New and Happy Owner of X1

Hi everyone. I recently decided to get back up to speed with the newer technology. I've been running a pretty good, but older 2007 DAW. It handles Sonar 8.5 and Pro Tools pretty well. But the game has changed a good bit so I recently decided to do a full upgrade.
 
I ordered a new DAW from Studio Cat, the Platinum model.  Earlier I had gotten an email from Cakewalk that everything was 20% off. This meant with my other upgrade discount I could get X1 for around $80. That did the trick.
 
So I emailed and then called Jim Roseberry, who has been very helpful to me in the past through patient and self-less emails. I told him what I wanted and I got the Platinum DAW that he builds, and he loaded it up with Sonar X1 and also Pro Tools 9. I've never hidden the fact here or anywhere else that I do really like Pro Tools, and since I already had a paid-for install that I hadn't used, we put it on too. I also got Superior Drummer 2.0 and two additional kits, and I can use my previous EZ Drummer installs and kits on the new machine too. I was in Memphis later and found a copy of Scott Garrigus's SONAR X1 Power! The Comprehensive Guide book and got it to round out my upgraded Cakewalk Studio.
 
I got the new DAW Friday, and although I've had a busy week-end, I've managed to have a little time to look things over. From what I've seen I have to say that the new SONAR X1 is the new workhorse of the industry. Pro Tools has long been the conventional industry standard, and I love Pro Tools, but I'm running them side by side on the same machine, and if I could only have ONE PROGRAM it would be X1. Further, and to be fair, I don't think it's fair to get on-line and diss or bash someone else's product, and I love Pro Tools. But to be honest, X1 just does more.
 
I am really surprised at how advanced and versatile X1 is. And even more impressed that it's advanced in ability but not advanced in complication. It's very intuitive, and I just don't see how anyone couldn't like it, or why anyone would be hesitant to jump on board. This is a FABULOUS program. I had read a lot of negative chatter here concerning X1 and had decided to put it off for a year, until I changed my mind when the discount offer came in. I have no idea what kind of computers some of you are running, but if you have the right machine and if you like Cakewalk programs, then I can't possible see how you wouldn't like X1.
 
I'm not here trying to evangelize anyone to or away from any product, nor am I trying to sell anything for anyone. I'm just here to say I have a new Platinum DAW with X1 and Pro Tools both, and I love it.  Because of some of the posts here I was almost an X1 skeptic, but now that I've actually tried it, I love it.  If you have doubts, gather up your pocket change and just try the upgrade the next time they run a special. If you don't like X1 better than 8.5 then use 8.5. I have both, plus virtually every version of Cakewalk audio recording programs they've had in five years, and also several versions of Pro Tools. They are all good. But I find myself turning on X1 first and spending more time with it than all the rest put together.
 
So, I'm a very satisfied customer that has not experienced any of the negative feedback I've seen here about X1. I love the program, and truly believe that with the right DAW (computer) that X1 would be a delight for anyone to own. It really is that good.
 
Thanks Cakewalk! Thanks Jim Roseberry! Thanks Scott Garrigus!
 
Don

JustGotPaid


Hi everyone. I recently decided to get back up to speed with the newer technology. I've been running a pretty good, but older 2007 DAW. It handles Sonar 8.5 and Pro Tools pretty well. But the game has changed a good bit so I recently decided to do a full upgrade.
 
I ordered a new DAW from Studio Cat, the Platinum model.  Earlier I had gotten an email from Cakewalk that everything was 20% off. This meant with my other upgrade discount I could get X1 for around $80. That did the trick.
 
So I emailed and then called Jim Roseberry, who has been very helpful to me in the past through patient and self-less emails. I told him what I wanted and I got the Platinum DAW that he builds, and he loaded it up with Sonar X1 and also Pro Tools 9. I've never hidden the fact here or anywhere else that I do really like Pro Tools, and since I already had a paid-for install that I hadn't used, we put it on too. I also got Superior Drummer 2.0 and two additional kits, and I can use my previous EZ Drummer installs and kits on the new machine too. I was in Memphis later and found a copy of Scott Garrigus's SONAR X1 Power! The Comprehensive Guide book and got it to round out my upgraded Cakewalk Studio.
 
I got the new DAW Friday, and although I've had a busy week-end, I've managed to have a little time to look things over. From what I've seen I have to say that the new SONAR X1 is the new workhorse of the industry. Pro Tools has long been the conventional industry standard, and I love Pro Tools, but I'm running them side by side on the same machine, and if I could only have ONE PROGRAM it would be X1. Further, and to be fair, I don't think it's fair to get on-line and diss or bash someone else's product, and I love Pro Tools. But to be honest, X1 just does more.
 
I am really surprised at how advanced and versatile X1 is. And even more impressed that it's advanced in ability but not advanced in complication. It's very intuitive, and I just don't see how anyone couldn't like it, or why anyone would be hesitant to jump on board. This is a FABULOUS program. I had read a lot of negative chatter here concerning X1 and had decided to put it off for a year, until I changed my mind when the discount offer came in. I have no idea what kind of computers some of you are running, but if you have the right machine and if you like Cakewalk programs, then I can't possible see how you wouldn't like X1.
 
