Sonar 4 - To upgrade or not to upgrade. That is the question.

[Qwerty]

So, what are your thoughts? Jump in the whole hog with Producer, just go to Studio or stay with what ya got?

I was thinking about Studio Edition because I don't care about the surround or video stuff, but then I looked a little closer at what's in and what's out.

=> POW-R dithering and WL reduction only in PE.
=> MPEX2 time/pitch stretching only in PE.
=> A 'real stereo' version of the mono v3 Pantheon reverb (not the surround vers.)

So it looks like they got me again.... What's important for you guys?

Q.

[Porter]

I voted: Keep yer new fangled gadgets sonny, I'm happy here!

For me, I haven't done much recording in the last year since Sonar 3 came out.. I'm planning on recording an album in the next few months.. once I've done that I MIGHT upgrade to 4, however at the time, the price and everything is a little too steep for me... for that price I coule get a couple of decent mic's or one very decent one... that plus I have my eye on a new guitar. The old story, garbage in, garbage out... mind you, you have to put garbage in (which I'm working on) to get anything out ;-)

If I upgraded, I'd get the Producers edition because I wouldn't mind messing around with surround sound.. just have to figure out how to get it onto a DVD for DVD-A.

Porter

[Middleman]

The editing features are Pro Tools class which will make aligning tracks and clips faster. After I track , its all about alignment to make things sound tip top. This is normally time consuming and it appears they have added a lot of new capabilities to speed things up. The freeze function will also speed things up. Nudging, ah yes at last, is the only way to do alignment.

This was what I was looking for so I am in on this version from the get go.

The surround and video stuff is not the show for me. But, if it ever takes off, at least that capability is there.

My prediction, this is the last version of Cakewalk prior to a buyout or consolidation. There are too many players in the game on the PC side and its got to start thinning out. I hope Cake aquires and is not aquired.

[Qwerty]

Originally Posted by Middleman

Nudging, ah yes at last, is the only way to do alignment.

I've never really got why this is so important? Then again, I am not familiar with the Pro Tools methodology that it is emulating....

Does nudge just allow you to bump a track left or right in time? How is it faster than clicking and dragging when you are zoomed in a significant amount?

Not bitchin', just interested.

Hadn't thought about your industry consolidation speculations... I do hope you are right and the Cakie's are the buyers and not the bought.

Ciao,

Q.

[Middleman]

Nudging in the pro tools sense:

Two tracks say one kick and one bass.

A shortcut key jumps you from one kick note to the the next but on the bass track you have left right fine adjustment which smoothly aligns the bass note to the marker aligned on the kick. Tab to the next kick, align bass, tab to the next kick align...so on. Very fast.

Another editing peice I am looking to have been refined; processing a track for note locations, then do a single paste of a drum hit at every point identified for a snare or kick pulse/wave. This way you can quickly fatten a snare or kick with a frequency pulse or other (hopefully better sounding) wave file. Then mix the wave or pulse up underneath the recorded drum sound. Good when drummers don't know how to tune their drums or just for effect.

[Hard2Hear]

I just went to 3 producer in about april,. so no upgrades for me. I dont generally do alot of editing cause I just use Sonar as my writing tool. 3 is working perfect, so no need to fix what aint broke!

H2H

[Qwerty]

Originally Posted by Middleman

A shortcut key jumps you from one kick note to the the next but on the bass track you have left right fine adjustment which smoothly aligns the bass note to the marker aligned on the kick. Tab to the next kick, align bass, tab to the next kick align...so on. Very fast.

Dear Lord, let it be true.

Q.

[moskus]

Okay... please tell me...


WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?!?!?!?!?!?!

[Qwerty]

What with?

Q.

[moskus]

With what?

[dachay2tnr]

IF and when I upgrade it will be to Studio Edition. That is what I have now, and there is nothing that has been added to Producer Edition that has me very interested.

I'm still on the fence about even upgrading at all. Some of the features sound fairly cool, but there are none I can't live without. And the bottom line is that they are not going to make my music sound any better.

However it is hard not to get caught up in the hype.

[Qwerty]

Well, let me take this opportunity, to gratuitously add that I am a hype-junky and I want it, I want it, I want it.

There - totally unmomentous - maybe I might find something useful to say in the next thousand, but I doubt it.....

Have fun boys and girls!

Q.

Dachay - you know you want it... And please feel free to use this humble thread to break the 4k....

[moskus]

Originally Posted by dachay2tnr

IF and when I upgrade it will be to Studio Edition. That is what I have now, and there is nothing that has been added to Producer Edition that has me very interested.

But Dach, you forget one thing...


can you guess what it is?






