What is the big freakin deal?

[noisedude]

Haha, that got your attention.

Just reading a review of Sonar Home Studio the new version in Sound on Sound, also noticed that Craig Anderton is a big fan. So I want to know this from all you Sonar users - what is the big freakin' deal?! The XL edition is less than a third of the price of something like Cubase SX (even on an educational licence), so what is there to recommend this product?

Tell me about the interface, the mixing, the routing to outboard gear, the implementation of VST effects and instruments, automation and most importantly, please, please tell me it's stable ... really damn stable.

Would that be ok? I kinda don't wanna go looking for this info, but I'm enticed by being part of the Hey Moskus thread ... please help!

Cheers,
Nik

[Paul881]

Originally Posted by noisedude

Haha, that got your attention.

Just reading a review of Sonar Home Studio the new version in Sound on Sound, also noticed that Craig Anderton is a big fan. So I want to know this from all you Sonar users - what is the big freakin' deal?! The XL edition is less than a third of the price of something like Cubase SX (even on an educational licence), so what is there to recommend this product?

Tell me about the interface, the mixing, the routing to outboard gear, the implementation of VST effects and instruments, automation and most importantly, please, please tell me it's stable ... really damn stable.

Would that be ok? I kinda don't wanna go looking for this info, but I'm enticed by being part of the Hey Moskus thread ... please help!

Cheers,
Nik

Well, you get to ask questions and bump into your old buddies on the ADD thread for a start Fridays just don't seem the same anymore

[noisedude]

Urgh ... that's not Sonar advice! You got my hopes up!



I'll see if I can make it back this Friday ... work and stuff prevent me getting in on time.

[dachay2tnr]

Originally Posted by noisedude

but I'm enticed by being part of the Hey Moskus thread ... please help!

Cheers,
Nik

Unlike the A.D.D. thread, you actually get points for posting in the Hey Moskus thread.

[noisedude]

*slaps head*

This isn't helping!

[dachay2tnr]

Sorry, but I'm a Sonar user and can't tell you much about Homo Studio. However, it seems to be a pretty good value for the price, based on what I've seen posted here.

I am assuming that you realize that Sonar Home Studio is not Sonar. It is a scaled down version of Sonar. AFAIK, Craig Anderton uses Sonar.

Sonar comes in two flavors - Studio Edition and Producer Edition. Home Studio is a different beast, although built from the Sonar model.

[noisedude]

Now we're getting somewhere.

Tell me about Sonar proper then.

[dachay2tnr]

Originally Posted by noisedude

Tell me about the interface, the mixing, the routing to outboard gear, the implementation of VST effects and instruments, automation and most importantly, please, please tell me it's stable ... really damn stable.

The latest version is Sonar 5.0. I'm, however, still on version 3.

The Sonar forum is probably not the best place to ask, but I think it is a damn good program. Maybe the best combination of MIDI and audio implementation on the market.

It can handle both VST plugins and DirectX, making it very versitile on that front. Effects can be automated, as can volume, pan, etc.

The Producer edition also has surround capabilities - if you have need for that. Otherwise the Studio edition has most of the same bells and whistles. However the Producer edition also has some bundled effects, including an autotune type plugin, that might draw your interest as well. If you already own autotune and Waves plugs, then Studio might be a better value for you (and nearly half the price, if you are not upgrading).

I find version 3.0 quite stable - so long as your CPU and sound card are decent.

The interface is, to me, quite intuitive - but I have been using Cakewalk products for 5-6 years, so I could be prejudiced.

Test drive the demo. It is full featured, except you can not Save anything.

[acidrock]

TOP TEN REASONS SONAR IS BETTER THAN CUBASE

10.The cats and chicks on this forum are way cooler than those cubase dorks.
9.You'll get whiter whites and brighter brights.
8.In a scientific study 9 out of 10 people prefered the smell of the Sonar cd to the cubase cd.
7.Sonar just sounds cooler than cubase...c'mon say it, S-o-n-a-r!!
6.Cubase is made by underage workers in sweatshops somewhere in N. Korea.
5.10% of all proceeds from Sonar go toward finding a cure for techno.
4.If you don't buy sonar something bad will happen to someone somewhere,now you don't want that to happen....do you?
3.Music made with Sonar goes great with beer!
2.It's 100% fat free!
And the number one reason to get Sonar(drumroll please)....

























