Sonar will never compete with ProTools?? I just junked ProTools LE for Sonar. I finally got fed up when the PT version I had wouldn't work (at all) when IE 8 is installed on the same computer, and DigiDesign nickles-an-dimes you, and they never did fix that incompatibility bug. They make you buy another update. And anyway, I don't care how great the specs are on PT, I can make equally good music MUCH more easily in Sonar. I do video/documentary music and art electronic music (not so much with Sonar.... Kyma instead), but I think Sonar is at this point a superior product overall, in terms of useability, to PT. So, yeah, maybe PT is an industry standard, and I stupidly wasted time learning it because of that reputation. And yeah maybe PT has a few better specs, but after working with it a little, I don't give a poop about standards. When and if I should run up yet against any audible problems because of 'lower specs' with Sonar, maybe I'll consider something else.
 
Budsy

ProTools' daddy is bigger than Sonar's daddy.    

Digidesign Pro Tools|HD 1 Core System - PCI Express Version

Digidesign is now offering two versions of its award-winning, professional Pro Tools|HD digital audio production systems. By continuing to provide the existing PCI version and releasing a PCI Express (PCIe) version, Digidesign is ensuring continued compatibility of its Pro Tools|HD systems with a wide range of PCI, PCI-X, and PCIe-equipped computers. Existing Pro Tools|HD core systems are designed to work in PCI and PCI-X slots only and are not compatible with PCIe technology.

Digidesign HD| 1 Core:
Pro Tools|HD 1 features the HD Core card, supporting up to 32* channels of I/O and guaranteed support for up to 96 simultaneous audio tracks with no stress on the computer. The HD Core card houses a host of powerful DSPs that provide the dedicated mixing and processing horsepower audio professionals have come to expect from Pro Tools. Expanding the system's dedicated processing power and I/O capacity is as easy as adding additional HD Accel cards.

Digidesign Pro Tools|HD 1 system for Windows or Macintosh includes :

• HD Core Card
• Pro Tools HD|8 Software
• PACE iLok Smart Key
• 12' Digilink Cable

Included Virtual Instruments and Plug-ins:

• Boom drum machine and sequencer
• DB-33 tonewheel organ emulator with rotating speaker simulation
• Mini Grand acoustic grand piano
• Vacuum monophonic vacuum tube synthesizer
• Xpand!2 multitimbral synth and sample workstation
• Bomb Factory Classic Compressors Bundle
• Bomb Factory Cosmonaut Voice
• Bomb Factory JOEMEEK Bundle
• Bomb Factory Moogerfooger Lowpass Filter

Other Included Effects, Sound-Processing, and Utility Plug-ins:

• 1-Band EQ III
• 4-Band EQ III
• 7-Band EQ III
• AIR Chorus
• AIR Distortion
• AIR Dynamic Delay
• AIR Enhancer
• AIR Ensemble
• AIR Filter Gate
• AIR Flanger
• AIR Frequency Shifter
• AIR FuzzWah
• AIR KillEQ
• AIR Lo-Fi
• AIR MultiChorus
• AIR Multi-Delay
• AIR Nonlinear Reverb
• AIR Phaser
• AIR Reverb
• AIR Spring Reverb
• AIR StereoWidth
• AIR Talkbox
• AIR Vintage Filter
• Celemony Melodyne Essential
• Chorus
• Click
• Compressor/Limiter
• D-Verb
• DC Offset Removal
• De-Esser
• Delay
• DigiReWire
• Dither
• Duplicate
• Eleven Free
• Expander/Gate
• Extra Long Delay II
• Flanger
• Gain
• Invert
• Lo-Fi
• Long Delay II
• Maxim
• Medium Delay II
• Multi-Tap Delay
• Normalize
• Ping-Pong Delay
• Pitch
• Pitch Shift
• POWr Dither
• Recti-Fi
• Reverse
• SansAmp
• Sci-Fi
• Signal Generator
• Short Delay II
• Slap Delay II
• Time Compression Expansion
• Time Shift
• TL AutoPan
• TL InTune
• TL MasterMeter
• TL Metro
• Trim
• Vari-Fi

Digidesign HD|1 Core System Features:

