Don't worry folks... I'm not abandoning Sonar by any means. I still think Sonar kicks buttsicles and it is my tool of choice. I've just done something I've been meaning to do for a while. I have an underpowered laptop that simply cannot handle a full install of Sonar AND its various goodies. I am on this laptop almost all the time so I just wanted something to tinker around with and create simple MIDI compositions on without moving my arse into the office and firing up my main rig. So I just dl'd the "cheap" DAW (which shall remain nameless to avoid a firestorm) and it seems to not strangle the lappy too badly (even using the onboard sound) but it certainly does not have the tools I need to do anything substantial.
 
So what I would like to know is...
 
a) Which of the instruments I have gotten with my various Sonar purchases can be used in other DAWs (I own X1 Production Suite, X2 Producer and X3 Producer). I know I can use Zeta, Addictive Drums and perhaps Rapture and DimPro but those are pretty resource intensive. I'd kind of like to use things like TTS, Pentagon, SD3, etc but I'm thinking those are locked to Sonar nor would I know how to transfer them over... which leads me to...
 
b) If I could use some of the synths that I do not already have separate installers for (like Zeta/Rapture which would be easy because they have their own exe's) how would I get at them, save them, install them, etc. Maybe a custom install of Sonar on the lappy?
 
c) If none of that is possible I'd be interested in low resource consuming freebies that aren't crammed with malware or whatever for percussion, simple sounds (like the TTS) and a reasonable flexible synth (like a poor mans Zeta or something).
 
I just want to be able to compose on the laptop and then export the MIDI tracks or even audio bounces to my main DAW for full production. It was actually a thread in the CH posted by kakku who got me back on this kick. Sometimes you just want to noodle around without firing up the whole studio.
 
In other, but related, news... the "cheap" DAW is interesting and looks extremely useful but it sure does not feel like "home". I know it for all intents and purposes full functioning but it just feels real sparse and not as much fun. One of these days I gotta get a more powerful laptop. Until then I'd appreciate any suggestions in regards to this.
 
Cheers all and I hope everyone is having a safe and happy holiday season.

No Cakewalk synths are locked to SONAR. DXi support would be the only issue with another DAW. Advanced install would be the way to get the synths installed.

Same situation here. I use the free u-he and TAL synths outside of PC/Sonar land. Visit MusicRadar.com for some of their "Best free synth" & "Best free vst" articles.

 ~Happy New Year
 
http://www.musicradar.com...e-world-today-277953/2

Oooh... that's cool. So TTS-1 is in? That would be brilliant because I could just use my X1 discs and really that's all I need. Another reason I want to do this is to learn about general MIDI and how certain concepts translate to other platforms.
 
Thanks, Steve. Been a while but I see you have remained awesome. Cheers.
 
Edit: Just checked and it has DX and DXi support.... well it has a section in it's FX browser for them so I'm assuming that means they'll work.

komposer
Same situation here. I use the free u-he and TAL synths outside of PC/Sonar land. Visit MusicRadar.com for some of their "Best free synth" & "Best free vst" articles.

~Happy New Year

Thanks. I know there's lots of interesting stuff out there but darned if I know where to start. Sounds like some good research options. I avoid using free stuff on my main DAW because I've got pretty much everything I need on that rig and don't want it to go funky on me but the lappy... well I wipe it all the time anyway so it doesn't matter as much.
 
Cheers and HNY to you too.

 If they have a serial number than they could be used in all DAWs.

I use Dimension Pro, z3ta+ and Rapture all the time inside Studio One.  And to be honest I am bloody glad too! Dxi support is not required for these to work at all.

Update:
 
So yesterday I got some time to mess around with this and it turns out I can use pretty much ALL the Instruments and even the FX from Sonar in the other DAW. Awesome!
 
A little more detail...
 
I mulled over whether I wanted to go through the bother of downloading the installation files for X3 to the laptop or transferring them from my main DAW but considering I was sure whether this was going to do what I wanted I pulled out my X1 Production Suite discs and used them instead. It's got more than everything I need for just goofing around on the laptop. I considered doing a custom install to just snag the stuff I thought I would use but decided to do a full install to see if maybe I could get X1 running on the laptop (real longshot). That way I'd know everything would be on the system. I installed everything except the additional content disc (which I might do a custom install on later today just to get some of the extra DimPro stuff and whatever else might be useful on there... but NOT the sample projects). I opened up X1 using the onboard soundcard and it didn't choke so I started goofing around with some synths which... well that didn't work out as well at first. I maxed out the buffers and cache and I could get a clear sound on a single instance of some of the synths but I know it would probably screw up if I pushed it. Might work if I used my Scarlett but I don't want to pull it out of my main rig. No biggie.
 
