tylerk82
So I've basically been recording for about 2 months, and been using Audacity, because it was free and simple. Well I decided to pick up Sonar X1 today and give it a try..and it's so confusing. I Just want to be able to mix and master my songs to sound better, and its quite literally impossible for me to learn. I just learned I cant play MP3's, but have to use wave files. But when I import as a wav, the audio sounds absolutely horrible. I do get that its definitely more in depth and gives much more options, which is what I want honestly. But I can't find any guides for beginners or such. I would seriously appreciate some help here

If you're new to recording (and using DAW software), understand that you've got a steep learning curve ahead.
Be patient with yourself... as this is a long journey of learning/discovering.
Recording/editing/mixing/mastering is quite literally a lifetime's study/work.
 
I miss old-school printed manuals.  Reading those cover-to-cover, you could learn/absorb a lot.
 
I'd break things down into smaller (more digestible) "chunks".
Learn "what you need... as you need"... rather than thinking about all available options.
Sonar's Help Menu should get you up-to-speed with the basics.
It may be tedious/boring, but there's a lot of information to absorb.  
Once you've got the basics, you'll absorb the finer details quicker/easier.
 
Novices often get frustrated because their mixes/masters don't (immediately) sound like "records".
Understand that having the gear is but the first step.
As with any skill, it takes many hours to become proficient.
Be patient with yourself... and enjoy the journey.
Know up-front that there are going to be times of frustration...
But... there will also be times of great break-through.
 
I think many of us are drawn to music/recording precisely because it's challenging.
 

Scott Garrigus has written numerous books on using Sonar.
http://www.garrigus.com/powerbooks.asp
 
That would help get you up-to-speed quicker
 

Once you have a strong grasp of the fundamentals, spend time reading Craig Anderton's articles/posts/etc.
Craig is a wealth of information about all things music/recording.
 

If you want to record your music, I suppose you play an instrument.  Think back, how good were you at it after 2 months?  How confusing was the fret board, still?  What you are experiencing is normal.
 
Recording is about a dozen different skills, all that some people get paid good money for knowing.  Tracking - the actual recording part.  Mixing, putting those different lines of music together.  Mastering, a final, hopefully small polish of the mix.  Organizing your room to make it sound more like a studio.  And on and on.  To learn about all those skills, not to mention to get competent at any of them, takes times.  You need to study the basics and then spend more time learning them, since the only way to learn something is to make mistakes (you never learn from doing something right).
 
This isn't to dissuade you, but to council patience.  At least go through the SONAR tutorials, so you know it can work, even if you don't understand how (yet!).
 
@
 
 

Mixing with SONAR https://player.groove3.com/mixing-with-sonar.html contains massive amount of best practice advice and real life examples, quite good (just a bit outdated)

First of all, download the latest demo version. X1 would not be my recommendation for getting started with SONAR, there have been many improvements since then.
 
Second, I like to remind people they're not learning a piece of software, they're learning a complete recording studio that would have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars not that long ago, and be run by an experienced engineer and tape operator. Picking up SONAR is like walking into the Record Plant decades ago and trying to figure out how to make it all work. 
 
That's the bad news :) Now here's the good news.
 
Learning SONAR is like an engine with a manual transmission. 1st gear is really slow and doesn't take you far because you have to take a car that weighs a ton from zero to moving. There's a lot of inertia and gravity to overcome. But once the RPMs are high enough, you can shift into second gear. The engine doesn't work as hard, and now you can go faster. Then you shift into third gear, and it gets even easier - and then you hit overdrive, where you're cruising down the highway at high speeds, maximum fuel efficiency, and an engine that's just purring along.
 
The hardest part is getting started. One you get past first gear, knowledge builds upon knowledge and you learn at an increasingly faster rate. Hang in there.

And by the way, SONAR can accept MP3, WAV, and AIFF files. It a file makes sound, the odds are quite good SONAR will recognize it and if not, the odds are even better it can be imported, even including things like audio CD tracks.

Jim Roseberry
Scott Garrigus has written numerous books on using Sonar.
http://www.garrigus.com/powerbooks.asp
 
That would help get you up-to-speed quicker

Thanks for the shout-out, Jim!
 
Scott

--
Scott R. Garrigus - http://www.garrigus.com
* Author of the Cakewalk Sonar and Sony Sound Forge Power book series: http://garrigus.com/?PowerBooks
* Publisher of the DigiFreq music recording newsletter: http://www.digifreq.com/
* Publisher of the NewTechReview consumer tech newsletter: http://www.newtechreview.com/

Jim Roseberry
Scott Garrigus has written numerous books on using Sonar.
http://www.garrigus.com/powerbooks.asp
 
That would help get you up-to-speed quicker
 

Sonar Power books are great.  If you go through the first several chapters, you'll be well up to speed.

Sonar has a lot of great features but this thread exemplifies what separates it from the rest. You guys rock!!!
 
Rocky