It's not necessary audio drivers, etc. It could just be the way the programmers write the underlying algorithm when taking those zeros and ones and outputting them into sound.
 
I know that the way Sonar is coded is probably completely different than the way Cubase or even Pro tools is coded, so yes, it probably does sound different between different programs.
If Noel, or some other programmer wants to chirp in here on this fact...
 
Of course, I think Sonar is 20-40% better
 
 

I'm with Craig on this one. Panning laws or render dithering would be my starting place when trying to find the difference.

I did an experiment a few years ago comparing the sound of 4 DAW's. I have got a great multitrack session that Roland gave me when I was working for them selling V Studios and it sounds stellar. With no plugins at all you get a stellar mix with just the right balance of fader settings. (This multi is a serious lesson in musicianship and miking techniques!)
 
I compared the sound of Pro Tools, Sonar, Studio One and Logic. I set the fader levels exactly on all four DAW's and pan laws the same and only panned L, C and R. I then rendered out the 4 mixes.
 
There was no difference between any of them. They all sounded identical. In fact so much so you can get a perfect null with any two of them. I also blind tested a room full of engineers and believe me no one was hearing any differences either.
 
The OP is also talking rubbish about Studio One 3 sounding thin. It does not. It sounds fabulous. End of story.
 
Once you start using plugins and things then all bets are off but in summing mode it is really hard to pick any DAW. I am sure Cubase would have tested fine too.
 
If the OP is getting thin poor sounding mixes it could be due to his own lack of experience. The end result in is your hands not the DAW. I teach sound engineering too and use Logic and ProTools a lot in that situation and at home I have got 6 DAW's actually. (Only use one though manily) I am often moving the same material between them (for private teaching purposes) and I am not hearing major differences anywhere.
 

Jeff Evans
I did an experiment a few years ago comparing the sound of 4 DAW's. I have got a great multitrack session that Roland gave me when I was working for them selling V Studios and it sounds stellar. With no plugins at all you get a stellar mix with just the right balance of fader settings. (This multi is a serious lesson in musicianship and miking techniques!)
 
I compared the sound of Pro Tools, Sonar, Studio One and Logic. I set the fader levels exactly on all four DAW's and pan laws the same and only panned L, C and R. I then rendered out the 4 mixes.
 
There was no difference between any of them. They all sounded identical. In fact so much so you can get a perfect null with any two of them. I also blind tested a room full of engineers and believe me no one was hearing any differences either.
 
The OP is also talking rubbish about Studio One 3 sounding thin. It does not. It sounds fabulous. End of story.
 
Once you start using plugins and things then all bets are off but in summing mode it is really hard to pick any DAW. I am sure Cubase would have tested fine too.
 
If the OP is getting thin poor sounding mixes it could be due to his own lack of experience. The end result in is your hands not the DAW. I teach sound engineering too and use Logic and ProTools a lot in that situation and at home I have got 6 DAW's actually. (Only use one though manily) I am often moving the same material between them (for private teaching purposes) and I am not hearing major differences anywhere.
 

Hi Thanks for the reply,
 
So I have done some null tests with no FX on just one instrument and they are not cancelling out. I tried this in Cakewalk, Cubase and Studio One 3. I have checked the Dithering and also the pan laws and Cubase was set the same as Cakewalk and Studio One 3 had slight differences that I altered to bring them to all to the same settings. I also the a test and bypassed the mixing desk and DI box (just incase it was something like a sync issue) but the same results. 
 
Is there anything else I can try. Don't get me wrong I'm not trying to cause and wars between the DAWS at all its I'd just like to know what has caused this issue. I highly doubt a company as big as Steinberg would make such a great program and then miss out on the audio engine so it has to be something wrong at my end. :)
 
Kind Regards
Joe

How far out is the nulling?  If it's very small amount, could it be down to one host reading -3dB (say) on a fader and meaning -3.1, whereas another is -2.9?

As an aside to all this.... as Noel once pointed out, but seems to have given up saying, since hardly anyone seems to want to take his point - there is no "audio engine" in Sonar, or in any of the other DAWs, not in the sense of being something that affects the sonic characteristics of playback.
 
