well when i first started doing the whole PC Music thing, didnt really know all that much about it ,so the first program i dabbled in to get my feet wet was ACID, which was fine i guess for a little bit, then i ended up acquiring cakewalk home studio 9 i think it was.. then i tried Cubase. wasnt a big fan. and out of frustration trying to learn any of these programs i kinda gave up for while. then i messed around with REASON when that hit the market, which i liked alot. but realized i couldnt record audio then i got into using sonar when i discovered that . but this time i was dedicated to learning it and not giving up so easily... ended up getting a job at Sam Ash Music working in the tech Dept, which i learned alot as well and had the opportunity to learn & use all the daws that are on the market. i guess Sonar was the easiest for me to get accustomed too so maybe thats why ive stayed with it since 2.0. but i do like it more than all the other that are out there.. cool thing about workin at Sam Ash for that time i was there ( 2 yrs) all i had to do was call whatever company and get a NFR ( not for resale) copy of the software FULL VERSION, and that included soft synth makers as well. so needless to say. i pretty much had everything for free. but since i havent worked there in over 2 yrs thats why im still using Sonar 6

I was using Sequencer One Plus on the Amiga in the late 80's early 90's, loved the "Step Sequencer" for the MIDI track view.

I moved to a PC in '93, but was alarmed by how bad the support for music applications was for the PC, until I found Cakewalk Pro, it had the same "Step Sequencer" type MIDI view that I was used to, and carried on with this all the way to Version 8.  I used SONAR 1.1 but the footprint was large, and the interface didn't flow for me, so I moved onto Cubase SX, which by the late 90's gave me VST support.  It was with Sonar Producer 5 that I switched back after I saw the interface, and the VST support, and haven't looked backl I now use Sonar Producer 7, with the following.  The only reason I haven't switched to 64bit (which i really want to), is some of my plug-ins I use regular won't work as yet mainly Korg Legacy Digital Edition.

I too would like Cakewalk now they are working closely with Roland to develop the V-Vocal more, and the whole Variphrase technology, possibly have a plug-in for the VariOS, and the Jupiter 8 plug-in they had for it?
 
Also would like to see more support by musicians and publications (like Computer Music and Future Music), for SONAR in the UK, as I still get a blank stare when I mention I use this, instead of the normal so-called industry standard Cubase, Logic and Pro Tools.

Dell Workstation T5400 Xeon P2.4 Quad Core Processor with 4gb RAM
Windows XP Pro
Cakewalk Sonar Producer 7
Cakewalk Dimension Pro
Korg Legacy Digital Edition
Spectrasonics Stylus RMX
IK Multimedia Moog Leagacy Collection
IK Multimedia Sonik Synth 2, and Sample Tank 2xl

Roland V-Synth XT
Roland Fantom XR
Alesis Fusion 8hd workstation
Korg Radias
E-Mu Proteus 2000 (With Xl Lead and Mo-Phatt Roms)
Focsurite Saphire Pro 24 Firewire Sound Module
Yamaha MOTIF Rack

Also would like to see more support by musicians and publications (like Computer Music and Future Music), for SONAR in the UK, as I still get a blank stare when I mention I use this, instead of the normal so-called industry standard Cubase, Logic and Pro Tools.

skinmechanic


+10

I started recording guitar about 2/3 years back using Cubase LE which came with my Tascam 144.  I had problems using a vst plug-in I purchased and ended buying Sonar HS6 - dont see any reason to go change and will probably upgrade to Sonar 8 when finances allow.

I started out with the original version of Sonar some 9 or so years back (whenever it was) and have steadily moved along with the increasing version numbers. I'm running 7 at the moment and have the diisk pack for 8 at home. I'm not planning on installing 8 (and 8.5) until Win7 is officially launched though, at which point I'll do that on an i7 based platform and can go 64-bit as far as possible. Could be an expensive year, given that NI have just announced Komplete 6 (or was it 7?).

I have been a cakewalk user for a long time. The last version I had was sonar 4 studio version. did all the upgrades to the point when cakewalk asked for money for a newer improved upgrade. I don't mind paying for a new version as they progress from year to year; I have a problem paying for an upgrade to the version I just purchased. This is the reason I left for a while and went over to a protools Digi 001 system with a a/d d/a converter to give me eight more tracks. When Sonar 8 came out I really liked the whole package. So I went for it, again. Unfortunately I purchased it a little to early for the free 8.5 upgrade. Nice features. I missed it by a month and some. I guess I should have waited for the whooole new package. Alas, I,m just going to have to wait a while for session drummer 3 and the other toys that would really help. I don't think I'll leave this time because I'm really happy with the program and cakewalk overall. It would be nice if cakewalk could give a little notice at the end of the year for possible super upgrades; but hey, that's business. All said and done,,,I'm here to stay.

From NZ. Switched from Ableton 4 to Sonar 7. Was sick and tired of Macintosh-style one button can do anything, simplicity in everything, German minimalism all-the-time everytime nonsense. So I decided to liberate my mind!

The switch has been a happy one. I am especially impressed with the ever growing set of "64 family" plugins.

Hi  I am a home user and not a professional musician and use Sonar as a hobby. I did use Sonar 4  5 and then 6 and decided to switch to Pro Tools as I was informed it was easier to use.   I used it for about 1 year and was never really comfortable with it as it was difficult to use and set up and I often had error messages whilst loading the software..  The software was temperamental and required so much setting up om my computer. and often would suddenly decide not to work because of a software updates on my computer.  The programme was not very intuative and I often became frustrated as spending all my time trying to get the thing to work and not enough time making music -- which is what it is all about!!

So I decided to switch back to Sonar 6 Producer Edition. So I got the box off the self and loaded on to my computer. read through the manual again as a refresher and of I go.

It was like coming back to an old friend. The advice I had been given about Pro Tools was not good advice.  I made more progress using Sonar in 2 weeks that I had done in months using Pro Tools.  Sonar is more intuative to use. OK I sometimes do not always make progress but that is down to my time available and not Sonar. 

I decided to become bold and download Sonar 8 trial version.  Sp download I did.  Installed it and amazing and after setting the audio and MIDI parameters it worked first time.  In my experience  l could not do this with Pro Tools.

I intend to upgrade to Sonar 8 Producer edition in the near future when funds allow. 

So now using sonar  6 PE I can make music  progress with the software, keep my sanity and keep my hair. 

Thanks

don't know if you could call it "switching to" or following the trend...  I'm an old guy who loves his faders, pre amps and hardware.  the bigger the console the better.  after being away from it for a while... the itch hit me again.  started researching and reading articles as much as possible.  as a live performer in the eighties and half the ninties before turning to engineering  the only thing i knew about daws is they were cool toys.... but not very reliable.  after talking with lyle and harold from roland/cakewalk i came to the desision that cake walk was the best way to go.  and as a keyboard player i was verry firmilliar with roland gear. after becoming the first proud owner of the vstudio 700 in canada i was off and crawling.  within a few weeks i was tracking and editing and playing around with the mastering tools that came with pro.  my first impression of the vstudio was that it was tayler made to master in suround... and of coarse it's ability to mix with vidio.  my studio is almost complete and except for the growing pains and the occational nightmares with "the box"  i have to say.... if i had this thing 25 years ago  i would have put out a new album every month.  i still love my anolog gear but now i'm the producer... and things are done the way i want them done.  i have the best of both worlds now.

I started out with cubase VST... had major problems .. gave up... years later was given sonar 6 as a gift.  Love it and use it every day.