Hello to all my friends and dear artists
I have a question.
As we know, Sonar has been one of the best DAWs from the past until 2017, if I'm not mistaken.
But after that, it lost its performance and no one was really using it compared to before.
So my question is, with all the updates and major changes this year, is it worth working with it now?
Overall, I wanted to know, is it worth starting with Sonar?

 

If I may say, whatever works for you that is the one mate!
I have few DAW, but somehow always revert to REAPER nowadays, depends on the music that I would make .. Pro Tools is for Mixing definitely somehow I just like the workflow.

 

in my opinion sonar is not public DAW and it has own users but ( not many users ) , this my comment maybe not correct !
i've installed Sonar 30.11 not bad UI is changed and etc
my main DAW is Cubase and im working with for almost 14 years
cubase is absoultly great daw for working with MIDI
Macros in Cubase is very useful and handy
so , i didn't see this features to other DAW ( Even same as )
in the general , i think sonar is gone ( again in my opinion )
for mixing im using pro tools 12.5 AU release , pretty good and enough for me !

IN THE GENERAL :
Cubase , Logic Pro , Ableton , FL STUDIO , Studio One are popluar DAW
In all the years I've been in the music industry, I haven't really heard much praise for Sonar. That's why I created this topic to learn more about this "forgotten" software.

 

I have used Cakewalk before it became SONAR for many years before I moved to other DAW. It's not forgotten but people just move on I guess.

 

no

I've been Sonar user for years, but around X3 era I started looking elsewhere (for multiple various reasons), once I decided to replace it with Reaper, it took me quite a while but I would not go back to Sonar now for sure,

if you're thinking about starting with Sonar just because it's free, then you can "equally" look into Reaper which works without license as unlimited trial

 

im ex Sonar user since late 90s till up to 2017 i moved to Studio One. Along the way i did use other Daw for tracking and mixing such as PT,Cube,Reaper all based on which studio client want me to engine. But now my day in and out just Nuendo and Studio One 5.

Back in the days, yahh Sonar is my fav, i think back then only Sonar have more friendly straight forward midi editor with many features. I think the peak of their excellencies at Sonar 8.5 .. I love the GUI and how easy to navigate and routing. Compared to Cubase at that time. But since their transition to X1 (if im not mistaken Cakewalk was acquired by Gibson)... things start to go down south for me. Update just merely GUI changes, but no fix for bugs or overhaul internal system.

Eventho im using Sonar for a long time..I always hate their Plugin Manager and how the Daw sorting your projects.. it always all over the place and duplicates audio which takes up a lot of disk space, especially they did not remove unused audio after undo. I always hate Sonar internal programs work..

But i still got few friends who is veterans industries arranger/composer that still using Sonar for composing only. Never see anyone in my circle using Sonar for serious tracking, mixing or even mastering these day.

But if u ask me, is it a good DAW for beginner... yahh ofcoz.. any daw is good for beginner to learn basic production work.. some more it is free right? Use it to gain experience, or better, use it to make a living.

 

Attached are 2 pictures of the step sequencer of the Cakewalk - Sonar DAW.

 

"Musicians have definitely moved to other DAWs. Sonar still has a cluttered UI, and it bothers me. It’s missing a lot of features that Cubase has, though every software has its strengths and weaknesses. Maybe Sonar has some feature that Cubase doesn’t, just as an example.

Overall, I’m a Cubase and Pro Tools user, and for me, these are the best DAWs. That being said, I also like Studio One; it’s pretty good after those two."

 

I am a hobbyist and started on early Cakewalk and then on to the Sonar versions, which seemed to have fewer issues.
It really was great at the time, and I have reinstalled and used it as well as Bandlab Cakewalk - all very similar.
Some nice features but I think I would not choose to get involved again (even though i did install the new Sonar to check it out).
I bought Reaper and spent a LOT less time figuring out how to work it and tweak it to my liking.

