1. What application you switched from and which version of SONAR you switched to.

I used to use solely Magix Music Maker version 10. I forgot to mention (so I am editing it in) I switched to Sonar 7 Studio Edition, though I'm thinking about upgrading to Producer.

2. Your specific reasons for switching to SONAR (specific features in SONAR, specific problems with other aps, customer service, etc.)

Through magix I realized I wanted something more, to actually make and produce professional quality music, and use more synthesizers, plugins, devices, effects, and over-all power and quality than what magix had to offer- because Music Maker is a consumer beginner-level mainly loop-based program. I realized this when I wanted more, and I was able to make sounds in Music Maker (not using pre-made samples) that are rare to come from it. I learned of Sonar and read reviews and such, and determined that it was highly-compatible, completely functional and professional quality, while having an over-all user-friendly interface.

So far I'm loving it! (Rapture is an awesome instrument, I wish I had the full version!)

I'm thinking of switching out of Sonar and into Logic 8. Even though I just bought a new PC DAW. If had seen Logic 8 45 days earlier I'd be a Mac owner and Logic 8 user now.

I haven't succeeded in ramping all the way up Sonar's learning curve; far from it. I may be an example of someone whose opinion you're not too concerned with; too green. And I believe, as many other posters here do, there certainly are more complex and less well supported products than Sonar. And the Forum community is an asset I'd hate to part with.

Logic 8 looks like an equally powerful, but MUCH MORE fun and easier to "drive" application than Sonar. Sonar is fabulously powerful, too, but it's delivered in something more like a box of parts that I need to learn to assemble in order to use it.

Thank God for RMX's video on using RMX with Sonar. Using only Sonar documentation, Scott Garrigus' book and the Sonar tutorial videos as aids for setting up the multiple tracks, inputs and outputs for RMX would have taken who knows how long. Same with Kontakt 3.

Sonar videos look as though they are meant as sales tools only. They too quickly hit sizzle points to be instructional. Which is OK, but I wish there were more step by step videos/tutorial tools which demonstrate in detail how to use particular features. Take a page out of RMX's marketing book.

I attended the Seattle Sonar Roadshow event at Guitar Center a couple months ago and it reminds me of the county fair watching the guys peddle veg-o-matics. Very impressive, very cool, but after you buy and go home to do it yourself, it's "now what did he do"?

Maybe if he handed out some tutorial info so we could go home and start doing ourselves what was demonstrated....

Open up Logic 8, load Ultrabeat and see your point of beginning for creating drum parts. Everything is onscreen immediately, dozens/hundreds of drum sets to work with and hundreds of patterns from many genres to load and start making music with INSTANTLY. And I can tweak every drum and setting, too, when I want to. Or start with an empty map, if that's what I want.

Now look at Sonar. Box of parts. Look at Garrigus' Sonar 7, page 220 where he starts on drum tracks and drum maps. It's like reading the Internal Revenue Code. It makes the argument for the TV ads between PC and Mac. It almost looks the guys who wrote the ads set this up; nobody could be this stupid, could they? The contrasts can't be more stark!

OK, you've got Session Drummer 2, which is OK. And certainly easier than one note at a time PRV programming. And the Pattern Brush Tool? Wow! What a dud. And no way to hear the sound before it goes in.

Apple reprogrammed Logic 7, which was clunkier and with a steeper ramp-up than Sonar, into a streamlined, cool, MUCH easier to use program than Sonar. They "Apple-ized" it, dropped the price and created, for this product segment, close to a "Killer App" that is going to sell a lot of Macs. At your expense.

I experienced Logic 8 because my brother bought it, after giving up on Home Studio (and maybe a couple of other Cakewalk products) because making music became almost impossible; he was too busy just trying to get the damn thing to work. Paid consultants and all. Finally gave up, bought a Mac, and boy is he happy. But he is not a techie, not "PC", like the guy in the ads, who likes to tinker with all the crap that doesn't work easily; seems to actually enjoy it.

I'm a fan of Cakewalk as a company and especially the Forums. Cakewalk supports their products well and listens to its customers. And maybe the PC/Apple mindset difference is one you, as a member of the PC product community, are content with. But if I were a Cakewalk executive, I'd be looking at retaining the under-the-hood horsepower of Sonar but make the product MUCH EASIER to start making music with right out of the box. Make Sonar 8 as significant a step as Logic 8.

I'd encourage you to examine Logic 8 and start the time honored method of stealing ideas from the competition. If you do so successfully you'll OWN the PC DAW market.

ORIGINAL: rlh1007@msn.com

I'm thinking of switching out of Sonar and into Logic 8. Even though I just bought a new PC DAW. If had seen Logic 8 45 days earlier I'd be a Mac owner and Logic 8 user now.

I haven't succeeded in ramping all the way up Sonar's learning curve; far from it. I may be an example of someone whose opinion you're not too concerned with; too green. And I believe, as many other posters here do, there certainly are more complex and less well supported products than Sonar. And the Forum community is an asset I'd hate to part with.

Logic 8 looks like an equally powerful, but MUCH MORE fun and easier to "drive" application than Sonar. Sonar is fabulously powerful, too, but it's delivered in something more like a box of parts that I need to learn to assemble in order to use it.