So I opened up the "cheap" DAW and started poking around the FX/Instrument browser thing and not only were most of the synths in there but a whole pile of the FX were too! I seriously though most of that stuff was locked to Sonar but I guess it's just the ProChannel stuff and some of the third party LE versions. I could not however find Zeta or DimPro and a couple other things so I looked for a VST scanner type thingie (which I found) and just added the appropriate Cakewalk folders. Bango... the missing synths appeared. I started opening them and goofing around on them using the virtual keyboard (the thing that lets you use you QWERTY keyboard to play MIDI notes... which is really quite sucky and useless for playing but is good for checking out patches) and pretty much everything was working fine... even the heavier duty synths like DimPro loaded up with large patches/samples. I seriously did not expect to be able to do that.
 
I didn't even change any settings in DAW except to INCREASE the sample rate and bit depth to 24/48. Because there is no interface it automatically set itself to WDM. I guess the DAW itself is so light it's allowing the synths to use all the resources they need. However one thing I'm going to probably do is bring my VRM Box into the mix and use it as a USB interface so I can use ASIO mode and I'm hoping it will take some load off the system (I'm guessing that it does some of the analog/digital conversion in the box... not sure though). Even if it doesn't free up resources I've always read ASIO is superior anyway so unless it really jacks up how much processing power is being used I'm cool with it. Besides the current focusrite drivers for it are solid so likely better than the onboard sound drivers AND I get a better output for monitoring.
 
As far as the DAW... it's a little clunkier than I'm used to with Sonar but I'm getting around it fairly easy and it's interesting to see how "the other side" does stuff. I just want to use it for MIDI composing, exploring the Cakewalk synths and just generally goofing around. I'll hook up my M-Audio 25 for input which will hopefully help me get a better handle on working with MIDI controller stuff (like writing live envelopes, sending patch change messages, whatever). Whatever I write this way (that I want to keep) I'll probably render the tracks individually then mix on the big system. What I'd really like to do though is somehow export the MIDI files with whatever automation I've done and import them to a new project in X3 and somehow get it routed to the correct synths/patches (including ones I've created). That will be a challenge because... well that sounds scary and complicated especially considering it's not a "Sonar" to "Sonar" transfer. It's "DAW that shall remain nameless" to "external media" to "X3" transfer. Once I get to that point though I'll be sure to come here and bug the shiz out of you guys until I figure it out.
 
JK... I'll only bug you an appropriate amount.
 
Moral of the story... THIS IS FREAKING AWESOME!!! Thanks, Cake. Even though I am not specifically using Sonar for this Sonar has made what I thought was an essentially useless computer for music production into a neat little writing tool. Sweet!
 
Peace out.

BTW... I did not do ANY audio specific system optimization on this system. It is my grunt laptop I use for webbrowsing and general nonsense. AV is turned on (and a bunch of other real time scanner stuff). It's using the manufacturer's Windows intallation (minus most of the bloatware which I always remove). It isn't a total POS but it is not an audio rig for sure. It's a 1.3ghz, 3GB RAM, 320GB mechanical HDD that came with the system (so probably at most a 5200 RPM and possibly Green drive partitioned to run Windows and Linux with only half that dedicated to Windows) of the shelf Acer I picked up for under $300.
 
I know this WILL screw up if I push it too hard but I was thinking something like TTS would crush it... and I can run Dim freaking Pro? Nutty! I need to figure out if the DAW has a "Freeze" type function. Otherwise I'll probably just do a Ping Pong approach to laying down tracks starting a new project each time I starting choking out the system. Basicall import a stereo wave of the progress so far into the new project to write the next part then when the whole thing is done go through the projects and export individual tracks for import into Sonar on my main DAW for the final mix/master. I'm at this computer almost 24/7 (even when I'm sleeping) so this should be a boon to my productivity.

Computer Music Magazine, has a vast free renderings of stuff on dvd...vst and vsti free ware...just a few quid at the local magazine store , and you got something to fiddle with on your lappy and unknown third party DAW?
 I could upload to sky drive the latest offerings....and send you a link to get em?
 
But not sure that would be a Sinless act on my part or yours....?