Swiller


@elsongs .. Another UK resident here and user. Id say geography has nothing to do with choice of Daw.  Roland is also a UK based company.  Americans cant make proper music anyway , apart from stuff that sounds like it was made on a farm by jock ewing on a steel string washboard.

 

that and customer service DO come in for it now. Roland has a UK branch sure, but I bet is you test their kung fu with tricky questions  with sonar, how many questions would be forwarded on to boston. ringing direct is a no no, unless it's via skype or calling card.

the pricing I think is the biggest hurdle for US companies vs their EU counter parts. 

Companies I will avoid buying from due to their customer service / lack of...

m-audio / avid ... have stitched me up on 3-4 times (with bad drivers/slow distro of props products) and reply with wrong answers FIVE times.

NI ... like discontinuing products at short notice and NOT including vital info on their pages, to pay for an upgrade 2 times (b4 ii)... then finding it amusing.

ableton.. paid for live 4 weeks earlier.. no arrival in the UK, if they had been smart they would have issued me with at least a serial number to get on.

so yer, can't be worrying about ableton.. I hope bitwig is better and takes it customers.

I read the SOS review and felt it was positive overall, but luke-warm.  SOS has always been a bit partial to pro-tools and MAC DAWs and is heavily sponsored by some of the "big boys".  I've also noticed that they seem to use unflattering screenshots when reviewing Cakewalk products. 

I think the lowest review for any product I have seen in a music mag- music radar, SOS etc was about 7 or 8 out of ten. There is something seriously kooky at how all those guys hand out grades. 

Tapeop is the only good one 

Sound on Sound has a US Edition and I am always able to find SOS in Barnes and Noble.  Admittedly, I live in Dallas-Fort Worth and it is a big area (7.5 million and 4th largest metro in the US), but I see SOS on sale when I travel around the country to much smaller cities.  It seems the Americans on this forum (like me) are pretty familiar with it.

Most of the music magazines I read are from the U.K. (SOS, Recording, etc.).  I think its because our cousins across the pond lead the way in many areas of the music business.
 
And Backwoods has a point that there are few really bad reviews in these mags, but I think that is because competition ensures manufacturers put out qualiuty products.  I have definitely seens SOS say that a product is not ready, but you are right that it does not happen often.

elsongs


I don't think this matters to Cakewalk one bit. SoS is a British publication, and no one (okay, maybe there's like 8 of you) in Europe uses Sonar anyway, so they're like, "Meh." Nearly all of Cakewalk's customer base is in US/Canada. Now if Keyboard or Computer Music gives X2 a bad review, Cakewalk will definitely listen.

I strongly disagree.  Computer Music is far more biased in it's coverage than SOS.  Other than the obligatory review article, their tutorials, tips , etc are almost all Ableton, Logic, Cubase and the occasional Pro Tools based. They give Sonar the same 8/9 they give almos tevery product they review and then never mention it again.  SOS at least regularly publishes articles relevant to Sonar users.

CM's user base sonar wise isn't as strong as other things (a lot of electronic music makers read CM).. thats why it doesn't get so much coverage.. I don't think they cover loads for 1 specific DAW.. with the exception of logic perhaps because it's got the main market share on the mac, and thats what a fair few use in their master classes.

elsongs

Bristol_Jonesey


8?

Eight?

Try having a look at the Member List and sort on location

Okay, I was being a bit sardonic, but let's face it: In Europe, Sonar just isn't a major DAW program. More people in Europe use freaking *Fruity Loops* than Sonar. Even Cakewalk knows that. In North America, at least they take Sonar more seriously.

Do you have any sales figures to support that? I would guess that FL has more pirated users than Sonar, but I doubt Cakewalk is losing any sleep over winning the popularity contest with thieves. I doubt you have anything to support whether FL is actually purchased more than SOnar.  Even studios that use FL tend to not have it as the heart of their studio.  There's a good reason they made the wise choice to make it a rewire plugin.

daveny5


Who cares? The Beatles "Sgt Peppers" was recorded on 4-track tape. Sonar can do a lot more than that. Its not the brush, its the artist wielding it. 

+1,000,000 on that Dave!

Fog


CM's user base sonar wise isn't as strong as other things (a lot of electronic music makers read CM).. thats why it doesn't get so much coverage.. I don't think they cover loads for 1 specific DAW.. with the exception of logic perhaps because it's got the main market share on the mac, and thats what a fair few use in their master classes.

I guess it depends on the issue but most of the issues I have seen break down a lot like the one I am currently looking at:
4 Ableton
1 Reason
2 Logic
4 Cubase
 
I concede that I have not read every issue, but even glancing at it at the local Barnes and Noble, the breakdown seems to be very similar to above with the numbers swinging a little bit but the Sonar based articles, tutorials, etc usually being zero.  I don't fault them for that since their target audience is not likely Sonar users.  Just mentioned because it seemed silly to me that Cakewalk would put more stock in the opinion of CM than SOS

daveny, I agree about Sgt Pepper, but have to add that The Beatles had unlimited studio time at Abbey Road; an unlimited record company budget; any mic, instrument, or ensemble they wanted instantly available; and a staff of world-class engineers and producers ready to do whatever they thought up.   This is NOT to take away from their enormous talents—just to help explain how they were able to pull that off on a four-track.