And its now official......SONAR is the best DAW. Spread the love.

hmm that doesn't sound like the way Noel talks.

Actually, I was a little confused when, right after asking me to answer, Noel decide to do it himself as well, but - hey - that's what temperamental, creative geniuses are like. Still, apart from slight differences of tone, I don't think that the two sets of answers are very far apart.

I added some more documentation foe the "PDC Override For Live Tracks" feature from our design notes, to explain some common questions about this feature.

Hi, Noel,

It's really awesome that you take the time to come in here and answer questions... I wish the Vista people afforded us the same courtesy, I sure have a few for them. :-)

Anyway, just wondering about this point:

>>But do you think the extra work you've all done here may literally raise the bar from your standpoint for the future?
We strive to raise the bar on stability every version we do. As I said above its all about how much of the end user experience we cover in our testing. The test matrix for SONAR is mind bogglingly massive so its physically impossible to test every user interaction with the program. This is where our beta testers help out.

Does this imply that no part of the regression test matrix is automated? I think, through my own experience with .0 versions and older seldom-used plugins, I know the answer, but it would be great to get the real scoop - are beta testers the first and last round of defense against bugs? Between Sonar's own automation potential (including CAL) and outside products (SilkTests and such), there must be a way to control regressions prior to beta testing.

edit: spelling/grammar

I can really appreciate all that has been added/repaired/redesigned in 8.3. It's just great stuff. I'm sure everyone has their own pet issue and mine is BOUNCE TO CLIPS. In certain pan law settings the BTC command subtracts 3db. It's been happening for awhile and it is a daily hassle for me. IE and all the PDC options are very cool features that I will now be able to work into my routine but BTC is something I NEED every time I'm working. I don't use it as much as I would prefer because I have to change to another pan law setting where it's not broken and then change back. Unfortunately I prefer the pan behavior of one of the broken settings. Please fix this simple and necessary command before V9.

If it's not broken then please take a moment to explain why BTC should subtract 3db in certain pan laws and not others.

Thank you, William

ORIGINAL: wmb

I can really appreciate all that has been added/repaired/redesigned in 8.3. It's just great stuff. I'm sure everyone has their own pet issue and mine is BOUNCE TO CLIPS. In certain pan law settings the BTC command subtracts 3db. It's been happening for awhile and it is a daily hassle for me. IE and all the PDC options are very cool features that I will now be able to work into my routine but BTC is something I NEED every time I'm working. I don't use it as much as I would prefer because I have to change to another pan law setting where it's not broken and then change back. Unfortunately I prefer the pan behavior of one of the broken settings. Please fix this simple and necessary command before V9.

If it's not broken then please take a moment to explain why BTC should subtract 3db in certain pan laws and not others.

Thank you, William

I agree William. I use -3dB center when I mix and have to switch back to 0dB Center to bounce to clips or export mono tracks. It's a drag. Have you reported it to cakewalk as a bug?

P.S.
Really nice video btw. You're getting a great sound from your studio.

ORIGINAL: Noel Borthwick [Cakewalk]

>>Now that this release is probably what most (as well as you guys at Cake) would be happy with, will you still have a
>>strict deadline to put out a Sonar 9 or whatever by October?

That's been Cakewalk's business model forever - We do need to make money :-)

Had you considered there might be another way to secure or even increase profits? Such as guaranteeing the stability, fluidity and user friendliness of a major release, alongside the simple act of putting it out there and listing a bunch of new features?

What if you waited until this time next year and brought out something better a little later? There would be less threads with users reporting problems, instability etc. Prospective users might find that more appealing.

You probably won't respond to this post...but I would be interested to hear a perspective on this from someone at the company.

Not quite what I was referring to...

I understand Cakewalk have a monumental task in drawing up relevant test cases etc.

I'm talking about giving Sonar the kind of improvements that result from a little re-thinking and TLC. Make it work more intuitively, make it friendlier, iron out bugs which have nothing to do with hardware/software interaction e.g. not being able to drag clips between instrument tracks - that bug was only fixed in 8.3! I highly doubt it wasn't encountered during testing. No doubt there were some bigger fish to fry. Now, the smaller fish could be taken care of if Cakewalk gave themselves more breathing room.