Thank God for RMX's video on using RMX with Sonar. Using only Sonar documentation, Scott Garrigus' book and the Sonar tutorial videos as aids for setting up the multiple tracks, inputs and outputs for RMX would have taken who knows how long. Same with Kontakt 3.

Sonar videos look as though they are meant as sales tools only. They too quickly hit sizzle points to be instructional. Which is OK, but I wish there were more step by step videos/tutorial tools which demonstrate in detail how to use particular features. Take a page out of RMX's marketing book.

I attended the Seattle Sonar Roadshow event at Guitar Center a couple months ago and it reminds me of the county fair watching the guys peddle veg-o-matics. Very impressive, very cool, but after you buy and go home to do it yourself, it's "now what did he do"?

Maybe if he handed out some tutorial info so we could go home and start doing ourselves what was demonstrated....

Open up Logic 8, load Ultrabeat and see your point of beginning for creating drum parts. Everything is onscreen immediately, dozens/hundreds of drum sets to work with and hundreds of patterns from many genres to load and start making music with INSTANTLY. And I can tweak every drum and setting, too, when I want to. Or start with an empty map, if that's what I want.

Now look at Sonar. Box of parts. Look at Garrigus' Sonar 7, page 220 where he starts on drum tracks and drum maps. It's like reading the Internal Revenue Code. It makes the argument for the TV ads between PC and Mac. It almost looks the guys who wrote the ads set this up; nobody could be this stupid, could they? The contrasts can't be more stark!

OK, you've got Session Drummer 2, which is OK. And certainly easier than one note at a time PRV programming. And the Pattern Brush Tool? Wow! What a dud. And no way to hear the sound before it goes in.

Apple reprogrammed Logic 7, which was clunkier and with a steeper ramp-up than Sonar, into a streamlined, cool, MUCH easier to use program than Sonar. They "Apple-ized" it, dropped the price and created, for this product segment, close to a "Killer App" that is going to sell a lot of Macs. At your expense.

I experienced Logic 8 because my brother bought it, after giving up on Home Studio (and maybe a couple of other Cakewalk products) because making music became almost impossible; he was too busy just trying to get the damn thing to work. Paid consultants and all. Finally gave up, bought a Mac, and boy is he happy. But he is not a techie, not "PC", like the guy in the ads, who likes to tinker with all the crap that doesn't work easily; seems to actually enjoy it.

I'm a fan of Cakewalk as a company and especially the Forums. Cakewalk supports their products well and listens to its customers. And maybe the PC/Apple mindset difference is one you, as a member of the PC product community, are content with. But if I were a Cakewalk executive, I'd be looking at retaining the under-the-hood horsepower of Sonar but make the product MUCH EASIER to start making music with right out of the box. Make Sonar 8 as significant a step as Logic 8.

I'd encourage you to examine Logic 8 and start the time honored method of stealing ideas from the competition. If you do so successfully you'll OWN the PC DAW market.

Been there...done that...been a Logic user since 2.8 and currently own Logic 8, as well as Sonar 7, Samplitude 9, Cubase SX 1-2-3-4, Pro Fools 7.

Nothing beats Sonar....nothing.

(except sometimes cubase...due to these reasons here)

I have *just* switched to Sonar (literally - just reinstalled my system the past couple of days). My previous experience was with Nuendo (from 1.5 up to 3.2).

I still have only a very basic grasp of the progam (and one thing I would like to see is a detailed list of how to do things - I like to learn by doing, and doing on music I have made, even as a learning process, not using tutorials with prerecorded material).


In brief, my reasons for switching are:

- I am reluctant to pay for the Nuendo upgrade, which seems to be offering not very much, and I will be d***ed before I pay MORE for a "music maker's pack" or whatever it is called...

- I love the organisation-capabilities of Sonar (I have spent a boring, but satisfying, 4 hours this morning organising my plugins list ;-) Yes I AM OCD... I'm convinced I am!

- I don't use the post production capabilities of Nuendo enough to warrant the upgrade, or even sticking with 3.2. What I need to do I can do in Sonar, and the routing capabilities are great (in Nuendo, you can't route to a group that is above - or below, I can't remember which way round it is - that group you want to route from, and there is no way to change the order of groups).

- As shallow as it is, I LOVE the user interface. I work about 10 hours a day in my DAW, and need something that I am comfortable with looking at and working with. I am unfortunately a sucker for nice GUI's, and Sonar for me is great.

- I love Roland stuff ;-) (just thought I'd throw that in there. Incidentally, when they get round to it, a soft D-50 would be nice... hehe).

- Then, finally, there is the intangible "feel" factor of software. Sonar "feels" right for me. The online community is great, I like the feel of the program.


It will take a while to learn Sonar I know. I do think the documentation for migrating users could be better, but then that is possibly just me!

Anyhow - hello to you all! :-) I'm sure I'll be on here asking many many questions over the next months and years.

Cheers,

Martin

I'm currently using Sonar 7 and I am thrilled with it! I started using Cakewalk for DOS (midi-only).

Sonar is the only program I've seen that gives me a workflow environment that works the way I think.

