Anderton

Mesh
Beeps, the OP didn't deserve all this effort you put into it. They most likely just get a kick out of all this.......and move on to the next "victim".  

Many times, I write responses not for the OP but for those who might be reading the thread. Other forumites do the same and Beepster is one of them. What he wrote will be helpful to anyone who is considering SONAR, sees the OP, and then finds out the reality of the situation. They will most definitely appreciate his efforts! And they'll also find out what makes these forums so helpful.

Good point Craig.........I failed to think about the others who might beneft from this.......(I was just a bit annoyed with the OP and their kind).
 
Sorry about that Beeps......"go on with your bad self!!"  

Mesh
I was just a bit annoyed with the OP and their kind

Totally understandable. It does seem silly to answer them, but remember for every person who posts there are at least 20-100 who "lurk."

Mesh
Beeps, the OP didn't deserve all this effort you put into it. They most likely just get a kick out of all this.......and move on to the next "victim".  

Not for his/her benefit. It's for those who, like me a few years back, are trying to make an informed decision on what product to purchase. The net is flooded with this kind of crap about Sonar and really it almost steered me in another direction. Thankfully I followed the feeling in my gut and the more accurate reviews instead of the trolls, dullards and malcontents. We seem to be getting inundated with far more of that crap than usual lately so I think it is time to start neutralizing it by posting the truth any time we see someone trying to spread falsehoods.
 
That said... people need to be aware of the facts. I don't think Sonar is for everyone and I know how frustrating it can be to invest in something that just isn't the correct tool for the job. For live musicians, for those looking to compose MIDI (via PRV and step sequencing... NOT notation), for folks who need a robust set of mixing tools and want a natural mixing workflow, for those who want advanced pitch correction (and even timing correction even though that isn't QUITE as easy as other platforms) then Sonar is the way to go.
 
For loopty loopers, for those who want old style insert set ups, for those who want hyper easy and flexible MIDI controller set up, for those who need to take their rig live for backing tracks or performances, for those who have crummy computers/don't have a decent interface, for those who can't be bothered to RTFM and put some effort into learning the program, etc... it may not be the best choice.
 
For me and my needs X3 is brilliant and has saved me a bloody fortune on extra doodads that are imperative to what I need to create. Also it looks like a lot of those limitations are going to start getting resolved too but it will require us, as a community, to do OUR part and put in (and vote for) the requests. With the big money backing of Gibson and all the effort the Bakers seem to be putting into scouring our requests (seriously a huge bulk of things I asked for are in the new Sonar even though I sadly cannot afford to upgrade just yet) I have a very good feeling about the future.

No need for an apology, Mesh. I get it and I normally wouldn't feed a troll but there seems to be a concerted effort to flood the site with this crap lately. Just felt like counteracting it today.
 
Craig nailed it... and much more succinctly than I did in my follow up. lol
 
Cheers, guys.
 

Well, though probably a troll, there are a few nuggets worth considering in their post.
 
First, their mention of the White Screen of Death (WSOD). I've had SONAR hang on me in that state, and that dreaded "do I wait forever or try and click one more time" anxiety when the "Not Responding" come up in the title bar. At that point a few things become knowns: everything since your last save is gone, you better hope when you fire this back up the project file isn't corrupted, and like he points out, crap I hope the drivers don't need to be reset too! All of these feelings are quite terrible to have.
 
I don't use other DAWs as much as I use SONAR anymore, but I do use Vegas, and occasionally Reaper and ACID. Whenever I have a problem that can't be solved in SONAR (video won't import, I need to do varispeed stuff, or I'm working on video and need to do "just a little" audio work that isn't worth exporting out and into SONAR) I'm always surprised at how much more "agile" the other programs seem when I need to use them. Video specifically, SONAR chokes on video all the time and I dump it into ACID or Vegas and I'm off to the races, no muss no fuss. If I'm working mobile, on the older laptop, SONAR will choke and sputter but I throw up Reaper and things work great. Super smooth and no performance issues. That's a drag for me because I find Reaper to be very obtuse and difficult to do all but the basics.
 
All that said SONAR is still my workhorse and I work pretty quickly on it. So, I can see still being a cheerleader but also wanting to tackle the rough spots that make my own user experience less than flawless.
 
 

...wicked
Well, though probably a troll, there are a few nuggets worth considering in their post.
 
First, their mention of the White Screen of Death (WSOD). I've had SONAR hang on me in that state, and that dreaded "do I wait forever or try and click one more time" anxiety when the "Not Responding" come up in the title bar. At that point a few things become knowns: everything since your last save is gone, you better hope when you fire this back up the project file isn't corrupted, and like he points out, crap I hope the drivers don't need to be reset too! All of these feelings are quite terrible to have.
 
