Audacity vrs Sonar

welcome to the forum
 
yes, audacity is free for a reason, it will get you the basics, but sonar is a professional, intricate digital audio system.
it can do things to the vocal before recording them, like D'essing, compression,exc. thing audacity doesn't have.
try and wrap your head around it by watching you tube videos.

A small correction: You can't do anything to the audio before the recording in SONAR. SONAR always records only the dry signal. So the basic things in Audacity and SONAR are exactly the same: You arm the track and record. After that you have all the time in the world to play with compression and such. If you want, you put Input Echo on to hear the FX in real time, but you don't need to worry about detailed settings, 'cause the FX will not be recorded.

E.I.T.S


I have watched a lot of those videos. Seems like Compression and EQ are the main triggers behind everything. I took notes on how to preset stuff for recording like compression and EQ for Sonar so I am currently doing the homework. I need to go through the actual tutorials from the book but overall I thought that Audacity was easier to use for a beginner.
I guess you have answered the question...By using pre-sets for vocals it will make a difference in terms of the pops, essses, compression, etc and thus produce better quality no?

no,  what I should have said is is has more effects to do these same things after you record the signal.
kalle is right, records totally dry.

E.I.T.S


I do vocals only. No instruments...I do lyrics over instrumentals already made (beats).
In terms of quality I realize that mastering takes years of practice. What I am asking is can I record my vocals and just my vocals in Audacity and then mix them with my Sonar 8 program? In other words...is there really a big difference recording vocals on Sonar vrs Audacity in terms of quality? Audacity is a lot easier to use for me personally when it comes to just recording the vocals. With Sonar just getting to the point to record is very complicated. Strictly for vocals (rap) is it going to make a huge difference? This assuming I actually already have a decent voice.

I would say that if you recorded your vocals with Sonar's "Vocal Strip" enabled, you would drop the Audacity program. It is simple really, you just need to learn the basic way to get your vocal going through the Sonar program. Learn how to add one of the Effects (Vocal Strip) to the track you are recording on. Then you can listen to yourself through the mic while running through the many presets that are on that plugin. And I think there are some rap ones in there. It easily makes you sound commercial with a single preset.

Mixer has EQ strips for each channel, just play with them but do not overuse them

when it comes to compression: 
there is life without I can tell you. I use it as composition tool, not to fix the mix.

E.I.T.S


If I could up-load a song I did I would but as of right now my sonar only exports in Wave. I haven't bought the mp3 converter yet.

No need to buy one, there are free ones out there that will do the job - CD-Ex for example. Also, if you use soundcloud as your host, you can just upload the wav anyway.
 
Also, once you have found a set-up for your vocal that works for you, save it as a track template and then next time out just insert your template and you're all set.

Paulo's got the idea.
export it as a wave file.
go here https://soundcloud.com/
open up a free account, you can upload .WAV files to soundcloud.
you don't even need cd.ex for soundcloud.
it will end up looking like this:
https://soundcloud.com/charlie-roy/jack-it-up

that's my account, you can make yours here, then you can do stuff like post it directly to your facebook page like you do with you tube videos.

do it up man !!!

then go to our song forum and post it in there so we can hear it.
the song forum is where everyone posts there material.
a lot of us use soundcloud, matter of fact x2 has a new feature called "export to soundcloud.
all you have to do is just mix it directly to soundcloud.
some of us also use soundclick:
http://www.soundclick.com/

as well as reverb nation:
http://www.reverbnation.com/

ive shown you where to go, now its up to you  :)

E.I.T.S


GOT IT! Hell yeah...It sounds good already! I just need to figure out the volume settings at this point. Really need to upgrade my speakers as well. Vocal Strip, Compression can all be pre-set. It wasn't too bad to figure out. Thanks for the tips.
Any tips of compression setting? I read that compression has to be done according to the beat you are using...Is that something I just have to trial and error?
What about EQ preset? Or should that be done afterwards? Soooo many questions man....Oh well I got time.

Most FX should be done afterwards. Don't get carried away by the FX during the recording phase, just focus on good takes. A little reverb and compression in your headphone mix may help to achieve a better performance, but IMO there's no use using CPU heavy FX like Vocal Strip during tracking, because the FX won't be recorded anyway, and it may happen you get crackles in the recording.

And remember, that SONAR has nothing to do with the recording level, it's defined by you soundcard settings only.

paulo

E.I.T.S

... my sonar only exports in Wave. I haven't bought the mp3 converter yet.

No need to buy one, there are free ones out there that will do the job... 

...including Audacity.

Sonar  8 hasn't been for sale for a long time. So it's like this, I can only guess that you would buy $500 software, put it on a shelf for 5 years and then try and use it. It's VERY well documented all over the internet that you HAVE to use a proper audio interface for recording with any DAW software. Sorry if you don't have the cash to do this, but even with all the new technology it cost money to do this as a hobby. 
This list is non Pro gear (hobby type prices).  
Software $ 100 - $ 500 
Audio Interface $ 150- $ 600  
Mike- $ 100- $ 300  
Headphones $ 25 - $ 150 
Studio monitors $ 200 - $ 500 
New Computer that works for DAW $ 600- $ 1,500 

So even the lowest prices will set you back $ 1,000
You can shave some off by - Buying used, Borrowing, Borrowing without consent. 

Sorry,
I don't know crap about computers (but imma learn)...
Its a
Dell Windows Vista
model: Inspiron 518
Processor: Pentium
Memory: 4 GB
64 bit

I'm using the standard Realtek soundcard but it looks like that may be the problem, according to what I have read. Realtek soundcards just don't cut with this program, so i'll upgrade if necessary.
Driver mode....the profile i'm currently using is the MME mode....I also have WDM, and Asio at my disposal but the soundcard doesn't fully pick up all the info on the Asio mode, so that is why i'm going with MME mode.
It's obvious that i'm a beginner...but it seems like the soundcard is the problem.