A question for Sonar users...

[Caleb]

I'm trying to help a friend find the right sequencer for him to start seriously putting some "stuff" together.

I'd love to jump in and recommend EnergyXT to him because I think it's pretty cool. However, I don't think this is the right choice for him at the moment.

He wants to use his Korg Triton and Roland sound module primarily (although I bought him a copy of WusikStation1 to introduce him to VSTs), so I'm looking for a host that is going to have good legacy support for external sound modules.

In my mind that leaves the big guys (including Sonar), and Podium in the budget range. There might be some others I guess, but most soft studios don't really rate very well in this area.

However, I'm also trying to find one that works fairly logically for someone who is far more familiar with music than with music technology (if you know what I mean). It has to be a fairly easy introduction which I believe probably rules out Podium.

So I'm thinking Sonar might be the go (or maybe Cakewalk Home Studio??). From what I remember the Cakewalk products worked fairly logically, had power when it came to integrating with outboard gear and were flexible enough to do pretty much anything the more agile little soft studios could especially considering the ability to expands with mfx etc..

So am I hitting the nail on the head here or missing the barn completely?

Powerful, gentle learning curve? Is Sonar Studio or even Cakewalk Home Studio what I'm looking for?

Caleb

[Hink]

FL... I mean if you're looking for a sequencer with ease of use...if he's gonna record a lot audio it might be a different story. Of course if notation (staff view) is important for him then FL at this point wont help...but for someone starting out (or someone who's been at it for years) I think FL is the most logical choice...

[Caleb]

FL is not going to be a good option. If I thought FL was going to be an option I would have suggested EnergyXT.

Caleb

[Guckli]

Recently bought an Emulator X Studio, whcih came with this bundle. Plenty of stuff for him to try out and it also comes with the smaller packs (mine is the top of the range, including the imo best softsampler), should he also need a decent audiointerface.
I installed everything to try i out and Sonar LE was a breeze to learn, even for a die hard Cubase user like me. What's more it only took a couple days to make my 9 year old boy feel at home in it - that includes teaching him a fair number of english terms he isn't likely to come across in school for a while yet. He disliked Cubase, even after having been watching daddy work with it for years. Nuff said.

[whyterabbyt]

That old standby; burn him a CD of as many demos as possible, and let him play with them for a bit. I'd say Sonar would suit the requirements, but might not suit him...

[Caleb]

My Rabbyt - the Sonar 5 Studio Edition (which looks like the most charming) has a specific requirement in hardware yes?

This is the one that needs WindowsXP/x64?
How new does a computer have to be to fit this x64 requirement - and is there an easy way to tell if your system has it?

Caleb

[Left Headphone]

Sonar has the MIDI instruments definitions for Korg and Roland. Sonar is a good choice. Get the Producer Edition- I wish I did. The SE is good too.

[xylyx]

This is a misconception...you do not need a 64-bit processor to run Sonar 5. There is a 64-bit native version on the installation disc, but there is also a regular 32-bit version, which happens to be able to do 64-bit internal mixing (no need for a 64-bit processor for this either). The only requirement now is that you have Win XP, although apparently it will work fine on Win2K, although Cakewalk won't support installing on that OS.

[jens]

However, I'm also trying to find one that works fairly logically for someone who is far more familiar with music than with music technology (if you know what I mean). It has to be a fairly easy introduction which I believe probably rules out Podium.

I don't think so - two hours of quality time and the basics should be clear - imho Podium excels at supperting external synths...

Alos it's very inexpensive and Frits offers superb support.

If your friend has got a question/problem I'm sure Frits will be able to get him sorted in no time!

[jens]

This is the one that needs WindowsXP/x64?

nope - S5 supports 64bit cpu's but of course it's not a neccessity...

[MacButch]

This is the one that needs WindowsXP/x64?
How new does a computer have to be to fit this x64 requirement - and is there an easy way to tell if your system has it?

Sonar 5 has the distinction of being (one of) the first samplers to support 64-bit windows but it doesn't require that. I'm running Sonar 5 PE on my P4 2.4B which is reasonably old now (3-4 years old I guess).

On the upside, if you do have 64-bit CPU (with 64-bit windows, and 64-bit drivers) then you do get some nice improvements (addressable memory, speed/headroom with 64bit processing).

Hope this helps.

[Caleb]

I don't think so - two hours of quality time and the basics should be clear - imho Podium excels at supperting external synths...

Alos it's very inexpensive and Frits offers superb support.

I know my friend too well.

I struggle to get a handle on Podium so I have no doubt that he will crumble with that host despite its obvious power and small price.

If only bloody Muzys didn't go the way of the dodo and was updated with disk streaming audio. GRRRRRRR!

Caleb

[whyterabbyt]

My Rabbyt - the Sonar 5 Studio Edition (which looks like the most charming) has a specific requirement in hardware yes?

This is the one that needs WindowsXP/x64?
How new does a computer have to be to fit this x64 requirement - and is there an easy way to tell if your system has it?

Caleb

Its already been said (several times), but no it definitely doesnt need a 64-bit version of Windows. I'm running it on my 32-bit Athlon, no problems.

However its also one of the first sequencers to also be built specifically for WinXP/64; that might be the cause of the misunderstanding.

That said, the OS requirements do state WinXP, but I have see posts on the Cakewalk forum to the effect that it'll run under W2K; its just not supported under anything except XP, AFAIK.

[Caleb]

Good news about the 64bit. I'm a bit wary with Cakewalk after they went XP-exclusive.

I'll get a demo sorted and see if he likes it.
Might torture him with a Podium demo as well just in case.

Whichever one he likes will probably be a Christmas present from me.

If it's Sonar it won't be the Producer version. It will take him too long to see the real benefits of the extra kit included so the added expense is too steep for the perceived benefit (at least in the short term). You can always expand the host with the plug-ins of choice as you go anyway (or upgrade to Producer presumably).

So far I haven't had any negative feedback about power and ease of use so that's a good sign.

I always thought that maybe I should have gone the Sonar path myself. But I guess I'm not going too badly with EnergyXT as my main host.

Thanks guys.

Caleb

[whyterabbyt]

Cakewalk have always had fairly decent upgrade paths. In the UK, if you go for HS now, the Studio version upgrade is £129, and the Pro version upgrade is £229. On top of the £79 price of HS that seems to save about £70 per version over buying it 'new'....