Something New !!

jwh


Hi,
I've just ordered X2 and I'm really looking forward to it, I was thinking about a secondary DAW
Sonar is the first, and at present, the only DAW I have, I started with Producer 8.5, then on to X1 
but I'm looking for something with a good workflow for writing more electronic / dance type music
the obvious ones are, Reason and FL, I was just looking for some opinions, remembering Sonar took me 
on a very steep learning curve, so I'm looking for something that's fairly easy to learn.

Thanks
John

jwh

bobguitkillerleft


Hi Danny!
Iv'e been wondering for a while now,since your a very accomplished musician,engineer,producer,what are your thoughts on Steinberg's Cubase,and if or what advantages/disadvantages,does it have compared to Sonar?

I apologize,if you don't/haven't used it,it's just I have some aquaintances,who are Cubase afflicted,and they're constantly on at me,that Sonar isn't anywhere the level that Cubase is,so as your a "High Energy" Guitar Player,I'm intrigued what your thoughts are?
Thanks
Bob

         Why don't you communicate with Danny directly, and stop hijacking my thread !!!!!!!!!!




          Cheers

ProjectM


Actually, Sonar X2 has some very capable tools for writing dance music. May I suggest you look into some awesome synths, like the Rob Papen offerings or Nexus?

BUT, having said that, I have always paired up my Sonar with Reason and Ableton Live. I second the suggestion of Reason. I must admit I don't really use it much anymore. I'm on Reason 4 still and that doesn't suppoert 64-bit ReWire. The latest version is not the Reason I want. But there are some great strenghts in there for what you want to do. And the Thor synth is AWESOME!!!

Live is more for samples and loops I'd say, but it's really, really cool too. I'm still on v7 there so I don't ReWire that either. Here's hoping they'll release a 64-bit version of that soon too.

But those two DAWs - and FL Studio - have strengths that make them very different from Sonar so my suggestion is to look into those and see which ones you like

Danny Danzi

bobguitkillerleft


Hi Danny!
Iv'e been wondering for a while now,since your a very accomplished musician,engineer,producer,what are your thoughts on Steinberg's Cubase,and if or what advantages/disadvantages,does it have compared to Sonar?

I apologize,if you don't/haven't used it,it's just I have some aquaintances,who are Cubase afflicted,and they're constantly on at me,that Sonar isn't anywhere the level that Cubase is,so as your a "High Energy" Guitar Player,I'm intrigued what your thoughts are?
Thanks
Bob

Hi Bob,
 
I'm hoping jwh was joking in his reply to you....I sort of took it that way. :) If not, my apologies jwh...but in a sense, Bob (though he directed a question to me) raises a question about another DAW possibility for you, as Cubase is quite good.
 
To be honest Bob, every DAW that I have tried has it's own strengths and weaknesses in different areas. They all do the same things, they just either present them differently or make you re-adjust your work-flow. Or, some are quite easy and make things easier for you but you may find other areas that make things harder on you. So it's really a catch 22.
 
I would say that ANYONE saying that ANYTHING about "not being at the level of <insert DAW name here> when compared to Sonar, may not have ever used Sonar long enough to make a statement like that. And in that being said, that should not include those that have not been able to make it work right on their system.
 
When I first started to use Cubase, I had to completely reconfigure my system to run it correctly. Down to the colors having to be set at 256 years ago. I hated it and had nothing but problems with it. But if I would have abandoned ship at that point just because I couldn't make it work right at the time, it wouldn't have been fair for me to say "Cubase sucks".
 
Having worked all of that out at the time, I found it to be a very good DAW with midi capability that Sonar didn't quite have at the time. I think we have caught up to them, but to this day, I have always felt that Cubase was the midi animal of the DAW world. The latest version has some nice goodies....but they all do the same things really. Look at Reaper...for $60.00, there's nothing remotely close to it in my opinion for that price. That's one powerful little DAW. But, like all the others...it has its strengths and weaknesses.
 
What it comes down to is this. There will be DAWS like Logic....that are extremely powerful, that also have a pretty intense learning curve. One would need to weigh that the options included in a DAW like that would be worth the time to learn where if you used Adobe Audition or even Audacity, one would be up and running creating music in seconds. The DAW you choose is like the guitar you buy that you consider a soul mate. That guitar can be $200 or it can be $2000. If it works for you, is easy to play, sounds great and gives you confidence, that is the guitar for you.
 
The same with a DAW. I have so much confidence in Sonar X1, that there was a time where I would not save often. For how *I* use it, my crashes were minimal to non-existent after the last patch. Now with X2 being new, my left hand is in a constant state of ctrl+s just in case....but it too has been great since the little patch. With Reaper...I have NEVER crashed the latest version no matter how hard I try. Studio 1, the same thing. Cubase...eh...it works well 90% of the time for me, but I barely use it these days. But as much as I can talk good about other DAWS, Sonar is that "Soul mate" for me. I can put out a tune using a Realtek on a stock Dell that sounds like a "better than demo quality" that will be consistent every time.
 
