Music Creator Pro - July 30th, 2003 - $109 - WTF!

[Qwerty]

Feature Highlights

-Record and play back unlimited tracks of audio and MIDI
-Simultaneously record your whole band with support for multi-channel audio cards
-Record up to 24-bit/96 kHz audio
-Real-time mixing console
-Loop-based song construction tools
-Import WAV, ACID™-format WAV, and MP3 files
-Complete library of ACID-format audio loops
-Support for DXi third-party soft synth plug-ins
-Includes Virtual Sound Canvas DXi and Dreamstation DXi soft synths
-Real-time DirectX audio effects: Amp Sim Lite, Reverb, Chorus, Delay, Flange, EQ
-Support for hundreds of available third-party DirectX audio plug-ins
-Support for VST instruments and effects with Cakewalk VST Adapter, available separately
-Edit and print notation, along with chord symbols, guitar chord grids, lyrics, dynamic markings
-Unlimited Edit Undo
-24-bit and 16-bit audio support
-Multitrack Piano Roll view
-Drum Editing Grid with Pattern brush
-Import and synchronize AVI video to music projects
-Non-destructive slip-editing of audio and MIDI clips
-Per-track audio meters
-Support for all Windows compatible audio hardware through ASIO, MME, or WDM
-Pyro Express CD-maker and WAV ripper

from www.cakewalk.com

And Sonar @ $499 and XL @ $599........... Are they really worth the extra $$ I now ask with a somewhat disgruntled expression Or would I have been better off waiting, getting this and forking out for Waves plugins......... Grrr.........

Q.

 

[Strryder]

The "street" price on Sonar is $300, and for Sonar XL it's $400, I use Sonar 2.2 XL and think it's worth the money for sure, and all the upgrading that cakewalk is doing to their lower end products is just great, I'm thinking about getting Home Studio 2004 XL to run on my laptop, for $150 bucks, it's like getting Sonar "lite", that's just a great deal in my book.

People are always complaining that they can't get a really good recording program without spending an arm and a leg, I think cakewalk is doing a really good thing with this, especially with Sonar XL (their flagship program), at $400 bucks, it's really a great deal when compared to most other programs of the same caliber.

If you don't need the unlimited effects (HS2004 only gives you 24 real-time effects at once, which is really enough for most 16 to 20 track songs), SMPTE syncing, advanced midi editing, CAL programming, and control surface support of Sonar, you now have some really nice options that really give you multiple I/O, 24/96 recording, with all the needed driver support.

And keep in mind, cakewalk (twelve tones) is just about the only player left in this league that hasn't yet been bought by a larger company that has NO audio background, I like what they're doing.

I think that cakewalk is soon going to dominate the computer based home/project studio market as the best bang for the buck products, just as TASCAM ruled the same market (sans computer) with hardware products for decades before.

my 2 cents...

 

[moskus]

Are they really worth the extra $$

Yes. Of course.





I always need the best (that's why I choose Sonar ), so for me it's not an option. And Sonar actually has support and updates.

 

[Qwerty]

OK - fair enough - I agree with most of that.

I guess what 'concerns' me, (not that I have Twelve Tone shares, lol), is if they are valuing that feature list at $109. That places an awful lot of 'perceived value' in the added FX in Sonar and XL. Otherwise - what else is different?

From a pure marketing perspective, I thought that was odd. It seems like they are undermining value in their flagship product in an effort to capture the bottom end of the market -> not real smart marketing, unless they reckon they can make up the difference in volume of sales I guess.

But good on 'em for making a nice entry level product.

Q.

(And yes Moskus, I too would spend $52398752789 for Sonar XLS 2.2 because if I knew there was an extra button I wasn't tweaking I couldn't bear it..... )

 

[moskus]

(And yes Moskus, I too would spend $52398752789 for Sonar XLS 2.2 because if I knew there was an extra button I wasn't tweaking I couldn't bear it..... )

Exactly!

You, sir, are a gear slut and you know it!




Seriously, I think that if you were used to Sonar, and then bought Music Creator you would find a bunch of usefull features you would miss.

 

[Qwerty]

Would it be bad to confess that I looked at the $69 upgrade price, knew that it did nothing more than Sonar XL and wanted it anyway just because it was there?

 

[moskus]

That's normal for our kind... You get used to it!