Are Sonar 4 Studio Plugins Any Good?

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kilroy wrote: Old...but still a decent enough reverb for native users if skillfully programmed. Here is an attempt at emulating the old EMT plate sound... www.headroomproductions.com/Audio/EMTPlateEmulation.wav *right click and Save Target As*
Hi Kilroy - are you saying the reverb you used on the cut above is the FXreverb that comes with Sonar? If so you did a nice job with it! If it is the Sonar basic FXverb then that is encouraging.

Later
Mat 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

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bduffy wrote:That Lexicon Pantheon might be worth it alone! I can't believe Cakewalk snagged an exclusive licence with the world's single most popular reverb designer. You can't even use it in other DX hosts! :(
A number of people whose opinions I consider wise tell me it's nothing like a real Lexicon and that its sound is very grainy or some such. My ear isn't anything like golden, so I can't say. I find it useful for some sounds but still wish I could use Reason's RV7000 on non-Reason signals.

BTW, Sonar's my primary sequencer, and I like it just fine. Not running it down, just relating what seems to be the weight of opinion on this particular bundled plug-in.

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Yep... there has been lots of discussion on the cakewalk.net forum regarding the sound quality of the Pantheon... it does sound rather disapointing to my ears... Though I'm certainly no pro!

That said though, I still think the sonitus reverb doesn't get the credit it deserves...

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Concerning Sonar's other plugins, I am a bit surprised no mention has been made of the included Timeworks plugs.
Maybe because they're not included with Sonar anymore?

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kilroy wrote: Old...but still a decent enough reverb for native users if skillfully programmed.
I agree, it is still a good sounding and versatile soft reverb. Cakewalk contracted with Power Technologies, when SONAR was intitially being developed, to port over (5) of their highly regarded plugin algo's (StudioVerb, Delay, EQ, Flange & Chorus), but with a redesigned Cakewalk centric plugin GUI, and these became SONAR's stock fx. Overshadowed as of late, by the Sonitus suite, but still excellent plugins.

Concerning Sonar's other plugins, I am a bit surprised no mention has been made of the included Timeworks plugs.
Probably because, unless you purchased SONAR 2 XL, or purchased them directly from the SonicTimeworks website, you would not even know about these plugins.
These only came with SONAR 2 XL. SONAR 1, 3 or 4 users would not have access or even the license to use these effects, as they were only included, on the SONAR 2 XL CDROM and are part of the S2 XL install. As long as you have your S2 XL serial number and original S2 XL CDROM, you can use the CDROM to selectively install only the Sonic Timeworks plugins. Which is what I did recently when I re-formated my C drive and did a fresh install of WinXP and all my audio/video apps, including SONAR 4. I agree the Compressor X and EQ-V1 are excellent processors, I still use them, from time to time.
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kilroy wrote:
flugel45 wrote:I've heard many users say DSP-FX reverb is still their "go-to" reverb.
Old...but still a decent enough reverb for native users if skillfully programmed. Here is an attempt at emulating the old EMT plate sound... www.headroomproductions.com/Audio/EMTPlateEmulation.wav *right click and Save Target As*
Kilroy:

You don't have the settings for that EMT Plate Emulation do you? I like that sound!

Jonas, over at the Sonar Forum gave us a decent preset for a basic verb on the DSP-FX. I'll post back with a link to that if anyone is interested.

TIA

Paul :)
Intel i7930 OC to 3.36GHz, Win7 Pro, 12GB Ram
500GB OS, 1TB Audio, 1TB Samples, Delta 66 Omni, Sonar Platinum

TheBrothersGlaser.com

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AVBunyan wrote:
kilroy wrote: Old...but still a decent enough reverb for native users if skillfully programmed. Here is an attempt at emulating the old EMT plate sound... www.headroomproductions.com/Audio/EMTPlateEmulation.wav *right click and Save Target As*
Hi Kilroy - are you saying the reverb you used on the cut above is the FXreverb that comes with Sonar? If so you did a nice job with it! If it is the Sonar basic FXverb then that is encouraging.
I used the original Power Technology's StudioVerb from their DSP-FX Direct X plugin package. I would assume the version in Sonar shares the same coding.
To the mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders - Lao Tzu

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fac wrote:
Concerning Sonar's other plugins, I am a bit surprised no mention has been made of the included Timeworks plugs.
Maybe because they're not included with Sonar anymore?
Bit of weird logic that. I still have the 2XL version. Never bothered to upgrade.