With every release, the software becomes more complex. Yet the time in between releases stays the same. That's a problem, no?

ORIGINAL: jackn2mpu

ORIGINAL: vuterly

Not quite what I was referring to...

I understand Cakewalk have a monumental task in drawing up relevant test cases etc.

I'm talking about giving Sonar the kind of improvements that result from a little re-thinking and TLC. Make it work more intuitively, make it friendlier, iron out bugs which have nothing to do with hardware/software interaction e.g. not being able to drag clips between instrument tracks - that bug was only fixed in 8.3! I highly doubt it wasn't encountered during testing. No doubt there were some bigger fish to fry. Now, the smaller fish could be taken care of if Cakewalk gave themselves more breathing room.

With every release, the software becomes more complex. Yet the time in between releases stays the same. That's a problem, no?

No, and here's why: no one person or team can possibly find each and every bug or problem with a feature. There has yet to be any software written that's been bug-free. A programmer cannot possibly know every way his program is going to be used. If it were up to what you state, waiting for each and every bug to be squashed before release, you'd never have software released! Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and hope for the best and make repairs afterwards. That's what Cake is good at.

I never said it should be "bug-free". I'm well aware that's impossible.

No point re-clarifying, because it's all in my post above...

thanks. good, second readme.
planist

Yep Noel did make it clear about the annual updates. Finale uses it to. So did Corel until of late.
Its not such a bad thing. If you want the most stable product, don't update right away. If like me for the last several releases I did upgrade right away. I knew there might be issues and for sure bugs, but I've been trying to support Cakewalk so they keep providing us with this great software that we use. Of course for me, if notation/staff view isn't addressed in Sonar 9, I won't be upgraded at the get go.

my .02cents worth.

Ed

Please let me add my deepest thanks to you Noel and the rest of the crew at Cakewalk ! I have been a long standing customer and every time you show that you care about us, it just proves again that I made the right decision !! Thank you again.

Hey, I'm not saying there are not bugs. But for me, I haven't had a show stopper. I know some times its a pain using the work a-rounds.
Its just I have tried Cubase and couldn't get use to it.

As far as notation/staff view. Triplets would be one of the fixes I would like. Plus it would be cool to have the PRV view and Staff view connected with lines showing where they are for easier editing. I have Finale, so I don't want/need Sonar to become a full fledged notation program. I need better integration with Finale.
Music XML 2.0 + support would be a great start. I just feel that notation and for that matter CAL has been put on the side-burner for too long. Man just think if Cakewalk had a great macro editor, what the forum members could write and put on-line to share with others. Comes to mind AJ's control surface plug in for Behringer BCR2000. I for one would take a crack at learning the macro commands. How about VBA for Cakewalk Sonar. Dust off my limited VB skills.

And for the record, I do wish they could stop the yearly update cycle, but I understand that Cakewalk is actually a small company and need revenue to survive.
I just decided the last few years to support them. I know others disagree in that and that is fine. I have a small business with my brother and times have been tough for the last two+ years.

ED

Read the disclaimer in red on the 8.3 download page before you get too happy. :-)

I have waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited,and waited,and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited,and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited,and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited,and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited,and waited,and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited,and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited,and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited,and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited,and waited,and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited,and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited,and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited,and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited,and waited,and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited,and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited,and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited,and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited,and waited,and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited,and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited,and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited,and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited,and waited,and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited,and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited,and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited,and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited,and waited,and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited,and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited,and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited,and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited,and waited,and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited,and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited,and waited, and waited, and waited, and waited,and waited,

to tell you all that SONAR 8.3 runs so beutifully well on my DAW, and all my UAD cards and everything and now I can focus totally on making music and I am soooooo satisfied with Cakewalk.

Well, that was about all I had to say.

Enjoy life, everybody.
:)