jamescollins
For those who are saying that ARA/melodyne is no big deal because you already use it in the FX bin - trust me, this is a very big deal! This was one of the main reasons I switched to Studio One. Once you've experienced ARA, there's no looking back - nothing else compares. And according to Cake, they've done it even better than Presonus - let's hope they deliver! And the possibilities reach far beyond Melodyne - for instance, Presonus have just bought Notion, and it seems likely that they'll link that into S1 using ARA - this would be fantastic (although pure specualtion). Instead of tacking on half-arsed features that don't really work, ARA allows devs to integrate the real thing with their DAW.
If any Cakewalk staff members are still lurking, one of the nice things about VST3 (as far as I know, which isn't very much!) is it's ability to only consume CPU power when a clip is playing. Apparently with VST2, if there's an insert in the FX bin, it's using CPU power the whole time, even if the track only contains a clip that plays for a fraction of a second. Am I right about this? And if so, will this be one of VST3's features which will be implemented in X3?
Even though I'm not currently using Sonar anymore, I look forward to seeing what X3 holds...
James has it spot on, I must agree about melodyne integration, worlds apart from banging a plugin in the bin, everything is just so much their, no messing about recording audio to it and then having to export it back out and import it back into your DAW. And what I use it for more so is audio to midi, as for me I cant play a instrument so I just mix and match audio clips that sound good together and then drag from my melodyne activated track line to a new VST track, could not do without it now, so much more inspirational for ideas and creativity, I would say I prefer ableton live 9 audio to midi as it converts straight off just by dragging audio to any midi track which is a little quicker but nothing to write home about considering all the other audio editing option you get with integrated melodyne, worth every penny and some more, all the dance music producers will be loving this and get the most out of it, once you had it and utilized it,you cant go back.
But getting back onto the bugs issue and my other gripes,
1) for me bad audio engine too many bugs to no where to start although I think sonar is one of the better sounding daws before any processing, 2) rewire in 64 bit is broken, I get missing and skipping beats and it slows down and speeds up sounds like someone is messing about with a record , not sure what that is all about, so at present I have no reason rewire.
3) Graphics I go in roundabouts, its okay then its bad again too many flaws to no where to begin when it is at its worse, tried ruling out my plugins etc, but I am almost certain its not them at fault , by comparison with many other Daws.
4) The bottom midi note in the piano roll does not show up in the inline enough to edit, and their are a few other flaws with the inline that make it finicky to fit midi that option is hit and miss and we definitely need more visual on the key/note display, as if you set up drum maps and use the inline , you can only fit 3 numbers or letters.
5) Too many other things to go into detail and so much more can be fixed or improved with a few tweaks here and their, yet have remained since sonar v6 , our midi control is still naff, the step sequencer always feels half complete or can be so much better, I just feel like cakewalk half bake some things and never make it great, they always move onto to the next gimmick, but they are all gimmicks that have foundation so just hope one day they also upgrade and improve existing features and functions
6) I am constantly getting crashes when trying to drop in midi patterns from the browser,
7) Blah blah blah!!!!!!!! and some
But as regards the new appearance and colour scheme I think sonar is one of the best on the eye, just a pity the screen real-estate can not be improved on as yet, I like the solid look/none toy none cheap looking, and the basic colour is great, but I also feel we need to be able to fit more tracks in view, as like the majority of other daws, okay its the win 8 touch thing, but we should have the option to get more tracks in view etc.
I could go on for hours, about good and bad points, and much needed tweaks and improvements, but just to sum up my feelings on what I here about X3 (Assuming ) lol, I am open arms for melodyne integration, keen to know about the editing/skyline improvements. And I am not sure on all these plugins, but all the mains ones I have anyhow, I don't use audio take lanes at present although I would love to see the multiple midi lane graphic etc less buggy, if I use these it triggers of all sorts of weird graphics bugs and even puts these midi take lanes out side of the main lane, and it then messes with my existing folders their after and jumbling tracks about.
Without waffling on any further, iam happy with major technical advancements that have purpose, but I still feel cakewalk throw in these plugins just to distract us from all the underlying issues above,I don't rate any of the plugins in X2 at present well the majority anyhow, they just don't compare to buying your own add ons/plugins they feel cheap and clumsy to me and the new stuff to x2 just slowed down and tripped out my 3.6 ghz i7 pc and 8gb of ram, they just glitch.
So where I lay with all this, mighty confused, might frustrated, yet will still get sucked in to X3, as their is always a glimmer of hope Right!!!!
Sonar the DAW I hate to love, yet its always their niggling at me, saying I could be God, but I am not, just hoping some more of the foundations are fixed or improved on, all I want and will need now apart from melodyne.