Sound Quality of Sonar X1

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Jeff Evans
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Re:Sound Quality of Sonar X1 2012/03/08 06:57:33 (permalink)
All I can hear is the same great guitarist on all three. They all sound very similar to me here. Happily use any of these tracks in a mix. Very little difference for your test compared to someone here who says there was a big difference using same plugin in different DAW's.

Danny
can I use this riff for a library track I am working on?  LOL! Can I put drums and bass and a solo over it? I guess you were playing to a click yes, that would make it easier. Very funky and clean.



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Brando
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Re:Sound Quality of Sonar X1 2012/03/08 07:25:16 (permalink)
SvenArne


People!!!
 
Does everyone, for reasons I kouldn't possibly understand, have Jeff Evans on 'ignore'?
 
I'm the biggest "all DAWs sound the same"-kamper around, but I'm intrigued by his truly interesting tests. Nulling residue 12-18 dB down may or may not be easily heard in kontekst, but it's sertainly orders of magnitude more signifikant than any konverter, not to mention master klokk, shootout I've seen on Gearslutz (where zealots are klaiming residues of -50 to -70 dB and lower would akkount for "night and day" differences in the final mix).
 
Shouldn't someone be challenging his results? Maybe he forgets some parameters or something?
 
Sven

For the most part I do. Even though Jeff is clearly an articulate and knowledgeable man I find his bias towards Studio One to interfere with any credibility he might otherwise have here, at least with me. Sorry Jeff. A statement like "For some reason....Logic and SONAR...." as though it was a complete shot in the dark that SONAR and Logic nearly completely null out in his tests, a fluke occurrence. Surely the DAW manufacturers all know each other's products and have targeted certain ones for sound, for features, for user interface, etc. 
Some of the posts here make it appear that the differences are like nails on a blackboard. I would call them more akin to "character". I never heard Rain complain about  the sound of his Logic, etc. 
And as was posted earlier, none of any of this has anything to do with the original poster's question.
Just my 2 cents.

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John T
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Re:Sound Quality of Sonar X1 2012/03/08 07:52:59 (permalink)
Well, hang on. If you read what Jeff is saying, he's careful to point out that - to his ears at least - none of the differences he's found in testing are particularly audible or "characterful" in a straight playback. It's certainly not him who's claiming the differences to be large.

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Re:Sound Quality of Sonar X1 2012/03/08 07:54:35 (permalink)
And you know, Studio One is good. Obviously, we shouldn't overstep the bounds of the Sonar forum too much, but it is presumably the kind of thing that would come up in discussion amongst a bunch of computer based audio engineers. I don't see why Jeff saying he likes it should dent his credibility on anything.

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Danny Danzi
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Re:Sound Quality of Sonar X1 2012/03/08 07:55:20 (permalink)
Jeff Evans


All I can hear is the same great guitarist on all three. They all sound very similar to me here. Happily use any of these tracks in a mix. Very little difference for your test compared to someone here who says there was a big difference using same plugin in different DAW's.

Danny
can I use this riff for a library track I am working on?  LOL! Can I put drums and bass and a solo over it? I guess you were playing to a click yes, that would make it easier. Very funky and clean.

Hahaha you're too kind. Thanks! :) Sure Jeff, feel free to use whatever you need...as long as you don't forget where ya got them from. :) Yeah, I played to a click at 140 bpm on those as best as I could. I'm horrible at playing to a click track....I usually create a full drum midi as my click...you know...kick, snare, hats etc...just to keep time. I just hate the annoying sound of a click track. I got a pretty mean solo I do over that riff...it's actually taken from one of my heavier songs and was originally done with over-drive. :) I could post a clip of that section sometime so you can hear what the drive and other instruments sound like. :)
 
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Brando
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Re:Sound Quality of Sonar X1 2012/03/08 07:56:56 (permalink)
John T


Well, hang on. If you read what Jeff is saying, he's careful to point out that - to his ears at least - none of the differences he's found in testing are particularly audible or "characterful" in a straight playback. It's certainly not him who's claiming the differences to be large.

You're right John. Woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. Apologies to Jeff for trying to characterize his statements as something other than what he stated. 

