I have delved into the world of the touch screen monitor. While I like the things that it can do, it seems Sonar can't do many things other DAWs are doing readily. I'd love to be able to draw in/edit automation by hand, midi editing, clip manipulation - basically all the stuff you'd think you could. I pray these things come to fruition soon, because I will not go back now that I've tried touch. Can anyone shed light on this for me? Thanks much, Shep
 
I found this as of May 2015 in Sound on Sound - 'The one place where it gets a little weird is the Track view. You can move the loop points in the timeline, you can zoom beautifully either horizontally or vertically by using the pinch gesture — but that’s it. You can’t touch any of the clips, you can’t drag them or select them, you can’t use any of the tools, you can’t edit automation or draw in any parameters: none of the mouse actions can be performed with a finger. This is weird, because in any other DAW I’ve tried, you can manipulate everything in the track/project/session/arrange view with a single finger — and they’re not multi–touch enabled.' I'd love to hear from the powers that be what the plans for this implementation are.

Sonar has been the only DAW that I've ever used, so I have nothing to compare it to.
Do these other DAWs that allow the single finger edit manipulation also allow the multi touch navigation gestures?
 
I wonder if it's a trade-off. I can imagine touching the screen with 2 fingers for a pinch gesture to zoom in or out and having 2 clips getting moved to were your fingers end up on the screen.
 
Also, working with touch, how difficult is it to draw automation and line clips up accurately with your finger? I have a hard enough time getting precise fader movements. 
 
 
 

Studio One 3 does for sure. I watched a vid where Steven Slate worked with every facet of a mix I mentioned above with ease. Including automation draws. Start at 2:15 or so to see the editing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yENYeLWkMLE&index=1&list=RDyENYeLWkMLE
 
I LOVE my SPLAT (since S5), but just one day with touch (even outside of DAW)  and I cannot accept less than the full enchilada - I won't go back. I don't want hardware, I want more work space. My monitor is my mixer now. Come on, Cake - you can do it!

Interesting. I tried using "Windows touch" on SOP's mastering page (I don't use it for multitracking), and found it cumbersome. Remember that Slate is not demoing with something like an off-the-shelf Planar, but with a custom controller. 
 
I don't know what the future of touch is for SONAR, but I do think the point mentioned above about how to accommodate multi-touch is crucial.
 
I use touch for SONAR in conjunction with a mouse - touch for grand gestures and navigation, mouse for detail work. The big advantage for me of working this way is two-handed operation, with one of them being able to do multi-touch gestures.

Thanks for your input, Craig. I have the MTi2 now. In one day I find that it is definitely for me. Seeing the incredible amount of editing that can easily be done, I am chomping at the bit for Sonar to bring itself to the 'touch table' if you will, at the highest level. My Win 10 touch works very well with the Raven. No calibration or setup - perfect plug and play. Unfortunately it leaves me longing for more. And multi touch is one thing - single touch to copy/paste clips, draw automation, etc is even more important imo.
 
This vid shows much more detail, including midi. He also speaks to what he sees as limitations in SOP.
https://www.youtube.com/w...RDyENYeLWkMLE&inde

I have a laptop that is also a tablet with touch. It comes with a stylus and woks very well for drawing in automation. Ones finger is really a very poor and imprecise means to do that sort of thing. The act of placing your finger on the screen obscures the point you want to control.

jshep0102
,...but just one day with touch (even outside of DAW)  and I cannot accept less than the full enchilada - I won't go back.

 
I thought I felt the same about touch screens when I first got one. 12 months on and I couldn't tell you when I last actually touched it - too clunky for me. I much prefer a trackball + hardware controller combination, with tablet controller for remote mixing. For my money touch technology has found its niche on small screen devices like tablets/surfaces - at least for now.
 
Horses for courses:)

Be judicious of where/how you touch SPLAT and that you have consent. This could come back to haunt you.

I've tried Photoshop on a touch screen and the iOS apps related to it as well.

You can draw, but the accuracy is poor to hopeless. A finger is too big, has too large a touch area and to make things worse covers up the exact bit of the screen you need to see most. Drawing a line or curve when you can't see the cursor is far from easy.

An inexpensive graphics tablet+pen like a Wacom Bamboo set in "mouse emulation mode" does a much better job in Photoshop (and Sonar).

One point worth mentioning to those who haven't had a chance to work with touch is that with SONAR's knobs and faders, your finger does not have to cover what you're moving. Once you touch a fader, you can slide your finger to the right or left, and still manipulate the control by dragging up and down. With knobs, you can slide your finger up or down, and manipulate the control by moving from side to side. This also works when touching several knobs or faders.
 
I agree that detailed work with touch is frustrating. Touch is great for turning things on and off, swiping, pinching, and scrolling; it's also good with faders and controls to a lesser extent, depending on the touch surface jitter. For detailed work, I still use a mouse and for speed, keyboard equivalents. However, learning how to use all three fluidly can definitely speed up workflow.