It doesn't hurt anything to try Sonar, IF you have the time to spare, but maybe better invested in something else and avoid getting "involved", at least for now.

[Edit - Just messed with it for about 45 minutes. What GRIND it is compared with Studio One or Reaper. Just too many things taking too many steps even for just setting up a few tracks of audio & midi. ]

 

Last edited: Dec 19, 2024 at 2:54 AM

You mean like, sheet music?

 

I only use the Cakewalk - Sonar DAW to play software synthesizers, as I have far too many virtual software synthesizers and otherwise I lose track. Sonar also plays older 32-bit virtual software synthesizers, which it bridges automatically. The sound is decent and sufficient. Sonar also handles 4K plugins that are not properly scalable in Studio One in an exemplary manner.

For everything else, like my favorite synthesizers and mixing and mastering, I use Studio One.

 

Sadly, after X3 it gone down.

Gibson killed it ... as usual.
Gbison is a nightmare company, destroying thousand guitars just to raise their prices.
And destroying companies too.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cakewalk_(company)

At least, Bandlab try to do something ... but i don't see their model going far.

It was already an outsider DAW. Now, it is more than marginal.
Because when ppl learn a DAW, it is months (years) of LEARNING investment.

I don't see myself loosing months to learn a new DAW ... just to see it dropped in a blackhole (again).

 

Sonar is over for ever !
You know, switching to another DAW makes sense only if the DAW you’re moving to is really worth it—good enough to justify the time spent learning it.

Honestly, learning a DAW isn’t that hard.
I’m a VFX artist too, and I work with Houdini.

When you work with Houdini, you realize that learning a DAW is nothing in comparison

I was mostly talking about the complexity of learning a DAW. Unless, of course, these two have no connection at all.

 

So what ?
I'm out ... already running in circle like most threads here.
Bye !

 

i have found Cakewalk/Sonar to have a superior sound quality over the years since about X2

i try to use Reaper but then the bass seems to have evaporated

Sonar is especially good for sampled instruments
its definitely not perfect but im glad its still in development
cheers!

 

Last edited: Dec 18, 2024 at 10:41 PM

I still use Cakewalk. The Bandlab versions were fine. I tend to use it mostly like a virtual tape recorder and linear sequencer, I don't need to do a lot of really crazy editing and tricks. Bob Katz once told me it was on his approved list of good sounding software so if there is a difference I trust his opinion.

YMMV.

 

I think back then, just my 2 cent... Sonar was so popular (by user based number) because of it is the only DAW available K'd with every update. So it became everyone first choice of professional DAW of use. And since other DAW start to available K'd, Sonar just lose it user base.. because all the other new comer DAW at that time has more better UI, and better features over time. While Sonar losing money for high user base are K'd. And also I think back then even till now, Sonar team of programmer maybe uninspired bloke. They just work for the month salary. While other DAW team thrive to be the best in technology and features wise.

 

No need to announce it. If we miss you we'll come looking....

 

There is nothing in the "sound quality" that is causing Reaper to evaporate bass.
Sonar is no better or worse than any other popular DAW in "how it sounds".
Here we go again with people thinking the coding of certain DAW "audio engines" must be fucked up because they think they hear or don't hear something.
There are surely some programs that claim to be DAWs that ARE poorly coded, causing them to not reproduce audio as they should.
BUT WE ARE NOT TALKING ABOUT THOSE!
I don't know of any and have never seen ANYONE EVER commenting about a DAW that actually is so poorly coded that it affect the sound.

We are talking about major well-known DAWs, and NONE OF THEM HAVE A "SOUND".
There are reasons why one might THINK a DAW sounds different, and the behavior and graduation of controls are among them, but if you set controls at identical settings they all produce the same audible result!
Any audible difference is caused by the controls !
That is what they are designed to do and they DO IT!!!!

Stop spreading disinformation and wrong ideas.

 

Last edited: Dec 19, 2024 at 5:33 AM