What do I want?

[Secretions]

Hi. I'm looking for a sequencer. I own (hehe) Cakewalk Express Gold 6.0, but that has most unbarably random MIDI latency since installing XP, and I'd also like to get into VST instruments and such anyway. I'm also really cheap. I've used Sonar a tiny bit on someone else's computer, and it's (surprisingly) not all that dissimilar from Express Gold 6, so I'd probably be happy with that, but it's a bit spendy.

I can get academic discounts, too. So here are my options:

Home Studio 2004 ($56) + VST Adapter ($59) = ($115)
+Unlimited amount of audio and midi tracks
+VST Support
+Piano Roll? Same as Sonar?
+Drum Thingie? Same as Sonar?
+Staff interface? Same as Sonar?
+Rewire (Not that I really care, but you never know..)
-Seems like must be some drawback I'm missing...
-VST Adapter and Program are separate products,
so problems would, I think, be more unpredictable
and harder to diagnose.

Sonar 3 Studio ($199)
+Unlimited amount of audio and midi tracks
+VST Support
+Good interface
+I know how to use it... sort of.
-Doesn't have "Enhaced Mixing Console"?
+While the VST Adapter is still a second program, I
feel a bit more comfortable since they are sold
to be used hand-in-hand...
-Is 4 coming out soon?

Cubase SE ($75)
-Limitation of 48 Audio Tracks, but...
+Enough tracks for me
-Limitation of 16 VST instruments, but...
+That's probably fine... (no effects limitations...)
+Rewire...
-Really only one Undo?!

Cubase SL 2.2 ($250)
-$50 more than Sonar. Not sure if I
really feel like considering it...


I was sort of leaning toward Cubase SE at first, but for another $125 I can get Sonar. SE would probably be okay for me, but I don't really know how different it is to use, and with creative-type programs like this, being comfortable with the interface is almost more important than features. Are Cubase and Cakewalk about as different as Wordperfect and Word, or are there real significant differences?

And would having Homestudio+VST be sort of like having a not-as-gimmicky Sonar? I picture myself getting Homestudio and then wishing I'd gotten Sonar just as easily as I can picture myself getting Sonar and one day realizing that everything I use is in homestudio. So maybe I should just get that. But maybe not...

And the usual "upgrading to Sonar costs about the same" wouldn't apply with the academic discount...

$!#%$, I'm indecisive...

[brzilian]

HS2004 and the VST wrapper.

If you outgrow that down the road, the upgrade to Sonar will cost less than buying it outright.

HS2004 is essentially Sonar 2.2 and everything you ask about is the same except the drum grid editor. Sonar supports multiple channels/ports within a drum map. HS2004 can only output to 1 device per drum map.