Before I install Sonar X1 - advice please

Based solely on my experience I'd wait to install X1 till the X1b update is out.

People's experiences have been mixed; from working fine, to not working at all. there have been reports that for some it has even made their S8.5.3 not work properly anymore. just a few hours of readin gthe forum will tell you that no release has ever caused so much dissent and consternation in the ranks. Not to mention bitter arguments between those for whom it works fine and those who have problmes from the acknowledged bugs to massive crashing.

there's lots of dicussion about moving to alternate DAWs or at least staying with S8.5.3 and adding further DAWs to complement it. There's a lot of compettion in the market at the moment and many are questioning where cakewalk is going or maybe where is Roland pushing SONAR.

I'm afraid there's a lot to consider. I reckon they may get it right after a few more updates but as for me I'm steering clear after devoting 5 weeks fulltime trying to make it work and learning how to use it. The learning how to use it is the least of my concerns bit there's no doubt that for those who have been using SONAR a long time there is a steeper than usual learning curve due to the change in GUI. But that would be the case with any DAW that yoou might change to as well.

Hope that's at least given you some insights.

seriously; youj've waited this long then I'd continue to sit on the sidelines and watch developments knowing that when you do install X1 it will more likely be a more complete and stable version than is currently available.

As to the Dim Pro and Beatscape issues. i stopped using Cakewalk synths and FX quite a while ago and so can't offer you any reliable advice.

vinny199


Wow, that bad!

 
Vinny: There will be many that argue "no, it isn't that bad"! Mike was fair in saying "some have problems, some don't". It's been a tough ride for many.
 
I've been on the positive side of the fence, but if you use Sonar for income even I would recommend holding off until the next patch. If it is nothing more than hobby/project studio - rolling the dice may not be as big a deal!

I can only say from my experience, I would go ahead and load it up just to be getting experience with the new interface. I already had loaded all the synths when I installed 8.5. So,the Dim Pro update was already upgraded in 8.5. When I installed X1 I did NOT install the software synths included other than the Sound Center and Studio Instruments. I am happy to say, other than the Audiosnap issues, I have had great results. I jumped back and forth between 8.5 and X1 with ease. I just scanned what I already had in 8.5 as far as plugs and synths. No Problems. I have even had great results with 32 bit plugs running in BitBridge that were not supposed to work otherwise. By jumping back and forth, loading older projects in 8.5 to X1, I would simply load older projects and start looking at the changes in the workflow. Where options moved to, etc. I have to say I did load the X1a patch. I may have been just dumb lucky but I have had very few issues, other than Audiosnap.
     I, finally, took on my first X1 session that I posted about in another thread. I was under the gun with clients breathing down my neck. X1 worked flawlessly. The client, whom I have worked with very closely over several years, even commented about how fast we worked and the stunning audio quality. Pro Channel is a wonder in itself.
     I would not be put off by a lot of the complaining on the forum. I had issues myself with the changes, but, those changes have in my opinion, made Sonar a faster and easier software to work with. I can't say it will be as easy for you.
     Remember, if you already upgraded Dim Pro to 1.5 DO NOT load the version with X1. Just scan your 8.5 folders. Go ahead and load X1 and only X1, once it is loaded, load older 8.5 projects just to play around with X1. You can always load it back in 8.5 as long as you don't save it as an x1 project. I,too,am patiently waiting for X1b but at least I know how to use X1 when the patch is released. Good Luck!

I must add to NOT use the Guitar Rig 4 that came with X1. Go to the Native Instruments page and download the free GTR Rig 4 from there. It is the same thing as the one with X1 but it works.

Yeah there's a lot of 'kind of getting people worried' on the forum.

I'm not sure when that will stop as it's the nature of forums to point out the problems, but if you wait until you see no problems posted here, or that no one has had their 8.5 affected, it could be a long wait..

Let us know what you decide.

EDIT : Removed - Double Post

HumbleNoise


Yeah there's a lot of 'kind of getting people worried' on the forum.