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Re:Sound Quality of Sonar X1 2012/03/08 08:04:43 (permalink)


Jeff Evans
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Re:Sound Quality of Sonar X1 2012/03/08 08:06:17 (permalink)
You are right Brando and Danny's test is certainly more in line with the OP. I think it got off somehow as to how DAW's might sound different in other areas such as where I was testing.

But I must say again though I am only reporting on extremly low level after null artifcats part of the differences between these DAW's. And how are they going to add or subtract from a signal that is a lot louder than the artifacts themselves. If there were more pronounced differences then the artifacts would have been much louder.

They all sound great up loud normally and just switching between all of them makes it very very hard to hear any real difference between any of the DAW's in question. The mix of the track sounds amazingly identical on everything. Certainly not enough to warrant changing from one to the other for sound reasons alone.

But style wise this is a live track with a lot of acoustic instruments and some electric and very hi fidelity, not the same thing Scott is dealing with. It has given me an idea that I might generate some electronic tracks now and see what turns up with completely different music.

Thanks Mike for the link too. I will check it out. Could be a real timesaver.



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Re:Sound Quality of Sonar X1 2012/03/08 08:07:43 (permalink)
Danny Danzi


Jeff Evans


All I can hear is the same great guitarist on all three. They all sound very similar to me here. Happily use any of these tracks in a mix. Very little difference for your test compared to someone here who says there was a big difference using same plugin in different DAW's.

Danny
can I use this riff for a library track I am working on?  LOL! Can I put drums and bass and a solo over it? I guess you were playing to a click yes, that would make it easier. Very funky and clean.

Hahaha you're too kind. Thanks! :) Sure Jeff, feel free to use whatever you need...as long as you don't forget where ya got them from. :) Yeah, I played to a click at 140 bpm on those as best as I could. I'm horrible at playing to a click track....I usually create a full drum midi as my click...you know...kick, snare, hats etc...just to keep time. I just hate the annoying sound of a click track. I got a pretty mean solo I do over that riff...it's actually taken from one of my heavier songs and was originally done with over-drive. :) I could post a clip of that section sometime so you can hear what the drive and other instruments sound like. :)
 
-Danny


Great playing Danny. Were those 9s? I liked the sound of the string work you were adding. Nice.


best regards,
mike


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Re:Sound Quality of Sonar X1 2012/03/08 08:51:48 (permalink)
I could hear a slight difference, but no coloration. A tiny bit of EQ, and they are similar. 

Using the first as a reference, which is pretty balanced, I'll say the second has a little less bottom output. The third has a little more low end and punch, I'm guessing that's Sonar. Am I right? :D
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Re:Sound Quality of Sonar X1 2012/03/08 08:57:03 (permalink)
John T I can't believe you said that Studio One is good FBB won't be happy with you anymore! He will be looking down his nose at you from now on. How dare you utter such things.

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Re:Sound Quality of Sonar X1 2012/03/08 09:04:18 (permalink)
Thanks Danny. I've got the drums, bass, keys added. Wrote the words. It's called "Which Is It". 
Tracking now.
OK, done.
Off to the Library of Congress:)

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Re:Sound Quality of Sonar X1 2012/03/08 09:10:26 (permalink)
timidi


Thanks Danny. I've got the drums, bass, keys added. Wrote the words. It's called "Which Is It". 
Tracking now.
OK, done.
Off to the Library of Congress:)


Yeah, but mine goes to 11.

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Re:Sound Quality of Sonar X1 2012/03/08 09:18:45 (permalink)
Hey Gang-
 
I will post some files just as soon as I can squeeze some time....the past few days have been busy (since my initial post).  3 kids (one a new baby), coaching 2 b-ball teams..and a full time job will get in the way of "my time" :)
 
For clarification, the sound difference is in live monitoring, using a very good pair of studio headphones.  The difference is also noticable over my studio monitors. 
 
I haven't rendered any files to  wav or mp3, this is simply plug in guitar, strike a chord or play a simple passage, and the quality of sound is straight away noticable.
 
As far as the claim that it could be a sum of the wet & dry signals, that's not the case.  I have the dry input muted in the Patchmix software (sort of a virtual mixer that comes with the E-MU 1616m).   When I tested with the M-Audio Fast Track, it does not come with mixer/routing/monitoring software; there is a simple "Mix" knob on the interface that will allow you to mix the dry and effected signal; the knob was set to only hear the effected signal....there was no bleed from the dry input.
 
