Cakewalk has announced that a SONAR v5.2 update for both 32-bit and native x64 versions of SONAR 5 Producer Edition and SONAR 5 Studio Edition will be available early April 2006 as a free download for registered SONAR 5 customers.

SONAR 5.2 update highlights:

• VST 2.4 support, allowing for 64-bit double-precision audio quality through VST effects and instruments, along with compatibility with Windows XP Professional x64 Edition. (Note: SONAR 5's BitBridge technology allows pre- VST 2.4 plug-ins to run in SONAR's x64 environment).
• Support for MIDI output data from VSTi plug-ins.
• Support for Waves VST plug-ins (Note: Waves DirectX plug-ins have always been supported).
• Support for up to 4,096 MIDI channels to any ReWire device (up from 16).
• Extensions to SONAR's Control Surface capabilities allowing Control Surfaces to receive multi-channel metering information and to get/set punch states.
• In addition, the update addresses issues reported by customers after SONAR's initial release specifically regarding the UAD-1 card, VST automation, SONAR's Piano Roll and Inline Piano Roll, and Perfect Space.

Registered SONAR 5 customers will be able to download the free SONAR 5.2 update in early April 2006.