I'm not sure when that will stop as it's the nature of forums to point out the problems, but if you wait until you see no problems posted here, or that no one has had their 8.5 affected, it could be a long wait..

Let us know what you decide.

I guess it'll stop when X1b comes out and makes SONAR more stable across the user base than it is now.
 
Actually I thought I gave a very balanced perspective of what's happening on the forum right now as well as some good advice. ie That having waited this long why not wait just a little longer for X1b as we expect it will address many of the problems folks are experiencing. I mean after all its not like Cakewalk haven't acknowledged the problems. Goodness sake it virtually came out with a patch all ready to go and that patch even broke a few more things.
So as to 'kind of getting people worried', people should realize that there are potential problems with this release that a few weeks wait could easily minimize or avoid altogether.
 
Notice I'm not being negative on SONAR X1 just realistic about the release so far and the prospects for the issues being resolved.

Two words.

Disk Image.

Best,

:) Indeed.

Its crucial with any PC that you protect your interest. A simple install can create havok on your system, regardless of careful thinking. Its a reset button that everyone should have access too.

Best,

Thanks Chris,

Amazing the beatscape issue is still not addressed.

Anyway, just looking around on the forum how divided people are about X1 working or not, I think Mike has a good point. I've not upgraded yet (not intentianlly, but mainly as I've been away a lot), so why not wait another couple of weeks or so for the new patch? I'll do it then. Makes sense. upgrading is not a matter of extreme urgency. I've bought the groove 3 video tutorials and I'm watching this in the meantime, so I'll be reasonably familiar with X1 when I upgrade.

I've been upgrading Sonar since version 5, on / near release date everytime and i don't recall so much uncertainty about the stability of the new version as now. yes there's always bugs, but here, people report some pretty drastic things.

Sure, alternative hard drives etc. but really, I never did that for the previous versions, and they ran side by side hapilly, so my mind is made up, I'll just wait a little longer. It seems Cakealk have rushed it a bit too much this time. It's ok, they meant well I'm sure.

Vinny

Yes, I don't understand it either Chris, but I'll go on record as saying that X1 totally trashed my flawlessly working 8.5.3 setup and I had to uninstall BOTH and reinstall 8.5.3 just to get back to square one.

***WARNING****

I don't know if it was anything I did iniside Acronis, but I went though the routine of making a disc image (which was successfully restored) back when I knew I had problems, and it seems there are a couple of things that do not revert to their previous settings. One of which is the Windows registry, which still contained references to X1 even after uninstalling X1 and restoring the image.

kubalibre


Advice? Wait six to eight months for X1e or switch host.

Advising a user or prospective user to switch to a competitor's DAW is not acceptable on our forums. Please keep this in mind when posting.

Ok, thanks Seth.

I wasn't trying to get some fighting going (although it is entertaining).

Good news about beatscape / rex on windows 7 64.

It is just that I've read a few posts saying recoding your perfromance seems to be some kind of a problem. So, I never installed it on 8.5.3, but if it is all sorted, I'll give it a go this time.

Is there an estimated date for that much anticipated X1b patch?

Cheers,

Vinny

I have never had problems with Acronis before, so that is quite shocking. It seems impossible for an image of the hard disc to restore contents that did not exist at the time of the creation of image. The only other possibility is that you did not clone the drive in your image, but copied selected aspects of the drive. There is a setup page in Acronis that allows you to select the contents you wish to reside on the disc image. Perhaps you deselected the registry?
 
At any rate I use Paragon Hard Disk Suite now. Not because of any dissatifaction with Acronis, but because it was preinstalled by ADK in my DAW computer. It actually allows me to choose just the OS partition (since I have a dual boot system) if I want, which of course would include the registry. A full disc image does require a bit of space, so I keep an external SATA drive connected to the computer, and save the image to it. I do have confidence in it, though I have yet to restore from the image, because things work fairly well here.
 
Paul