As far as the various opinions that this is some sort of placebo, or that I'm hearing "what I want to hear"....that's just rubbish.
 
The earth was flat until proven otherwise.  Just a the earth is round, the sound is noticably different.  I don't need to be convinced that this is all "in my head"...it's not.
 
For the record, I'm not trying to prove or disprove anything.  I'm telling you that Amplitude and Guitar Rig sound different, on my system, whe monitoring live, within the 3 DAWS I mentioned.  
 
Again,  the sound isn noticably fuller (call it louder/I can't explain that), and DEFINATELY a whole lot clearer.   Since I haven't posted any files for proof...maybe that's where I should have started.  Maybe, after redering a few, I'll be surprised at how similar they sound.  My intial gues is that won't be the case.  I'll try to have something posted out to you tonight.
 
I'm also going to try using  an emulated out from my Blackstar HT-60 Soloist (I han't though to try this test without VST guitar simulation...just direct from the amp).  I'd mike it with my SM-57, but wife and baby don't agree with late night jam sessions :) I will then listen to see if the sound is noticable different on the clean channel while montoring the direct input within SONAR.
 
That's all for now.   Please continue with your banter...it has been interesting.
 
-Bob
 
 
 
 
 
post edited by brozobob - 2012/03/08 09:55:15

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Re:Sound Quality of Sonar X1 2012/03/08 09:31:15 (permalink)
LJB


Jeff, I like the way you work. Let's see more of it.

IMO, and as I have said before, and without testing, the only way all DAWs could be identical in sound was if they all used the same algorithms...

Seth, let's hear it, are you guys all part of the BORG behind closed doors, or do you use different code and design philosophy? :O)





One more OT whack on the horse, I think I saw it twitch....


How anyone could think that all DAWs sound/process "exactly" the same seems strange to me, my ears may not be able to detect it, but there has to be some difference.  The minute the audio hits a change that uses a different processing method it will be different.  I'm sure someone on this planet will be able to hear some of these differences.









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Re:Sound Quality of Sonar X1 2012/03/08 09:36:57 (permalink)
Hi Bob, 

I tried to search the long thread but could not find definite answer to this: have you checked that you have exactly the same pan law settings in all DAWs and that tracks are in stereo mode? Guitar Rig may sound totally different in SONAR if track interleave is set to mono. I got this into my mind because I have used Guitar Rig in live tracking and some older SONAR versions changed interleave from stereo to mono unintentionally in some circumstates. 

My checklist: 
1 Pan law setting
2 Track Interleave (mono/stereo)
3 Mono/Stereo in Guitar Rig;  L and R buttons in the top of the GUI
4 Master out interleave
5 Input track: any ProChannel fx on? 
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Re:Sound Quality of Sonar X1 2012/03/08 09:38:09 (permalink)
Mike_MccueGreat playing Danny. Were those 9s? I liked the sound of the string work you were adding. Nice.

 
Thanks Mike! I tried to make it a little interesting, yet keep it fairly simple so that there was a bit more sound than riffage. LOL!  Yeah, 9-42 GHS Boomers. They don't last very long (I usally beat them up after 2 shows or in one week) but they feel nice and sound good. Been using them since the late 80's.
 
Havengel I could hear a slight difference, but no coloration. A tiny bit of EQ, and they are similar.

Using the first as a reference, which is pretty balanced, I'll say the second has a little less bottom output. The third has a little more low end and punch, I'm guessing that's Sonar. Am I right? :D

 
God Bless you...I can't hear any difference other than when I hit something harder/softer or just execute the chord shapes a bit differently. Sounds like the same recording to me other than the performance differences. No, you weren't right on the DAW guess. Though I'm holding off on sharing that info, I would have told you the truth if you would have gotten it right. :)
 
timidiThanks Danny. I've got the drums, bass, keys added. Wrote the words. It's called "Which Is It".
Tracking now.
OK, done.
Off to the Library of Congress:)

 
Oh man, how evil! You better at least let me play on it with you...c'mon, the mix of styles would be cool! :) At least let me sing back-ups or something? :-Þ Darn it Tim..let a lil brother in on the fun. :)
 
-Danny

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Re:Sound Quality of Sonar X1 2012/03/08 09:41:33 (permalink)
from my end sound cards variey so much across so many systems.
i agree with GIM ,and will add
trust the daw and system you are using and make good songs.
 after 2 hours on protools ( looking across the room to my x1 )
i  had  missed  my workflow and couldnt wait to  go back to my true love ,i get far better guitar and drum track sounds on sonar.i find sonar more fun and user friendly.  yes best thread iv read in months.

