Time stretching quality in X1/X2 - please help!

Hi,

I seriously thinking of getting X2 but need to try and answer a question first:

What is the quality of the time stretching algorithm like?

I have never owned Sonar before, as I've always been a die-hard Mac user, but X2 has seriously tempted me away from Cubase/Logic/Pro Tools and so on, as it now seems to me that bigger advances are being made in PC music software than Mac music software (something I thought I'd never say).

I am very used to the quality that zplane's élastique Pro gives me in Cubase 6.5, as I can make pretty drastic tempo changes (up to 60 to 70 ± BPM), and it's still quite useable. However, the videos I have seen on Audio Snap 2.0 so far haven't impressed me much, as it seems you have to do an offline render in order to get the best results, which for software that claims to be "DAW 2.0" seems somewhat old-fashioned (no offence meant). I have to say that other than this, I am massively impressed with all other aspects of X1/X2 that I have seen so far, the channel strip and Skylight interface are simply stunning and don't even get me started on R-MIX!


So, to get back to the point, am I wrong? Have I just seen poor video examples of Audio Snap? 


My work calls for me to use lots of loops and audio clips that often need time correction and time stretching and I need to know X2 can/will deliver on this or if there are any plans to update this aspect of the software in the near future (or if 3rd party algorithms can be bought and used, like in Logic Pro).


I have asked this question on Cakewalk's Facebook and You Tube pages but have (as yet) had no reply.


Can anyone help me get the answer? 


Many thanks in advance!

Also many folks here use multiple DAWs to achieve their goals. If I had the cash I'd have Nuendo working alongside Sonar.

Thanks for the reply Beepster!

At the moment, I do not have access to a PC to check out the X1 demo, so can't test it first hand as I am a Mac user. I would have to get a PC emulator (or install Boot Camp and buy Windows 7) in order to try it.

I do understand there will be an NDA regarding X2 information, but was maybe hoping for a tiny snippet of pre-release help from the Cakewalk guys!

Thanks again.

There are others here who claim to have had good results with boot camp but I believe the official position is it's not supported. If you are looking for some DAW PC tips check out the Sonar recommended systems page... http://www.cakewalk.com/PCResource/default.aspx On there is a link to a company called ADK and they build really nice custom PCs however just poking around at their website is a great for building knowledge as to what you should be looking at in regards to a PC DAW set up. There is also another regular poster who works for a company called StudioCat who do the same thing so check out their website as well. I spent about $1500 in parts building my rig but I when all in. I probably could have built it for about $800 and still have been able to run Sonar with no glitches whatsoever. I know you didn't ask but it's good stuff to know if you are thinking of taking the plunge into PC audio. Cheers!

Thanks again Beepster!

Have to say, this is a very different kind of forum, it seems! Not used to people being so friendly and helpful, as most forums I've used before are just flame central!

I've decided to buy a PC to run X2 on, though I didn't have a massive budget to have one built, so went for a Dell Inspiron 15R 5520, which has this spec:

Intel Quad Core i7-3612QM Ivy Bridge 2.10GHz (up to 3.10GHz) 6MB Cache 
8GB 1600MHz DDR3 RAM
1GB AMD Radeon HD7670M Graphics
1TB 5400RPM Internal HD
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit

I will aslo be adding an external 7200RPM audio HD as well along with the new Roland Duo-Capture EX audio Interface.

I did this because it's quite close to the latest 15-inch MacBook Pro, so I have a rough benchmark that I am familiar with. If I really take to X2, I can always invest in a build-to-order custom PC.

Thanks again for all the help and advice!

Intel Quad Core i7-3612QM Ivy Bridge 2.10GHz (up to 3.10GHz) 6MB Cache  8GB 1600MHz DDR3 RAM 1GB AMD Radeon HD7670M Graphics 1TB 5400RPM Internal HD Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit

Might want to get a few 7200rpm drives and use the 5400 for backup.

Oh, I am familiar with Craig Anderton! I live in the UK and back in the late 90's, I had Keyboard Magazine imported from the US at my local newsagents, so have read many of his articles before and know they are always in depth and accurate.

I'm going to pick up a training DVD to get myself into the software faster, though (luckily), I do have 25 years of experience with just about every other music making software you can think of, so I don't think I should find it too difficult! Being totally honest, Sonar never appealed until I first saw X1 - it always looked far too cluttered and complex - so I stuck to the Mac using mostly a combo of Reason, Pro Tools, Live and Logic, but X2 really tempted me so much more that I felt I just had to get my hands on it. I've always used Roland synths (had 56 of them since '87) and I want to get back into those as well as just using plugins all the time.

It's good to know that I can use Elastique as a plugin in Sonar, as from what I've heard, I do prefer it.

On the subject of the audio HD's, is USB 3 a good option, as the Dell I'm getting does not have FireWire.

Also, I have noticed a vast number of topics on this forum about latency - why is that - as in so many of the Cake TV videos I've seen, they constantly talk about "super low latency", yet there's a lot of people here (some with very powerful 12-Core PC's) who can't seem to achieve it? What's the secret?  

Thank you all again for your help and support, this really is a friendly place to be!