Sonar

krizrox · Post by **krizrox** » Sat Oct 25, 2003 5:53 pm

I know this topic has been covered before but I'm really on the verge of making a purchasing decision and want to double-check my logic.

I'm this close to buying Sonar 3. Anyone out there that has any experience with this product, please let me know what you think - both good and bad. I've experienced a hands-on demo and was very impressed.

The only other program I have experience with is tripleDAT. Frankly, Sonar blows 3DAT away with it's feature set. Any comments?

danke

update: You can disregard this message. I've already bought the program. I'll have it installed in a week or so.

[ This Message was edited by: krizrox on 2003-10-26 09:10 ]

Nestor · Post by **Nestor** » Wed Oct 29, 2003 10:21 pm

So, how're you doing with it? Are you happy?

krizrox · Post by **krizrox** » Thu Oct 30, 2003 7:23 am

I ordered a copy from Ebay. Still waiting for it to be delivered. Should be here sometime this week. Also bought Win XP Home on Ebay (I'll be upgrading from Win ME). Got that yesterday. I paid $390 for Sonar 3 Producer. Brand new in retail box (not academic). Pretty good deal considering it normally sells for $500 retail.

I was able to get a hands-on Sonar 3 demo a couple of weeks ago. Very impressive indeed! Many of my studio clients are using Sonar so it'll be a good marketing point for my studio.

I've been riding the fence on this acquisition for a long time. Watching and studying - trying to make a good purchasing decision. I think Sonar 3 is a very good and safe decision. The product has matured considerably over the past few releases.

As far as how it compares to 3DAT, well, I'll let you know shortly. The main problem I'm faced with is that 3DAT is not XP compatible so I can't run 3DAT on the same OS partition. And I have 6 years of studio business tied up into 3DAT. I can't just walk away from it yet. I have some recording projects still in progress using 3DAT so I need to keep WinME around in order to finish up current projects and possibly retrieve old files. And there is the learning curve issue. I need to keep business running until I can become comfortable with Sonar. It'll be some time before I can divorce myself completely from 3DAT. I suppose by that time, they'll release the next gen

Wouldn't life be wonderful if CW came out with a new 3DAT - XP compatible? That would surely make life easier for me - and a lot of other people as well.

Anyway - will keep you posted on how things develop.

[ This Message was edited by: krizrox on 2003-11-01 20:41 ]

Post by **garyb** » Thu Oct 30, 2003 1:08 pm

http://www.planetz.com/forums/viewtopic ... orum=10&14

krizrox · Post by **krizrox** » Thu Oct 30, 2003 4:10 pm

Yeah, I know. CW was waiting for me to buy something else before they released a new tripleDAT

Anyway, Sonar 3 arrived today so hopefully, I'll get a chance to start putting it to good use soon. It's really nice to crack open a shiny new software box and find...

ta da!

a professionally printed and bound user manual (thick as a brick this one is). Along with CD's in a nice jewel box case and plenty of documentation. Very classy! I'll try to provide a fair & balanced review of the program as soon as I can.

Post by **garyb** » Thu Oct 30, 2003 11:25 pm

that prog has been around a LONG time.i'm sure it'll be cool!

krizrox · Post by **krizrox** » Fri Oct 31, 2003 1:23 am

It looks very cool. I've been thumbing through the manual a bit already. Just got done installing XP so I'll get SFP installed next and then Sonar. Can't wait!

Thanks to all who posted XP tweak tips btw. Very helpful!

krizrox · Post by **krizrox** » Fri Oct 31, 2003 9:11 am

Well, for what it's worth...

XP installed perfectly.
Sonar 3 installed perfectly.
SFP installed perfectly.

At about 2 AM I was able to play back some sample songs and that was all I needed to hear. Done for the night.

Now the real fun begins. The learning curve!

Nestor · Post by **Nestor** » Fri Oct 31, 2003 11:15 am

Is there a dongle too to be able to use it, llike with Cubase?

Shayne White · Post by **Shayne White** » Fri Oct 31, 2003 11:51 am

No!! Sonar is copy-protection free, other than entering in a serial number. That's why Cakewalk users are so loyal!

The learning curve shouldn't be that bad -- Sonar is easier to figure out than Logic or Cubase, and in no time you should be able to start having real fun. However, I've been using Sonar since Day 1, and I'm still finding things I didn't know it could do, so the learning curve will never truly end!

Shayne

Nestor · Post by **Nestor** » Fri Oct 31, 2003 1:40 pm

I hate the dongle stuff, cos I have ton constantly be changing it to be able to print, cos it woun't work through the printer... it has never worked well...

huffcw · Post by **huffcw** » Fri Oct 31, 2003 2:16 pm

Anyone interested in buying the new Sonar 3 Producer edition, let me know. I can get you a good price on it, brand new and unregistered. huffcw@netzero.com

krizrox · Post by **krizrox** » Fri Oct 31, 2003 3:29 pm

Shane is right - no dongle.

Yeah - the learning curve shouldn't be too bad. I've been skimming through the manual and it looks fairly straightforward. Just a matter of sitting down and familiarizing myself with all the bells & whistles.

I was particularly impressed when I saw that you could automate FX functions on a sample (er.. I mean clip) just like using a fade curve. The looping features look great too.

Just so much stuff I've always wished was in 3DAT. This opens up a whole new world for me. I realize you guys take all this for granted but I've had nothing but 3DAT the past 6 years so I never knew what I was missing really.

The only thing I'll miss is the CD burning function that is standard with 3DAT (or was at one time). Being able to record, mix, master and burn all in a single app is great.

hey before I forget, is there a cool user forum like this one for Sonar? If so you could point me in that direction. Thanks.

firubbi · Post by **firubbi** » Fri Oct 31, 2003 5:29 pm

is it possiable to play vst instrument over sonar 3?
thanks.

Shayne White · Post by **Shayne White** » Fri Oct 31, 2003 6:51 pm

huffcw · Post by **huffcw** » Sat Nov 01, 2003 10:35 am

Anyone interested in Sonar 3 - you may want to check out this tutorial: http://www.digitalmusicdoctor.com/index.html

krizrox · Post by **krizrox** » Sat Nov 01, 2003 8:39 pm

Hey that's pretty cool. Thanks!

firubbi · Post by **firubbi** » Sun Nov 02, 2003 12:22 pm

so does sonar3 has a built-in vst adapter or
i have to install that vst adapter?
thanks

[ This Message was edited by: firubbi on 2003-11-02 12:25 ]

Post by **garyb** » Mon Nov 03, 2003 1:19 pm

afaik,it comes with.

huffcw · Post by **huffcw** » Mon Nov 03, 2003 6:01 pm

The VSTi adapter is not built into the interface directly, but does come with the Sonar 3 package of software. It works great for almost all VSTi. However, a couple have issues, such as Groove Agent (as mentioned on Cakewalk's web site).