12 minutes

no, seconds!

SilverBlueMedallion
DISCLAIMER:  this may just be my opinion and I might be wrong about this:
 
but it seems like Sonar is built off some really old code.  I feel the product could use a major overhaul.  Load up Studio One or Reason and you will notice just the FEEL of it.. the software is fast and smooth.  It feels like Sonar is very module-based, and each individual piece needs its own load time.  It feels sluggish and archaic.
 
I realize this is only a GUI based complaint, but I feel it effects overall usability. 

I totally agree about Sonar's GUI. I recently installed a demo for another, newer DAW in order to see how many of my current problems with Sonar were actually Sonar related and not system related, and I was immediately struck by how smooth and snappy it was compared to Sonar. When using Sonar I'm always a little depressed at how clunky and laggy it feels interacting with the interface - things like scrolling the console, or swiping the track/bus curtain left and right. The comparison with the other DAW reminded me a little of a few years ago when I was shopping for a new phone, and compared Android phones to the iPhone. Android at the time did not utilize the hardware's GPU for the UI and as such it was clunky and laggy compared to the iPhone, which has always been ultra smooth and snappy. I get that "early Android" feeling from Sonar sometimes and I wish I didn't. Some will say that it's a trivial cosmetic thing to complain about, but I'm a great believer in the importance of smooth GUI interaction. It helps create a feeling of having a direct connection between the GUI and your brain, and has a huge psychological benefit in that you feel like you're working with a program you can trust. When I swipe that console curtain in Sonar and it moves at 5 fps it contributes to a feeling that I'm using something old that's going to let me down at any time. I wonder how many people demo Sonar and are put off by its lack of snappiness and smoothness compared to other DAW's. 
 
And you're right, it probably has a lot to do with Sonar being built on top of old code. Not being a developer I have no idea how much of the original Cakewalk code still remains in the program, but it reminds me a little of Quickbooks, which is very much founded on an ancient DOS program that's been built upon and patched up over the years. You can imagine how many tiny little areas of inefficiency in the code have accumulated to make Sonar feel a little less snappy than something that's been designed from scratch with modern design techniques in mind. 

We plan to improve the behavior of the console at some point this year.  It irks us as well.
 
Keith

SilverBlueMedallion
DISCLAIMER:  this may just be my opinion and I might be wrong about this:
 
but it seems like Sonar is built off some really old code.  I feel the product could use a major overhaul.  Load up Studio One or Reason and you will notice just the FEEL of it.. the software is fast and smooth.  It feels like Sonar is very module-based, and each individual piece needs its own load time.  It feels sluggish and archaic.
 
I realize this is only a GUI based complaint, but I feel it effects overall usability. 

I can agree with this. Problem is a total overhaul sounds a lot easier than it is.
it basically means creating the whole program over again from scratch.
Reason ive never really liked, Studio one however is a great platform.
 
But Sonar is running well here. I mean like really, really good.
Might be cause I have a new build (Intel I7) but even on my old AMD FX it ran great, but slower .
 
I don't see problems as much as I see little quirks that irritate me sometimes.
It gets annoying but I still enjoy Sonar over the over DAW's. That's what keeps me here.
Every DAW has "The little things" The irritants. Even Studio One has little quirks that are annoying.
I guess we just need to weigh out the good and the bad and make a choice based on that.
 
Like anything in life, the more you let things effect you, the more they take over.
There comes a point in every man or women's life where they need to weight out those pro and cons
and ask them self, is it really worth it. for me it is. Even with those annoying quirks and even with the old code.
 

Sonar running better than ever here too. It is also frequently overlooked that it has many more features than the newer, simpler DAW's.
 
 

Keith Albright [Cakewalk]
We plan to improve the behavior of the console at some point this year.  It irks us as well.
 
Keith

That's good to hear. I have a feeling that that curtain has gotten more laggy over time, and that it didn't used to feel so clunky. 

Consider all the speed improvements that have happened in recent updates. Clearly this is on Cakewalk's radar, as Keith has confirmed.
 
IMO SONAR has reached the point where its feature set is very close to "all you need." Of course there are still holes, like ripple editing and room for MIDI improvement, and there are always things one could want. But if you look over the updates for the past several months, it seems Cakewalk is doing the software equivalent of "renovating" rooms in a mansion.
 
And I just have to comment on this "DAWs are so hard to learn" sentiment you see in all DAW forums. Well duh!!! Just learning the processors in any DAW takes effort. These are complete studios with great backlines. No one expected to walk into Record Plant and figure it all out, but for some reason, people expect to walk into a virtual studio with far greater capabilities and complexity and not have to expend a whole lot of effort learning it. The world doesn't work that way.

Keith Albright [Cakewalk]
We plan to improve the behavior of the console at some point this year.  It irks us as well.
 
Keith

 
this sounds great :)

Never touch old code if it ain't broke.
Far newer code in Studio One yet it boots so slow.
Sonar starts in seconds.