New Member question

First off, Hello!
 
I'm new to your community and also new to recording.
 
    I'm concidering purchasing Sonar 8.5 studio because i believe it to be a good first real DAW for me to wrap my head around. I believe guitar center has it for like $299 which is a modest investment for this new hobbie of mine. Im running a 2.1 ghz quad core windows vista 64 machine with 6 GB ram. I will be using a EMU-0404 DA converter and dont have any real monitors yet so i will be using these logitech 5.1 surround sound gaming speakers.
 
What i guess id like to know from anyone who would be so kind as to share, are mistakes you would avoid if you were to start over. Mistakes can be costly and id like to know a lil more of what im about to get my self into.
 
In an ideal situation id like to think, " wow open up this box, install and cut an albulm by Monday!" =) we all know this will not be the case.
 
Anyway, thank in advance.
 
~D~

You can get it online for $199. I'm surprised it's that cheap but I'm looking right at it on musiciansfriend.com . $199.

Thank you for the reply. I do realize the importance of a good pair of monitors, BTW what is a modest set you might recomend? Or better yet, what stats does one look for in a good set?

Chappel


You can get it online for $199. I'm surprised it's that cheap but I'm looking right at it on musiciansfriend.com . $199.

Are you sure that isn't an upgrade price?
 
 

I know but thats what we want to think when we spend some bucks right? I'm excited to get started but i have to admit my inspiration goes downhill fast when stuff doesnt work like it does in my head.

Do yourself a favor and learn the basics. Then learn something new each day or each time you open up sonar. After yuo get it set up and learn how to record tracks, your inspiration wont go downhill. The most common mistake is not learning the basics.
 
Read the getting started section of the manual and the recording section and then the do the tutorials. youlll have to sacrafice a day or 2 or 3 learning the basics.
Cj

I started a long long time ago and was able to grow with the technology. I ran across Cakewalk for DOS many years ago then move to a MIDI notation program then to Professional 8 onto Pro Audio 9 and so on. I read books and bought gear. Some I took back others I kept. I knew what I was about long before I bought the first Sonar. It was a slow and progressive process.  You are getting a program that has a long history in the pro and semi pro DAW world. Don't expect to have this under control soon. Yet I do believe if you apply yourself it will reward you in ways it would be hard for you to imagine now.  Sonar of either version is a deep program and will introduce new concepts that you may never have heard about. Going into this with the understanding that it will take time and effort will serve you well. It is not Sonar that is the problem it is the nature of what you are taking on. If you think you are going to have a instant song created from installing Sonar or any other DAW I think you should rethink your position. Again I do encourage you to dive in but don't get discouraged or give it up at the first roadblock.

We, this forum will back you up. We can be very helpful and get you up and running as long as you are willing to do the work you need to do. The work that each one of us has done and is willing to offer a hand to others when they need it.

I hope you do decide to get Sonar it is a great DAW program. One of the very best.  I hope you read all you can about it and the subject that it is about. Going on twenty years I am still learning.

Yeah, I've got some advice. Save yourself a chunk of money and frustration...go straight to www.reaper.fm/download.php and download the demo before splashin' your cash. 

Cheers,

Max.

I decided to buy a daw for the first time, after having used portastudios for years,and after a lot of research I went straight for the Sonar Producer, as CJ said, you are buying the top of the range, and won't need to upgrade for a very long time, I purchased my Sonar Producer in December, and I am just getting the basics now,try to learn one thing at a time,I was trying to do everything at once, then stood back, took a deep breath, and started learning one thing at a time,rather than just trying to do everything at once,I have posted a lot of questions on this forum and everyone has been really helpful, good luck !!!
 
Cheers
jwh

Do lots of research and determine what your needs are and make sure you distinguish them from your wants. It'd be good to have an idea of an upgrade path or order of purchase too. 

I would say buy things you KNOW you will need and avoid buyers remorse. You don't want to buy something and then never use it.

But that being said there are TONS of things you could buy and somethings you should buy. A set of decent near-field studio monitors would be good.

Also, if you think this is going to be something longer term... if you have the choice between buying something OK at a FAIR price as opposed to something PRETTY GOOD at a higher price.... I'd say it's often pretty good to for higher quality. Otherwise you find you may end up wanting or getting what you passed up further down the road and that mediocre thing you got is now a useless.

That's one of the benefits of buying things piece by piece... getting one nice piece at a time

As a beginner to DAW software, I bought 8.5 Studio in late Jan & after 3 weeks I knew I wanted to upgrade to Producer... (for such things as Dimension Pro & Z3ta+). While I'm waiting for it to arrive I am working through Simon Canns book "Cakewalk systhesizers.... 2nd ed" which is a great resource for getting to grips with all those synth knobs & sliders!!

CJ

9 Posts versus 24,628....

Respect to you sir!!

Chris J. 

Darkside024

daveny5

Nope. That ain't gonna happen. Its a complex program with a ton of features and no matter how good or how smart you are, it will take time to learn. Besides, do you have an album's worth of material all rehearsed and ready to record? 


 

I know but thats what we want to think when we spend some bucks right? I'm excited to get started but i have to admit my inspiration goes downhill fast when stuff doesnt work like it does in my head.

What good is inspiration if you don't know what you're doing? If you don't know enough to get it recorded immediately in SONAR then record it with a portable DAT or Cassette recorder...Then work on it in SONAR once you've learned how to use it. I'm really starting to get annoyed by the "I want it right now before the 'muse' has left me" crowd...That's BS...Many talented artists/writers have, for years, written songs on piano or guitar with portable cassette recorders...Could you walk into a $3000/day full-blown studio and immediately start laying down tracks all by yourself without knowing the equipment?
 
I'm not trying to discourage you, but don't use the "the inspiration goes downhill fast" excuse...SONAR isn't difficult to learn IF you apply the effort...But there isn't a "magic button" that will immediately let you get started...You have to learn the fundamentals and know a little bit about signal chains and such...
 
Apologies if I offended anyone with this post...I meant no disrespect to anybody but facts are what they are...

    No Offense taken "Papa", while i dont consider myself part of the insta gratification crowd, i have however bought many things that did not perform as advertised. So the inspiration you might have had to start a project is instead spent upgrading this, going back to the store for that, computer cant run this because you need to upgrade that etc etc.

In fact the things that are suppose to make life easier and more efficient somehow have a way of making it more complicated and inefficient. 

Which is why im here to get some advice from the pro's... which is one thing i've learned =)

What i guess id like to know from anyone who would be so kind as to share, are mistakes you would avoid if you were to start over.

Biggest mistake: spending too much on gear and software before really knowing a) why I really needed it, b) if I really needed it, b) how much I really needed to spend, and - most important - c) how to properly use all the stuff I already owned.

Biggest epiphany after acquiring more knowledge/experience with digital audio: it's not about the gear at all! If it sucks, it's your fault, not the gear's - and buying more stuff is not going to change that.

+1 x 1,000...

The greatest mic & preamp setup in the world ain't gonna make a bad singer sound good...I had a "friend" (actually an old bar acquaintance, not really a friend) who came into some money a few years back...Bought a Les Paul Studio, a Marshall and some sort of multi-effects box (Zoom, Boss or DigiTech, I don't recall)...He's as tone deaf as a box of rocks and acually thought his $4000 investment would instantly turn him into Clapton or Hendrix with the push of a button...*LOL*