Anyone here use Cakewalk - Project 5 V2?
I'd like to hear real user stories, the things they don't tell you in the leaflets and promo material. Spill the garbage please, if there is any.
Thanks...
I've seen the demo video from MESSE05
http://www.sonicstate.com/news/shownews.cfm?newsid=2122
I've read all the feature listings
http://www.cakewalk.com/Products/Project5/default.asp
Working my way through the forums...
http://forum.cakewalk.com/tt.asp?forumid=6
Cakewalk - Project5 V2
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- KVRian
- 690 posts since 31 May, 2002 from chez moi
I use Project5. It is my preferred host when composing songs. I find that it is quick and efficient for creating and editing midi parts/patterns. It is also good at drag'n'dropping audio clips and midi patterns (or P5 patterns) into your composition. Automation, synth tweaking, adding & removing synths and fx works fast and easy too. You can also easily "groove-clip" audio (essentially a 1-click action to turn an audio clip into something like an acidized wav file), and then stretch and move this audio across your composition. P5 is also quite stable (as are most hosts these days).
A couple of downsides are as follows. The routing of audio is limited. You have 4 aux return/sends. There isn't any grouping of busses. The audio timestretching isn't as good as Ableton Live. As well, the groove pane is cool, but isn't quite as good as Live's session view.
All of this stuff you can try yourself and compare to other hosts. What I typed above is just my opinion on these features.
s
A couple of downsides are as follows. The routing of audio is limited. You have 4 aux return/sends. There isn't any grouping of busses. The audio timestretching isn't as good as Ableton Live. As well, the groove pane is cool, but isn't quite as good as Live's session view.
All of this stuff you can try yourself and compare to other hosts. What I typed above is just my opinion on these features.
s
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- KVRAF
- 2097 posts since 8 Feb, 2003 from Nearish Detroit, MI
I also use P5 v2. It's definitely not SONAR in that it's not as flexible (or at least I haven't found it to be) in terms of the audio routing, etc.
What it does excel at is allowing you to quickly work from the germ of an idea of a song through its completion. It's very good for putting something together quickly and having it sound great. It also comes with Dimension, PSYN II, the Roland Groovesynth, a few samplers and a bunch of audio effects (all of which you can use in SONAR, too) which is definitely worth it.
Generally, if I think I'm going to be recording audio, I'll use SONAR but if I think I'm going all instrumental, I'll use P5 v2. It's definitely the more "fun" of the two.
What it does excel at is allowing you to quickly work from the germ of an idea of a song through its completion. It's very good for putting something together quickly and having it sound great. It also comes with Dimension, PSYN II, the Roland Groovesynth, a few samplers and a bunch of audio effects (all of which you can use in SONAR, too) which is definitely worth it.
Generally, if I think I'm going to be recording audio, I'll use SONAR but if I think I'm going all instrumental, I'll use P5 v2. It's definitely the more "fun" of the two.
GLHF! (Gandalf Lives, Hobbits Forever!)
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- KVRAF
- 4099 posts since 27 Aug, 2004
I have to agree with everything said so far. Nice workflow, great instruments. The Spectral Transformer is a seriously cool effect too.
Even if the piano player can't play, keep the party going.
http://www.soundclick.com/mumpcake
https://mumpfucious.wordpress.com/
http://www.soundclick.com/mumpcake
https://mumpfucious.wordpress.com/
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- KVRAF
- 1942 posts since 29 Aug, 2003 from Austin, TX
I use it too. It's solid and easy to use. I have been using it more than my Live 5 because it's more stable right now...the Abes are good about fixes. I prefer Live's sequencer, it's just allot easier to use just from the stand point of the way it looks. It's easier for me to see where everything is and do what I need to do.
Riley
Riley
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- KVRAF
- 2217 posts since 15 Jul, 2003
i use P5 on everything I do for the reason mentioned here. it just seems very logical and direct to the way i like to work. I do use FLStudio and energyXT as vst within P5 for some of the features they offer.
if one is used to a lot of audio editing, P5 is weak, but for midi piano roll editing and all sorts of automation recording, it excels. Track arranging is esp. fast for trying out ideas and working out a piece on the fly.
at a certain level, a lot of hosts do very similar things, so it comes down to a matter of style in how they do it. P5 has always appealed to me in how it does things.
i've been working with it a while now and have only begun to begin to use some feature like bounce to track for added possibilities. i doubt i'll ever use the Groove Matrix (Live but not quite pattern/loop triggering and recording) cause it just doesn't fit the way I work -- but I guess the point is that Cakewalk has provided a number of workflow models.
if one is used to a lot of audio editing, P5 is weak, but for midi piano roll editing and all sorts of automation recording, it excels. Track arranging is esp. fast for trying out ideas and working out a piece on the fly.
at a certain level, a lot of hosts do very similar things, so it comes down to a matter of style in how they do it. P5 has always appealed to me in how it does things.
i've been working with it a while now and have only begun to begin to use some feature like bounce to track for added possibilities. i doubt i'll ever use the Groove Matrix (Live but not quite pattern/loop triggering and recording) cause it just doesn't fit the way I work -- but I guess the point is that Cakewalk has provided a number of workflow models.
