New User Perspective

Hello Everyone,
 
I just purchased a V-Studio 100 on Saturday and I would like to share my experiences. I am new to digital recording and have never used a DAW before.
 
The V-Studio 100 itself was easy and fairly intuitive to set up and use, and with the Hardware Manual I was able to figure out most things and start recording right away. The Getting Started manual was good for installing the software on my computer and starting it up. However, I am finding the Sonar VS software to be difficult to learn and use. After a couple of days working with it I am able to do some of the basics, but there is a lot that I don't understand and I am struggling with it.
 
I have watched the videos, but they seem to be aimed more at showing what the system is capable of, without really showing you how to actually do these things. As well, the help files included with the software are sparse and difficult to navigate.  Maybe a lot of my issues are due to inexperience, but this system appears to be marketed to people like me who are just starting out with digital recording, and that should be accounted for. There really should be another manual included in the package, a "Software" manual to match the existing hardware manual. A tutorial DVD would be a great thing to have, but as it doesn't seem to exist yet, this isn't helping me.
 
I have had a lot of fun with the hardware, but trying to use the software without a proper in-depth manual is very frustrating and really takes away from this product. I need to know the nuts and bolts of editing tracks and using the DAW, and I don't have weeks and weeks of time to experiment with trial and error to find out. Please let me know if this information is available somewhere already.
 
Take care,
Doug

Doug,

I feel your pain.  I have been using Sonar Producer 8.5 for past 5 months and just now getting past steep end of learning curve.  It is a complex (yet powerful) program - its the nature of this beast.  Recently, I have bought the VS-100 and love it - the Sonar VS that is included has an easier to use interface compared to Sonar Producer, so consider yourself lucky.  I do think that all Sonar versions of software could be made more intuitive and easier to do basic things more logically.  And yes, it is a known issue with poor documentation.  It could be so much better. Most people reply on the Sonar forums for answers to questions. So, yes you are feeling the pain of learning curve as everyone has- all I can say is look on bright side, learning is good (if you have the time) and once you have hang of it, it is a very powerful DAW.

Best Regards,

Dan

The Peasant


OK, here's a question. Is there a way in Sonar VS to speed up or slow down a sound clip? Lets say I recorded some drums in a wav file playing at 140 bpm and wanted to speed them up to 180, with or without the pitch changing. Is this possible?

Take care,
Doug

 
I don't think so in VS, it can be done in SONAR.

ClassicalGuy


Peasant,

if it can be done it will be under "process" then "fit time".

No such luck, no such option in VS. I'm kinda disappointed, expecting an option like this to be included, even Windoze Wave Recorder can do this in a limited way. Are there plug-ins available to do this or would I have to upgrade to a different version of Sonar?
 
Stupid question time:  I have never done any real mixing, what are the bus channels used for? Can anyone suggest a good basic generic DAW/mixing tutorial?
 
Thank you guys for your help and information so far!
 
Take care,
Doug

archibald753

Archibald....go away, you are damaging any chance of getting ustomers here.