• Sample rate support up to 192 kHz
• Next-generation, dedicated hardware performance combined with host-based processing capability for ultimate power and flexibility
• World-class, high-resolution audio interfaces, each offering a wealth of analog and digital connections and unmatched price/performance
• A complete professional audio solution, including audio interfaces, synchronization, MIDI and mic preamp peripherals, and more
• Expandable DSP power and I/O capacity
• Includes TDM II, Digidesign's new bus architecture design, providing support for extremely large mixing configurations
• Proprietary DigiLink interface standard for connectivity of HD Core and HD Process cards at lengths of up to 100 feet
• A wide range of options available from Digidesign and Digidesign Development Partners
• Full session compatibility with systems running Pro Tools 5.1 software or higher; supports all older Pro Tools sessions

I first used it way back in the early 90's when it was only stereo and it was called SOUND TOOLS.

Come to think of it - that's the LAST time I used it.

Well ... it goes back to "like it or not, it is the standard" ... and unfortunately, the perception of many would-be-clients is that it is "the thing" and if you don't have it, then you're not really "pro" ... and often, no amount of logic (no pun intended), stats, samples, explanations, etc. will convince them otherwise ... the smartest thing digidesign did was put the word "pro" in the name of their product ... because it sticks that way in a lot of minds.

sigh .....

As an owner of both,I am sick of this thread also..lol.......X1 is the one daw to rule them all.
In nearly 15 years of using Cake,never once had a problem,or had to use Support(except for my S/Blaster acted up twice,ten years or more ago,driver problem,not Cake,but they did tell me how to fix Creatives problems..).
For me,Cakes all have a better gui,and they work.........
I am a bit long into getting used to X1's gui,but I AM very old.........sigh..............

DonM


and the envelope please for the oldest thread resurrection ....  And the winner is:

Nobody!

The same pointless debate, is the Oak greater than the Sycamore?

The definitive answer: Yes and No.



A discussion on Theology anyone?

When a product such as Protools is first-ish and gets traction like the Apple mobile devices did others can almost never unseat that rival who sits rightly or wrongly on the top of the heap no matter what they do.
 
Don't worry about it.
 

Anderton
In case anyone wonders what he's talking about, here's the main document of recommended DAW practices. It was the result of work from the major DAW manufacturers (including two people from SONAR). Little of it is DAW-specific, and there's lots of good advice that applies to any DAW. For example it recommends saving virtual tracks as audio, rendering special effects plug-ins, etc.
 
Much of this document assumes that multiple people will be working on a master, and stresses the importance of labeling tracks and taking notes. However, I think this is applicable to individuals as well if you plan to come back to a project at some point in the future - e.g. you leave in tracks "just in case," and then can't remember which were the real tracks and which were the rejects. Fortunately SONAR has lots of options for taking notes on tracks, and it's a really good idea to take advantage of that.

I can't believe I've never seen this before ... thanks for posting the link

Anderton
In case anyone wonders what he's talking about, here's the main document of recommended DAW practices. It was the result of work from the major DAW manufacturers (including two people from SONAR).

Actually, three people... yours truly was part of that team as well.
 
Scott

--
Scott R. Garrigus - http://www.garrigus.com
* Cakewalk SONAR Video Tutorials: https://www.youtube.com/u...gus?sub_confirmation=1
* Author of the Cakewalk Sonar and Sony Sound Forge Power book series: http://garrigus.com/?PowerBooks
* Publisher of the DigiFreq music recording newsletter: http://www.digifreq.com/
* Publisher of the NewTechReview consumer tech newsletter: http://www.newtechreview.com/

I believe Pro Tools started as a solution for replacing the tape machine in a studio.  Engineers could continue working with their familiar consoles and outboard gear and record to a computer with greater editing capabilities and potentially superior sound.
 
Sonar started as a MIDI sequencer and did not add audio until later.
 
Both DAWs have grown to do everything but I think the history explains why Pro Tools got the lead in large facilities, which in turn gave it an aura of being the professional choice (whether justified or not).
 
I greatly prefer Sonar and since I am a writer and arranger, it has a better workflow for me.  Sonar also bundles a lot more bang for the buck.  You could argue all day about little features that are better in one than the other—and people have done that here—but it's like arguing Honda v Nissan.