John, has having X1 in your hands changed your perspective in regards to your earlier thread about missing features in X1?  It seems that you have found for yourself a few missing features from previous versions.  I mostly agree with your review of X1, and I eagerly await the next upgrade.
The best,
Lynn

Yes, I agree that most if not all of the features are still there.  My MO has changed because of the menu changes, but some things I can do faster, and some things take a click or two more.  All in all, it seems to balance out in the long run.  The main thing for me, and I can't explain it, is that X1 is more stable than 8.5.3.  That alone is worth the price of admission.
Take care,
Lynn

Thanks John,

An excellent review and it's great how you organized it into sections to make it a pleasant read. I greatly appreciate the time you took to write that review :)

It's really neat reading a lot of various feedback on the forums from different people, gives me great insight into Sonar X1, lots of various perspectives.

I understand Sonar X1 being a new release (Dec 2010) and I'm confident Cakewalk will smooth out issues (flaws/bugs) soon. As I have said before Sonar will remain my go-to DAW, sure I have looked at other DAW's and considering purchasing I see no harm using more than one DAW, but man IMO Sonar is king of the midi workflow and I know it can handle huge loads really well, and because I spend most of my time in Trk-View and PRV and can most certainly live with Sonar :)

Since 2010 I have adopted a saying; no DAW is perfect but Sonar comes mighty close :)

John!

Thank you sir, not so much for the review (but it was good to get your perspective), but for WAITING until you had a chance to USE the software and give it a really good run-through before posting a review on it.

I expected no less from you anyhow of course, and I'm happy to have my expectations confirmed.  There's already been enough handle-flying for the whole year (and I don't just mean this forum; the whole world is a handle and we're all flying off it, GRRRRRR!  ).

I feel the same as you about screensets; I'm not quite sold on having a bunch of different ones.  Plus, they're sometimes slow to load and re-draw the screen.  Hence, the only thing I do differently is move the browser over so that it is between the Inspector and the Track View.  I'm happy to leave the CV in the multidock and rip it out when I need a bigger view.  All this allows me to use one flat-panel screen for everything except for the VST interface and/or a PDF manual in my alternate screen.

Wow, now that I just said that...I wonder if I could actually use Sonar on a laptop.  That would be awsome, because I can then leave my Cubase dongle at home when I go travelling.  I'll have to give that some thought.

I still think EVERY object on the screen should be user-configurable as to color and contrast.  I mean EVERYTHING NOT GOVERENED BY A VST's own UI.  I should even be able to change the color of the buttons for lit versus unlit, so that they match the colors of the indicators on my Mackie mixer units.

I have found the weird "Control Bar Goes Kablooey" bug where it only shows the now time location and no buttons or indicators.  I too had to bounce X1 to make that go away.

There is lots more but I need to get going here.  Thanks again!

He said what I said..but so much more and in far fewer words than I.  That's cool.

John

Crg

John


It will only change the few that are there but not add any. It will remove those few too. It gives the impression that if you click on a widget it will be added to the header. It will only do this if you also remove one already there.

It didn't do that here. I'll check it again to be sure. I added vol, pan, gain, in/out to the default custom header and that's what it did.

This is the header display.

This is what is selected in the track control manager. It even has a select all button.

So, I notice the only thing that doesn't show up is the AUX and Edit Filter? Is that correct? Not sure where the edit filter would appear. The AUX, could that pertain to the VS700 aux input?

Crg

John

Crg

John


It will only change the few that are there but not add any. It will remove those few too. It gives the impression that if you click on a widget it will be added to the header. It will only do this if you also remove one already there.

It didn't do that here. I'll check it again to be sure. I added vol, pan, gain, in/out to the default custom header and that's what it did.

This is the header display.

This is what is selected in the track control manager. It even has a select all button.

So, I notice the only thing that doesn't show up is the AUX and Edit Filter? Is that correct? Not sure where the edit filter would appear. The AUX, could that pertain to the VS700 aux input?

Well, the Edit filter is the button showing "Clips" and by AUX I think they mean Send and when there are no Sends assigned from the audio track, there is nothing to show.
So I think everything what is checked in the Track Control Manager is in the Track header.

Crg

John

Crg

John


It will only change the few that are there but not add any. It will remove those few too. It gives the impression that if you click on a widget it will be added to the header. It will only do this if you also remove one already there.

It didn't do that here. I'll check it again to be sure. I added vol, pan, gain, in/out to the default custom header and that's what it did.

This is the header display.

This is what is selected in the track control manager. It even has a select all button.

So, I notice the only thing that doesn't show up is the AUX and Edit Filter? Is that correct? Not sure where the edit filter would appear. The AUX, could that pertain to the VS700 aux input?

