Cakewalk Sonar X3

[Himhotep3]

Hi again, I see many people complaining about Cakewalk and Sonar in different versions... But the thread's title was about Sonar x3...
And talking about Sonar x3, can someone who had already upgraded to it, tell us the improvements and how it works?
Now, I've just upgraded from Music Creator 6 plain to Sonar x2 Studio past month, as I've already said before, and I can't afford upgrading each month, and first I want to take the most out of Sonar x2, but I would thank a sort of review from the practical point of view about Sonar x3, so maybe in the future I would update too, though I still need to learn a lot about Sonar x2 and its 18 soft instruments...

[Guest231427]

And plugins from previous versions can be installed and used in later versions by simply doing a selective install of the older version, or simply leave the older version installed. For a new version Sonar installs the actual program files in a new directory while leaving all the shared plugins, midi data audio data etc etc exactly as they are (unless of course there are new plugs in the new version).

Sheesh on my PC I have 8.5, Sonar 1,2 AND 3 all installed and in Sonar 3 I can happliy call up any plugin from any previous version and use it.

Who could complain at that flexibility!!!

Simple.

Oh you'd be surprised around here.

To some, that level of flexibility is too confusing.

You think that is flexible
Cluttering up a hard drive with four separate installs of different versions of the same software just to be able to use all of ones plugins: I call that a kludge

As I said before, I think Sonar is a DAW for people who like fiddling around with software.

In Sonar x2 Studio you can do this if you read the help files. There it says you have to insert a soft synth, then, in the track, push the record button to arm the track, then push the general record (not again the record of the track that only allows it to arm the track, not to record the track for real...), and there you are! If no sound is produced, stop record, minimize Sonar x2, go to your system recording mixer (the small icon, first at left after the date/hour windows OS on the right side), and check the soundcard driver, or midi channel enabled, or if you have the LoopBe midi virtual plug, so Sonar can hear through it your soft synth. But remember to mute all other tracks but the one you want to record your stuff on! Once configured, it should works.

I only managed to get this method to work only if you are triggering the soft-synth with a MIDI signal from an external controller of some sort.
It won't work if one is playing back a built-in drum VSTi pattern for example.

[beltrom]

I only managed to get this method to work only if you are triggering the soft-synth with a MIDI signal from an external controller of some sort. It won't work if one is playing back a built-in drum VSTi pattern for example.

But you managed to get the audio from plugin recorded???

Not the midi...

[miden]

You think that is flexible
Cluttering up a hard drive with four separate installs of different versions of the same software just to be able to use all of ones plugins: I call that a kludge

As I said before, I think Sonar is a DAW for people who like fiddling around with software.

You obviously did not READ the entire post, otherwise you are choosing to ignore comments made to try and justify your position on it.

I wrote you can, if you wish selectively install from any Sonar installation.

As you seem to be a little slow on the uptake I will explain it further...

If I ONLY had Sonar X3 installed, then I could boot up the install routine from any other Sonar version, choose Custom Install, and ONLY install those plugins I want from that version. Nothing else, no program files nothing gets installed.

I could even just select MIDI drum patterns from a previous version and NOTHING else.

As I said, pretty damn flexible in my book.

Or the easy way (and it really is not kludge as you put it), because all versions use the same shared directories, the ONLY thing you need to install is the actual program files for the version being used, A shortcut on the desktop to the new version and off you go.

IMO you really are clutching here to try and support some spurious argument against Cakewalk, as it would seem you have some sort of "beef" with them.

[Guest231427]

You obviously did not READ the entire post, otherwise you are choosing to ignore comments made to try and justify your position on it.

I wrote you can, if you wish selectively install from any Sonar installation.

As you seem to be a little slow on the uptake I will explain it further...

If I ONLY had Sonar X3 installed, then I could boot up the install routine from any other Sonar version, choose Custom Install, and ONLY install those plugins I want from that version. Nothing else, no program files nothing gets installed.

I could even just select MIDI drum patterns from a previous version and NOTHING else.

As I said, pretty damn flexible in my book.

Or the easy way (and it really is not kludge as you put it), because all versions use the same shared directories, the ONLY thing you need to install is the actual program files for the version being used, A shortcut on the desktop to the new version and off you go.

IMO you really are clutching here to try and support some spurious argument against Cakewalk, as it would seem you have some sort of "beef" with them.

You didn't make it clear in your post that by "selectively install from any Sonar installation" you actually meant this:

If I ONLY had Sonar X3 installed, then I could boot up the install routine from any other Sonar version, choose Custom Install, and ONLY install those plugins I want from that version. Nothing else, no program files nothing gets installed.

Instead of flaming people for "being slow on the uptake" perhaps you should review your own written communication skills ?

I don't have a beef with Cakewalk per se: I found that Sonar doesn't suit me and is somewhat backward and lacking in some respects.
As such, I am just as entitled as you are to post my opinion of it

[miden]

So this sentence :

And plugins from previous versions can be installed and used in later versions by simply doing a selective install of the older version

wasn't clear enough?

