1. Switched from Pro-Tools / M-Audio / Sony Vegas to Sonar.

2. Sonar with the Calkwalk inteface has good Windows 7 64-bit support. I refuse to downgrade my PC to 32-bit or XP just because the other vendors are too busy playing with their Macs to write a PC driver.  So to be real blunt, I use Sonar / Cakewalk because of driver support. Great job supporting 64-bit machines and Windows 7!!

Well - I am fairly new to this whole sound editing stuff, but I must say it is amazing how fast you get used to it

I owned a Yamaha mono synth some 20 years ago, and made some (admitted primitive) sound with it that some weird people even called music (No - I never found out what they where smoking to get in that utterly crazy mindset, but it must have been REALLY strong).

Anyway - at the beginning of 2009 I finally made the decision to give it another try. I got myself a E-MU Xboard49 and found out I got a lot of software with it.  To start with I got the Proteus X2 softsynth with several (6!) CD's filled with sound banks. I also got some sequencing/music editing software like Ableton, Cubase and Sonar. At first I tried Ableton Live, but found the software was not my "piece of cake". Next I tried Cubase. Now that was a whole lot better. I got enthousiastic and ordered Cubase essential 5.

At first I liked Cubase a lot, but after some time I found the software was not as fitting in my ideas of a smooth workflow as I had anticipated. I could not place the finger at the "rough" spots, but in general the software was defenately not doing the things I hoped it should do.

At that time I realised my on-board sound card was not exactly up to par, and ordered an E-Mu 0404 PCI sound card. This card came with another set of software, and I noticed there was a version of Sonar LE on one of the discs. I tried the software, and came to the conclusion this piece of software was far more fitting my ideas of a smooth workflow. One thing missing however was a good soft synth. I could use the Proteus X2, but a lot of tutorials for Sonar where based on the TTS1 that was not included in LE

At that time I got hold on some still sealed package of Sonar Home Studio 6 XL. It was from a supply from a old store that had gone out of buisiness so I got the software for a "nice" price. I really liked it a lot, and when I compared Sonar to Cubase 5 essential the Sonar package came out as a winner. I was surprised. If you take in concideration the Cubase 5 package was newer than HS 6 XL it was even more amazing.

Well - I took the deceision to dump the Cubase package (I could unregistrate the key and resell the package without too much loss), added some money and ordered Sonar 8.5 studio. I think it was one of the best deceisions I made. I got this package just a few weeks ago, but allready feel very comfortable with it. The stuff included with "8.5 studio" is great, and I am still exploring everything. The (pdf) reference guide included gave me the answers on the all questions I had, so until now no need to ask anything here on this site.

I already know I defenately want to upgrade to the full Sonar 8.5 producer package as soon as I have the money to do so (and that wont take too long as the upgrade is less expensive then I had anticipated - Thank you Cakewalk).

So there it is. I started with Cubase, but I am now fully converted to Sonar....

Dear all,
I switched to Sonar around mid / end 2008. I used it at first to do some recording , but more and more I'm getting into it....and it's great!! On the (this) forum I contacted several times with questions and my collegue users always helped me out. Now I got an advise from one of the Sonar users ( Don) to upgrade to 8.5 --- so... I listened and followed his advise!! Let me tell all of you one thing: I ordered the 8.5 last tuesday...AND I already got my software through door-to-door delivery TODAY!!
 
How much better can it get!!! WOW I was already impressed by the way the software works for me BUT I'm even more impressed by the way Cakewalk delivers what they promise.
I'm from Holland... and I live in a nice country...( at least that's what I hear from other people....
 
But there are a lot of companies in my country that cannot deliver my ordered materials within the time Cakewalk needed to process and deliver my order from US to Holland. We have a saying here:
Chapeau !!!!!! ( it's French language for : I'll take my hat of....compliments!!!!!!).
Thanks again Cakewalk for being as professional as you are ( again).... it makes me feel good to be able to trust a company that delivers the materials that at their turn enable me to perform my job  better!!
 
Thanxxxx
 
Loek

I started on Cakewalk 3.4 in the early 90's!

Last year I decided to check out ProTools 7.1 M-Powered as a possible additional tool in the bag. I got so annoyed at all the features that are just not there, such as no OMF file support etc, that I just realised how user-friendly Sonar actually is.

Running 8.5 PE on a professional basis and very happy thanks!

Ludwig bouwer
One Big Room Studios
www.onebigroom.co.za 

Hello from Scotland!
 
Sonar Vs Cubase!
 
Hello from Scotland,
 
Over the last few years i have went from Ejay to Reason to FL Studio then it was crunch time - where do i go next Sonar or Cubase .
 
As i would describe myself as the Hobby - ist music maker i was pondering on the thought of spending £400.00 of my hard earned cash along with another sum for a new PC. Then when i was able to justify the expense to my soul i then started to read up on what each were about , downloaded LE versions and played about.
 