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christianmusicmaker christianmusicmaker https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/memberlist.php?mode=viewprofile&u=12152 - KVRAF
- 1670 posts since 1 Feb, 2004 from UK
Probably one of Project 5's biggest strength's is that it comes from a stable of many other Cakewalk offerings so compability issues are few if any. Also Cakewalk products work well together. All of Kinetics FX are available in Project 5 and Sonar. All of Project 5's FX and Instruments are available in Sonar as well, for instance Dimension.
Any project created in Kinetic can be imported into P5 with all the FX, Instruments and track settings (including midi data) intact. Pretty handy. Not sure which of these are essential or of interest, but if they are, they can be very useful features.
Of course should you want more high end features in future you can upgrade to Sonar as well at some point and rewire P5 and / or Kinetic into Sonar.
Live5 is better for Timestretching and audio manipulation but if that is not essential P5 may be better for the reasons mentioned above.
Try the demo of Live 5 and P5.
Also if you have not already done so start a thread on the P5 forum. You will get many more responses from P5 users there.
Any project created in Kinetic can be imported into P5 with all the FX, Instruments and track settings (including midi data) intact. Pretty handy. Not sure which of these are essential or of interest, but if they are, they can be very useful features.
Of course should you want more high end features in future you can upgrade to Sonar as well at some point and rewire P5 and / or Kinetic into Sonar.
Live5 is better for Timestretching and audio manipulation but if that is not essential P5 may be better for the reasons mentioned above.
Try the demo of Live 5 and P5.
Also if you have not already done so start a thread on the P5 forum. You will get many more responses from P5 users there.
Last edited by christianmusicmaker on Thu Jan 12, 2006 12:09 am, edited 1 time in total.
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- KVRian
- 690 posts since 31 May, 2002 from chez moi
Oh yeah, I forgot about the instruments.
First of all, I don't think the demo includes the sampling synth Dimension. Dimension is a sh*t hot plugin. It excells as a playback sampler, and it also does wavetable synthesis (kind of like z3ta+). The included samples are great. Secondly, it includes psynII which is a pretty good subtractive synth with 4 oscillators, a couple of filters, some fx, a fair bit of modulation. Thirdly it comes with Velocity which is sort of a stripped down version of fxpansion's dr-008. For basic to mid-level drum sampling, it is great. It doesn't include all the bells and whistles as dr-008, battery or rm4 but I think it would typically cover at 90% of what people normally use a drum sampler for. Fourthly, P5 includes the sampler ds864. This sampler has been been left aside by Dimension. For example, ds864 doesn't come with very many programs and it tends to alias. However, even ds864 has some great benefits. It has a graphical interface for creating programs (although the interface is kind of small), and I think the filters are very good - I prefer them to those on Dimension. BTW, aliasing isn't very important for multisampled programs. Finally, P5 comes with a drum synth which I hardly use so I won't comment too much on it. The effects that come with P5 are mostly very usuable I think.
s
First of all, I don't think the demo includes the sampling synth Dimension. Dimension is a sh*t hot plugin. It excells as a playback sampler, and it also does wavetable synthesis (kind of like z3ta+). The included samples are great. Secondly, it includes psynII which is a pretty good subtractive synth with 4 oscillators, a couple of filters, some fx, a fair bit of modulation. Thirdly it comes with Velocity which is sort of a stripped down version of fxpansion's dr-008. For basic to mid-level drum sampling, it is great. It doesn't include all the bells and whistles as dr-008, battery or rm4 but I think it would typically cover at 90% of what people normally use a drum sampler for. Fourthly, P5 includes the sampler ds864. This sampler has been been left aside by Dimension. For example, ds864 doesn't come with very many programs and it tends to alias. However, even ds864 has some great benefits. It has a graphical interface for creating programs (although the interface is kind of small), and I think the filters are very good - I prefer them to those on Dimension. BTW, aliasing isn't very important for multisampled programs. Finally, P5 comes with a drum synth which I hardly use so I won't comment too much on it. The effects that come with P5 are mostly very usuable I think.
s
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- KVRist
- Topic Starter
- 103 posts since 21 May, 2005 from Error, no such location please try again
Thank you all for your comments on P5. Sure looks like it's going to be the business. I'll install the demo over this weekend and have a good play to see hands on.
