Bandlab Cakewalk vs Cubase

[jens]

Both Cubase and Sonar have their individual pros and cons but are overall on par with each other. Do not make the mistake of seeing Sonar as freeware that is kind of crippled or inferior. Its hightest tier (which the current free version is based upon) was for many years a direct competitor to Cubase Pro. And since it has been re-released for free it has received regular updates, including substantial new features as well as improvements to existing ones and bug fixes. There is nothing about it that would make it - generally speaking - inferior to Cubase Pro. That would be just a myth and you can safely ignore any comments that steer in that direction.

Here's a few (kind of arbitrarily chosen) pros and cons:

- Sonar's UI is far more modern than that of Cubase. E.g. it fully supports multitouch (while Cubase does not at all)

- Also Sonar's comping and multitake-handling is far more advanced than the ancient way in which Cubase handles this

- there is nothing similar to both Cubase's track-versions and Audio-Parts to be found in Sonar

- Sonar doesn't have real slip-editing

[dickiefunk]

Both Cubase and Sonar have their individual pros and cons but are overall on par with each other. Do not make the mistake of seeing Sonar as freeware that is kind of crippled or inferior. Its hightest tier (which the current free version is based upon) was for many years a direct competitor to Cubase Pro. And since it has been re-released for free it has received regular updates, including substantial new features as well as improvements to existing ones and bug fixes. There is nothing about it that would make it - generally speaking - inferior to Cubase Pro. That would be just a myth and you can safely ignore any comments that steer in that direction.

Here's a few (kind of arbitrarily chosen) pros and cons:

- Sonar's UI is far more modern than that of Cubase. E.g. it fully supports multitouch (while Cubase does not at all)

- Also Sonar's comping and multitake-handling is far more advanced than the ancient way in which Cubase handles this

- there is nothing similar to both Cubase's track-versions and Audio-Parts to be found in Sonar

- Sonar doesn't have real slip-editing

Thanks jens. Yes this was my impression on Cakewalk as well.

[digitalboytn]

I haven't sold off Cubase, but haven't used it either. With their sales in the toilet for 12, I'm wondering what Yamaha will do with the company a year from now.

They will probably accesorize the line and sell toilet brushes and deodorizers

[xbitz]

...
- there is nothing similar to both Cubase's track-versions and Audio-Parts to be found in Sonar
...

yepp, for ex. track versions+shared clips(their set are independent in different track versions)+sampler tracks (samples can be chopped and assigned to MIDI notes manually or grid or transient based) makes pretty good for creativity in C

together with independent track looping https://steinberg.help/cubase_pro_artis ... _up_t.html

but good for trying out different chord progressions etc. I know about the matrix in Sonar but this one is comfier IMO

[jens]

Yes, absolutely - although I assume that might have close to zero relevance for the OP (or for myself just the same)

[Trensharo]

Cakewalk isn't anywhere near to being on par with Cubase. Maybe... Elements?

I would consider using Cakewalk for sound to picture and orchestral composition over Studio One. It has a good feature set with none of the odd omissions that Studio One has in that market segment.

[dickiefunk]

Could you elaborate why it’s not on par with Cubase?

[jens]

Could you elaborate why it’s not on par with Cubase?

+1

Enlighten us please.

[Trensharo]

Could you elaborate why it’s not on par with Cubase?

Because Cubase has like 3x the feature set, and they're useful features - not just "bloat." Cakewalk also is pretty terrible for audio editing, and some of what's there is pretty freaking old and basically out of development (i.e. the Score Editor people have been begging over a decade to get updated).

Saying Cakewalk's UI - filled with inconsistencies and remnants of Windows 2000-era design is better than Cubase because Cubase's looks "old" is ... a lot.

Don't think many people care that much about multi-touch, either. I mean, with how many people use macs, and with how SONAR imploded despite being on the cutting edge of that stuff...

They will, however, care that it's a royal PITA to set up a lot of controllers to work with it when they're practically plug-and-play with DAWs like Cubase and Pro Tools, among others.

[miota]

Cakewalk has everything you need to work with music of any genre. For example, I create ambient.
I tried to start working in Cubase, but the interface was very overloaded. Workflow in Cakewalk is very convenient for me.
There are many features that are very convenient even at the user interface level.
All inconveniences are connected with a simple habit of work.

[maanga]

Cakewalk by Bandlab will be discontinued soon with paid versions of Cakewalk Sonar (win only) and Next (win and mac).
Regards.

[dellboy]

So Cakewalk Bandlab free will soon be no more. I am amazed it remained free for so long ...........

https://www.cakewalk.com/next

[D-Fusion]

So Cakewalk Bandlab free will soon be no more. I am amazed it remained free for so long ...........

https://www.cakewalk.com/next

I See many are still on Sonar X3 Producer since that was the last version before Sonar went to the Online Authorization model.

I Still have a backup of mine after Cakewalk by Bandlab started to require regular reactivations every 6 months if you didn't have the bandlab app connected to the net 24/7.

[lfm]

Cakewalk by Bandlab will be discontinued soon with paid versions of Cakewalk Sonar (win only) and Next (win and mac).
Regards.

I'm in, no doubt, upgrading my Sonar Artist 2015 which has been main daw for past years.

Announced here too
https://www.cakewalk.com/

If they revive Cakewalk.com then maybe.

[Examigan]

I wonder if they will have upgrades from older versions, like v7 or 8 of Sonar.