using s4 and the multiple clips in one track. i wonder if there is an option :

"extract to new tracks"

if you have 4 clips in one and you want to make 4 real tracks out if it this could be useful.

input quantize would be great (though I'm learning to live without it).

i'd love key bindings that toggled the now-time between the left and right markers when working in loop mode (like Reason has... it's invaluable to me).

better looping... i've done everything I can and I still get crackles when looping playback that I never get in PT or Reason.

the ability to name clips when they record according to the track they record on. (i.e. if I set up a track called "Bass", all clips recorded to that track should start with the file name "Bass_etc... ) This makes project management WAY easier.

the ability to click and drag within a clip to highlight a selection and not have to go up to the timebar to do so.

?

ORIGINAL: tommydee
the ability to click and drag within a clip to highlight a selection and not have to go up to the timebar to do so.

Actually you can do this right now in Sonar if you use ALT while clicking and dragging within a clip. You can then move it or use the usual ctrl+drag to copy it.

A small thingy that started to bug me recently:
When a track is archived, left- or right-clicking the grey 'A' doesn't do anything. You have to right-click in another area of the track to unarchive it, which feels a bit weird to me.

This whole thread has to be the biggest joke on the planet! Everyone could cut off an arm, send it in to try to get their attention regarding all the bugs they knowingly release and Cakewalk would have a barbeque and then grind up the bones to use as shipment packing!

As a matter of fact...thread was actually inspierd by Sonar 3!

Customers always want more and that's not a bad thing. Sonar 4PE's audio engine has improved greatly and it's now on par with the best of them. It's also very stable. These are the two things really concern me as a sonar user.

I'm not sure if this can be done already, but I'd like to be able to set the double click on the gain pots on audio tracks to a setting other than 0db reset. It's a small issue, but -14db digital is 0db analog on my sound card. Other sound cards might be -12db or -16db. When I start my mixes, I usually set the audio tracks down to -14db ... and I have to MANUALLY move each and every track down there. I'd like to be able to set the double click reset ... so that it resets to -14db digital and matches up w/ my soundcard's 0db analog.

Thanks-

K-

sbavin, THANKS, thats great!!

it really works and its so simple..

its a workaround but this easy solution is almost better than extra buttons only dedicated to compare tracks..

i love this forum, planist

LIMITAPROACHINGINFINITY:

IS there any way to change the grid that your midi events snap to, in order to see the swing in the grid and mouse-in notes that coincide with your swing percent? ....without selecting a bunch of notes and saying... process quantize, then adjusting the swing percent?


Various Artist:

I love the way you can easily toggle drum hits in Fruity Loops and I'd like to see this feature added to the drum grid pane in Sonar. Years ago when I suggested something similar to the drum grid pane I was delighted to see Cakewalk add this window, but I had also envisioned that ease of toggling the hits on/off. You could make the Sonar version of this drum hit toggle even cooler by displaying toggle buttons that correspond to the currently selected grid reference (i.e. 1/8 notes, 1/4 notes, 18 triplets, etc.)

This type of functionality harks back to some of the earliest Drum Machines where each beat really was represented by a button, and a little light chased along the top of all the buttons in tempo. I found this modus operandus the most conducive to creating complex drum patterns quickly and efficiently. I know it's not a million miles away from what can be done now in Sonar, but if you are familiar with how to build drum patterns in Fruity Loops, then you might agree with me that it is a very fun and easy way to work.

BTW, I tried to add this using the official feature request link but kept receiving an error fromt he Cakewalk web site, so hopefully this post gets through to the list)


WhyBe:

I would love to be able to navigate through the Sonar drum grid like an Excel spreadsheet. Just using the cursor keys and the space bar to toggle each hit on/off at a predefined velocity and duraction. Mouse clicking a drum grid is so slow. I still use my drum machine to trigger my drums and make patterns even though I wish to phase out recording patterns in it.

A function to rename audio inputs and outputs to more "friendly" names without having to hack the regestry...

matcher did some good comparison betw/ sx3 and s4:

"Score Editor


Cakewalk's Staff View is a basic staff notation display which is fine for MIDI editing and printing copies for jam sessions, but doesn't pretend to support professional-looking score creation. On the other hand, the Score Editor in Cubase is a very robust scoring tool capable of creating complex score arrangements. Purists will claim that it really doesn't equal Coda Finale or Sibelius. However, I have used it for creating scores for Big Band Swing arrangements and have been very pleased with the results.


Audio Import/Export & File Management


Both Sonar and Cubase support importing the most commonly used audio file types—Broadcast Wave, Windows Media, MP3, AIFF, RealAudio—as well as the Open Media Framework (OMF) for transferring entire projects. However, Cubase also includes a feature for CD ripping.