The Console View!


(Ha, didn't see that one comming, did you? )

[tombuur]

I lean towards upgrading. Sonar is my main program when having fun putting music together, so I want the latest version. Guess it is like subscribing to Sonar, you pay $179/year for it.

Money is not a big issue, I can sell off some of my holiday time working in Moskus' Norway instead when I am desperate for music equipment. They pay well and are nice people.

... but can you remove that ugly surround control they added between volume and eq?

Edit shortly later: Can't worry too much about this. So I ordered Sonar 4.

[Beltrom]

Originally Posted by dachay2tnr

IF and when I upgrade it will be to Studio Edition. That is what I have now, and there is nothing that has been added to Producer Edition that has me very interested.

I'm still on the fence about even upgrading at all. Some of the features sound fairly cool, but there are none I can't live without. And the bottom line is that they are not going to make my music sound any better.

However it is hard not to get caught up in the hype.

My view pretty much. Probably will get the Studio.

[Middleman]

From what I have heard, the console view is a separate install for those users who still need it.

[dachay2tnr]

Originally Posted by Middleman

From what I have heard, the console view is a separate install for those users who still need it.

I had heard they removed it entirely. Apparently their user surveys indicated there was only one user still using it.

[Middleman]

LMAO

Possilby the president and only member of the Norway Sonars users club.

[D Cruz]

Who is going to come out with a better recording, the guy who knows how to use his older cheaper equipment, or the guy who has a bunch of new high tech gear and doesn't know how to use it?

Think of all the old songs you love to listen to that technically sound like crap. That didn't stop people from buying the music and it doesn't stop you from listening to it now.

Constant upgrading may be good for the economy and good for coffee table discussions, but is it worth losing all the experience and knowlege of the equipment you currently own?

[Aaron Cheney]

About the only feature I saw that really got my interest was the new "track folders." That's something I've been asking for since 1.0. As a long time Photoshop user I've just gotten used to sticking several layers in a folder for group adjustments.

For example, it would be cool to stick all the rythm guitars in a folder that collapses down to the space of one track. Ditto a drum mix. If you need to make individual adjustment you click on the folder and it expands to show all the tracks, you make your change, and then another click takes them all down to the spacke of one track again. Making volume changes or whatever on the collapsed folder track changes the all the tracks as a group. Photoshop users know what I'm talking about...

It looks like they finally implemented that. That said, it's not enough by itself to make me upgrade. Besides...CW's upgrade pricing has always favored skipping every other upgrade. I'll just wait 'til 5.0.

But what if Middleman's right????? THen I'm screwed.

Oh well.

A

[distortedrumble]

....ok I'm still using sonar 2.2xl i was still mulling over the decision to upgrade to sonar 3...now theres 4.....kinda feels like when i bought the sega dreamcast. i feel worthless. i guess i think to slow for the economy and software makers.

[acidrock]

No upgrade here,the most appealing feature to me would be the track folder thingy,other than that nothing is grabbing me.

[tombuur]

Originally Posted by D Cruz

Constant upgrading may be good for the economy and good for coffee table discussions, but is it worth losing all the experience and knowlege of the equipment you currently own?

As far as I understand Sonar 4 will do everything Sonar 3 does in the same way plus something more. Didn't have a feeling of lost knowledge upgrading from 2 to 3. It is not like a completely other product, like Cubase.

I agree you may get little for your upgrade money, but to me it is not a big issue having a well-paid job and almost no kids at home any more.

[kylen]

After getting over my initial attitude problem with another update (and $$$) so soon I'm gonna upgrade the Prodcer Sonar4 fpr $179 - I think.

Unless I'm misinterpreting the details on the web site I like the...
1. 32bit native file support
2. Track Locking

or am I imaginging these new features...

[Toddskins]

I have barely scratched the surface of Sonar 3PE of which I have only had for a month. I can already tell that 3 will keep me happy for many many months to come, but I'm not opposed to upgrading if there's a compelling reason.

The added VIDEO thingie, almost seems like it does not belong, though I'm sure it's pretty hip, and one day I might be wishing for such a thing, but....

Surround Sound has never impressed me, and I don't own such a system now (TV, or anything).

A couple days ago, I read a user's posts about how much he has been wishing that Sonar had GROUP EDITS so that he could make one change and have it reflected in many tracks all at once. That sounded really cool - something I already have encountered and can see the value of and wish 3 had. I don't know that they made such a feature in 4.

Lastly, i gotta hope that my latest composition that I will be sending to a record company next week, will spring forth some money.... then I can afford.... a STEINWAY 9 footer. lol