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Re:Sound Quality of Sonar X1 2012/03/08 10:42:25 (permalink)

Did a bit of testing here as well. 

First, I cannot replicate the OP's results with Sonar and PT10. Playing through Amplitube 3 sounds the same to my ears in both of those apps.

Next, I've just taken a stem mix and imported it into both PT10 and Sonar. 19 tracks, levels and panning already set so that I didn't touch the faders or pots. I then exported and the resultant stereo files null perfectly (If anyone wants to DL the results let me know and I'll post them...I'm always OK with peer review ). I haven't tried it with any fader or panpot changes yet...I'll see if I can get a minute later to try it with one of the track faders pulled down 1db.

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Re:Sound Quality of Sonar X1 2012/03/08 15:28:14 (permalink)
Noel Borthwick said: Some time ago I ran into a serious sonic degradation issue when playing files in Windows. It turned out to be a Windows crappy SRC leading to very audible aliasing artifacts. I'm sure this bites tons of Windows users without them knowing it. Here is a post describing what I found: https://plus.google.com/100031147479819116208/posts/AUUFmaasrvR
 
I say: This is a known bug in Windows. The WaveOut/MME modes have a bug in their SRC code, the DirectShow and Media Foundation do not. If you playback something using an program that doesn't use WaveOut/MME then the SRC sounds fine--no aliasing. More info on this thread: http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en/windowspro-audiodevelopment/thread/725546ce-57bf-40d0-b7aa-47e51de9c3ae (scroll down to the post by Maurits [MSFT] on Tuesday, March 29, 2011 3:56 PM)

Noel, can you put any pressure on MS to get this fixed?

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Re:Sound Quality of Sonar X1 2012/03/08 16:28:20 (permalink)
Thanks for the update - I didn't know that it was a known bug. Whats weird is that IE has the problem and I was under the impression that IE didn't use Waveout anymore but used MF. Maybe I'll contribute to that thread and link back to mine.

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Re:Sound Quality of Sonar X1 2012/03/08 16:46:47 (permalink)
Dappa1


Sonar to my ears sounds better than Logic anyway. 
Simply considering the quantity and variety of great music out there produced using Logic statistically shows that however fine your ears maybe, there's something wrong with the way you process the information they provide you with. 


I'd bet my 2 cents that if Logic sounded "worst than Motown", someone somewhere in the long list of non-motown users,be it George Martin, Radiohead or Trent Reznor would have noticed. And Sonar sounds just the same. Great.





post edited by Rain - 2012/03/08 16:52:51

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Re:Sound Quality of Sonar X1 2012/03/08 16:54:36 (permalink)
Danny Danzi


Ok, this thread rocks first off....secondly, if we can all keep our cool during this, it may turn into one of the best threads ever. :) Third, I've heard about everyone doing tests yet I've yet to see anyone give us any files in this particular thread unless I've missed them. So, I did the files for you. I went into this as a basic, know nothing home recording guy. Forget all the science and all that stuff for a second unless you choose to allow it to make more of this than it is. Here it is...

Guitar Rig 4 using preset Twang Country and "small room" for the reverb. The verb was the only alteration in the preset.

Direct box right into my soundcard.

3 different popular DAWS used, one of course is Sonar X1.

3 different performances of the same thing played in each DAW individually and exported out of that DAW.

All files recorded and exported at as close to -3dB as possible at 140 BPM using each DAW's metronome.

All recorded using the same front end...no eq's in any of the DAWS or my front end, no compression....Guitar Rig 4 straight in.

I purposely used a guitar with dead strings (6 weeks on them)

Carvin DC 400 DD Custom using single coil split humbucker using Carvin active electronics. Active eq's centered/not used. Bridge pup used.

16/44 waves, no bells and whistles, no 64 bit software, no 64 bit mix engine, no floating points....straight in, DAW for DAW. You guys can do your own tests and draw your own conclusions. 

