Hi. I'm putting together a live show that I'm creating in Sonar using songs with multiple audio tracks, a video track for each song, and midi for lighting control. I would love to use Sonar to do it live rather than migrating it to something like Ableton Live, however I have stability concerns with Sonar.
Has anyone at Cakewalk considered created a playback-only version of Sonar? It would still have multiple audio tracks, video playback, midi channels, etc., however it would be designed for use with live digital mixers (in my case, a Behringer X32) being fed via USB from my laptop.
I don't need effects, I don't need record functionality or anything that goes with that. Just something that will allow you to easily import/delete/rearrange tracks for a long-show session. Something that could fire off from the matrix view (for looping intros/outros going into/out of songs) would be amazing. And the ability to rearrange on the fly in case the artist decides to rearrange the set list mid-show.
Would a more stable, stripped-down, playback only version of Sonar be something you guys would consider creating? I understand there used to be something called the Cakewalk Virtual Jukebox. It seems something like that - with multiple audio stream outputs for mixing individual tracks live - might be what I'm talking about. I think it would make Sonar a much more viable consideration for live tours. Thank you.

Back in the DOS days Cakewalk had "Cakewalk Live" that did that very thing. Later they gave us the set list which is 65% stable. I wish they would bring a playback-only utility.

I myself have been dreaming of a simple live playback software app. 
I think we all want the same things. 
Multi audio tracks but doesn't need to be more than 4 -16
Midi for live synths, lighting and effects or mixer scene recall. 
Video is something I never thought of but that would, could have 2 uses. Lyrics or part of a visual backdrop. 
Because lyric display is also something everyone wants. 
On the fly set list editing is critical to me, I'm using Win Amp right now because of it's easy drag and drop playlist. It also can be set to stop after each song plays another important feature I need. 
I also use a USB footswitch to start songs and advance my playlist. 
 
Now Sonar can actually do all this right now and my first plan is to strip down the projects and try a few songs first. My biggest gripe is the playlist is like using a Freeware app and is not very professional. It scares me. 
 

I'd love to see somebody from Gibson/Cakewalk chime in on if this is something they would consider creating. I've found several programs in this category for Mac. However, I would love a PC equivilant, and if it could be made by the company I have relied on for my studio software for the last decade, doubly good!

gbarrett
Back in the DOS days Cakewalk had "Cakewalk Live" that did that very thing. Later they gave us the set list which is 65% stable. I wish they would bring a playback-only utility.

I use the playlist in Cakewalk to run an 8 to 16 track audio backing track and midi to trigger patch changes, mixer scenes and lighting via dmxis at every gig.  I have done this since cakewalk 6. It woks  perfectly 100% of the time.

Yes. Hearing something from the Gibson/Cakewalk people on this issue would be amazing. Especially if they want to compete with Ableton Live (which I have seen many smaller tours using) or Pro Tools (for the large tours).
 
I'm ok with the concept of the playlist for this, however there are two things I really would like:
1. A stand-alone playback software. No bulk. Can be installed on a separate computer (so the band could fire it off, for example)
2. The ability for it to loop parts mid song. So you can have an intro/outro/breakdown that will vamp while the singer babbles over the top of it, then flow smoothly into the next section when they're done. This is where Ableton excels. I suppose a designated loop section could be set up, but would playlist support this? I have not experimented with it enough to know, honestly.
 
Something that can do these to things - stable - for PC would be amazing. Yes, there are several out there for Mac, but nothing for PC. Gibson, you could carve a niche with this!!

Waves just brought out some free live recording software that can probably play back to multi outs as well. It's really stripped and aimed at stability. Not sure if it does midi but do you really need it if it's all playback?

I think this might make marketing sense for Cakewalk.  It's what Adobe did with Acrobat Reader.  Offer it free to promote file exchange and establish more of a defacto standard for the app.  It's likely to generate more business for the full version.
 
 

By not using effects (vsts), you are making Sonar that "more stable, stripped down" version already! (Yes, yes, many third-party vsts are very stable...but some aren't!) We use Sonar live all the time, and besides playing back the projects (with NO effects/vsts), it is sending out midi to hardware, displaying the BIG time, and sometimes we even have the notation view up for cues. On a so-so laptop (with a decent external sound card--super important key to success!). And, just to make it exciting, we DO sometimes have VSTS on the projects. The setup has NEVER cut out on us. (Great, why did I have to say that and jinx myself....now I'm dreading my next gig.)
 
Yeah, some features of playlist are, shall we say, thin. In our case, we've rigged up our own playlist front-end, based on our needs, that feeds stuff to Sonar when we want. So Sonar is very stable for us and works like a champ in a live situation. If ("when") you fill out the feature request, I suggest: be specific. Ask for specific playlist features that you would like to see (which are maybe different from the ones I would like to see--we'll get CW to implement them all-bwah-hah-hah!)

The playlist has worked great for me since x3e until Dorchester. They made some changes that broke it for me. Had to revert back to Cambridge.