I'll start off by saying this is not a thread about what's better, looking for some advice from some more experienced people.

I have been getting very into music production and engineering, I have both tried and as reaper and sonar just to get a feel for them both, I think they are both amazing DAW's.

Now what I am asking is I have a little abit of money a month for a subscription. Would you guys recommend going with sonar subscription and use the plug ins that sonar give you access to or the other option is go with reaper and go for the slate everything bundle.

Open to any information or advice on what to choose and everyone thoughts on how sonar plugins go against slate.

The daw of choice isn't so much an issue but just best value for money mainly.

Thanks.

If you are just getting into music production, I would use what comes with the DAW of your choice for a while. You will be in a far better place to judge what you need once you are really familiar with what is bundled. I don't know Reaper, but Sonar has an amazing array of plugins to keep you going for a long time.

One idea for your extra monthly cash - get a subscription to Groove 3 and learn the tools you already have.

Thanks for the quick reply,

Yeh, I understand that, how would you say sonar plugins compare to say other third party plug ins?

I'm more amazed at the amount that's available, with sonar you get console emulators, tape, the l-phase multi and eq aswell as the large amount of virtual instruments, even addictive drums.

I guess in a way I like the idea of getting more bang for your buck. Is this normal for higher prices daw's or are sonar just great in that you get your money worths.

Thanks.

mzagas
Thanks for the quick reply,

Yeh, I understand that, how would you say sonar plugins compare to say other third party plug ins?

I'm more amazed at the amount that's available, with sonar you get console emulators, tape, the l-phase multi and eq aswell as the large amount of virtual instruments, even addictive drums.

I guess in a way I like the idea of getting more bang for your buck. Is this normal for higher prices daw's or are sonar just great in that you get your money worths.

Thanks.

Starting with what's included is always a good idea.  Get familiar with how plugins operate,
and how they effect the sound.  This is always a good starting point.

Most High End DAW's give you plenty to work with.  But I think Sonar excels here, especially 
all that you get with Platinum, which is certainly the "most bang for your buck".

This is just my opinion, but I think Slate plugins sound a bit better than the ones included in SONAR.  But, as Larry said in the above post, see what's available in both packages to compare the "Bang for Buck" factor.  However, I would offer this as a caveat: just because one package offers more plugins than the other doesn't make it the best deal.  In my experience I've found that of the 10 zillion plugins I own I probably use about 15 regularly, so I would encourage to you decide what you need, plugins wise, and then see which package fits your needs. 
 
Good luck with your music!

Sonar Professional will probably end up costing about the same as Reaper plus the Slate Everything bundle.
 
One difference is that with Sonar, after paying for one year, you own a permanent license for the software.  And you get some good plugins.  Good opportunity to decide what you need.
 
With the Slate deal, you have to keep your membership active.  The plus here is that you do have access to everything, as well as some mixing course video tutorials in the Pro Session Course.
 
IMHO, Sonar plus Slate would be cool!

Hi mzagas,
 
You haven't said anything about your level of experience, your background, etc. nor have you said anything about how you plan to use the tools nor anything about the genre(s) you plan to work in.  Similarly to what jude77 said, your particular "biggest bang for the buck" could easily be completely different than someone else's.
 
If you are a programmer with spare time, for example, then building your own stuff should obtain you the biggest bang for the buck but could also be horribly inefficient.  If you're not a programmer or don't have spare time, this isn't even conceivable as an option.
 
If you plan to perform, then you don't need many if any synths.  If you are into EDM, you'll almost certainly want to have a lot of them if not a couple of very powerful ones, the choice between these two options depending on how you like to work.
 
There are so incredibly many options that it's impossible for anyone to give you a good answer with any real assurance.  Also, you may very well have narrowed down your choices prematurely, but that's also impossible to know without information about your background and goals.
 
If you've just decided to jump in and try a bunch of stuff out, then I would say just get a copy of Computer Music Magazine with a DVD and you'd have a lot of pretty good stuff for almost nothing.  Download evaluation copies of several DAWs and have at it.  Save your extra cash until you really know what you want, otherwise you might well regret having spent so much with so little to show for it.
 
Good luck,
Dave Clark
 

I recommend learning to use what comes with a DAW before buying additional tools. Can you hear the difference between something like the Quad EQ on its various settings? Can you hear the difference between different EQs? Can you hear the difference between different compressors? If not then there is no need to buy another variation. 
 

An experienced engineer may own far more plugins than are humanly necessary and thus may actually not be the best person to tell you what you need.
 
 

bapu

An experienced engineer may own far more plugins than are humanly necessary and thus may actually not be the best person to tell you what you need.
 
 

Great advice!!