I'm still on X1 Producer Expanded, but plan on getting X2 as soon as I can. My opinion is this: X1 (not even X2) sped up my work SO much that I don't even need to hear anything else about X2.... I'M BUYING IT.

Well, I've been using it every day for a week, as per the suggestion of a few other forum members - and I watched Seth's video. Still not all that excited.

Stuff I like:

PRV editing is much more intuitive (a very subjective word, I realize). FX Chains in the PC is awesome! I find myself using it way more than I did in X1, knowing that I can add in VST plugins before, after or in the middle of anything else.

Stuff I don't like:

I'm sure I'm in the minority here (perhaps I'm the only one), but I really dislike the Snap to Grid updates. Not that I thought it was perfect before, but I frequently turn on and off landmarks such as Clips and Midi Notes. Having to pull up a separate screen to do this is a pain. Those used to be accessible from the Control Bar module itself. Additionally, I like Smart Grid in theory, but I wish I had the ability to define at what zoom level individual resolutions were triggered. For most of the detailed editing I do, I would go to 1 Sample way sooner.

Many of the changes to the Smart Tool and Track View editing do not seem to be improvements. They don't necessarily seem worse to me, it's just as though they've moved stuff around; e.g., grabbing a clip to move it is now done on the top of the clip rather than the bottom. 6 of one...?

Things that don't impact me:

I've got too many amp simulators already and the stuff I would use R-Mix for I can already do with RX2.

Ultimately, I don't regret upgrading and am still a very happy Sonar user. I'm sure X2 will evolve - X1 sure did!

First: Thank you very much for putting some time in with it before concluding.  

Second: I'll share with you a little top secret undocumented setting that may improve your experience with Smart Grid:

If you go to Edit > Preferences (Advanced) and choose the Initialization File page (in the File category), add a new option:

TVGridThreshold

The natural value is 32.  You can set this to 16 to make Smart Grid twice as sensitive - resulting in the 1 Sample setting after much less zooming-in.

After applying the change, relaunch SONAR so the new value takes effect.

Thanks for your response, Bill. I appreciate you taking the time. 

Also, thanks for the tip! I'll try that out this afternoon. 

If you go to Edit > Preferences (Advanced) and choose the Initialization File page (in the File category), add a new option: TVGridThreshold The natural value is 32. You can set this to 16 to make Smart Grid twice as sensitive - resulting in the 1 Sample setting after much less zooming-in.

 
Oooh...    I'm going to have to give that a try.   I'm OK with the default, but I actually might try raising the value a little for general TV edits - getting to the measure point a little quicker.  It's nice to know the option to tweak the behavior is accessible!
 

Bill, that setting is great!!! I'll have to experiment in order to find the right balance (16 was a bit too far in the other direction), but this will help a lot. Thank you!

Now, any chance of getting those landmark options back on the Control Bar?

benjaminfrog


Bill, that setting is great!!! I'll have to experiment in order to find the right balance (16 was a bit too far in the other direction), but this will help a lot. Thank you!

Now, any chance of getting those landmark options back on the Control Bar?

I'm glad it helped.  


I don't think the Landmark buttons will return to the module any time soon.  There were a few reasons we moved them:

1. There are now 6, rather than 4 Landmark types.  Harder to fit in a module and more confusing to look at and understand.
2. In most workflows, people are enabling/disabling all of their desired landmarks over and over again.  Though, the ones they want to use tend to stay the same.  So, 3 desired landmarks required 3 fine-motor-skilled clicks to enable.  The new approach speeds this up to just one click for all 3 (or whatever number you previously set up in Preferences).
3. Using more landmarks simultaneously is now a cleaner experience.  We only snap to landmarks that are visible on screen.  In previous versions, we snapped to everything in the project whether you could see them or not.  The new way reinforces visually lining things up, so to speak.  So, having a whole bunch of landmark types selected at once isn't so cumbersome.  The idea is: Enable whatever you sometimes need.  Chances are, since you'll be looking at what you're working with, it won't be clouded with erroneous landmarks, as they'll be scrolled off-screen.

Maybe this info will help you.... not sure.  But, I figured I'd explain some of the reasons behind the changes, and how they will improve most common workflows.

NOt to hijack...but Bill....I would love to hear your take on VST3.  Quite a few of us were put off that it was not included in this version.  Eventually....everyone will go VST3...even if it's kicking and screaming.  Cubase has it. Studio One has it (which I currently use). Even $60 Reaper has it.  I would love to hear a programmer's insight.
 
www.solidsoundatlanta.com

bigboi


NOt to hijack...but Bill....I would love to hear your take on VST3.  Quite a few of us were put off that it was not included in this version.  Eventually....everyone will go VST3...even if it's kicking and screaming.  Cubase has it. Studio One has it (which I currently use). Even $60 Reaper has it.  I would love to hear a programmer's insight.
 
www.solidsoundatlanta.com

Well, that really is a discussion for another thread.  But, we've investigated the ratio between what benefits users would see from it and how much time we would need to put into implementing it.  For X2, we'd need to give up important feature functionality for only basic VST3 plug-in support (i.e. no special VST3 functions, like per-note expression, etc.).  And, right now, the vast majority of plug-ins are available in formats that SONAR currently supports.  It just wasn't the right move for us in this release.  But, we're always evaluating and considering opportunities to bring you the best options.  So, we'll see what the future brings... no "official" take on it right now.  But we're not ignoring it.


For more info and further discussion, (as I'm sure you know) please visit this  thread: http://forum.cakewalk.com/tm.aspx?m=2652901

I have to say, like Sonar or not, I love the way the staff monitors and responds to legitimate threads.  I find it quite refreshing to know that if I have a gripe or want to praise the product, there is a good chance for a CW staffer response.

I admittedly use Studio One and Sonar, as I like them both, but this forum is outstanding.

Cheers,

Reginald K.Son