Welcome to the world of Virtual Analogue Placebo Conscientiousness.
 

I think better analysis tools and especially (built in, not plugins) metering would be more valuable than more plugins.

I really like the idea Craig.  I use Sonar to (loosely worded) master, but I have all of the Waves mastering tools in the toolkit that I add in.  HOWEVER - I do use Sonars tools in the process from time to time, like the CA2A, LP64 tools, and Quad Curve.  You know, I haven't had to master in a few months but MIX recall looks like it will earn a spot in there for A\B ing.      
 
What intrigues me is that Cakewalk has always been forward thinking, and ahead of the curve in user implementation.  I wonder what would happen if they take that kind of knowledge, drive and initiative and applied it to a mastering suite built around user efficiency. That's pretty darned interesting to me.    

I like the idea, and would rather have it all in one box without exporting to other software, better workflow for users and better business for CW in the long run.
You can do much of it within Sonar as is with practice and understanding of general sound engineering, but it can be challenging and more time consuming, especially when the recordings are handed to you as is.
 
I also have more plugins than I want to manage or use very much, so a mastering suite with analysis etc built in would be nice, but also agree fixing existing issues for the majority should come first.
 
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On the subject of eqs, as well as an exanded mastruing version, the ability to have more than one PC eq per track/bus would be rather useful in itself. As for noise reduction, I don't much care whether it's a plugin, DSP process or what, so as it's there. For a fully fledged DAW to lack that function is a great big gaping hole in its' capabilities.

I used Sonar for Mastering on two projects 1 was rock and other was gospel ... both came out stunning and stacked up to the best of what was playing on the radio that year.. Looks like Sonar is  better at that ..than anything else.

Bring it on.... :-)

Of course, one could already master with Sonar easily in terms of doing the actual audio mastering and comping everything together with fades. I actually use Sonar to do all of my crossfades and make my final DDP waves... laying out each song on a separate track so I can easily see the overlap and transitions and then bouncing the wave. You can then separate the final bounced wave where you want each track to begin and then bounce each track again for creating gapless playback CDs or MP3s. It's actually really great for various tricky situations... if say you've already mastered everything, but you want a crossfade between two songs and that creates a new peak above 0. After you've bounced the crossfade (with 32bit floating point bit depth of course) Just separate the offending section (crossfading the beginning and ending with the rest of the song) and stick a limiter on just that section. Bounce again... Fixed! I love how flexible Sonar is for this kind of stuff.
 
One could easily use all of the included software already for the audio side of things, although I don't think you'd get truly top level results. Companies like DMG, iZotope, Fab-Filter, Flux, Sonoris, Acustica Acqua, etc. etc. all make very nice tools that can get you in the realm of professional quality (if you know what you're doing and you have a proper listening environment). I rather not have Cakewalk trying to develop tools that most likely aren't going to really compete on that level anyways... there are already EQs, Comps, limiter, etc. included that are fine. All basic audio tools are already there!
 
But what could Cakewalk include that would be really cool and/or allow someone to stay in Sonar and deliver a master to a manufacturing plant?
 
An ISP (intersample peak) monitor. Currently cakewalk would not detect if they're was (or technically - going to be) an ISP, which is important tool these days in mastering. I'm currently using DMG Dualism but it would be nice to have it built right in to Sonar.
 
A LUFS meter. Essential for people doing broadcast/post work and hopefully the eventual standard for getting levels in a post "volume war" era of audio mastering (if that ever happens). There is already a lot of discussion about Spotify and iTunes radio creating built in volume controls based on a particular readings in LUFS... perhaps we'll really see an end to the volume wars some day when having a loud volume isn't actually louder than everything else?
 
DDP creation. If you really want to do things correctly, almost all manufacturing plants are using DDP files for CD duplication. A dedicated DDP creator would be great. You could even make it an automated process. Whether or not you have each song in different lanes of one track or different songs spread across multiple tracks feeding into a single bus or output - just select everything and click make DDP (or have it in the bounce to track dialog)... Sonar could automatically render the final wave and reference track start times, include all crossfades or add silence if there was a gap between two tracks. Ability to edit all of this, swap out tracks, manage all of the text/metadata or add ISRC codes would be needed as well.
 
Sample Rate Conversion! Yup, cakewalk should license iZotopes SRC (hopefully allowing the variety of custom settings) and allow SRC with a session/project... ie convert a project to a new sample rate. Most Daws can't do this within a session, so it would be pretty amazing. Heck, I would LOVE to be able to pull up a 44.1kHz session and convert it to 88.2 or 96. That would be incredible!!!
 
