KVR Audio

PaulG · Post by **PaulG** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 7:03 pm

Hi, everyone,

I'm considering an upgrade to Sonar 8.5.

It's only $99 for me to upgrade to the Studio edition, and it seems that the only difference is plugs and the new matrix view.

Since I have all of the plugs I need (or want), and not sure how dependent I'd be on the matrix view (though it does sound nice), would I be losing out on much by going with the Studio version?

I didn't use any kind of host like Live or Project 5 before, though I'm not saying I wouldn't - I just am used to writing in a more linear fashion.

Thanks a lot for any input,

- Paul

whyterabbyt · Post by **whyterabbyt** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 7:11 pm

I like the Matrix View in Project5, so I was rather happy when it came to Sonar. Even if you're used to a more linear method of working, it can be useful in generating ideas and fleshing out the structure of parts of a given project, but it really is a personal thing.

Its a real shame there doesnt seem to be an 8.5 demo. You near a store that give you a real-life demo?

PaulG · Post by **PaulG** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 7:14 pm

Thanks, W/R,

It does sound like it'd be something to play with, but it'd cost an extra $150 or so just for that.

Wish I was near a store - over an hour away...

Stupid American Pig · Post by **Stupid American Pig** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 7:26 pm

I really should give the Matrix view a try... I can say that the step sequencer 2.0 is light years ahead of the previous version.

in another note, I noticed the other day that the Audio Snap seems to be missing the "Quantize to Pool" option that I made such heavy use of. Can anyone direct me as to how similar functionality can be acheived in the new audiosnap?

PaulG · Post by **PaulG** » Mon Nov 23, 2009 7:52 pm

I've only got the 8.0 trial - is the SS 2.0 different than that, do you know?

What are the improvements over the previous version?

cryophonik · Post by **cryophonik** » Tue Nov 24, 2009 2:38 am

PaulG wrote:
...it seems that the only difference is plugs and the new matrix view.

There are actually a lot of new features, including some huge and very useful improvements to the step sequencer (a big one for me!), Audio Snap 2, Media Browser, engine improvements, etc.

http://www.cakewalk.com/Products/SONAR/ ... Prod=SR8.5

I actually haven't spent much time with the Matrix because it doesn't really fit into my workflow, but I just got the December Sound on Sound magazine in the mail today and it has an article on the Matrix View that you may want to check out.

chilln · Post by **chilln** » Tue Nov 24, 2009 2:45 am

Stupid American Pig wrote:I really should give the Matrix view a try... I can say that the step sequencer 2.0 is light years ahead of the previous version.

in another note, I noticed the other day that the Audio Snap seems to be missing the "Quantize to Pool" option that I made such heavy use of. Can anyone direct me as to how similar functionality can be acheived in the new audiosnap?

I seem to remember seeing in one of the CW videos that the Quantize to Pool function isn't used anymore in AudioSnap2.0. Something about being able to quantize to anything now, somehow. I need to look into it, too.

PaulG · Post by **PaulG** » Tue Nov 24, 2009 3:54 am

Thanks a lot, guys.

It really does seem like the Producer edition is where it's at.

Thanks for all the suggestions...

- Paul

Stupid American Pig · Post by **Stupid American Pig** » Tue Nov 24, 2009 2:40 pm

chilln wrote:
Stupid American Pig wrote:I really should give the Matrix view a try... I can say that the step sequencer 2.0 is light years ahead of the previous version.

in another note, I noticed the other day that the Audio Snap seems to be missing the "Quantize to Pool" option that I made such heavy use of. Can anyone direct me as to how similar functionality can be acheived in the new audiosnap?
I seem to remember seeing in one of the CW videos that the Quantize to Pool function isn't used anymore in AudioSnap2.0. Something about being able to quantize to anything now, somehow. I need to look into it, too.

hmm, that seems to be the case.

I liked how I could select one element add that to the pool and then sync to that effortlessly. I guess I need to experiment more but the old way was very intuitive...

Notecrusher · Post by **Notecrusher** » Tue Nov 24, 2009 7:02 pm

I find the Sonar 8.5.1 matrix view extremely limited. I can't use it really. You can't record into it directly. This makes it ok if you are working off loop libraries cos you can drag loops in to cells from the media explorer. But if you record your own parts the workflow is horrible. You have to do all your recording in track view, then drag bits into the matrix view, then capture a matrix view performance back into the track view. Further, live performance is the ONLY way to build an arrangement in matrix view. And then the midi performance is not captured anywhere so can't be edited - only the resultant rendering to the track view. So in other words - the matrix view, which is supposed to be for composing and arranging, is extremely limited for composing and arranging.

As for the SoS article, I wasted $1.49 on the pdf - DON'T BOTHER.

Clifton · Post by **Clifton** » Mon Dec 07, 2009 4:29 am

I started to use the sonar8.5 but im sticking back with my Project5.2. The main reason when your playing live with the matrix cells, the timing to the next cell is so acurate. On sonar8.5 the timing to the next cell is not as good as p5. Even when your recording without the matrix on 8.5, the timing of any audio beats slips off a little and can be very fustrating. Team, I think you better start comming out with more problem solving updates to measure up the quality of the P5.2 No offense though.

Notecrusher · Post by **Notecrusher** » Mon Dec 07, 2009 5:44 am

According to the feature/fix list for Sonar 8.5.2 (coming later this month) it looks like a lot has been done in the matrix view and media explorer. I'm pretty psyched.

Chuck E. Jesus · Post by **Chuck E. Jesus** » Mon Dec 07, 2009 8:05 pm

looking forward to 8.5.2 myself...amongst other things, supposedly the Archive per track button has been fixed

Chuck E. Jesus · Post by **Chuck E. Jesus** » Mon Dec 07, 2009 10:34 pm

is Matrix View worth it? now that i found out you can't trigger external midi devices with it, no, it's not...

dorism · Post by **dorism** » Mon Dec 07, 2009 10:45 pm

I'm still tryign to figure out what its suposed to do - and what style of music it is best suited to...

Sonar 8.5 - is matrix view worth it?