See post 31 above.

rainmaker1011

Crg

John

Crg

John


It will only change the few that are there but not add any. It will remove those few too. It gives the impression that if you click on a widget it will be added to the header. It will only do this if you also remove one already there.

It didn't do that here. I'll check it again to be sure. I added vol, pan, gain, in/out to the default custom header and that's what it did.

This is the header display.

This is what is selected in the track control manager. It even has a select all button.

So, I notice the only thing that doesn't show up is the AUX and Edit Filter? Is that correct? Not sure where the edit filter would appear. The AUX, could that pertain to the VS700 aux input?

Well, the Edit filter is the button showing "Clips" and by AUX I think they mean Send and when there are no Sends assigned from the audio track, there is nothing to show.
So I think everything what is checked in the Track Control Manager is in the Track header.

Why would they call a send AUX all of the sudden? I haven't put X1 on my VS700 enabled machine yet so I can't tell you if it shows up with the system installed. I'm not so sure the edit filter is that button. Look at the picture where there is a buttton above the volume control that says volume with a drop down arrow. Let me see if I can find it for you.

John

StepD

John


This is the header display.

This is what is selected in the track control manager. It even has a select all button.

Hi John, I may just be confused about what you're referring to. Are you saying what you have checked in control manager isn't matching what's showing up in the audio track strip? It looks like everything is there, minus aux send because none has been inserted.

You know you could be right! Nuts!!!! Maybe it was the MIDI track that was limited and not the audio track.

Thank you for pointing this out to me. Sometimes one sees what one wants to see.

Nah! We're both missing something. What do you want to add to what?

John


What I am saying is I was wrong on the track widgets and the track control manager. From checking it out very carefully what is listed in the manager shows on the track header. It just seemed to me that it was not doing that. You were right.

Perhaps the redesign of the widgets and the way the track header looks is deceptive at least to me. 

I read # 31, I got it. I'm just saying we are both missing something. Where does the edit filter show?

As to what others report I am simply not finding any of it true for me. I have not had a single crash nor a dropout of any kind. Sonar 8.5.3 works solidly on this system and X1 does as well.

 
Nice well-organized thoughtful review, John!
 
You are not alone in the above...
I've not had any performance/stability issues.
(Granted, I typically don't use Vvocal or AudioSnap)

rainmaker1011

Crg

John


What I am saying is I was wrong on the track widgets and the track control manager. From checking it out very carefully what is listed in the manager shows on the track header. It just seemed to me that it was not doing that. You were right.

Perhaps the redesign of the widgets and the way the track header looks is deceptive at least to me. 

I read # 31, I got it. I'm just saying we are both missing something. Where does the edit filter show?

It is the button saying "Clips" - on this particular screenshot. When you shift-left click a Volume envelope, you will see "Volume" in that button, when you make a gain envelope active, "Gain" will be in that button and then when you shift-left click a clip, "Clip" in the button... :) 

What we are missing is total miscommunication. LOL The Edit Filter as Rainmaker says is on the track header. It is used only for what the track shows.  It will show the wave form or an automation envelope of ones choosing and so on. It is called the Edit Filter because it allows easy editing of various track data. It filters out the data you are not editing.  It works in conjunction with the new editing tools

It is the button saying "Clips" - on this particular screenshot. When you shift-left click a Volume envelope, you will see "Volume" in that button, when you make a gain envelope active, "Gain" will be in that button and then when you shift-left click a clip, "Clip" in the button... :)

 
Ah! Now it makes sense. Thanks for that insight.

I would like to discuss screensets a little further. Before I go on I have worked with them and understand them enough to have an impression of how they could be useful to me or not.

What I see with screensets is an extension of Sonar's normal save state. When one save a project in any version it is saved in the state it is upon that moment just before saving. All CW did was extend this to include up to 10 versions of that that are also saved with the project.

Layouts on the other hand are created as independent states of being that can be recalled instantly to any open project. The ability to recall these states which also can be as many as 10 different layouts is available across the board and can be tailored to unforeseen needs.

The other thing I don't like about screensets is how is one to know which project has the screenset one may wish to import into a new project? I have hundreds of projects going back many years. If I had to remember each projects peculiar screensets for all those projects I would loose my mind. Maybe I have already.

Layouts can be named. Screensets are not.  The way one invokes screensets is hardwired to X1. Layouts were not hardwired to Sonar in the past. Once made you had them for ever except not any more with X1.

Now my simple solution is to bring back layouts without getting rid of screensets. We will all be happy then.  

I look at layouts as a a quick view control. I look at screensets as an automatic state of being on a per project basis with the ability to invoke other states of being internal to the project.

BTW neither implementation is perfect, both could use work.