KVR Audio

Zamyen · Post by **Zamyen** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 4:32 pm

I've read a lot about the features of Sonar 5 PE and tried out the demo of Sonar 4. However, I was wondering if there are any features Sonar doesn't have that my current host FL Studio does?

The main reason for upgrading is precision as I am somewhat fed up of the fiddly automation and the cartoony event editor which doesn't have a visible scale in FL. Having said that I absolutely love FL Studio's piano roll (slides, flexible quantisation, easy editing of note parameters etc). In fact piano roll is probably most important for a lot of the work I do.

Are there any people who have made the switch that find they are missing something important?.. or is it a case of "No regrets, cya never" ?

Regards,
Zam

Jason Brian Merrill · Post by **Jason Brian Merrill** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 4:41 pm

I think before you switch, you should just hold out for FL 6.. alot of new features, including new automation options, which sound like they will really address the issues you speak of...

one thing you miss will be all the cash youll spend on sonar, as the FL upgrade is free.

So, I would say wait a couple days and check out FL 6.

as for me, I tried Sonar, and one thing I missed was the ease of use. Sonar's piano roll and overall multitrack view is clunky and awkward. It takes forever to lay down parts that would be laid down in seconds with FL studio. I have tried every new Sonar demo that came out, hoping that it would be an all-in-one solution --- but in my workflow and opinion (which varies from person to person) -- it is a bloated piece of complicated crap.

Actually, Im quite convinced that the next update will address your automation concerns... with what are you having a problem with precisely?

Jason Brian Merrill · Post by **Jason Brian Merrill** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 4:42 pm

-- now for all you sonar fanboys out there -- as a disclaimer, sonar MAY NOT be clunky and crappy to you, cause it fits your workflow. However, it is for ME. Its just my opinion. No need to get defensive here

Jason Brian Merrill · Post by **Jason Brian Merrill** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 4:48 pm

ahh, one thing that you will miss is using VSTs without an external wrapper. It is quite annoying to have to convert your vsts with an external wrapper, sonar still doesnt have true VST compatilbility.

one thing you will GET is full MIDI though, FL studio doesnt have sysex support, and some ppl groan about that, but its something I for one could care less about.

Jason Brian Merrill · Post by **Jason Brian Merrill** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 4:52 pm

Zamyen wrote:cartoony event editor which doesn't have a visible scale in FL.

what does this mean exactly? If i knew maybe i could see something IM missing hehe

Hink · Post by **Hink** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 4:54 pm

it depends on what you needs are, if you record live audio as well (like vox or guitar) Sonar is far better then FL. But then again who knows what FL6 will bring. You wont be losing anything, you might duplicate somethings, but unless for some reason you are totally giving up FL...you'll still have FL

They both have benefits that the other doesn't...

Stupid American Pig · Post by **Stupid American Pig** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 4:58 pm

I have both, and I dont think that they are really designed for similar things, though there is some feature overlap. Sonar is more of a multitrack recorder with some softstudio features, and FL is a softstudio with some multitrack features. The fact that FL can integrate as a DXi or Vsti into Sonar means you can can multitrack over yer existing FL compositions. Using FL is great for banging out a quick groove, but the audio recording is kludgy at best. Sonar eliminates the need to use that feature, and you can use PDC efx without sync issues.

Jason Brian Merrill · Post by **Jason Brian Merrill** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 4:58 pm

I dont THINK FL6 will improve on audio recording much, I think sonar would still have that on FL..then again im not totally sure. Havent read the whatsnew page in the fl6 helpfile today yet.

Jason Brian Merrill · Post by **Jason Brian Merrill** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 4:59 pm

btw, PDC is in version 6.. not automatic PDC, but a nice addition nonetheless.

dougsyo · Post by **dougsyo** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 5:08 pm

Jason Brian Merrill wrote:ahh, one thing that you will miss is using VSTs without an external wrapper. It is quite annoying to have to convert your vsts with an external wrapper, sonar still doesnt have true VST compatilbility.

In Sonar 5 the wrapper is internalized (just as it is in FLStudio). The external wrapper is still used for P5V2 and older products.

For what it's worth, I still start MIDI/instrumental parts in FLS and do audio or other work in Sonar. I like P5V2 but tend to keep coming back to FLS because I know it better, but the point is they're not mutually exclusive - FLS is more like P5V2 than it is Sonar.

Doug

Stupid American Pig · Post by **Stupid American Pig** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 5:09 pm

dont get me wrong, I love and still use FL studio, and eagerly await V6. I just dont see FL as even anywhere near Sonar(or cubase or Logic) in terms of audio recording. Is FL going to allow multi input recording is it going to require you to enter a file name after the first take still?

Like I said, I dont think FL is even designed for that kind of use, and I personally dont think it should be implemented. That type of work requires Sonar or other multitracker.

Nice to see PDC of somesort will be in there. Is it a setting? do you have to know the latency introduced by the plugins?

Jason Brian Merrill · Post by **Jason Brian Merrill** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 5:13 pm

dougsyo wrote:
Jason Brian Merrill wrote:ahh, one thing that you will miss is using VSTs without an external wrapper. It is quite annoying to have to convert your vsts with an external wrapper, sonar still doesnt have true VST compatilbility.
In Sonar 5 the wrapper is internalized (just as it is in FLStudio). The external wrapper is still used for P5V2 and older products.

Doug

nah, it makes direct x plugins of the vsts, and it shows up in other hosts this way. It is nothing like FLs wrapper.

Jason Brian Merrill · Post by **Jason Brian Merrill** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 5:13 pm

Stupid American Pig wrote:dont get me wrong, I love and still use FL studio, and eagerly await V6. I just dont see FL as even anywhere near Sonar(or cubase or Logic) in terms of audio recording. Is FL going to allow multi input recording is it going to require you to enter a file name after the first take still?

Like I said, I dont think FL is even designed for that kind of use, and I personally dont think it should be implemented. That type of work requires Sonar or other multitracker.

Nice to see PDC of somesort will be in there. Is it a setting? do you have to know the latency introduced by the plugins?

VSTs are supposed to report latency, and the ones that do, it shows up for you.

and yes, I would definetly agree FL is nowehere near Sonar as far as audio recording.. but even for audio recording, I would suggest a different host than Sonar, as i still feel to me, its still clunky in this regard..

o yes, here is another thing.

every time you switch settings with your audio driver, you need to restart the program.. if you enable certain outputs or inputs, you need to restart the program.. its really annoying.

Jason Brian Merrill · Post by **Jason Brian Merrill** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 5:16 pm

.. of course, with FL, I dont recall any time you need to restart to do stuff like that.

one thing that both hosts have is stability. I have only heard good things about Sonar's stability, and i know for a fact gol is a nazi with FL and keeps it ultra stable.

Jason Brian Merrill · Post by **Jason Brian Merrill** » Wed Nov 23, 2005 6:16 pm

not to be hating on Sonar, but if youre concerned about automation, heres one thing you would miss:

Hopefully they will sort it out, soon im sure.

http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic ... sc&start=0

What would I MISS if I switched to Sonar PE 5?