Been using X1 expanded for a while now...
So, I've been using Sonar X1 Expanded for quite some time now, expanded ever since the first $10 upgrade came out, ya, I can be cheap haha... and I have to say I love it. Sure the change over was rough at first and I got aggrivated. But now all is well with the world. I have grown accustome to Sonar X1 and love it. Win 7 with Sonar X1 @ 64bit is da bomb... I beat the tar out of my comp. I use some cooky free plugins sometimes and the comp some how stays together... with all I put it through LOL. The Frankensteins' Monster of different stuff I use can't kill it. Sometimes it RARELY tells me.. ok, you've gone too far HAHA. BUT Sonar X1 keeps going long after older versions would have crashed. Sonar X1 on a 64bit (with Win 7) platform chugs right through all the crap better than a 4 wheeler chugs through off road... WHOOT!!! Most stable version pretty much nm what I put it through... ever!!! And this conclusion is after LONG TERM use.
I would like the MIDI "Piano Roll View" to be a little more "composer" friendly though. I surely think there is room for improvement there BUT I am NOT complaining... just saying. Also, the few times I do encounter anomallies is when I am using the piano roll view along with Native Instruents. Just sometimes things get wierd. I am sure some of you know what I am referring too. I wish I knew programming... I'd try and figure out what it is and inform the folks at Cakewalk of my findings. But I don't know programming well enough to find the problem let alone come up with a solution haha so all I can say is what I said... when in piano roll view using NI Kontakt 5 things get wierd, like glitchy at times. Audio glicthy. When I close out piano roll view it stops. AND that is when I am doing stuff too, it's not glicthy if I have it open and I am not doing anything. Just when I am writing music and continuously stopping and starting. I am confident it's my E-MU drivers with my 1820m and might go away if I change interfaces so someday I may try that. Sonar X1 would be perfection then!!!
Anyway, if you can't make high quality sounding music with Sonar X1 Expanded then you're doing something wrong, because X1 kicks A++!!
Sonar Platinum
Windows 7 Pro 64bit
Dual Processors - Intel Xeon X5670 - 6 cores/cpu = 12core w/Hyperthreading = 24core
24GB 10600 DDR3 1333 RAM
1110w PSU
Geforce GTS 450
128GB SanDisk SSD OS/C:drive
WD Blue HDrives Sample, Audio, Storage.