New Sonar Platinum Update

[BBFG#]

Hope you don't mind if I don't post the quotes to which I want to add. I think I'm much more in agreement than disagreement to koolkeys' assessments. I will say that I did have some of those issues back in X3 but they have been steadily reduced or seemingly eliminated in the updated SPlat versions. I seem to remember there is a preference setting for eliminating 'duplicates' though. Something along the lines of it happening when a VST2 & VST3 are both available? I've also trained myself to make sure I don't add or try to replace instruments without stopping the transport first as that was the number one reason I got crashes, freezes and sudden problems with pitch, tuning and timing. But that may be completely different than what you're referring to.

As far as the annoyances of their marketing, I can't think of but a few that haven't (yet) done something to not only annoy, but infuriate me. At this point, I still have a couple of niggles with Sonar in what use to work fine but no longer do (The most important being how they now not handle class compliant controllers and break function). But I also don't care for their new installers making you install everything when all you want is a single item in that category. Given their history, I would venture to say that the customer base making enough noise about them only implementing load balancing in SPlat will eventually get them to buckle and implement it in the full line. So those 'rants' are what I would believe to be worthy.

As far as PreSonus goes, great service response that Cakewalk could definitely learn from. However, in my dealings with PreSonus, the bottom line was they couldn't figure out how to make it work on every system with mine being one of them. At least PreSonus admitted it though and gave me a full refund, which is more than I could say for some developers.

With the current Sonar, I'm getting the most stable and easiest to work with DAW for me yet. Load balancing is definitely a winner that seems to kill many previous issues. And I don't think I've ever really had to scour the manual to figure it out either. Although I do read the forums for it regularly.

Let me add also, that the Sonar updates have finally achieved a consistency that they never had before. Every piece of software I own produces a double bind of the 50-50% of expectations in how much an update will benefit or infuriate me though, and right now, Sonar has shifted higher to the side of benefit more than annoyance. Things are definitely looking up.
(But as with all software, "Subject to change without notice.")

[Stupid American Pig]

Im looking forward to the mac version of sonar if only to open my projects that I abandoned when I got off of Windows. I quite liked Sonar 8.5 but it would always hit a "wall" where once there were enough events/audio/plugins/tracks/ etc it would become unstable. If I were to use it like an 8 track recorder with minimal plugins then it was reasonably solid. When the X series came out, I didnt like the UI and I was already a Logic 9 user. I dont really miss anything from Sonar save for maybe that step sequencer. It was nice for drums to sound like they were human. If the OSX version of sonar doesnt open previous CWP/CWB files its a non starter for me.

I did buy the lifetime updates, just in case, but I only have windows VMs so I dont really use them for audio work.

[aMUSEd]

The KvR news item seems to me to be implying the load balancing is actually in all versions, or am I misreading it?

[Grumbleweed]

The KvR news item seems to me to be implying the load balancing is actually in all versions, or am I misreading it?

From the Cakewalk site:

SONAR 2016.09 Update Now Available
New Features:

Plug-in load balancing (Platinum only)
Now Platinum owners can run more plug-ins, with fewer dropouts, greater efficiency, and more even distribution of CPU loading to processing cores. Recommended for systems with four or more cores, this update can improve plug-in performance at buffer settings of 256 and above.

Grum.

[aMUSEd]

Ok the KvR announcement is misleading then, they should fix it.

[voon]

To provide a CPUsaving thing only in platinum is honestly something Cakewalk should be ashamed about. Additional features, plugins etc ... yes, fine. But making the system quicker and more stable is not something to shove into a specific version.

[pottering]

At least Sonar's cheaper versions actually load VST (and DX, VST3) plugins, unlike Studio One Artist ($99). And it has a bit bridge.

[incubus]

To provide a CPUsaving thing only in platinum is honestly something Cakewalk should be ashamed about. Additional features, plugins etc ... yes, fine. But making the system quicker and more stable is not something to shove into a specific version.

Now now, don't complain The sonar police will hunt you down!

[Grumbleweed]

To provide a CPUsaving thing only in platinum is honestly something Cakewalk should be ashamed about. Additional features, plugins etc ... yes, fine. But making the system quicker and more stable is not something to shove into a specific version.

Now now, don't complain The sonar police will hunt you down!

There's a difference between a legitimate gripe and just posting to wind people up.

Grum.

[planetearth]

To provide a CPUsaving thing only in platinum is honestly something Cakewalk should be ashamed about. Additional features, plugins etc ... yes, fine. But making the system quicker and more stable is not something to shove into a specific version.

Now now, don't complain The sonar police will hunt you down!

There's a difference between a legitimate gripe and just posting to wind people up.

Grum.