Easy to please I guess. :shrug:
To the mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders - Lao Tzu

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Paul G wrote:Kilroy:

You don't have the settings for that EMT Plate Emulation do you? I like that sound!
I can do that for you mate. Going to be in a pre-prod session here momentarily so it might have to wait till this evening some time.
To the mind that is still, the whole universe surrenders - Lao Tzu

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Since I was recently scanning KVR for any posts about Sonar 4 while trying to decide whether to upgrade from HomeStudio 2004, I would like to add my input.

The Sonitus effects are worth the price of an upgrade to the Producer Edition all by themselves. The reverb, in particular, I have found extremely useful, but all of them are worth having, even if you already have a full suite of 3rd party plugins as I did. The Lexicon reverb is a bit of a washout, since it seems to require a lot of EQ after using it and there are simply too many other reverbs where it is easier to get a good sound for me to bother messing with it.

The first thing you will notice after upgrading is how much better the sound engine is. I have only had Sonar 4 for a few weeks but am already extremely impressed as I try to understand all the new tools I have to work with.

The Studio Edition is still a good buy and will give anyone with a good package of 3rd party plugins a lot of value for the money, but after playing with the Sonitus FX, you won't regret it if you spend the extra money for the Producer Edition.

Best regards,

Tio Ed
Austin, Texas

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kilroy wrote:I can do that for you mate. Going to be in a pre-prod session here momentarily so it might have to wait till this evening some time.
Thanks Kilroy!

Paul :)
Intel i7930 OC to 3.36GHz, Win7 Pro, 12GB Ram
500GB OS, 1TB Audio, 1TB Samples, Delta 66 Omni, Sonar Platinum

TheBrothersGlaser.com

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Bit of weird logic that. I still have the 2XL version. Never bothered to upgrade.
Some people actually upgrade each year because of those little things in each version which might not be included in newer versions.

Me, I can't justify upgrading to each new version but there were more than enough new things in S4SE to make me upgrade from 2.2, especially workflow-wise.

I got the SE version because I already have a decent range of commercial plugins, but if I didn't I would definitely have gotten Producer.

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TexasMusicForge wrote: The Lexicon reverb is a bit of a washout, since it seems to require a lot of EQ after using it and there are simply too many other reverbs where it is easier to get a good sound for me to bother messing with it.
Ed:

The most recent concensus (Sonar Forum) is that the Pantheon is more useable than at first thought. I don't have enough experence with it to speak first hand though.

I'm liking Glaceverb and Prestine Space right now.

Paul
Intel i7930 OC to 3.36GHz, Win7 Pro, 12GB Ram
500GB OS, 1TB Audio, 1TB Samples, Delta 66 Omni, Sonar Platinum

TheBrothersGlaser.com

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While I dont bring up pantheon as my "goto" reverb, it has its uses...

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TexasMusicForge wrote: The Studio Edition is still a good buy and will give anyone with a good package of 3rd party plugins a lot of value for the money, but after playing with the Sonitus FX, you won't regret it if you spend the extra money for the Producer Edition.

Best regards,

Tio Ed
Austin, Texas
Thanks Tex for your input - I recently downloaded the Producer and compared the standard FX Reverb and Chorus with the Sonitus ones and found the the standard FX plugins held up fairly well - now this is coming from not as trained ears as you folks but if I had my choice I would like to have the Sonitus but that upgrade would cost me $350 vs. the $150 for the Studio and right now I had to do a pile of justifying to spend the $149 :shock:

With my limited ears I detected a bit more "richness" from the Sonitus but not enough to justify the extra $200 right now, though later maybe. Just getting the features of the Sonar 4 Studio plus the upgraded plugins (compared to what I'm using now) makes the Studio a nice upgrade for me.

I'll be getting the upgrade by Wednesday so I am excited.

What about the Pantheon Lite compared to the FX plugins?

Thanks
Mat 11:28 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

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