I don't use other DAWs as much as I use SONAR anymore, but I do use Vegas, and occasionally Reaper and ACID. Whenever I have a problem that can't be solved in SONAR (video won't import, I need to do varispeed stuff, or I'm working on video and need to do "just a little" audio work that isn't worth exporting out and into SONAR) I'm always surprised at how much more "agile" the other programs seem when I need to use them. Video specifically, SONAR chokes on video all the time and I dump it into ACID or Vegas and I'm off to the races, no muss no fuss. If I'm working mobile, on the older laptop, SONAR will choke and sputter but I throw up Reaper and things work great. Super smooth and no performance issues. That's a drag for me because I find Reaper to be very obtuse and difficult to do all but the basics.
 
All that said SONAR is still my workhorse and I work pretty quickly on it. So, I can see still being a cheerleader but also wanting to tackle the rough spots that make my own user experience less than flawless.
 

Hi, wicked. I actually only get those white screens on start up and actually it does happen more often than I would like. However it does NOT happen while I'm working so I'm wondering if you mean just at startup or when you are actually doing something.
 
Either way I find the WORST thing to do when it goes whitescreen is to start clicking around. As an obsesssive weirdo I find it REALLY hard to resiste not trying to do something about the whitescreen while it is happening but just letting it figure otu wahtever it needs to (instead of clicking all over the place) is the best poilicy when it happens.
 
In fact the ONLY time I experience any real problems with Sonar X3 is when I get impatient and try to force something. As I said it is a little finicky in general and I do hope they are working hard at making things more stable (and really X3 is a million times more stable than X2 was) but if I'm patient and be careful I'm not trying to cram a ridiculous pile of processes down its throat at once then it's cool. Also keeping a close eye on the buffers in comparison to the work being done is crucial. It's easy for me to forget that I just did a bunch of low latency tracking then try to do a bunch of crazy editing stuff (like speed comping or bulk renders) without reupping my buffers. That will lead to some problems.
 
I agree that SOME of the other programs aren't as cranky but with a bit of caution and patience I've been able to avoid crashes and since X3 I haven't (touch wood) had any catastrophic crashes unless I was doing something really dumb. Even then I've managed to figure it out after the fact so not so catastrophic.
 
Video though... yeah, I think video is something I would be ULTRA careful with in Sonar. It's a nice feature to have but yanno... there's better programs for that stuff.
 
Cheers.

Anderton
 
....., but remember for every person who posts there are at least 20-100 who "lurk."

in the shrubbery?

I sometimes get a hanging white screen with "Not Responding" in the title bar.
 
The last time it happened, I ignored it, went and made a coffee, came back and my project was fully loaded and seemingly in perfect working order.
 
Needless to say, i did an immediate "save as", closed down & restarted Sonar.
 
The project has loaded/saved/played flawlessly ever since.
 
So  the morale is, don't try and force a closure - be a little patient.

Bristol_Jonesey
I sometimes get a hanging white screen with "Not Responding" in the title bar.
 
The last time it happened, I ignored it, went and made a coffee, came back and my project was fully loaded and seemingly in perfect working order.
 
Needless to say, i did an immediate "save as", closed down & restarted Sonar.
 
The project has loaded/saved/played flawlessly ever since.
 
So  the morale is, don't try and force a closure - be a little patient.

'Zactly. It's annoying and it shouldn't happen so frequently but the solution is... let Sonar do whatever the heck it is doing and all will be well.
 
The thing is this happens to me with other programs all the time too like Firefox or whatever. However they don't completely white out liek Sonar does. They just go kind of grey and you can still see everything. Honestly I think it is the exact same thing going on and it is probably Windows or the computer choking more than the actual programs.
 
It's just with Sonar because it flashes to that blaring white window instead of just freezing/greying out like other programs it FEELS more catastrophic than it is. Not that I give a crap (aside from getting more stability to avoid it entirely) but maybe the Baker's should figure out how to turn that whitescreen into the less anxiety inducing greyout of other programs.
 
BTW... as I said I only get the white outs on start up and actually I can almost completely avoid them if I...
 
a) Don't open Sonar immediately after booting up (as in wait a few minutes after I am booted up and fully logged into the system)
 
b) Wait for the automatic VST scan to complete and I can see the "Toast" pop up confirming it (and then wait abotu 30 seconds or so).
 
c) Open my project and do not touch ANYTHING until it is loaded... no matter what is going on.
 
If I do that I may get a white screen for a second but usually it just loads. If I get spazzy and start clicking all over the place then it just takes longer and weird crap starts happening.
 
Same goes for MIDI devices and various other stuff. If I do things too quickly or do them in the wrong order I'll have problems (like turning on devices AFTER opening Sonar or opening Sonar immediately after turning on a device).
 
I think really it just takes a little while for everything to interconnect within Windows. Not ideal but it ain't no big deal.

I had no idea what kind of people I was posting to. I won't bother defending myself.
No need.