Sonar Platinum

Sonar has come a long way with the Sonar X line up to the Platinum version. Along the way have won a few rewards for accomplishment. I think that Sonar is one of the best DAWs, if not the best DAW. 
It seems that after all these accomplishments that more people would know about Sonar, but it seems that the message has not been getting out. When I say that I use Sonar as my Daw of choice, they all give me a funny look. They say what kind of Daw is that? Who makes it? 
After all this time you would think that Sonar should be at least up in the top three.
I was wondering what everyone on the forum thinks about that?
Curiosity killed the cat , but here goes.

Amen! Preach it, brother Craig!

ricoskyl
Amen! Preach it, brother Craig!

My basic attitude is I need to get a job done. I don't need an "industry standard," and I don't need a computer with huge profit margins so Apple can cut the knees off the Mac music software industry by selling Logic Pro at a price that's possible only for a company with $800,000,000,000 in the bank.
 
For me time is money and I have to produce quality work, and do so fast. Frankly, all the DAWs out there are very good because this is such a competitive industry. If only one DAW existed - I don't care which one - I'd still get the job done. Studio One, Cubase, Ableton Live, Reason, Samplitude, Mixcraft, Digital Performer, you name it - they're all competent products at the very least, made by people who take pride in their work. And, they have their own "special sauces" that really appeal to some people. They also have to endure the same issues that Cakewalk does, and this is a tough industry. All those companies have my respect. 
 
However, I've used 'em all and I have yet to find software that can handle as wide a range of projects as SONAR, and do so as easily as SONAR does. And that's key...I never know what's next, but I do know SONAR will be able to handle it.

jih64
When the switched to the computer screen to show something or make some adjustments or something, guess what they were using ? yeah that's right Pro Tools, joke joke joke, only joking, it was Sonar X3 Producer. So it's getting around the place.

Hey, well at least it's better than the days when people would advertise their "Pro Tools Studio!" and when the clients were gone, quietly transfer the files over to SONAR for mixing and editing...

I 'm finding out a very interesting thing about SONAR . It really works great at cleaning up some of the musical messes of songs I've made while using other fully featured name brand DAW's ...(both on PC and Mac ...)
Folks I kid you not,
 
Kenny
 
 

Been using Sonar as my sole DAW for years. Started with Home Studio 2002, and am now running Platinum. I can't imagine using something else. I did try Reaper, but didn't like it at all. Most, if not all, of my musical peers use Apple-based DAWs (Logic, Cubase, Reaper etc.), but I love Sonar, warts and all. I find I can just get things done.

I'm a prominent field recorder in my circle. I imagine this true for many of us. Several people I know have bought or upgraded their sonar software just to be able to work with my projects of their bands after I was done.

Some of them got attached.

Many of them just watch as we peer-mix. It sells itself when in the hands of a super user.

That said, when they buy sonar, I don't ship with it. They find themselves without a dedicated engineer who has rack gear and a nice Mic locker.

cowboydan
Sonar has come a long way with the Sonar X line up to the Platinum version. Along the way have won a few rewards for accomplishment. I think that Sonar is one of the best DAWs, if not the best DAW. 
It seems that after all these accomplishments that more people would know about Sonar, but it seems that the message has not been getting out. When I say that I use Sonar as my Daw of choice, they all give me a funny look. They say what kind of Daw is that? Who makes it? 
After all this time you would think that Sonar should be at least up in the top three.
I was wondering what everyone on the forum thinks about that?
Curiosity killed the cat , but here goes.

 
I think that there are some very simple reasons as to why Sonar doesn't have the popularity that some other DAWs have.  The main reason is Sonar's marketing and promotion.  This is not meant to be a criticism of Cakewalks marketing department at all because I'm referring Sonar's free marketing and promotion that comes from it's users.  I know that may sound crazy,  but just bear with me for a moment....
 
If someone were interested in buying a DAW for the first time,  what would they do?  In today's world most people would go online and maybe Google it.  After reading through various websites and reviews they may come to a somewhat informed conclusion and decision,  but when they get tired of reading,  and they may actually want to see their possible choice in action,  they'll probably head over to youtube.   If you were to go to youtube right now,  and search for the term "Sonar"  the first page of search results will be videos about "Sound Navigation and Ranging".  There are a few results about Cakewalk's Sonar,  but most of those results are actually videos that are made by Cakewalk themselves.  There's not much in the way of Sonar users posting videos of them using Sonar.  If you actually do a search for "Cakewalk Sonar" you get a different set of results,  but they are all pretty much tutorials and reviews.   You don't really see any videos of average users having fun making music with Sonar.
 
If you were to do a search on youtube for Ableton Live,  Maschine,  Bitwig, Reason,  or Fruity Loops,  you're going to get a lot of the same tutorials and reviews that you would get in a search for Sonar,  but you'll also see a ton of videos by average bedroom producers and musicians using those products.   This lends itself to new potential users and musicians,  especially young kids.  If a young musician were to go online and see a video of another young kid in his bedroom making music with DAW X,   that kid will identify with that in a way that he won't from seeing a manufacturer's promotional video.  If you really think about it,  when you look at a promotional video from Cakewalk,  it seems as if the video itself is solely focused in on Cakewalk's already loyal fanbase.   
 
That's the main reason why I feel Sonar isn't as popular as it could be or deserves to be.  That's also the reason why I feel as though Cakewalk's fanbase is as loyal as it is.  It's sort of a double edged sword.  

I'm not trying to start an argument,  and I didn't want to offend anybody.  I could be 100% wrong.  This is just my $.02.

Gibson could help in the marketing department.  They have a fair amount of clout.  But if you go to gibson.com, there isn't anything about Sonar anywhere.  About Cakewalk, there's nothing on the front page, you have to go to Products/Pro Audio.  Then all there is, is this confusing text  :
 
Cakewalk is the leading developer of powerful and thoughtfully designed products for the modern musician. These products include award-winning digital audio workstations and innovative virtual instruments.
 
If it's for musicians, put it on the front page with the other instruments.
 
Millions of musicians worldwide—including Grammy® and Emmy®-winning producers, composers, sound designers, and engineers—use Cakewalk products daily to produce audio for the professional music, film, broadcast, and video game industries.
 
Millions ?  Really ?
 

I used to do some session work at a radio station who had a pro tools set up.
 
Their set up was worth 10's of thousands of dollars.
I talked to their engineer a lot and he was like 'You have to get Pro Tools to do anything'
So I assumed that a decent home set up was never going to be affordable.
 
Then one day I went to a friends house to do some recording in his home studio - He had an old version of Sonar  (Was Sonar 2 I think)
 
What we recorded in his basic home studio with a $500 interface and some Behringer V-Amps turned out just as good as anything I had done at the radio station. 
It was a real eye opener.
 
 

I've been a sonar user since sonar 4. I've found during the past decade that any - and pretty much all - the reasons for any mixes I've churned out being substandard are the result of my skillset - not the software.  Upgrading my ad da - and outboard gear has made a signifigant improvement for certain... however - the DAW itself is a wonderful work in progress.
 
Apple Snobbery - after having to log into every stupid device with an itunes password, reset it every three months, authorize clouds... jump through every stupid hoop just to check email, there is no chance I would EVER subject my business or creative musings to that kind of frustrations...  Did anyone else get tons of emails everytime apple updates their os and nothing works on it?  More like Apple Bobbery... Slobbery...?