+1

[planetearth]

Hun? Dude, troll harder or stop. Seriously, just in this thread alone, it's pretty obvious how many people don't like the product. But trying to talk common sense into someone like you is like trying to explain doing the right thing ... to a
Spaniard

Woa, you are really butthurt.

Anyway, if this thread alone is the proof, I was right above about the number of Sonar haters (and most them being you ). By the way, everybody is entitled to their own dislikes, even venting them from time to time, but when this becomes so obsessive like in your case, it is logical that you end up being the buffoon.

+1

[planetearth]

So, I'm NOT the person who's just trolling to make trouble .

Yes you are.

+1

[1wob2many]

I'm a long-term Cakewalk/Sonar user.

I've not tried any other DAWs in a long time. I've not felt the need. I've also not felt the need to go round slagging off other DAWs.

It's amazing how juvenile some of the mega-posters can be. It's sad if the incessant trolling is what it takes for them to generate a bit of life in the trouser regions.

[Jace-BeOS]

Im looking forward to the mac version of sonar if only to open my projects that I abandoned when I got off of Windows. I quite liked Sonar 8.5 but it would always hit a "wall" where once there were enough events/audio/plugins/tracks/ etc it would become unstable. If I were to use it like an 8 track recorder with minimal plugins then it was reasonably solid. When the X series came out, I didnt like the UI and I was already a Logic 9 user. I dont really miss anything from Sonar save for maybe that step sequencer. It was nice for drums to sound like they were human. If the OSX version of sonar doesnt open previous CWP/CWB files its a non starter for me.

I'm in the same boat, though I didn't buy beyond 8.5. I considered the lifetime upgrades thing when I found out they're working on a Mac port... However:

1. Their existing Mac software is not supported in any way but lip service.

2. A lot of the functionality collected over the years in Sonar is unlikely to appear in a Mac version. Anything that was a DirectX plugin can be forgotten about. Native features are likely to be dropped depending on how legacy they are in the codebase (we see them not supporting people using features that they have forgotten are in there, on their own forums, so...).

I suspect it will be like when Sony "ported" Sound Forge to Mac OS: the result was a product that lacks almost everything that made it Sound Forge (massive fail there; I'd have bought it at a non-upgrade price if it had feature parity, but it's not remotely worthwhile). I suspect Sound Forge's new owners will abandon the Mac version, not finish it.

Cakewalk will likely do a similar thing here. Old code, Project 5 plugins added to Sonar to sweeten the upgrade pot, plugins from third-party contractors (including Cakewalk-branded items), and probably even native components will not appear in a Mac "port" of Sonar. Basically, anything in Sonar that is still heavily dependent on Microsoft APIs (or was written by a developer no longer working at/for Cakewalk) will be dropped rather than be rewritten for the Mac.

Sure, Cakewalk has already abandoned lots of the legacy stuff they bundled and included in past, so why would anyone expect them to port that old stuff anyway? Thing is, that's the stuff my project files often used. Sonitus plugins are all over my old projects. Project 5 plugs are too. DirectX plugs. Etc. Old projects won't work on a Mac version of Sonar without replacing a ton of plugins and freezing things to audio on the PC before moving the files to a Mac version of Sonar (hell, I bet a vanilla install of X3 wouldn't open most of my projects without difficulty). At that point, I've already done all that work... converting the projects to Logic! I have zero motive to buy Sonar even as a Mac product because it wouldn't save me any effort.

[flugel45]

....Old code, Project 5 plugins added to Sonar to sweeten the upgrade pot, plugins from third-party contractors (including Cakewalk-branded items), and probably even native components will not appear in a Mac "port" of Sonar. Basically, anything in Sonar that is still heavily dependent on Microsoft APIs (or was written by a developer no longer working at/for Cakewalk) will be dropped rather than be rewritten for the Mac.

Sure, Cakewalk has already abandoned lots of the legacy stuff they bundled and included in past, so why would anyone expect them to port that old stuff anyway? Thing is, that's the stuff my project files often used. Sonitus plugins are all over my old projects. Project 5 plugs are too. At that point, I've already done all that work... converting the projects to Logic! I have zero motive to buy Sonar even as a Mac product because it wouldn't save me any effort.

Sonitus plugs will probably make it over since they have the VST versions. I don't think they're offered anymore as separate plugins to buy, but CW does have the code so why not use it in the Mac version?

Project 5 was a separate program. No reasonable person would expect its plugs to appear in a Mac port of Sonar.

As to your complaints that the Mac port "might be" a stripped down version of what it is now... Honestly, if you want what Sonar Plat has now, then buy it now and get the Sonitus and Direct X stuff (minus the Project 5 plugs of course). It will run in Bootcamp on a Mac.