Sonar X3: First impressions (and concerns)
In June 2013, I purchased Music Creator 6, I later upgraded to Touch. Yesterday, I upgraded to Sonar X3 for $29. The reasons being: 8-synth instrument limit and more synth offerings in Sonar (among other perks).
Now, I have ambitiously studied MC6T over the past year and learned much from the experience, mostly from several users on this Forum. To simplify the creation of new tracks, I found it necessary to create a project template for myself, as follows:
A very nice, clean view of the main tools I use. However, upon creating a new project in Sonar, this is what I was presented with:
Whoa. I felt that overwhelming sense of beginner status all over again. The top menu had been drastically redesigned (but I have removed some of the modules not present in this screenshot). Truthfully, per the MC6T screenshot, I don't want all the extra clutter seen here. It took me a good twenty minutes to declutter and streamline to my liking until I further my skills...which are still very new in this family of software.
I cannot
for the life of me figure out how to create my own Screenset and keep it there. Is there any way to create a new project that loads into a custom ScreenSet so I don't have to endure a screen clean-up process every time? (Otherwise, I continue to use my custom Template file for new projects.)
*** ANSWERED BY BRUNDLEFLY AND SCOOK *** ANOTHER COMPLICATION: PLAYBACK ISSUES The excitement of purchasing the upgrade was there, but I began to think, "Oh, goodness...
what have I done?" At this point, I was so glad I hadn't upgraded to the Studio edition as initially planned.
Noticed severe playback issues with dropped notes. I had this issue with MC6 also, but with Sonar X3, it took me a whole hour to resolve -- adjusting different playback Preferences and finally restarting the application. I finally heard stable playback when I set the Audio-Driver Settings Mixing Latency to "the sweet spot" of Fast (30msec), just as I did in MC6T. Whew...that issue was out of the way.
Then it reported that Studioverb is missing. What/Where are my Sonar X3 Reverb plugins?
*** ANSWERED BY SHELLSTAX *** SONAR X3 ADVANTAGES After spending two hours between Sonar X3 download/installation, declutter, troubleshooting and experimentation, the stress began to settle, allowing me to enjoy the benefits of the upgrade.
No 8-synth instrument limit.
I like the fact that I can color Tracks. This will assist in distinguishing different synths in Track view.
Session Drummer was a welcome addition, offering more drum kits that SI Drum Kits probably cannot produce.
DropZone: Although this synth's program selection hierarchy is a convoluted tree of WAV, SFZ, and PROG's (some with no available audition keys), I am grateful for what it has to offer. I like Roland GrooveSynth, although it appears to be a long-lost brother to General MIDI. Between SoundCenter, TTS and the new VST's, I have more instruments than I know what to do with!
CONCLUSION These are my thoughts on the upgrade from Music Creator 6 Touch to Sonar X3. If anyone has anything to offer that could make the transition easier, please provide those tips and pointers for me. I would greatly appreciate it. I've been a Cakewalk user for ten months. I wish to eventually evolve from learning the software...to actually finishing a song.
Thanks for reading! :)
post edited by Grundberg - 2014/04/22 20:58:06