SONAR X2 first look

[lfm]

Actually, Firefox broke compatibility with our forum software around version 5 or something, not that it has anything to do with SONAR. FWIW, I use Chrome and have zero issues with our forum.

Or just stay with Firefox 3.6 as I did.

Some crazy bunch of people have been taking over Firefox development - thinking about the versioning among other things. Now every minor update steps major version.

[JoseC.]

It's a kludge. I've identified a soloing bug caused by this kludge. Did anyone ever fix it? Tracks should be universal, not audio or midi or a clumsy mutant wrapper of the two with hidden odd behaviors.

Funny how the "bugs" you mention, once you read the forum links you provide below, turn out being either user error (your own words regarding this particular soloing issue, and obvious answer for others), or system administration problems.

Anyway, regarding the annoying "universal track" debate, speak for yourself and do not tell the rest of the world how things should do. I prefer having distinct tracks for audio and midi, for several reasons, the most important being that routing is more flexible that way if you use hardware and software synths at the same time. Besides, most apps use distinct tracks for audio and midi, because it is more convenient, and the Track Control Panels are specific for the kind of data they contain. I particularly find Reaper's "universal" tracks a hideous idea but I can understand that others might like it as long as they respect who don't.

[Jace-BeOS]

It's a kludge. I've identified a soloing bug caused by this kludge. Did anyone ever fix it? Tracks should be universal, not audio or midi or a clumsy mutant wrapper of the two with hidden odd behaviors.

Funny how the "bugs" you mention, once you read the forum links you provide below, turn out being either user error (your own words regarding this particular soloing issue, and obvious answer for others), or system administration problems.

Um, no, it's a design issue, as i mentioned. i said user error because, yes, technically it is working as designed. It's bad design.

EDIT: Tech support acknowledged it. Frankly, i don't care enough any more to explain it to everyone because i've basically stopped using Sonar. i just need to get my projects out of it so i don't ever have to use it again.

i'm so tired of the user error argument.

[VariKusBrainZ]

All of the P5 half-rack FX have been included in SONAR for a number of versions now and are all x64.

Disappointly the Richard Dobson spectral plugins arent included.
I imagine this is a licensing issue?!

[hibidy]

edit

[BCnSTL]

Wow. There are some folks here who *really* don't like SONAR.

We get it.

I came back to it in X1 after being away for 6 years (LOGIC). I love Skylight and the ProChannel suite. Sure, there are better emulations but the integration and simplicity are huge to me. I'm working so much faster now with minimal window-manipulation. I had no idea how much time I wasted before mucking with plug-in windows.

If you have another DAW that works better for you, great. I'm psyched for X2!

I will say that the upgrade process is crazy-complicated. I'm almost positive I did my ugprades in such a way as to spend the maximum amount possible.

[ULAS]

People who hates Sonar,

Please try to mix on Sonar X1 with ProChannel modules if possible. I assure that you won't want to turn back your old daw. Also i know Sonar's workflow is not as fast as S1 or something. But i believe that speed won't make your sound good.

[Beardedone]

I use what works for me on my machine. That happens to be Sonar X1 Expanded, FL Studio, Audition and Live. Cubase never did it for me, either workflow-wise or stability-wise.

I am really looking forward to X2.

Cheers,
Gordon

[LawrenceF]

Please try to mix on Sonar X1 with ProChannel modules if possible. I assure that you won't want to turn back your old daw. Also i know Sonar's workflow is not as fast as S1 or something. But i believe that speed won't make your sound good.

Edit: Never mind. I was gonna try it but (apparently) Pro Channel isn't in the X1 demo.

[LawrenceF]

Ok, need some tips from Sonar-ites.

I loaded X1 and imported some stems. I'm trying to just shift + select 30 mixer channels and pull them all down to infinity before mixing. How?

I tried shift, CTL, ALT, and various other combinations. How do you select more than one mixer channel at the same time? Thanks.

P.S. I just pulled them down one at a time. Question #2... it's a tiny bit disconcerting to me to move a fader cap with the mouse and release the mouse button and have the mouse cursor actually show up where you started, not where you moved to. Is this normal?

I mean, if a fader cap is all the way down and I drag it up to 0 and let go of the mouse button, the mouse cursor is still at infinity... which I find a little strange.

[CTStump]

Unfortunately I took myself out of the upgrade path when I stayed with 8.5.3 so I won't be upgrading.Not a bitch about X2, I think it's a great step forward as was X1 I just couldn't grasp it as well as the old version.If I were starting out with a new platform I would definitely give it a go.

edit:I know that it's a $199 for producer from Sonar 8.5PE, price is not my issue, just not ready to jump on board yet.

[LawrenceF]

Never mind. I found the answer.

[satYatunes]

Ok, need some tips from Sonar-ites.

I loaded X1 and imported some stems. I'm trying to just shift + select 30 mixer channels and pull them all down to infinity before mixing. How?

I tried shift, CTL, ALT, and various other combinations. How do you select more than one mixer channel at the same time? Thanks.

You don't have to hold any key to select multiple tracks. Just drag your cursor over the track numbers, it will select them all. You have to hold CTRL if the tracks are not in sequence though. For example, If I wanna select track 1, 2, 3 and 4 then I would just drag the cursor starting from 1 to 4. If wanna select track 1 and 3 then I would hold CTRL then click on 1 and 3.

Now that the tracks are all selected, you can apply same change to them all. In your case dragging the fader to infinity, Just hold CTRL key then drag the fader, it will move all of them.

Another interesting thing is Grouping. After selecting the tracks, you can assign any parameter to a group. After that even if you select other tracks your grouping will still be effective.

I mean, if a fader cap is all the way down and I drag it up to 0 and let go of the mouse button, the mouse cursor is still at infinity... which I find a little strange.

Unfortunately, Yes the cursor appears where you started once you let it go. Strange but that's what it is at the moment. Not sure if they are going changed this behavior in X2. You have a very keen eye, I don't see many people noticing this as an issue

[LawrenceF]

You have a very keen eye, I don't see many people noticing this as an issue

I wouldn't call it an issue of any consequence really. It's just so vastly different from any other software (not DAW software, just software in general) where the mouse cursor position kinda always tracks things being physically moved with the mouse.

I was looking at where the mouse cursor should have been and it wasn't there.

Not a big deal at all, but immediately noticeable... to me anyway.

Thanks. I have 30 days I guess to muck around with X1 a bit more so... I'll do some of that when I have some free time.

[satYatunes]

I was looking at where the mouse cursor should have been and it wasn't there.

It was a WTF moment for me too when I noticed it for the first time.
Let me know if you need any help on anything else during the demo period, I will try to answer with whatever limited knowledge I have on Sonar X1. Are you running 64 or 32 bit? I have been using 32 bit version since last year on WinXP 32 bit and it's rock solid. Just recently I installed the 64 bit on my laptop which has Win 7 64 bit. At the beginning, had several crashes, stuttering, clicks and plops and what not. Suddenly Hibidy's ID was flashing in front of my eyes and I was like oh nooo.. I cannot take that kind of pain..
Anyway, I did some O/S tweak like stopping unnecessary services, etc. Now it's pretty stable.

Enjoy your demo!