What stole the show was the marketing behind sonar - i.e. made by Musicians for Musicians . Watched a few videos on You Tube regarding what i can do with the software and then decided to buy it !
 
 
When it arrived i sat patiently watching all the goodies being delivered to my harddrive.
 
Then got started the sounds, the choices the flexibility WOW - i still have not scratched the surface on what i can do with Sonar 8.5 Producer but thats why i pirchased it - keep me busy!
 
On a not so high note - the day after i had purachased it i got a email saying buy our products with this discount code and you can get 20% off - hmm, i thought typical - but as the marketing describes made by musicians for musicians i thought i would email customer service to see if there were any deals or freebies i could obtain as it was in with 24 hours to then receive an email saying you can download "cakewalk"fx free - giving the fact i had just purchased the flag ship products the fx although good for free were already bundles into pack. As i do work in the customer service / sales industry i do know offers will pop up now and again , but given the time scales i thought something could have been done to reimburce or promo code for any future purchase.
 
Not being huffy - then decided to upgrade to rapture (amazing synth) at 69 then got a email saying buy it at 35 and then i purchased SWA HD Sonar 8.5 to download it for it not to play ( i have contaced them with no reply) i then downloaded SWA video Sonar 8 for it to work - so as you can read i am determined to learn and create with your product(s) but i do feel that the amount of extra cash i have spent i.e. the difference on the HPPY discount and the discount on rapture i could have spent on other Sonar/Partner products. So i am assumuing the person at the end of my email to customer service is not a laid back Musician - as i did not want to go down the route of cancelling the product to then re order.
 
On the positive side - i am now 30 seconds into my 1st tune made on Sonar and will continue to produce with the product as it is FAB its just the customer service and the reailty of losing pounds to buy more goodies!
 
Thanks,
 
Chris
 
runarecordings@hotmail.co.uk

Quite simple, really: 64bit support that really works!

I've been an avid Cubase user for many years, presently working on 5.1.2. The future is 64 bit, and after nothing but problems with plugins on Cubase 64 bit, Sonar 8.5 on both Vista 64 bit and Win7 64 bit is just flawless. Projects with 32 bit plugs just load up and work, without a lot of drama. The Sonar 32-64 bit bridging solution is well done; Cubase's is a disaster!

A close second would be the whole dongle thing. I regularly work in my work studio and my home studio, and live in fear that I'll lose the dongle, or break it with the constant inserting and removal that I do daily. Not an issue with Sonar.

I've been using Logic 5.5 since apple took Emagic. Been busy studying fiction writing ... but ready to get back into music. Didn't want to go to apple for several reasons but really didn't know what existed for PC. Did some research and tried the Sonar 8 demo and got excited. Now I got 8.5 and am looking forward to a summer of learning and creation.

update ... after spending a day I'm totally loving Sonar, why oh why did I wait this long?! I was afraid it wouldn't be intuitive, but it all makes sense so far, everything hooked up without a fuss, fx, instruments, content, etc. is great/amazing. The only thing lacking in software is my brain, time to hit the theory books again.

Thank you Cakewalk! Sonar is just what I needed.

xoxo,

Mapinduzi

I started with Music Creator 2002 (a Cakewalk product) in 2003 and bought Dimension Pro later on.  I then bought Sonar 6 Producer a couple of years ago.  Almost all of my work is software synth and I really got Music Creator only because it was bundled with Edirol Orchestral-HQ (an absolutely wonderful product, the likes of which has never been duplicated to my knowledge).  Just last month, Cakewalk offered an upgrade deal on Sonar 8.5 Producer so I bought it for my new AMD Windows 7-64 computer that I use mostly for CGI.  But after all the work I did with Music Creator with mostly the Edirol Orchestral-HQ (love the product!) I was disappointed that Edirol discontinued it and I may never get a 64-bit version because it is no longer produced.  Because my work uses Orchestral HQ so heavily, I doubt that I will be using Sonar 8.5 any time soon appreciably because Cakewalk doesn't make any software synths that come even close the the quality and usability of the Edirol Orch-HQ product.  I have spent some time with Dimension Pro but I find it to only be a specialty synth that is only used now and then for a special purpose because it is more trouble to use (as with all of the other Cakewalk synths I have).  Cakewalk synths were designed for hardware sound guys used to hardware sound boxes and were not designed for modern computer people who don't come with the background and baggage that dedicated hardware box people have.  So the Edirol Orchestral HQ was and will continue to be my workhorse when it comes to rendering my compositions into audible sound.   Let me add that I do not have, and probably will never have, any MIDI hardware.  I am a computer guy and the keyboard I use says QWERTY on the keys.  I score most all my music and only add sound effects where needed so audio tracks only rarely get used in my music.  Where I do use audio tracks is for recording narrations that I use to produce industrial training videos. 

