Hey guys,
 
I have a friend who has been using Studio One for a long time and has gotten really fluent and efficient with it and gets great results.  He used Sonar (version 8) prior to that, but now has some interest in trying it out again.  He is going to be working with the demo version to give it a test drive.  Any thoughts or considerations any of you can think of that would help him weigh out the options?  Maybe like what's a feature in Sonar that just works really well for your workflow that you think may interest users of other DAW's?
 
Thanks,
 
Donny

If he is local to you, you may want to sit down with him and work though things one-on-one. That way you can walk him through things as he wants to do certain tasks (basic workflows). The feature list would be something to have him read through and see what catches his fancy, then show him how they work. Without that interaction (since he knows another DAW well already), he could possibly get flustered to no end quickly if he just jumps in.
 
 

Show him how useful the Pro Channel can be. I love the prochannel.
Introduce him to the routing capabilities and the new features that have come up in the last 3 or 4 updates.
Sonar has a lot under the hood that's not obvious right away.
 
Studio One has a lot going for it as far as ease of use and workflow. Studio One's core audio engine seems to be coded more effieciently that Sonars at this point in time. (Transport reaction time and overall stability)  It's "audiosnap" type features are coded more efficiently (in my experience) than Sonars. The midi editing workflow and ease of use, while not a powerful as Sonars imo is very easy to manipulate and use. Coupled with the fact that he's already comfortable in Studio One find out what he can't do in Studio One but can do in Sonar. That will be a good thing to focus on.
 
The upcoming Sonar feature that will probably make me not return to Studio One very often will be Ripple editing. Be sure and tell him about that.
 
Drive home the Command Center and monthly updates and give him examples of the progress made in the last 3 or 4 updates. It's really been a stellar accomplishment.
 
 If Cakewalk creates a feature like ripple editing that can stand toe to toe with Studio One's Arranger Track and Scratch Pad we'll never have to "leave the farm". That's pretty huge in my book.
 
I have both Studio One and Sonar Plat. I find myself working in SPat 90 percent of the time but just this week I started a new song that I want to use a feature like Arranger Track and Scratch pad with. I have no choice but to start the project "bones" in Studio One and then export the stems if needed into Splat to finish up.
The ripple editing feature will hopefully close the circle on Sonar's feature set for songwriting and arranging for me personally.
 
Craig
 

I also use both Cakewalk and Presonus. Both great companies and good software.

I track and mix in Sonar, and master in Studio One..Wish we could get a mastering suite in Sonar, then I could quit Studio One..(wishful thinking)..

Studio One doesn't have these, at least:
 

• Screensets
• Mix Recall
• MultiDock
• Inline PRV
• Auto Track Zoom
• Step Sequencer
• Event Inspector
• Track Templates
• Quick Grouping
• Smart Swipe
• Dim Solo
• X-Ray

 
Having said that, it has lots of nice features SONAR doesn't have. I consider both great DAWs.

sounds like one of those... the grass is always greener story's :-)
or studio one has P.O'd me for the last time.
 
I use Sonar because I trust sonar. I've been using it for a very long time.
I've become very familiar with it. DAW jumping is typically avoided for one main reason...The learning curve.
but once one learns a few simple steps / enough to get them started they can venture off on to more things that will appeal to them in many ways.
 
I sat down in a studio a few months back where my friend was running Pro Tools.
I wasn't impressed. I mean I liked some of the features but when I asked him how to do a few things he said, I cant do that in PT.
 
Sonar is becoming not just a better DAW, it's climbing the technology ladder. making updates that appeal to current users of other DAW's as well as old dogs like myself that don't always like learning new tricks. but I have...
and those rewards have been reaped, used and become a new addition to my repertoire.
 
like they say, a carpenter is only as good as the tools he has.
well the same goes for us producers, engineers, musicians. 

Primetime
I track and mix in Sonar, and master in Studio One..Wish we could get a mastering suite in Sonar, then I could quit Studio One..(wishful thinking)..

SONAR has very good mastering plugs included with Platinum. What exactly are you referring to? Of course you can master in SONAR.
 
It has the routing capabilities so you must mean mastering plugins. You can use any third party VST's you want. There have been some recent additions with the new mastering EQ and Multiband as well.
 
I am not sure I understand how SONAR is not sufficient for mastering. I master in it all the time.

You can't do proper Red Book or DDP exports, no track IDs or ISRC numbers... 
 
I do the *audio* part of mastering in SONAR all the time too - it's super powerful and even with the bundled plugs, you're able to get a pretty competitive commercial master. But after that, you're kind of on your own, which is where Studio One really has the upper hand currently.

Many S1 users praise the workflow because of its intuitive interface and drag & drop features.

They succumb to the false assumption, that only S1 has such things and some of them remember to Sonar a decade ago. The truth is, that Sonar's skylight interface is also very intuitive and much more flexible.
 
Regarding mastering, Redbook, DDP exports, CD-text, ISRC etc., check out HOFA's CD-BURN-DDP plugin. It's available as standalone program oder vst/vst3 plugin. With this you can do most mastering steps in Sonar and don't need to switch over to Studio One.
https://hofa-plugins.de/en/plugins/cd-burn-ddp/
 
-Markus