I'm not here trying to evangelize anyone to or away from any product, nor am I trying to sell anything for anyone. I'm just here to say I have a new Platinum DAW with X1 and Pro Tools both, and I love it.  Because of some of the posts here I was almost an X1 skeptic, but now that I've actually tried it, I love it.  If you have doubts, gather up your pocket change and just try the upgrade the next time they run a special. If you don't like X1 better than 8.5 then use 8.5. I have both, plus virtually every version of Cakewalk audio recording programs they've had in five years, and also several versions of Pro Tools. They are all good. But I find myself turning on X1 first and spending more time with it than all the rest put together.
 
So, I'm a very satisfied customer that has not experienced any of the negative feedback I've seen here about X1. I love the program, and truly believe that with the right DAW (computer) that X1 would be a delight for anyone to own. It really is that good.
 
Thanks Cakewalk! Thanks Jim Roseberry! Thanks Scott Garrigus!
 
Don

Dear Don!
 
I'm glad you like it!
 
Best Regards
Freddie

Cool!
Since I have started X1, I have not opened Protools or gone back to it.

JustGotPaid
Scott Garrigus's SONAR X1 Power! The Comprehensive Guide book and got it to round out my upgraded Cakewalk Studio.

Hey Don,

Thanks very much! I hope you enjoy the book. Sounds like you're having a lot of fun with SONAR X1.

Scott

--
Scott R. Garrigus
* Author of the Cakewalk Sonar and Sony Sound Forge Power book series: http://www.garrigus.com/
* Author of the Cakewalk Sonar ProAudioTutor video tutorial series: http://www.proaudiotutor.com/
* Publisher of the DigiFreq free music technology newsletter: http://www.digifreq.com/digifreq/
* Publisher of the NewTechReview free consumer technology newsletter: http://www.newtechreview.com/newtechreview/

I tend to think Sonar and Pro Tools are similar apps that do similar things,  but are not really the same "tool".  X1 is a way better compositional and creative tool.  PTs is a way better mixing tool.  So if you write music you'll like Sonar way more.  If you mix albums or do audio for video you''l be more of a PTs fan.  

I have been using X1 for around a month now. I had one crash, think it was plugin related. After getting used to the changes I like it way better than 8.5. I think they are on the right track with X1.

I'm glad this is a positive X1 thread!
 
To one of the comments above...I think you just hit C to open the Control Bar. And double click "Console," which is near the bottom left of my screen, to open the Console view. Seems like in PT you toggle back and forth in views by hitting Apple + and in X1 it's Alt 1 and Alt 2. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong. I don't have the machine in front of me. One thing I like much better about X1 is the browser feature that I open on the right side. Just a few clicks and I can find any backing track I want and pull it right in. X1 does this much better than any other program I've seen.
 
As to mixing, X1 wins hands down regarding to plugins and effects.

Six days, no problems, still happy. X1 is excellent.

DS
(Remember...I still have 8.5 working on the old machine. Both are great programs. I think X1 is better though.)

subtlearts


It's running on a new i3-based laptop (Sandy Bridge) - with tempo and time-signature changes all over the place, a decent number of audio tracks, separate click output for the drummer, and a bunch of pretty intensive soft-synth and sampler patches (Absynth, Rapture, Kontakt), all of which I control live with a Kore unit (switching between synth and X1 control, and also doing audio interface duty) and a master keyboard, and it all runs without a hiccup. Pleased I am. 

Sounds cool!

Brandon Ryan [Cakewalk]

subtlearts

It's running on a new i3-based laptop (Sandy Bridge) - with tempo and time-signature changes all over the place, a decent number of audio tracks, separate click output for the drummer, and a bunch of pretty intensive soft-synth and sampler patches (Absynth, Rapture, Kontakt), all of which I control live with a Kore unit (switching between synth and X1 control, and also doing audio interface duty) and a master keyboard, and it all runs without a hiccup. Pleased I am. 

Sounds cool!

You don't know the half of it! I didn't mention that the show is a kind of edgy rock-circus-theatre thing, in an open-air tent/shell, part of an alternative/eco/culture-center here in Berlin, which began as a squat on an old film studio but is now fully solar- and wind-powered, grass-terra roofs, the whole bit. We play a bit of Rammstein, a bit of jazz, a bit of Wiener waltz, a bit of techno, and a Cyndi Lauper tune (Time after Time, with German lyrics, I play mute-trumpet à la Miles). And for some reason the whole thing works and people seem to love it. Who knew?


So maybe that's a kind of 'Oh, the places you'll go' moment for Sonar... it certainly is for me, in any case!

I'll see what I can do. Hard to take pictures of the performance itself, because, well, I'm onstage the whole time. But here's a link to the website for the place itself, and our show is linked at the upper right under the 'today' heading. It's called 'The Lovely Bastards: Circus Remmi Demmi'. 

http://www.ufafabrik.de/en/nav.php

Sadly much of the site has not been translated, so you'll need decent German to get the details - though I guess Google can help with that these days!

Brandon Ryan [Cakewalk
]

I really gotta get back to Berlin sometime. (I haven't been there since I was a kid in 1988.)

It's changed a bit...   - incredible city, still blows my mind after 10 years here.

I can't take all the credit for the genre selection, we kind of put the show together in concert with the 3 'non-musical' artists (a juggler/manipulations guy, a magician/ventriloquist/singer and an impressionist/comedian, though in truth they all do a bit of everything) and their tastes and ideas are at least as much involved as ours (the band, myself plus a drummer and a guitarist, both truly superb musicians). It's really a hoot, I'm happy to be involved - actually I have ended up getting a lot of this kind of work here, it's become something of a specialty. There are worse ways to make a living! This is the first time I've used Sonar directly in a live show however, and again, I'm pleased with how it's performing!