Sorry wan't meant to be a flame, just an observation on some text you perhaps misunderstood/missed reading

As for your comment re opinion...totally agree. My opinion is just as correct as your opinion

[Guest231427]

I only managed to get this method to work only if you are triggering the soft-synth with a MIDI signal from an external controller of some sort. It won't work if one is playing back a built-in drum VSTi pattern for example.

But you managed to get the audio from plugin recorded???

Not the midi...

Sorry beltrom, I didn't make myself very clear there.
No I only managed to to record to a MIDI track which can then be frozen / bounced to audio, but not directly to audio.

As you rightly say, as soon as you route the MIDI output into the audio track, it appears to be not possible to arm it for recording. It's all a bit primitive really.

[Guest231427]

So this sentence :

And plugins from previous versions can be installed and used in later versions by simply doing a selective install of the older version

wasn't clear enough?

Sorry wan't meant to be a flame, just an observation on some text you perhaps misunderstood/missed reading

As for your comment re opinion...totally agree. My opinion is just as correct as your opinion

Well it didn't say that the selective install comprised of install only the plugins from the previous version.

Now that you have explained it, I agree that is flexible and not a kludge at all.

I agree with your opinion about my opinion about your opinion... etc

"Opinions are like arses, everyone's got one and they all stink"

[miden]

Well it didn't say that the selective install comprised of install only the plugins from the previous version.

Now that you have explained it, I agree that is flexible and not a kludge at all.

I agree with your opinion about my opinion about your opinion... etc

"Opinions are like arses, everyone's got one and they all stink"

Yep ain't that the truth!!!

Seriously, I will agree with you on this (Well it didn't say that the selective install comprised of install onlythe plugins from the previous version. ),

it should have been explained better..

[Daan22]

And plugins from previous versions can be installed and used in later versions by simply doing a selective install of the older version

Great info. I never realised this, although it's obvious actually.

[yessongs]

if you want to record your vsti playing as you play it instead of freezing or rendering later on then the option of using recording plugins in the individual track is something you should look into or you might rewire another DAW like reaper inside of sonar. I rewire reaper inside of sonar for other reasons all the time.

I have X2 and love it and I can't wait to get X3 later on this year when they put it on sale.

R Mix is usable inside X3 if you have X2 producer. V Vocal is not as good as melodyne so why not having V Vocal would bother anyone is the question.

[gamecat666]

looks like any cakewalk user can get the basic X3 for $39 on sale at the moment.
seems very cheap for a brand new DAW. Worth a go, or stay away?

(apologies, i havent read most of this thread as it appears to be a lot of arguing so its very hard to find any actual info )

[chk071]

looks like any cakewalk user can get the basic X3 for $39 on sale at the moment.
seems very cheap for a brand new DAW. Worth a go, or stay away?

I got it for 44 €, although i own Cubase Elements too, just couldn't resist for the price. I can't really say much about it, as i didn't use it much yet. I just noticed a few things: Very quick startup, like 2 seconds on my rather old system. Wasapi somehow doesn't work fine on my system, i got some weird noises when trying to use it, so i use ASIO4ALL now, which works fine, seems like i have a tiny bit more latency than on Cubase though. Plugin scan was pretty quick. Probably takes some time to get used to the interface, as there always seem to be 2 or more ways to do things, for instance to add an instrument track you can do it via the upper menu, in the rack view, or in the track view. I was a bit shocked to see that Sonar still uses DX plugins, like the sonitus suite. Also the GUI's of the included plugins are quite cluttered, reminded me off the ReaPlugs. Cubase's internal effects are way better in that regard. The plugin browser is nice, you have a good overview there. Also nice to have a step sequencer, i really miss that on Cubase Elements.

The rest i can't really tell, because i need to use it more. But for 44 € i think it's a no-brainer.

[J4R1O]

I got it for 44 €, although i own Cubase Elements too, just couldn't resist for the price. I can't really say much about it, as i didn't use it much yet. I just noticed a few things: Very quick startup, like 2 seconds on my rather old system. Wasapi somehow doesn't work fine on my system, i got some weird noises when trying to use it, so i use ASIO4ALL now, which works fine, seems like i have a tiny bit more latency than on Cubase though. Plugin scan was pretty quick. Probably takes some time to get used to the interface, as there always seem to be 2 or more ways to do things, for instance to add an instrument track you can do it via the upper menu, in the rack view, or in the track view. I was a bit shocked to see that Sonar still uses DX plugins, like the sonitus suite. Also the GUI's of the included plugins are quite cluttered, reminded me off the ReaPlugs. Cubase's internal effects are way better in that regard. The plugin browser is nice, you have a good overview there. Also nice to have a step sequencer, i really miss that on Cubase Elements.

The rest i can't really tell, because i need to use it more. But for 44 € i think it's a no-brainer.

I have X1 Producer Expanded and all the ProChannel modules. Is it possible to use them on that basic version of X3?

[satYatunes]

Basic version doesn't have prochannel.