. tld me. well...
Is there ANYTHING BAD that you would mention about sonar 7?

thank you,
Jones

[theblue1]

Originally Posted by river

Can't speak for Sonar 7, I'm using S6 Producer. The biggest changes in versions happened from 5 to 6. The new features in 7 were not enough to make me jump for my particular purposes, but I'm extremely happy with S6 and the features/add ons that come bundled with it. Does any other app currently offer a 64 bit audio engine? I'm using 32 bit based on DAW limitations, no regrets. FWIW, I'm more of an audio than MIDI guy.

Mackie's Tracktion also has a 64 bit engine, in addition to Reaper, mentioned above.


I use Sonar Producer 6 (I've been with CW since I built my first 8 channel DAW around Cakewalk Pro Audio 6 in 1996) and I really like it.

One thing about Sonar's 64 bit engine -- you can use the 32 bit engine for tracking and monitoring your non-destructive edits and then, when it's time to render, you can render using the 64 bit engine!

So, for those of us with modest CPUs, it makes the most of our resources where it counts -- allowing us a lighter CPU-load during production and then using the more resource-hungry 64 bit engine when it counts, for rendering and bounces.

Some folks do seem to prefer the MIDI functionalities in Cubase. I could imagine a better MIDI interface than Sonar 6's -- but I certainly don't know if I'd prefer Cubase's, myself. I haven't personally had a chance to play with the MIDI features in Sonar 7 -- but I understand they did a pretty substantial makeover.


I've never been unhappy with Cakewalk/Sonar but around 2000 I thought I ought to investigate the alternatives, including on the Mac. I decided that CW was, in many ways, the most progressive and overall responsive to their customers. Some features lagged a little from time to time -- some excelled. But while CW put out clockwork upgrades, the other DAWs came out with upgrades spaced years apart and often included so many heavy duty changes that the user communities got tied up in knots. And, frankly, at the time, I thought some of the other UI's were horrible.

Obviously, a lot has changed since then -- Cubase, seems to me, has really improved its user interface and features, the Mac platform finally adopted a modern OS and Apple built an audio/MIDI/plug layer into it, just as Windows 95 had done more than a half decade earlier (and the latest version of Logic does look pretty cool -- if somewhat buggy) -- but nothing I've seen has shaken me out of my relationship with Sonar.

[IzovAge]

Originally Posted by casrec

would love to talk with other Sonar users

Got just the place for that. Cakewalk Forums

[mamm7215]

I got it. There's already a 7.02 patch. Cakewalk listens to it's users and does what it can to fix and improve more than most, I think. Take a trip to the Cubase forums and bathe in the discontent. Not that Sonar's perfect or nobody has questions or issues with it, but the cakewalk forums linked above are excellent for learning and help as well.

[Ethan Winer]

Originally Posted by kit

I'd like to hear your honest opinions.

I love Sonar though I'm still on version 5 because it does all I need.

Sonar excels at features and work flow, but just as important is it's not copy protected. I have a policy of never buying software that needs more than a serial number to register, and so should you.

--Ethan

[Hedorah]

I just switched to sonar 7 about a month ago from Cubase sx3...
I started with one of the early versions of cakewalk as my very first DAW
then I used sonar 6 at my friends place and got hooked on cakewalk products again. I like sonar 7 better than Cubase, Pro Tools anf Logic. It's very intuitive and easy to use so you can stay in a creative mode.

[kit]

Hey guys thanks for the info, you've helped me to make up my mind. I think I'll go get Sonar.

Kit.

[Janesaid2me]

I got sonar 6 PE and its great....ive tried a few other DAW apps and didnt like them as much...i think sonar is the way to go there.

[indravayu]

Originally Posted by rodreb

Been with SONAR since version1. Love it!

Same here. I can't compare it to other DAWs today since I abandoned the competition for Sonar back in the day (and haven't strayed since). I feel very comfortable working in Sonar and am happy with the feature set - the only downside for me (and it's not that big of a deal - I work around it) is that not many professional studios in the NYC area use Sonar or have the OMF plugin for ProTools, so I have to jump through a few hoops to migrate stuff to Sonar on my PC that I record outside of my home studio.

- Chris

[nivek_yoccm]

I (and many others!) find Craig Anderton's Pro Reviews to be a really great resource for learning and learning about Sonar. Check 'em out (reviews of Sonar 5, 6, and 7):

Pro Reviews - Harmony Central Musician Community Forums

[casrec]

Originally Posted by derjonas

hey everyone, a happy new year (still) to u.
Using the search function i found this post about sonar 7. My favourite german audio magazine just tested it and i feel like "switching" my daw in a while now. Cubase sx 3 doesn´t support an internal 64-bit float and an old logic version, that runs on my pc also sounds a bit crapy. Thats what i think, cuz i´ve been working with different daws during the last weeks to compare them. And I found sonar 7 to sound exremely good. It has an internal 64bit-sound engine AND its quite cheaper than cubase 4. Has anyone experienced problems running waves plug ins within sonar 7?
theres is an update out with almost 70MB size... And they fixed a lot of problems, s.o. tld me. well...
Is there ANYTHING BAD that you would mention about sonar 7?

thank you,
Jones

Waves Plugs work in Sonar 7, you just have to load Sonar as a 32bit App. Waves will not work in a 64 bit App, this is a waves issue not a Sonar issue. You will still get all the privileges of a 64bit system... i.e 64bit double precision floating pointing, recording and rendering at 64 bit. So just load you OS as 64bit and Sonar as a 32bit App. Works great! Also Sonar has released two patches which has fixed all the problems that I was having. Which wasn't very many to began with.

[lukejs]

I just thought I'd throw this out there....... I was checking out the Cakewalk forum the other day.... and saw where they are hiring new programmers... and one of the requirements was...... Coding for Mac !!! If they go Mac.... I'm buying a Mac Pro the day I hear of it !!!! You think they'll go dual platform like Cubase ?? Imagine sonar on the new 8 core standard mac pros !!!

[casrec]

Yeah, I think that would be great for Cakewalk's sake...so they can make more money and maybe throw ProTools off there high horse. But I'm happy with my AMD Dual core 5600, w/2 gigs ram running windows "VISTA" Ultimate 64. But that's just me....

[GordZilla]

Using Sonar 6PE

Diggin' it