It's been quite a week for Cakewalk. First came the news that Gibson intends to buy the company from Roland, and now the Boston-based software developer has unveiled Sonar X3, the latest version of its DAW.



'Evolution rather than revolution' seems to be the philosophy with this update. Cakewalk has added features that are designed to improve the experience of using the core application, and partnered with third-party developers to add content to its Sonar X3 packages.

As far as the different versions are concerned, there's been a subtle change in policy. Whereas before it felt as if the lower-priced Sonars were cutdown variants of the Producer edition, now the thinking is that the cheapest version, simply known as Sonar X3, should have all the core functionality of its more expensive siblings, with the Studio and Producer editions adding extra features on top.

So, from the entry-level Sonar X3 upwards you get a 64-bit engine, VST 3 plugin support, Cakewalk's new comping system, and the ability to share your work via Facebook, Twitter, SoundCloud and YouTube. The Studio and Producer editions, meanwhile, add the likes of built-in Melodyne pitch correction, the expandable ProChannel Console Strip, and Nomad Factory plugins.

Producer edition exclusives include the full version of XLN Audio Addictive Drums, the ProChannel QuadCurve EQ Zoom with analyser, the ProChannel Tape and Console Emulator, and the Lounge Lizard and Strum Acoustic instruments from AAS.

You can find out more about Sonar X3 on the Cakewalk website. Prices are £79/$99/€99 for Sonar X3, £169/$199/€180 for Sonar X3 Studio and £385/$499/€380 for Sonar X3 Producer.

 

I found this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZkDLIUDu-0

 

I saw some videos on the Cakewalk YT account and it seems this new version will include also Lounge Lizard and Addictive Drums (not the full version). I'll stick with X1 for now.

 

Who needs any of that extra crap.. Ill never understand why they do this.. If I want AD or Lounge Lizard or any of the other stuff.. Ill get it myself..

Improve the DAW... dont add 3rd party bloatware.

Just more to uncheck at install.

 

One Reason:

You are right, and i think Sonar has missed the train.

 

I am actually excited to see what x3 brings to the table. The comping features seem pretty cool for songwriting, etc. Lol, I think I am one of the few people that actually likes Sonar a lot. The pro channel is SO handy, plus the console emulation sounds just as good as Waves NLS (to my ears). I have experienced no weird issues with x1 (yeah I know, rare right) or x2 and they run well on my pc's. Yeah, I'll agree that the 18000 plugins it comes with are mostly junk, so I just uncheck 99% of the plugs that come with it. But I really like the core DAW.

 

Wow cakewalk, way to keep up with the times. A free Softube Saturation knob, Melodyne built in and a new comping tool is exactly what Presonus already did.I also wonder how much cakewalk has to pay Presonus in order to use the Melodyne API that they helped co-develop

 

Well, I don't think that stuff really matters very much. I already have melodyne, so I don't need it built into the daw. And saturation plugs are a dime a dozen (although I don't generally use them, as I run through tube pre's for saturation). In my experience, X2 runs more stable than Studio One. Studio One's feature set IS epic (midi legato anyone?!?). But they need to work on the stability of the core daw. This obviously isn't the case for everyone, but studio one seems to have stability issues for a LOT of people that use it. Assuming they keep with it; it will be a good DAW in a few years. But I just don't think it's there yet. Not sure of the stability of the plugs that come with sonar as I generally skip installing nearly all of them (I keep roland r-mix), but historically the core daw has run very well for me. Never had a hangup, freeze, crash, etc in my experience with x2--and I've been using it since they ditched x1 for it.

I actually REALLY wanted to like studio one as the midi writing features are cool as hell and would save me a lot of time. But it just didn't run well enough for me to make it my daw of choice (or even 2nd or 3rd). Personally, I wish that every daw developer would just straight up rip off the best things that the other daws do well. I don't care who does it first, I just want genuinely useful features, stability, and a good solid audio engine. If ripping off other daws helps that to happen, I'm all for it lol.

 

Softube saturation knob was in Sonar first actually. Studio One, Pro Tools all came after.

You're right about the other two though.

 

It does not matter to me who did what first, The combination of the 3 was a big selling point for Presonus and seeing Cakewalk follow with pretty much the same stuff is just sad.So much for progress

 

I always loved the workflow of Sonar but I gave it up when I realized how much of a pain in the ass it is to organize plug-in menu layouts. Cause if you have more than 128 plug-ins in Sonar X2 it will give you an error and say it can't show all the plug-ins until you sort them into a list. If you install Waves Bundle alone that will put you over the Sonar limit. So, I organized all the plug-ins into little sub-menus. Then plugins started disappearing from my list I made. So I said fuck Sonar, I am sick of these fucking plug-in menu layouts. And switched to Reaper cause of its nice workflow and awesome fx browser with no limits like Sonar's plug-in menu layouts.

But, if they fixed that error shit with how many plug-ins can be shown in the list I would switch back. Sonar X2's smart tool was the shiz!

Can't wait to try it and see if they got rid of the 128 plug-in limitation that can be shown in the list. If they got the FX Browser like Reaper's I would totally go back to Sonar just for the smart tool!!!

And if all your looking at is the selling point (advertisement) for something, you will always be disappointed. I prefer to look at actual functionality, who cares what they do to advertise.

 

I don't have many plugins so I was not aware of this issue.
I must disagree on the plugins quality in Sonar. There is valuable stuff for any producer in there.

 

ive never got this warning and the amount of plug ins I test and free plug ins I have loaded on my test computer I haven't seen this error ever, and I have all three versions, this last here x3 being the best.

I cant say enough how well cakewalk went out on this version, its forum asked and they received, I was one of the many picketing for new features and they delivered.

 

might be nice to be able to try a demo, which I think should be out sometime in Movember

ps and welcome to audiosex

 

Thank you SirSilly

yes hopefully a demo comes out soon.
I have the full version myself but I think its important as it sounds like you do as well that a demo makes its way to users.
typically cakewalk usually waits about a month or so.

again thank you for kindly welcoming me to the forum.

X1