Both products offer MP3 as one of the audio export formats. But whereas Steinberg simply includes this feature as part of the product, Cakewalk requires a $19 activation fee for the unlimited use of its MP3 encoder. While this is more of an annoyance than anything else, it does seem to be a curious blind spot in Cakewalk's pricing. Neither product includes CD burning.


Sonar allows you to store audio files in a folder for each project, in a bundle together with the project in one large file, or in a single common audio folder. Cubase is primarily oriented towards storing audio files in a separate physical folder for each project. However, Cubase also provides a Pool for each project which is basically a logical folder. Audio and video events can be physically stored anywhere and still managed from the logical Pool. You can also create libraries of common files which are basically Pools that are not connected to a specific project. Taken together, these facilities provide a more sophisticated way to manage audio files.


MIDI Processing & Editing


For real-time MIDI processing Sonar provides only several basic functions such as transposing, absolute velocity scaling, and time shifting. Cubase, on the other hand, has a rich variety of real-time MIDI processing functions which including note filtering and limiting as well as randomization functions. If you're so inclined, you can also fire up the Input Transformer, which is a real-time version of the Logical Editor for complex MIDI input processing.


For MIDI batch processing beyond the basics, Cubase provides its powerful Logical Editor and Sonar has Cakewalk Application Language (CAL). CAL is a very versatile MIDI programming language. However, Cakewalk is in a very tenuous position here. It is clearly trying to phase out CAL and has not provided any documentation for its use in the last two releases of Sonar. However, without CAL Sonar has virtually no facility for complex MIDI batch processing (although Sonar does provide Select by Filter for complex MIDI selections). Cubase also provides 16 MIDI FX plug-ins, twice the number available in Sonar.


For MIDI editing both Cubase and Sonar provide a Piano Roll Editor, a Drum Editor, and a List/Event Editor. Functionally these are pretty much the same. However, in the Cubase Piano Roll and Drum Editors you can display and edit multiple controller lanes as opposed to a single lane in Sonar. In addition, in Cubase you can open miniature Piano Roll and Drum Editors directly in the project timeline. This can be useful when you are trying to line up MIDI events with audio or video.


Audio Processing & Editing


As we'll discuss in a minute, Sonar wins the race in audio FX plug-ins. However, Cubase provides a more sophisticated set of features for basic audio processing. For example, both products provide a peak normalizing function. However, whereas your only choice in Sonar is to normalize up to 0 db, in Cubase you can normalize up to any level between -50 and 0 db. The same is true for audio gain. In Sonar your only choices are ±3 db, whereas Cubase allows you to adjust gain continuously between +20 and -50 db.


While nothing beats listening for EQing, sometimes it's nice to confirm what you think you hear. Cubase has a built-in Spectrum Analyzer that you can apply to an audio track, but Sonar does not offer this feature.


In Cubase you can group audio events (the equivalent of a Sonar clip) into parts, and there is both a Sample Editor for events and a Part Editor. You can also define regions for an audio event which allow you to operate on portions of events much like Markers in the timeline. Sonar does not have a separate audio clip editor, but instead allows you to perform sample editing in the Clips Pane.


Non-Linear Sequencer


The Play Order Track that Steinberg introduced in SX 3 is a unique type of sequencer designed to facilitate the creation of compositions based on loop segments. It has a few of the aspects of a pattern sequencer, but it is really a very different animal. You can take vertical slices of the tracks in your song and use the Play Order Editor to rearrange the order or specify the number of times the slice (a "Play Order Part" in Cubase terminology) is repeated. Sonar has nothing equivalent to this type of functionality.


Networking


Both products support MIDI interfaces to specific external control surfaces such as Mackie Control or Tascam US-428 as well as offering a general external control surface module which allows you to roll your own. Cubase wins here simply by the number of specific control surfaces that come pre-defined, 18 as compared to 8 for Sonar.
Cubase also has a feature, VST System Link, for linking multiple instances of the product on different computers. If you have a large project, you could for example put all your VST instruments on one computer and use another one for recording audio tracks. Sonar does not have a similar feature. "

Some New Ideas

best, planist

The Items in the Track View like 'Program', 'Pan',... should be re-order like Cakewalk Pro Audio.

Now if I want to have a glace at the instruments, I can only enlarge the Left Side to see the 'Program' Field

And, I hope 'Program Change' Can also be seen at in the Track View.

Or like it is in Project 5 V2, patch name is on first row, with name of track atleast ti that way in picture

A function to rename audio inputs and outputs to more "friendly" names without having to hack the regestry...

That would be cool!