Should I go Sonar 4 PE?

[Frossbyte]

Hi I am currenlty constructing a practice/recording studio for my band in my 11'x21' garage and Im trying to get things tied away with everything I need so Ill know what to get here soon.

My band consists of the following drummer (getting a 4 drum mic pack for him)
2 guitarists, 2 vocalists, bassist, and keyboardist. Would sonar 4 PE be the way to go if I am also getting the hercules 16/12 firewire audio I/O for my DAW and a 10 channel powered mixer? Im new to the sound editing process as far as mainstream (I do some soundforge and soundtrack looping on a mac at my college but nothing to this extent) but I have done my homework and find Cakewalk products very sought after programs. Also how is the learning curve? Should I purchase any books in order to pick things up quicker?

 

[punkin]

The gear you've described will get you well underway. You didn't mention how you plan to capture the guitars and vocals. SONAR has a lot of depth but the learing curve just to get started isn't that bad. Take a look at Cakewalk's feature matrix...SONAR 4 PE might or might not be on the side of over-kill. Check with Cakewalk but when I ordered mine, it came with a 700+ page manual which is quite comprehensive...and if I'm not mistaken, right now they're running a promotion to include "SONAR 4 Power" which also a really well written book.

BWT...here's a link where you can get their demo version...http://www.cakewalk.com/download/default.asp#windows

Good luck.