A proper wave editor. When I double click on an audio clip I don't want to go to a loop construction view... I want to go to Sonar's new audio editor. That has tools for fixing digital errors, clicks, tape hiss, vinyl pops and scratches and maybe even a de-clipper. Powered by iZotope? Even better! Offer a free light version of RX and turn the audio editor view idea into the new iZotope audio editing Region FX. I'm really excited just thinking about the idea... an iZotope RX Region FX... please!
 
There is always more, but off the top of my head these are the things that would make mastering completely in Sonar a go...
 
Take these ideas to the Bakers Craig... make a good presentation... we're counting on you! ;-)

CAL is being deprecated, and in any case it is linked to MIDI data but I would really like scripting included.

It is loosely part of mastering; you finish a file of sounds that need to be cut up, followed by lots of manual work cutting up sometimes hundreds of sounds. There's lots of small individual processes that need to accomplished one after another, including exporting

I do this in Sound Forge for its "scripting" ability that really speeds up this sort of work. It would be great to never have to leave Sonar. I would love to see these sorts of features rather than more plugins.

Thatsastrat
 
Didn't one guys speculation ask the forum what they thought about subscription software?

 
Yes, but that was because I was on an anti-subscription crusade and writing articles about it, so I was gathering opinions. This is one of the more intelligent forums on the internet, so it seemed like a good place to research compared to forums where the answer would have been "Subscriptions suck donkey ballz, dude." However I do think my opinions added weight to the "you get to keep what you buy" mentality Cakewalk had about the subject.
 

Sometimes your speculation has a way of ending up as product. Which in this case I could be fine with it.

Well, a LOT of forum comments end up in products, it's not just me. If you look over the bug fix list in the monthly releases, almost all of them were mentioned by users. Doesn't mean Cakewalk wasn't aware of them prior to their being mentioned, but I know for a fact that many bugs have been fixed specifically because users confirmed and provided steps to reproduce.
 
Besides, my gig is to speculate 

pentimentosound
I am eager to see what's next with Sonar.

 
And you get to say that every month 
 

So, currently, one would create a second/third "master" bus to add the 2nd EQ and other bits. Yes?
 
I am most in favor of collaboration with other companies to build alliances rather than always creating similar products. Such collaboration increases the cross-customer-base.
 
Encouraging other companies, such as Waves and Izotope,... to create PC plugins is preferred to CW trying to gain customers by spending time and money creating what is already available from other supportive vendors.
 
Yet, expanding an already available product for the PC, and then making a VST that can be used in other audio programs is reasonable.
 
I think the proprietary nature of the PC is a drawback.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

alewgro
Why do people use other products like Studio One for mastering?  I am new to mastering so I am trying to learn.  Why do people export their songs into another app? 

For me it's partly a psychological issue. If I've recorded, mixed and then intending to master the project as well then I will definitely export a mixed stereo file and import into Sound Forge. It provides a completely different environment in which to work and allows me to be completely free of any distractions that Sonars different focus might create.

I also leave a significant period of time between mixing and mastering , say at least a week or more, so that I get more of the feel of not knowing this piece of music from before, thus not creating a kind of bias that can effect my audio perception.
Having developed this work process I then tend to use SoundForge for all my mastering. It has some very powerful editing tools and DX plugins and of course I can use any of my mastering VSTs as well.
If the final medium is CD then all the tools are all there for Redbook CD creation as for any other final medium.

Some people use Studio One for Mastering because of its Final project managing tools like for multiple songs and uploading to the net, that mean you don't have to leave the program. Download their demo and have a look if you're interested to understand it in more detail.

I hope that's given you an insight into why some use other programs for mastering - at least why I do. It's not necessarily better it's just what I do and it is a process that's grown over time, from when the tools weren't available in Sonar.

pwalpwal
boost 11 is not the greatest limiter around, if you're looking for one try https://vladgsound.wordpress.com/plugins/limiter6/
i also use an external audio editor for mastering, i would rather sonar focused on sequencing

Yep . . . I agree fully with this point . . . Cakewalk should just excel at sequencing, since most of us by now seem to have purchased external mastering solutions.

I totally support this.  I do most of my mastering in Sonar already with the help of some 3rd-party plugins, but having this functionality built in would add even more value to the program for new users.
 
 If Cakewalk is smart, they will put Craig in charge of project development for Mastering Enhancements. (You're welcome Craig!) 
 
In addition to what has already been suggested, I would LOVE to see K-System Metering as an option for the built-in Sonar meters.
 
Kenn