I just played a little riff here showing some chords as well as a little lead riff opening. I'll share which DAWS were used in a few days as well as what front end and sound card was used.

Now, before someone starts saying "yeah, but what soundcard did you use" and "well, it's not 24/48 with 32 bit float...and it's not using Sonar 64 with the 64 bit mix engine....and what pre did you use and...and...you're not going to notice because of...." What do your ears tell you in this simple test? Other than sometimes I hit certain chords/riffs harder than others, if there are differences, they aren't apparent enough to make a stink about in my opinion. I'm sure some people are noticing something somewhere...but I'm not on this end in this test. I'll leave it at that for now.

Here are the files: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4909348/DANNYTEST.ZIP

-Danny

For those of you who may have missed my post here because it got buried in the replies (this thread has been moving pretty quick lol) I'm just bumping this part in case you want to mess with my files.
 
Also, now that there haven't been many posts since I last checked the thread, I'll give you some info on the stuff I used for my test.
 
My guitar pre-amp while in bypass mode, is an awesome DI with XLR outs. When bypassed, there is no signal coloration and I've compared it with an actual DI box....no differences that I can pick up on. I also wanted to make double sure there was no additional processing going on even while bypassed so I created a blank patch that had nothing going on in it. But honest, when you hit bypass on this thing....everything dies the way it should.
 
From there I ran the 2 XLR outs into a Mackie 32x8 console. Both eq's on the channels bypassed, board pre's not even needed so they were totally counter-clockwise/off. Faders at unity. One of my master out's of the console into a Realtek HD 1/8 line-in to my Dell Inspiron internet box. I seriously wanted to keep this as "consumer" and basic as possible which is why I used this particular set-up.
 
The DAW's were:
 
Danny1- Studio One 2
Danny2- Sonar X1d
Danny3- Reaper
 
-Danny

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Re:Sound Quality of Sonar X1 2012/03/08 17:27:04 (permalink)
The DAW's were:
 
Danny1- Studio One 2
Danny2- Sonar X1d
Danny3- Reaper 

 
That explains why I liked "Danny2" better than the others. It had that MoTown Sound!
 
Middleman
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Re:Sound Quality of Sonar X1 2012/03/08 17:41:00 (permalink)
Totally dude.

Gear: A bunch of stuff.
maximumpower
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Re:Sound Quality of Sonar X1 2012/03/08 18:50:00 (permalink)
Danny Danzi


Danny Danzi


Ok, this thread rocks first off....secondly, if we can all keep our cool during this, it may turn into one of the best threads ever. :) Third, I've heard about everyone doing tests yet I've yet to see anyone give us any files in this particular thread unless I've missed them. So, I did the files for you. I went into this as a basic, know nothing home recording guy. Forget all the science and all that stuff for a second unless you choose to allow it to make more of this than it is. Here it is...

Guitar Rig 4 using preset Twang Country and "small room" for the reverb. The verb was the only alteration in the preset.

Direct box right into my soundcard.

3 different popular DAWS used, one of course is Sonar X1.

3 different performances of the same thing played in each DAW individually and exported out of that DAW.

All files recorded and exported at as close to -3dB as possible at 140 BPM using each DAW's metronome.

All recorded using the same front end...no eq's in any of the DAWS or my front end, no compression....Guitar Rig 4 straight in.

I purposely used a guitar with dead strings (6 weeks on them)

Carvin DC 400 DD Custom using single coil split humbucker using Carvin active electronics. Active eq's centered/not used. Bridge pup used.

16/44 waves, no bells and whistles, no 64 bit software, no 64 bit mix engine, no floating points....straight in, DAW for DAW. You guys can do your own tests and draw your own conclusions. 

I just played a little riff here showing some chords as well as a little lead riff opening. I'll share which DAWS were used in a few days as well as what front end and sound card was used.

Now, before someone starts saying "yeah, but what soundcard did you use" and "well, it's not 24/48 with 32 bit float...and it's not using Sonar 64 with the 64 bit mix engine....and what pre did you use and...and...you're not going to notice because of...." What do your ears tell you in this simple test? Other than sometimes I hit certain chords/riffs harder than others, if there are differences, they aren't apparent enough to make a stink about in my opinion. I'm sure some people are noticing something somewhere...but I'm not on this end in this test. I'll leave it at that for now.