LOL @ "high energy guitarist"! Thanks for that....I needed it this morning. :) To me, it matters not if you can play or can't play nor does it matter what type of guitar player a person may be. These DAW's are going to give back what you put into them. I never once looked at another DAW and felt "hmm, this is much better for guitarists" or "this is better for me because I'm a guitarist" ya know what I mean? You either can get your ideas out, or you can't. If the DAW I'm trying is hindering me from doing so, it's obviously the wrong DAW for me or I need to learn more about it.
 
But Cubase is just another brand of DAW software with other options. Some people like Ford, some like Chevy. They both have great things about them or they wouldn't have lasted as long as they have the same as Sonar, Cubase, Nuendo, Logic, PT etc. I just use what I prefer as well as what works for me consistently and is easy to navigate through while fitting my habits and work flow. Hope that answers your question.
 
Sorry jwh for hi-jacking with an answer.
 
-Danny

Danny Danzi

bobguitkillerleft


Hi Danny!
Iv'e been wondering for a while now,since your a very accomplished musician,engineer,producer,what are your thoughts on Steinberg's Cubase,and if or what advantages/disadvantages,does it have compared to Sonar?

I apologize,if you don't/haven't used it,it's just I have some aquaintances,who are Cubase afflicted,and they're constantly on at me,that Sonar isn't anywhere the level that Cubase is,so as your a "High Energy" Guitar Player,I'm intrigued what your thoughts are?
Thanks
Bob

Hi Bob,
 
I'm hoping jwh was joking in his reply to you....I sort of took it that way. :) If not, my apologies jwh...but in a sense, Bob (though he directed a question to me) raises a question about another DAW possibility for you, as Cubase is quite good.
 
To be honest Bob, every DAW that I have tried has it's own strengths and weaknesses in different areas. They all do the same things, they just either present them differently or make you re-adjust your work-flow. Or, some are quite easy and make things easier for you but you may find other areas that make things harder on you. So it's really a catch 22.
 
I would say that ANYONE saying that ANYTHING about "not being at the level of <insert DAW name here> when compared to Sonar, may not have ever used Sonar long enough to make a statement like that. And in that being said, that should not include those that have not been able to make it work right on their system.
 
When I first started to use Cubase, I had to completely reconfigure my system to run it correctly. Down to the colors having to be set at 256 years ago. I hated it and had nothing but problems with it. But if I would have abandoned ship at that point just because I couldn't make it work right at the time, it wouldn't have been fair for me to say "Cubase sucks".
 
Having worked all of that out at the time, I found it to be a very good DAW with midi capability that Sonar didn't quite have at the time. I think we have caught up to them, but to this day, I have always felt that Cubase was the midi animal of the DAW world. The latest version has some nice goodies....but they all do the same things really. Look at Reaper...for $60.00, there's nothing remotely close to it in my opinion for that price. That's one powerful little DAW. But, like all the others...it has its strengths and weaknesses.
 
What it comes down to is this. There will be DAWS like Logic....that are extremely powerful, that also have a pretty intense learning curve. One would need to weigh that the options included in a DAW like that would be worth the time to learn where if you used Adobe Audition or even Audacity, one would be up and running creating music in seconds. The DAW you choose is like the guitar you buy that you consider a soul mate. That guitar can be $200 or it can be $2000. If it works for you, is easy to play, sounds great and gives you confidence, that is the guitar for you.
 
The same with a DAW. I have so much confidence in Sonar X1, that there was a time where I would not save often. For how *I* use it, my crashes were minimal to non-existent after the last patch. Now with X2 being new, my left hand is in a constant state of ctrl+s just in case....but it too has been great since the little patch. With Reaper...I have NEVER crashed the latest version no matter how hard I try. Studio 1, the same thing. Cubase...eh...it works well 90% of the time for me, but I barely use it these days. But as much as I can talk good about other DAWS, Sonar is that "Soul mate" for me. I can put out a tune using a Realtek on a stock Dell that sounds like a "better than demo quality" that will be consistent every time.
 
LOL @ "high energy guitarist"! Thanks for that....I needed it this morning. :) To me, it matters not if you can play or can't play nor does it matter what type of guitar player a person may be. These DAW's are going to give back what you put into them. I never once looked at another DAW and felt "hmm, this is much better for guitarists" or "this is better for me because I'm a guitarist" ya know what I mean? You either can get your ideas out, or you can't. If the DAW I'm trying is hindering me from doing so, it's obviously the wrong DAW for me or I need to learn more about it.
 
But Cubase is just another brand of DAW software with other options. Some people like Ford, some like Chevy. They both have great things about them or they wouldn't have lasted as long as they have the same as Sonar, Cubase, Nuendo, Logic, PT etc. I just use what I prefer as well as what works for me consistently and is easy to navigate through while fitting my habits and work flow. Hope that answers your question.
 
Sorry jwh for hi-jacking with an answer.
 
-Danny