I'm considering an upgrade from Sonar 8.5.3 but after doing some research I read that the polarity and mono/stereo buttons was removed from the individual tracks on X1. Is this still the case on the current version of Sonar or has it been fixed?

Do you mean the phase and interleave?

S.F.Sorrow
I'm considering an upgrade from Sonar 8.5.3 but after doing some research I read that the polarity and mono/stereo buttons was removed from the individual tracks on X1. Is this still the case on the current version of Sonar or has it been fixed?

I don't know where you read that but it is untrue. It is true that they were moved to the Track Inspector. They are still there.

Actually the technically correct term is indeed polarity, but we won't open that can of worms...after all, we live in a world where Fender calls tremolo "vibrato." 
 
Anyway to answer the OP's question, polarity and interleave are not in the Track View, but are in the Console View and Inspector. So if the Inspector is open and you click on a track, the buttons are there. Or you can use them in the Console view when mixing...or insert Channel Tools which allows phase, delay, stereo/mono, phase angle, etc.
 
Be aware there is a learning curve going from 8.5 to the X series, and for the first week or two you will think you made a big mistake. However once I became familiar with the X series workflow, if I had to go back to 8.5 I would be extremely unhappy.

Hm... I never use the console view. So in the track view I can only access polarity and interleave buttons on the inspector? I never use the inspector, I keep it hidden as it has always been a waste of space for me. Is there no way to get an easy overview of which tracks have inverted polarity or whether they are set for stereo or mono in track view?
 
I'm aware of the learning curve so I'm considering making the move to Cubase. I've always preferred the Cubase workflow to be honest. The only thing stopping me is no support for 32bit plugins in Cubase 9. I still rely on a few 32bit plugins and don't really need the extra memory 64bit provides. Sonar still comes with a 32bit install, right?
 
Still, the missing polarity and interleave buttons may be the deciding factor for me, my workflow rely on those being easily visible in the track view. Perhaps it's time to move on to something new.

John

S.F.Sorrow
I'm considering an upgrade from Sonar 8.5.3 but after doing some research I read that the polarity and mono/stereo buttons was removed from the individual tracks on X1. Is this still the case on the current version of Sonar or has it been fixed?

I don't know where you read that but it is untrue. It is true that they were moved to the Track Inspector. They are still there.

If they were moved to the inspector I would say they were moved from individual tracks so not entirely untrue then. Depends on how you look at it I guess but not ideal for my workflow.

Anderton
Actually the technically correct term is indeed polarity, but we won't open that can of worms...after all, we live in a world where Fender calls tremolo "vibrato." 
 
Anyway to answer the OP's question, polarity and interleave are not in the Track View, but are in the Console View and Inspector. So if the Inspector is open and you click on a track, the buttons are there. Or you can use them in the Console view when mixing...or insert Channel Tools which allows phase, delay, stereo/mono, phase angle, etc.
 
Be aware there is a learning curve going from 8.5 to the X series, and for the first week or two you will think you made a big mistake. However once I became familiar with the X series workflow, if I had to go back to 8.5 I would be extremely unhappy.

Thanks for a very helpful and clarifying reply!

Welcome to a very helpful and (almost always) friendly forum.

There is a freely downloadable demo version of Sonar, I believe in its 3 flavors, that you could try out for yourself, prior to purchase.
 
The audio engine is indeed fully functional - you wouldn't get access to most of the plugins, but you would be able to get a real good feel for the interface.
 
There have been AMAZING changes to the user interface, and most other pieces of Sonar, as well, and while it might well be quite confusing at first, if you were to not so much try to make it function exactly as 8.5.3 did but instead approached it with a mindset of looking at those changes with more of an open mind - it would help you to get a better feel for doing things.
 
8.5.3 was amazingly powerful, through all kinds of key bindings and such, whereas they made an attempt to make Sonar easier for newcomers to learn, and that threw a bunch of folks off when X1 first came out with its redesigned user interface.  A lot of those same folks have ended up expressing that they came to appreciate the work flow differences - in many ways many folks found the new ways helped them accomplish things faster and better.  (this is, of course, not universally shared sentiment, but then again, there is no reason not to be able to continue to use 8.5.3 AND also have Sonar Platinum)
 
DO give some thought to trying out the demo - it is free, after all.
 
Bob Bone
 

Anderton
Welcome to a very helpful and (almost always) friendly forum.

Thanks! I've actually been a member since the days of Sonar 8 but haven't felt the need to post anything. A credit to Cakewalk I guess, Sonar 8.5.3 being so stable for me that I never needed any help or support.


Sadly it seems like 8.5.3 isn't compatible with Windows 10 so I must upgrade or move on to something different. Ideally I would want a Windows 10 compatible 8.5.3 but that's obviously not an alternative.
 
The current version of Sonar still comes with a 32bit install, right?