Chicks dig guys with Sonar!

[omtayslick]

Originally Posted by acidrock

5.10% of all proceeds from Sonar go toward finding a cure for techno.

A very worthwhile cause now that disco has been eradicated in most places.

[dachay2tnr]

Originally Posted by acidrock

TOP TEN REASONS SONAR IS BETTER THAN CUBASE

10.The cats and chicks on this forum are way cooler than those cubase dorks.
9.You'll get whiter whites and brighter brights.
8.In a scientific study 9 out of 10 people prefered the smell of the Sonar cd to the cubase cd.
7.Sonar just sounds cooler than cubase...c'mon say it, S-o-n-a-r!!
6.Cubase is made by underage workers in sweatshops somewhere in N. Korea.
5.10% of all proceeds from Sonar go toward finding a cure for techno.
4.If you don't buy sonar something bad will happen to someone somewhere,now you don't want that to happen....do you?
3.Music made with Sonar goes great with beer!
2.It's 100% fat free!
And the number one reason to get Sonar(drumroll please)....

Chicks dig guys with Sonar!

I didn't know the responses were supposed to be funny.


Apparently neither did acidrock.

[Pedullist]

If it wasn't for the 64 track limitation I would've upgraded from HS2004 to HS2005 (which has a different name now I believe). But upgrading to Sonar 5 has been terrific, and I wouldn't go back anymore. Sonar 5 is way more stable, much easier to work with than HS2004. Then again, I think they might have upgraded the audio engine in HS2005 as well, and they probably implemented some of the cool folder features as well. So it's hard to compare.

[Pedullist]

And yeah, my wife likes the looks of Sonar.

[laptoppop]

All of the "big" products (Cubase, Nuendo, Logic, ProTools, Sonar) are capable of producing just about anything one can imagine. We are getting very spoiled these days! It really IS more about the music and the recording techniques than the tools.

I use and love Sonar 5 Producer. It has a totally unlimited and flexible bussing structure. This works great for mixes and putting things together. It has a pitch/timing correction engine built in that gives Melodyne a good run for their money (and I have both). It does not use any onerous copy protection - no dongle. (recently Nuendo was found to be polling their dongle WAY more than needed - it impacted actual CPU usage). It comes with a great convolution based reverb, and a Lexicon reverb. The automation is powerful and flexible. You can record it on the fly as it plays (even recording a control surface), you can draw it, etc. lots of options. The latest version of Sonar 5 has a 64-bit floating point mix engine that you can use. This mix engine gives finer granularity into reverb tails and additional headroom in the intermediate stages of the mix. Sonar 5 comes with two versions, a 32-bit executable (which still has the 64-bit float mix engine available) for normal Windows XP, and a 64-bit native executable for XP64 or Vista. The native 64-bit executable gives you about 20-30% better performance. Not many people have all the pieces they need for full 64-bit computing yet, but Cakewalk is already thinking ahead. (You need full 64-bit drivers for your audio interface, for example)

There's lots more - the bottom line is Sonar5 is a killer product. BUT.... their competitors are great too. The industry has really advanced in a lot of great ways. Lets make music!
-lee-

[DavidK]

There's lots more - the bottom line is Sonar5 is a killer product. BUT.... their competitors are great too. The industry has really advanced in a lot of great ways.

Indeed. 15 years ago it would have been almost undreamable to even have a program exist like HS, and now you can buy it at Best Buy!!!

I got Sonar 3 producer, jumped from SONAR 1. It kicks ASSSS, I love it. It's really made me get back into doing this more and learning the program thoroughly. I got a new computer, new mic, Sonar3 and now I am almost into the 21st century, I just need a plasma TV.