Here are the files: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4909348/DANNYTEST.ZIP

-Danny

For those of you who may have missed my post here because it got buried in the replies (this thread has been moving pretty quick lol) I'm just bumping this part in case you want to mess with my files.
 
Also, now that there haven't been many posts since I last checked the thread, I'll give you some info on the stuff I used for my test.
 
My guitar pre-amp while in bypass mode, is an awesome DI with XLR outs. When bypassed, there is no signal coloration and I've compared it with an actual DI box....no differences that I can pick up on. I also wanted to make double sure there was no additional processing going on even while bypassed so I created a blank patch that had nothing going on in it. But honest, when you hit bypass on this thing....everything dies the way it should.
 
From there I ran the 2 XLR outs into a Mackie 32x8 console. Both eq's on the channels bypassed, board pre's not even needed so they were totally counter-clockwise/off. Faders at unity. One of my master out's of the console into a Realtek HD 1/8 line-in to my Dell Inspiron internet box. I seriously wanted to keep this as "consumer" and basic as possible which is why I used this particular set-up.
 
The DAW's were:
 
Danny1- Studio One 2
Danny2- Sonar X1d
Danny3- Reaper
 
-Danny



Danny,
I think your playing is excellent. Also, I am so impressed on how well the three tracks line up. I imported them all into Sonar and played them at the same time. Relative to me, your timing... well... you are a machine!!! You know, in the way I would say Neil Peart is a machine.  ...I mean that as a compliment.

I really enjoy your playing. I am choosing to be inspired and not depressed (in that I am a long way off). lol


As far as the differences? I want to say I can hear a difference but I am going to listen (and enjoy) the samples some more times over the next day.


Since I am playing all three in Sonar, does that invalidate the test? That is, if the DAW colors the sound? However, wouldn't it be additive and therefore still a valid test?


Can a tool like SPAN help out here?


Thanks for supplying the files and the entertainment. Now to work on getting better at guitar :-)


P.S. I see you played this on a DC400. I just got my DC127 (with active electronics) this week :-)



Win 10 (64 bit), i7-2600k 3.4GHz , 8 GB RAM, SATA III (500GB SSD - System, 2TB WD Black - Data), Sonar Platinum x64, m-audio Profire 610

panup
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Re:Sound Quality of Sonar X1 2012/03/08 19:36:12 (permalink)
Danny, 

I listened your samples with some random Fostex monitors (tried to be hobbyist!). I listened each sample several times but I they sounded the same. Every sample has excellent quality and any differences are inconsequential. 

Your playing is awesome as always... Well defined and accurate yet relaxed and grooving.  
bobguitkillerleft
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Re:Sound Quality of Sonar X1 2012/03/08 19:50:17 (permalink)
Seriously inspiring guitar playing Danny Danzi!

I'm too old to try to play that fast[single notes]so I concentrate on my feel,as you obviously do as well[mindblowing].

The three files I listened to in Windows Media Player,and they all sound identical on a quick raw listen.

Im a bit confused[and a bit thick] though[unusual?],did you re-play,and re-record the same piece three times so identically?

So just to be clear: DID you play the PIECE THREE SEPERATE TIMES????

If so, I'm floored,amazing,if not, I'm still floored amazing! 

Sincerely RK.

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bobguitkillerleft
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Re:Sound Quality of Sonar X1 2012/03/08 19:55:55 (permalink)
I just RE-READ.....3 Separate PERFORMANCES,ouch!!! I need to woodshed BADLY.[VERY!]

https://soundcloud.com/rks26https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hitmen Lenovo W540 Factoryrefurb SONAR PLATINUM,Ozone 7 N.I. KA6 Komplete 9 SSD4 Platinum Epi L/H LP Custom Headstock broken twice and fixed.Gibson L/H Les Paul 2010 Wine Red Studio stupid Right Hand Vol.Tone for Left Hand?LH84Ibanez RS135 gen.FloydRose JB Marshall 100w 2203 4x25w Celestion Green backs
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Jonbouy
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Re:Sound Quality of Sonar X1 2012/03/08 20:04:32 (permalink)
I've just noticed my UK version of Sonar has more of Stonesy vibe than the Motowny american builds...

Just sayin...

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In the meantime we should all go shopping to console ourselves" - Banksy
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