There is audio information, and said information is presented to the audio interface, which then converts it into analogue signal. That's it. A wave at 0db panned centre without processing is the same all over. All else is misunderstanding and confirmation bias.

People don't want to believe in confirmation bias, because you feel a bit silly when you've fallen prey to it and then discovered you were wrong. But nobody should. It's a very powerful cognitive effect. You're not foolish for falling for it; everyone falls for it. And you can't truly understand it until you've been really, really wrong because of it.
 

When I did my tests I set faders to only whole numbers eg -6 db, -9 db etc. No decimal points etc.. Yes I got very close to complete nulls with any two files. There were some artifacts but they were like -60 to -70 db down in level so we all know that is bordering on nonexistent.
 
To make such a radical statement though that Studio One is thin and sounds not good is just silly. I am very particular about how any DAW sounds and if it was that bad I would have ditched it long ago.
 
If I put the OP into a blind test I don't think he would fair that well.
 
It is well known that the differences between DAW's is very minimal if at all audible. In straight summing mode that is. Once you start introducing bundled plug-ins etc then it all changes because then the differences become much more apparent.
 
The OP is not doing the test correctly. If he is hearing noticeable differences and I don't doubt that, there are other factors at play.
 
I hear the sound in my head. I can use any DAW in the world and arrive at it. That is what you should be aiming for.

There are times when the musician is right and the specs are wrong. For example it is entirely possible that different batteries can give different sounds in different effects if there is poor power supply rejection.
 
I once witnessed a heated argument between two musicians about cables. One said "wire is wire" and the other said "cables make a huge difference in sound." I joked "so you play keyboards, and the other guy plays guitar, right?" Turned out that was exactly the case.
 
The odds are highly unlikely that digital audio played back straight through the same converter from different DAWs will sound different. But I won't rule out anything. For example we all know what happens if a DAW is bumping up against latency limits - crackling etc. But what if it's just brushing up against those limits, to the point where the sound is different but not necessarily broken? Granted, when programs processed 16-bit audio just varying the faders enough damaged the sound. That's no longer the case. SONAR's 64-bit audio processing, or the typical DAW of today's 32-bit floating point audio, should be enough to record and reproduce anything an interface can convert.
 
I don't doubt the OP hears a difference but am not sure what mechanism would account for it. It could be something as simple as a subtle level mismatch, or of course, poltergeists.
 

Jeff Evans
When I did my tests I set faders to only whole numbers eg -6 db, -9 db etc. No decimal points etc.. Yes I got very close to complete nulls with any two files. There were some artifacts but they were like -60 to -70 db down in level so we all know that is bordering on nonexistent.
 
To make such a radical statement though that Studio One is thin and sounds not good is just silly. I am very particular about how any DAW sounds and if it was that bad I would have ditched it long ago.
 
If I put the OP into a blind test I don't think he would fair that well.
 
It is well known that the differences between DAW's is very minimal if at all audible. In straight summing mode that is. Once you start introducing bundled plug-ins etc then it all changes because then the differences become much more apparent.
 
The OP is not doing the test correctly. If he is hearing noticeable differences and I don't doubt that, there are other factors at play.
 
I hear the sound in my head. I can use any DAW in the world and arrive at it. That is what you should be aiming for.

Hi,
 
I'm not personally attacking Cubase or Presonus I'm telling you what I hear at my end which means there is something going wrong somewhere and I'm trying to solve the issue. I don't use any FX's at all and We and our Engineer can notice the difference.

I took on board what Noel and JohnT have said about there being "No Audio Engine" (I did try changing the topic heading but It won't let me for some reason) Also I'm not afraid to admit I'm wrong. If it was some setting I have missed I would say straight away as it helps anyone in the future :)
 
We have tried starting from blank projects with nothing loaded so not any chances of it hitting buffer Limits to cause crackling etc just incase and it was the same.

The other factors at play are what we are trying to find.
 
Also KPerry I shall get the details for you :)

Kind Regards
Joe