T2 vs. Sonar4: Got any "hands-on" experience?

[TexasMusicForge]

Folks:

As a longtime performing musician making the transition away from bar gigs and into recording and production, I want to upgrade my home studio (currently alternating between n-Track 3.3 and Cakewalk HS2004) to a more professional software package. I was pretty well sold on upgrading to Sonar 4, but T2 sure seems to have a lot to recommend it.

My main needs are stability, light CPU load, ease of use, decent MIDI functionality (I don't need a lot of advanced MIDI features at this time), good sound and the ability to do video and film scoring for some of the opportunities I'm starting to get.

Searching through the archives here and elsewhere yields as many flame wars and insults as good, useful information. I'd deeply appreciate anyone with a qualified opinion and no axe to grind doing a brief comparison between the two.

Thanks and best regards to all,

Tio Ed

[braj]

I've tried Sonar4, I would say for ease of use T2 kills Sonar. Sona4 crashed on me a few times, but T has crashed as well. Of what you've listed I'd say maybe film scoring may be stronger in Sonar4. Sonar Producer does surround, so if you are serious about film that may be a better choice. I don't know much about that though. T2 does do video, but not surround.

[koolkeys]

However, surround IS possible in Tracktion. With the use of Racks, and a couple particular plugs, T can do it. It's in the "Tracktion Information" thread that Beno posted as a sticky. It's a link to a tutorial on doing this in Tracktion.

Koolkeys

[chriss]

I have used both quit a bit and they each have there strengths. Tracktion is just so intuitive, creative and almost inspiring to work with. as far as doing film work tracktion is just OK at least in t2 you can get a video window. But as of now only quick time video. T can not work with OMF and EDL so if this is a issue stick with Sonar. Midi is very good in T2. I would say Sonar is still overall a bit more full featured, but when i work with Tracktion it just seems to blend in to the background and I can just work. Not other software package has EVER done this for me so naturally I find myself using it alot. BTW I do use it for TV and radio commercials. It sounds like tracktion should work well for you, but both sonar and Tracktion have demos, I would suggest downloading them and spending time with each. Hope that helps

[rpc9943]

For a musician and/or producer i most readily recommend T

RonC

[braj]

However, surround IS possible in Tracktion. With the use of Racks, and a couple particular plugs, T can do it. It's in the "Tracktion Information" thread that Beno posted as a sticky. It's a link to a tutorial on doing this in Tracktion.

Koolkeys

Which particular plugs, and for how much?Surround is simple in Sonar from what I've seen, would it be as simple in T?

[koolkeys]

I have not personally tried it. But I know they are free plug-ins, and the tutorial is written by the plug-ins' writer. It's in that sticky post, so you can try it for yourself, as again, I haven't actually tried it yet. But it's a FREE solution, and it seemed pretty simple when I skimmed through the tutorial.

Koolkeys

[semiquaver]

it is not simple in T but it can be done. go to the mackie T2 site and follow the link...

[stash98]

i switched from s4 PE to tracktion.

[pHz]

i switched from s4 PE to tracktion.

not to bash sonar (never tried it TBH) but in the interests of this thread ...

... care to briefly explain why ???

slainte rob

[nuisance sonore]

Surround? For music? What the heck for? Surround for movies special effect, I'm all for it, but music? You can't be serious In any case, if you insist, surround mixing is more in the realm of NLE as that's where the music, dialog and sound effect will all come together for the final mix.
As far as comparaison goes, you're the only one who can do it as you're the one who knows exactly what your needs are. Speed, stability, ease of use and simplicity were at the forefront for me, so I went with Tracktion (I demoed most, if not all, sequencers last year), you might have different requirements. I've been using Tracktion since last September, and I can't remember a single crash; some wierd behavior a few times, yes, but zero crash. I also was up and running in an hour in T, took me two days just to learn to navigate Sonar; but I can respect that Sonar is a lot more evolved than T, the features set are not comparable IMO, but if those features are not needed, they're just undue clutter.
I would suggest making a list of the features you need, as complete as possible, then look if they are supported by either one, then demo them to get a feel of the workflow. Just keep in mind to choose wisely, as if you decide to go with Sonar it is not reselleable, you're stuck with it.

[semiquaver]

ezy makes a good point re:surround: I can't think who would ask a musician to deliver a surround mix!

[GYang]

In similar situation as yours I worked with Cubase and Samplitude. Both easily replaced by Tracktion (for my needs), never regret.
The sound of Tracktion is really OK, 64-bit engine is next refinement.
Even if something is still not implemented, I would not change it for any SW that is offered on the market (even free of charge).

GYang

[TexasMusicForge]

Hmmmmm.....good, well-reasoned arguments all around. My compliments to the chefs.

I'm not doing any video/film work at all right now. I've got plenty of entry-level work available to get my feet wet and build a demo reel. I assume Quicktime will suffice for my limited needs right now (most of my paying work is for theatrical companies and only needs basic MIDI and multitracking/mixdown). I'm old-skool enough to actually *play* instead of program most of my instruments, so my MIDI requirements are pretty simple. I like the positive feedback on the GUI and the effect on workflow - I'm not a software engineer and get a lot more pleasure out of making music than software tweaks so this sounds like a big step in the right direction. I assume that future versions of T will include tools for video and advanced audio editing and that the program will mature as my requirements do.

I'll be monitoring this thread closely and thanks again to all who responded.

Best regards,

Tio Ed

[braj]

I'm not a software engineer and get a lot more pleasure out of making music than software tweaks

T is perfect for you then The time I spent with Sonar was mostly figuring out how to do seemingly simple things.