Thanks for all the great work you guys have done over the years!

I did make a switch from Roland 1880 to cakewalk. My investment to switch over was a woaping 6,000.00 dollars. Did my home work and looked up every web site for every manufacturer of music software. I always new that Protools was the Industry standard, but things have started to change. Protools way to pricie and cubase way to arogant. You guys at cakewalk are just the thing Ive been looking for you offer the most for the buck and the 64 bit systems the only problem Im having is some of your software progrqams where built on a 32 bit system which gives me some real problems when I go to use Session Drummer 2 or some synth programs. Love Session DRUMMER 2 but it does not act the way it should on a 64 bit system for some reason youall built your Session Drummer 2 program on a 32 bit system and it does not perform as it is suppose to on a Sonar Producer Edition x64 bit system it is missing some real important functions that you all should be really concerned about when it comes to people who arent Drummers and who are on the leading edge of technology. The program gives you the freedom to act like a real drummer with all of the fills and stops and endings that most none drummers need in other words its the real sh--! I need all of its functionalities in the Vista Ultimate 64 bit operating system. If the 64 bit system is the leading edge of technology then be the musicsoftware team that is all of that and all of the past history of later versions. You guys have really impressed me and you all have impressed some really important other companies. Like Roland whiich in my experience is the none rich mans hard disk recording all in one package. They give you the stuff to do all of that is needed to make a great recording except they dont offer the 64 bit systems that you all do. Just work out all of the 64 bit bugs and you will have all of the market share that you ever dreamed of. Most people no and want the leading edge of technology and if you think for just one minute it really is effordable. Ram is the only thing that I can think of that really is not attainable the rest is like a car you just have to do it yourself. Well just so you understand what IM saying is give the best to the best of the best of technology, and all the rest will take care of itsself. Cakewalk can and will be the best out there just remember that volume is way more important than lets say selling ten Porsche cars a year. Love your stuff and youall have great partiners joinig up to be part of it. Just step back and take a look at what youve got and where its all going. In my eyes youve got the best bang for the buck. Just make sure that youve got the bugs worked out before you let marketing do its thing and you will be number one in no time. And let me say you will enjoy every minute of it ,just dont sell it to the chineese. Just so you can be a me person like most of the rich, as long as I got mine who gives a dam about the rest. Wrong , then who will make you who you are but us Americans who have made music what it is. Remember the Beatles Idolized Elvis ! E-mail me at sgbarbee48@yahoo.com From Texas where Stevie Ray Vuaghn is from? thanks GUYS AND GALES GREAT WORK!

Unlike many on this forum, I am a home user, not a professional although years ago I gave lessons on the organ. I now use a Yamaha PSR 3000 to record and burn CDs for friends and family.

For the past several years I have used the Sony home studio versions of ACID and Sound Forge, primarily because the full versions were a bit beyond my budget. Also, that was what was available in my area. It was not until after I purchased the PSR 3000 that I became aware of Cakewalk through the Yamaha forum.

I was about to switch to Sonar Home Studio XL when Sonar 7 was released. I then switched to Sonar 7 Studio. My reason for making the switch to Sonar 7 are that it offered more features than the studio versions of Sony products and in the Cakewalk online demo videos appeared easier to use. Many of the features in Sonar 7 are available only in the "Pro" versions of Sony products at a higher cost.

One thing lacking in Cakewalk products which is included in Sony products is MP3 licensing. I reccomend that this be included in future releases.

I have downloaded and installed both the 7.01 and 7.02 patches and am, thus far having no problems. However, I am still becoming acquainted with the software.

Just a comment or two:
I was shopping around for a new sequencer after experience issues w/ some hardware that I thought was Sonar's fault. I tried Reaper, cubase for a short demo, and something else that was weak in comparison. I went back to Sonar. Just really easy to get the hang of and learn in detail. Sure, I've been working on Sonar for years, but seeing that I tried other products wanting to get away from Sonar and then just coming back says something. I was actually pissed at Sonar for not playing with my hardware, but I still came back.

Alls it took was a reinstall. ;)

Hello from Portugal! i switch from cubase to sonar cause i have many crash's with cubase!

I can do everithing and much more in Sonar.

I have olnly a basic question? during plaing i cant rewind or forward click on the transport panel?! is this possible? but if i stop plaing i can push the cursor rewind or forward.

It´s a basic question but in cubase this possibility for my is very util!

SORY MY ENGLISH

i took a chance on sonar when producer edition 3 came out,i was useing the makie d8b in a indie record company in nashville and i had been learning reason in the studio and also had access to guitar studio, i liked guitar studio but knew i had to have somthing faster in the way of quantity and quality, so when 3 pe came out i built it into my home studio where i now am producing with 7 pe and life is wonderful and am looking foward to learning the new upgrades, everytime they come out, i guess u could say ive been very faithful in sonar since 2003,but the quality of cds that i am makeing at down on the farm productions are profoundly astonishing, thanks for being you cakewalk,what a time for composers and producers to have a tool such as sonar producer edition, i guess you could say i wont ever use anything els, im sold http://www.myspace.com/downonthefarmproductions