Sonar Bundle files to PRo Audio 9.0

[FZmontanaDF]

IF I save a file as a .bun file in sonar and I send it to a friend who is running Pro Audio 9.0. Can he use the file in Pro Audio 9?
Thanks,
Daniel

[dachay2tnr]

No.

[AlChuck]

I'm not sure about that. (Ooops, someone else slipped in a reply there. Just to be clear, I'm saying "I'm not sure" in response to the original question, not dachay2tnr's reply.) I think perhaps there is a choice when you install about wheter you want your projects to be backward-compatible? Or am I out to lunch? I looked in the help system and at Cakewalk's website in the SONAR FAQ -- nothing. Nothing obvious in SONAR Power! either. Sorry... maybe someone else here can help for real.

I guess you can always just try it and see what happens. Of course there are other issues -- if your project's audio data is 24-bit, can his soundcard handle that? And of course none of the features that SONAR has but Pro Audio doesn't will be supported. I wonder how it would handle the slip-editing stuff, since that's fundamentally different...

[FZmontanaDF]

Thanks.

[rjt]

As far as I know they are not and can't be backward compatible. I also looked in the help files. In fact, I have the Sonar 1.3.1 and Saved a file as "normal" and it wouldn't open on my friends Sonar 1.2 If anyone knows how to make them backward compatible I would like to know.

[dachay2tnr]

Hmmm... you guys don't believe me, huh.

They are not backwards compatible. You can open Cakewalk files in Sonar, but not vice-versa.

First of all, in 1.3.1 the files extensions have been changed (.cwb and .cwp). PA9 wouldn't begin to know what to do with them.

Secondly, what is PA9 supposed to do with all the new features that have been built into Sonar?? Automatable FX, DXi's, slip editing, etc. etc.

Believe me - it can't be done. What you can do, Mr. FZ, is export your individual tracks as .wav files and have you friend import the .wav's into Cakewalk. He can then send you a bundle file (.bun) back, which you can open in Sonar.

[AlChuck]

dachay2tnr,

You sound like our doubts were silly or ridiculous, as if it would be impossible for a file format to be backward-compatible. But if application developers care to make the effort, there's no fundamental reason why old versions of an application should not be able to open files made with later versions. It takes more effort (probably more than it's worth!), but it is certainly do-able. For example, Microsoft Word 2000 doc files can be opened in Word 97. Of course anything that didn't exist in the older version can't be supported, but the files can be opened and worked on. And many applications offer a way to save a file in a backward-compatible format. Why, some even offer ways to save files in the native formats of -- gasp! -- other products made by other companies!

[dachay2tnr]

AlChuck -

I didn't think the concept was silly or ridiculous at all. I started to *toy* with Excel years ago solely because of it's ability to open and save to a Lotus 1-2-3 file format (my spreadsheet of choice at the time). It was a great marketing ploy by MS. Without this ability I may have never even bothered to open the program. The rest, as they say, is history.

However, this particular question regarding Sonar's capability had previously come up in the Sonar newsgroup and been answered. It is not backwards compatible.

When I said it "can't be done", I was referring specifically to Sonar's current capabilities, not to the programmers' abilities.

Peace.

[AlChuck]

Cool, I must've been feeling oversensitive when I read your post...

[SBax]

My friend and I have been swapping PA9 and Sonar .bun files and have had no problems except that slip-edits and overdubs in the Sonar .bun come out in PA9 as a mixdown with "everything" playing! This was easy to solve by track bouncing any single Sonar track that had those edits. We have done about 50 swaps this way. Had no effects running though, don't know about that.

[AlChuck]

Well, what do you know... thanks for the info. I thought it certainly might be possible, but everyone seemed so adamant that it wasn't...

[dachay2tnr]

I assume, SBAX, that you are not using the 1.3.1 update.

[AlChuck]

I seem to remember some option with 1.3.1 at install time to continue to use the old file extensions rather than switch to the new ones... but maybe I'm dreaming it...

[belltunes]

Check out these Cakewalk Tech Notes and see if this clears things up. See "Sharing Files:

http://www.cakewalk.com/Support/Lessons/BackingUp.html