Let me say that, even though most of the sounds that come out of the VSC that comes with Sonar sound cheap and cheasy, it does have a few good ones like the steel drums, and the pan pipe and a few others.  But the strings are horrible and that is where GPO could be used.  However, Edirol Orchestral HQ is much easier to use and accounts for up 90% of my orchestration.  My only complaints with that product are: 1) EO-HQ is limited to 16 channels (Dimension Pro is limited to 4 but you can instantiate another one-a minor pain), 2) EO-HQ requires me to put the disk back in every couple of weeks, and most of all 3) EO-HQ was not ported to Windows 7 and has been discontinued.  Looks like my old XP system with only a P4 will become my dedicated DAW and my new system will likely only be used for computer modelling/animation and video editing (visual stuff).  Too bad.  I was hoping to do some surround sound.  But without Edirol Orchestral-HQ, what's the point? 
 
SO CAKEWALK MARKETING, IF YOU ARE READING THIS:  PLEASE BRING BACK Edirol Orchestral-HQ! I don't care what you want to call it.  It is better than any of the synths you have (by far)! 
 

Well I have been d king around with guitar tracks pro 3 and sonar le and studio 6 for a couple of years and Had a hard time getting everything to work the way I wanted it. (Plugins, Midi, Axiom61,toneport, pod farm and what not.) By the time I got everything set up and sounding. I didnt want to play anymore.

So I said screw it and bought 8.5. Just installed it and wham. Playing within 5 minutes, maybe 10. I know that 80% of the stuff packed in here i will never use but man its fun when it works. Also I haven't checked my midi controller yet but Im looking forward to giving ACT another try.

1 more thing
Wsup everybody this is RonnyStrings

home studio timeline:

reels, then cassette, then took a break for years...

bought Sonar 3 @ Lentine's Music in 2003- used it flawlessly up to 2009

bought Sonar 6 @ Ebay in 2009
Don't stop now... Surf's Up

I changed to Sonar 8.5 Producer because I have around 100 songs I wrote to keep track of.  I was keeping track of them with a Roland VS-880, a Roland XP-80 and an Alesis SR-16 drum machine.  In order to be able to 'play' music, there was too much preparation necessary (changing to different drives and songs) to have fun.  For me, it had become somewhat of a hassle.

I read a lot of what other people had to say about all the DAW's and thought Sonar would be the best value and that I should purchase 8.5 Producer for the sound library and a few other things.

acousticvillage

I dislike the fact that there are certain things my old sequencer could do ten years ago that Sonar cannot do. For example, Logic 4 had a brilliant tool called "De-Mix Note/Channel". If you had, say a drum pattern on one sequence (clip), you could "demix" this clip by note, and end up with the kicks on one track, snare on another, hi-hats on another, etc. Really useful for further editing.

Hey Acousticvillage,
 
Actually, this is a little esoteric, but this particular MIDI edit you would like to do has been possible since Cakewalk Professional in the early 90s through a feature called CAL (Cakewalk Application Language).  CAL made it possible for power users to create scripts for our sequencer to add features that were not already built into the application.

Essentially you select your MIDI track, then click Process, at the bottom of the choices there are triangles to show more choices, one of them is Run CAL.  All you then need to do is select the proper CAL script There are a wide variety of functions that are available.  SONAR does not ship with CAL Scripts, anymore but it is still functional and there are a wide variety available to download from the web.

You can find the one you are looking for here:

ftp://ftp.cakewalk.com/pub/CAL/Split Notes to Tracks CAL.zip 
 
Hope that helps.
 
Best regards,
Carl

I changed from REASON to SONAR, i unistalled everything to use SONAR, installed SONAR - but when trying to run it i get a FATAL error.  :(:(:(

Hey Sonar Users!

My name is hue. I go by hueseph on most forums. I was turned on to Sonar by the administrator of recording.org where I co-moderate  the DAW pro audio forum.  Recently I was fortunate enough to acquire Sonar Producer 8.5 via a blog contest. I hope to be blogging on the basic set up and recording, editing, and mixdown of audio and midi on that forum.

I am a former Cubase user and still have and am running a copy of ProTools LE running on my computer. I'm a metal head, jazz fan, classical hack, folkie and generally am a rock and roll oriented kind of musician.

Some may have had a bad experience with me because I don't like to mince words. I tell it like I see it. I don't give false praise but I try to give credit where credit is due. That is who I am in a nutshell.

I'm here to learn as much as I can. Don't chastise me for being a NEWB!  :P  I'll do my best not to irritate anyone. Hopefully, it will be a good experience!

This is the best I've got right now. Yeah it's hackery at it's best. Testing 1 2 3

Dear Marketing....thanks so much for your reply. I didn't really realise what CAL was about. This sounds fantastic.
Well....given what you've said, I don't think I have any more on my Wish List.
 
Thanks a million...what a brilliant forum.
Jim