Sonar ($150) or Orion ($150)

[james0tucson]

It occurred to me that Sonar and Orion are the same base price. So which is the better value, overall? What considerations would lead you to choose one over the other?

I asked this question in another topic about Sonar, and I don't think I got any replies. It had not occurred to me that Sonar and Orion were the same unit price for the base version.

[jouni]

Test the demos yourself. I suggest skipping Orion Pro and going directly to Orion Platinum. Better value for money.

[Meffy]

Eh? Looks to me as if Sonar's street price is around $300 for Studio Edition, $600 for Producer. Even the upgrade from Producer V.3 to V.4 is $180 at audioMIDI.com

BTW, I use Sonar and have been using Cakewalk since the early-mid 1990s. Don't know anything about Orion, so I can't compare the two.

[Frunobulax]

I think James0Tucson is probably referring to the Home Studio version, which CW has recently added to the Sonar family.

[Meffy]

Ohhh! Gotcha. Didn't realize that was considered a Sonar product, thought it was called something else.

*takes a look*

Yuppers, it looks Sonar-y. I still can't offer much insight, but I can say that I like Sonar Producer's staff view and overall ease of use. Cakewalk's support is also excellent, and the Sonar Forums are very helpful places full of knowledgeable folks. Not much help, sorry.

[jplanet]

Just to add more confusion, for that price you can't beat Tracktion.

[james0tucson]

Just to add more confusion, for that price you can't beat Tracktion.

I already know I can't stand Tracktion. Nothing against it, quality-wise, but the UI is all wrong for me.

[flugel45]

Best advice is to try the demos for yourself.

While you're at it, check out Podium:

http://www.zynewave.com/

(For $90, it's gotta be one of the best values out there. I already own Sonar 4PE, but found myself curious about Podium so DL'ed the demo and played with it awhile... Damn impressive, and solid as a rock).


JD

[Mr. Tunes]

is podium the program that futureman(roy wooten) is promoting in magazine ads?

it looks darn sweet, a program that can do surround sound for that price. can it do tempo graphing and video import?

[VitaminD]

I never could get my head around how podium worked (tried it several times during the beta)..

I'd be completely lost musically without Orion though.. its not what I'd consider the most robust or flashy, but its simplistic sequencer is the only one that does what I need it to do.. and fast.

horses for courses of course thank goodness Orion, podium, and I think even sonar have trial versions..

[Sicklecell666]

Orion kicks ass.

[BONES]

For a start, ORION supports VST and VSTi natively, as well as DX/DXi, without the nedd for wrappers. I'm not too sure what's in ORION Pro these days but Platinum offers amazing value with things like UltranWMS, Diffuse Delay [modelled on the top-of-the-line Lexicon] and the new Impulse Response Processor.

[Stupid American Pig]

For a start, ORION supports VST and VSTi natively, as well as DX/DXi, without the nedd for wrappers. I'm not too sure what's in ORION Pro these days but Platinum offers amazing value with things like UltranWMS, Diffuse Delay [modelled on the top-of-the-line Lexicon] and the new Impulse Response Processor.

its all wrappers, mebbe orion hides it from the end user more than sonar, but its truely a non issue. theres no performance hit, everything I have loads fine, and you get the advantages of sonars supremely flexible bussing.

Orion and Sonar are not even the same kind of program.

I put orion in my list of things to get, but its below the UAD card and BFD right now. I tried the orion 6 demo, and its cool for a soft studio, I think I like it better than FL studio. The included synths are ok, but I wasnt blown away(but Im not much of a synth lover anyway). The convolution reverb is a great tool, and that is what made me interested in the first place. I didnt like the piano roll tho, and I dont like the way that the mixer is set up. I didnt even try audio recording, but I would never use orion for that anyway.

If you want a multitracker, sonar is the way to go. It supports all the formats you need, and the wrapper really isnt an issue, and it can be updated seperately from the app if a new plug is introduced that causes problems(which will speed bug fix turnaround). The rewire support is very solid in sonar, and works better than any of my other hosts. I know that bones is an orion freak, and uses it for everything, but his music differes from mine quite a bit, and I rely more on live audio than he does. For that reason, I prefer sonar for most of my work, and occasionally rewire in reason. As has been said before and should be posted as a sticky for all host x vs host y threads you should:

1) Figure out what yer particular needs are, as they likely arent the same as Bones or myself.
2) try the demo, ask questions here if you are unsure about how something works
3) Purchase what works best for you, and ignore the fanboys on this site(except for me, so go buy sonar already )
4) realize that orion could work within or beside sonar beautifully...

[saturdaysaint]

Apples and oranges, although truth be told, you could probably do %99 of the same MIDI and audio tasks in both. Orion obviously has the greater variety of included effects and synths (even though Pentagon and the Sonitus reverb are both top-notch), although how suitable they are for your type of music is up to you. Orion would seem to have an edge in pattern-oriented music, but with the ease of looping, copying and pasting in Sonar, that's kind of a wash, too. The big things available in Orion but not in Sonar are the convolution reverb and arpeggiator - great extras!

Besides multitracking, tne area where Sonar has the edge is the cleaner interface with fewer overlapping windows and windows popping-up. Everything from busses to the piano roll/loop editor is always viewable from one well-organized window. This can make for fewer headaches over the course of a long session.

But like everyone else says, try them yourself.

[jens]

Just to add more confusion, for that price you can't beat Tracktion.

oh yes you can by a few miles!

eXT is all I say...