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- KVRAF
- 2139 posts since 15 Jul, 2003 from ex-NJ, PA
IIRC, there used to be (maybe something like $149), but I think it expired.pummel wrote:Is there a cross grade offer available to Sonar owners ?
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- KVRist
- 177 posts since 4 May, 2005 from Maryland
Yes, I think there's a pretty good discount for Sonar owners on P5.
I use P5 and I think it is great, but I'm finding that its few shortcomings are really hindering me in the way that I personally work.
I'm basically a Reason user who wanted to add vst/dx to augment my setup, so I wanted P5 to be a great rewire host for Reason, and it turns out to be pretty bad with Reason. P5 is really great if you just want to use vsti dxi and whatnot, but rewiring has been bad for two reasons: In both Sonar and P5 there is a limitation which only lets you control via rewire 16 midi channels for Reason machines. There are some workarounds, but none are terribly satisfactory to me. I regularly use 100+ machines in Reason, so this is a big deal to me. Also, P5 as mentioned above, has very little audio routing possibilities, so bringing in more than the first stereo pair channel from Reason and having the left/right channels linked together is impossible. Lame!
I've also gotten into heavy audio manipulation and editing. Things like reversing, splitting, chopping, micro edits, pitch changing. I currently do this with Acid Pro 5. Project5 runs audio loops pretty well, just has hardly any audio manipulation options like Acid or Live.
Since I need Reason, I need vsti, and I need audio manipulation, I've been slaving P5 and Reason into Acid as the host. The song is sequenced between three different applications and it is becoming a drag. I'm looking into Live5 because it seems to have phenomenal support for rewiring reason, vsti, and many of Acid's audio manipulation features I need.
P5 is great software, but it just seems to not be working out for me personally. I'll recommend it even though it doesn't suit me.
I'd say if you are planning on using P5 by itself and don't need heavy audio manipulation or Reason rewiring, then it could be a very good choice for you. I really love P5's interface and workflow. It makes my eyes happy! P5 comes with probably the best collection of synths, effects, and samples in this type of sequencer. I'd suggest looking into Ableton Live 5 also though, as P5 is really pretty much an imitation of it but with a few less features.
I use P5 and I think it is great, but I'm finding that its few shortcomings are really hindering me in the way that I personally work.
I'm basically a Reason user who wanted to add vst/dx to augment my setup, so I wanted P5 to be a great rewire host for Reason, and it turns out to be pretty bad with Reason. P5 is really great if you just want to use vsti dxi and whatnot, but rewiring has been bad for two reasons: In both Sonar and P5 there is a limitation which only lets you control via rewire 16 midi channels for Reason machines. There are some workarounds, but none are terribly satisfactory to me. I regularly use 100+ machines in Reason, so this is a big deal to me. Also, P5 as mentioned above, has very little audio routing possibilities, so bringing in more than the first stereo pair channel from Reason and having the left/right channels linked together is impossible. Lame!
I've also gotten into heavy audio manipulation and editing. Things like reversing, splitting, chopping, micro edits, pitch changing. I currently do this with Acid Pro 5. Project5 runs audio loops pretty well, just has hardly any audio manipulation options like Acid or Live.
Since I need Reason, I need vsti, and I need audio manipulation, I've been slaving P5 and Reason into Acid as the host. The song is sequenced between three different applications and it is becoming a drag. I'm looking into Live5 because it seems to have phenomenal support for rewiring reason, vsti, and many of Acid's audio manipulation features I need.
P5 is great software, but it just seems to not be working out for me personally. I'll recommend it even though it doesn't suit me.
I'd say if you are planning on using P5 by itself and don't need heavy audio manipulation or Reason rewiring, then it could be a very good choice for you. I really love P5's interface and workflow. It makes my eyes happy! P5 comes with probably the best collection of synths, effects, and samples in this type of sequencer. I'd suggest looking into Ableton Live 5 also though, as P5 is really pretty much an imitation of it but with a few less features.
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- KVRAF
- 1942 posts since 29 Aug, 2003 from Austin, TX
You have the opportunity to get P5v2 for $150.00
here: http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=118546
Riley
here: http://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=118546
Riley
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- KVRian
- 703 posts since 15 Sep, 2003
Yes, I was looking into P5 for that workflow as well.wrench45us wrote: I do use FLStudio and energyXT as vst within P5 for some of the features they offer.
The color scheme, "real" Acid compatibility, and the monsterous Dimension (love Rene's work) sampler makes P5 a tempting buy (although still on the fence right now).