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CAKEWALK SONAR 5 PE (DAW software)


Anderton

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Cakewalk Sonar 5 Producer Edition – Prologue

 

When Sonar was introduced, I had to use it – because it was the only sequencer at the time that combined MIDI, digital audio, and Acid-style looping. Prior to Sonar, I’d been bouncing back and forth between Sonic Foundry (now Sony) Acid for looping, Cubase VST for MIDI+digital audio projects, and Cakewalk Pro Audio for audio-for-video. Sonar meant I could do it all in one program, and while I still use plenty of other applications, Sonar Producer Edition has become my “workhorse” program.

 

Sonar 5 follows less than a year after the Sonar 4 upgrade. Sonar 4’s main claim to fame was a superb surround implementation…but given the lackluster state of surround, did anyone really care? I was definitely thankful for the workflow enhancements and other improvements, but I get the feeling a lot of existing S3 users figured they’d wait until S5 because surround wasn’t a big enough draw for them.

 

S5, however, is indeed a major upgrade: More instruments, reawakened MIDI, REX file support, and more. For a list of main new features in Sonar 5, click here.

 

We’ll concentrate on reviewing the new features, but if you have questions/comments not just about the new features or the review but about existing aspects of the program, c’mon down and join the review! Manufacturer comments are welcome as well.

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Sonar remains one of the easiest, fastest programs to get running. After a couple recent experiences where it took literally hours to get programs installed, Sonar 5 was a breath of fresh air: Load DVD, choose your language, enter serial number . . . done. Kudos to Cakewalk for not treating their customers like thieves – I just hope that their faith in humanity is being rewarded.

 

A couple tips on installation: When you have the option to load plug-ins, some older plugs are not loaded by default. If you’ve been using Sonar for a while, you may have used some of these plug-ins in older projects. So when the “Select Components” screen appears, click on the Audio FX “Options” button, and click on “Select All.” Click on the attachment to see the Select Components screen and the Audio FX Options button on which you click (circled in yellow).

 

Also, after you install Sonar, don’t forget to start the Installation process again if you want to install the Audio Finder (locates audio files used in projects), the MP3 Encoder Upgrader (so if you already paid for the MP3 encoder, you can continue to use it with S5), and/or the trial version of the discWelder DVD-A burning program.

 

And what’s this – no VST-DX adapter installation? That’s right. Sonar 5 now has native VST support, and there’s a subtle change in the Insert menu: Where Sonar once read DXi Synth, it now just reads “Soft Synths.” VST synths are still in a separate menu tree, but the days of watching the configuration program do its thing are over.

 

And when Sonar loads, it doesn’t scan through all your plug-ins – it loads fast. When you add a new plug-in, a little time elapses while Sonar adds it to its roster, but next time you open the program, it’s back to its usual speedy self.

 

One interesting point is that if you have an “unauthorized” plug-in (e.g., you had a demo version that timed out), Sonar does not flag this when it opens, only if you attempt to open the plug-in – another time saver.

 

Meanwhile, there’s nothing disorienting when you open the program: The graphic looks seems to have settled down, the toolbars mostly look familiar, and so on.

 

Well, with all this new stuff, where to start? Maybe with a standout feature like the V-Voice plug-in? Nah, that’s too deep – it’s Sunday night, and I’d just like to mess around a bit with some easy stuff…so let’s check out the REX file player. I’ve bugged Cakewalk for so long about the lack of REX file support, the least I can do is jump it to the top of the stack.

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Although there isn’t “drag and drop into the track”-type REX file support, Sonar 5 actually goes one better with the RXP File Player as it allows for a reasonable degree of REX file editing. In addition to loading all ReCycle formats (RX2, REX, RCY), RXP can also load WAV, AIF, and OGG files. However, this is of limited use, as you can’t add or edit slices – basically, with these types of files RXP is a one-shot player (although you can process the file in various ways, as we’ll cover later). Click on the attachment to see the RXP player screen.

 

Getting back to REX files, you can load a file by navigating to it, or use the built-in Groove Browser if you want to choose among a roster of favorites. The file appears in the main graphical window, along with slice markers.

 

There are 24 pads across the bottom, whose function depends on whether you’ve selected the Slice or Loop mode. In Slice mode, each pad plays a slice (you can also trigger these via MIDI keyboard – cool). If there are more than 24 slices in the file, you can’t trigger slice 25 on up from the pads, although you can from MIDI.

 

In Loop mode, clicking on a pad plays the loop for as long as you hold the mouse button down; different pads transpose the file by the amount shown on the pad, from -12 to +11 semitones (right-clicking on a pad plays the loop all the way through).

 

So far so good, but here’s where it gets interesting: There are amp and filter processors. The Amp section provides Attack, Decay, Width (left/right stereo separation for stereo files), Pan, and Volume. The Filter has four possible filter curves (2-pole and 4-pole, lowpass or highpass), with an Attack/Decay envelope, Envelope amount, Cutoff, and Resonance controls. However, both Amp and Filter affect all slices – you cannot have separate settings for individual slices.

 

If you right-click on a pad to play the file through, varying Amp and Filter controls won’t affect the sound until the loop re-triggers. But – and this is important – if you trigger individual slices by MIDI (keyboard or the host sequencer), you can you edit these parameters in real time. However, automating these changes is a whole other issue.

 

When you insert RXP using the usual Insert Soft Synth option, I couldn’t find any way to automate the controls. But if you create an audio track and insert RXP into the FX bin, then create a MIDI track and send that to the RXP, the situation changes. Right-click on the RXP in the FX bin, select Arm Parameter, and you can automate parameters by diddling the knobs while recording automation. Or, right-click in the audio track itself, and create envelopes to control particular RXP parameters.

 

I don’t know why you can’t record knob movements when the RXP is inserted as a standard DXi synth, given that the DreamStation DXi2 can do that. Maybe in a future update…

 

Regarding the MIDI driving the RXP to trigger slices, if there’s MIDI data associated with the file, you’ll be informed of this when you load the file in to RXP (when you insert the RXP using the Insert Soft Synth option, Sonar creates both audio and MIDI tracks). You can drag from the RXP’s little note icon into a track to deposit the MIDI file. And here’s another of Sonar’s strong suits: You can turn MIDI files into groove clips, so if you want the MIDI file to repeat, you can simply convert it into a MIDI groove clip, then “roll out” the clip rather than have to copy and paste.

 

And dig this – you can rearrange slice order and change slice characteristics in several ways.

 On the file graphic, drag a slice into a different position. Other slices “close up” from where you removed the slice to maintain the same file length.

 Right-click on the slice display to show three options (this is shown in the Attachment picture): Reset, Reverse, and Randomize. Reverse is not reversed audio, but reverses the order of slices. Randomize shuffles slices, with different results each time you hit Randomize.

 The Transpose field along the bottom of the file window transposes up to +/-48 semitones.

 The Tune field transposes up to +/-100 cents.

 The Random Pitch field changes slice pitches randomly, within a range of up to 48 semitones.

 Finally, you can reverse the slices (not the order, the audio itself) by applying Controller 1 messages.

 

As far as I’m concerned, the important point here is the real-time playability. While the MIDI sequence is playing, you can be triggering individual slices, reversing audio, or using MIDI volume or expression controllers to change levels.

 

Two issues: According to the documentation, RXP should respond to Pan and Sustain controller messages. However, feeding them in from a hardware controller, or programming envelopes in a MIDI track, didn’t seem to affect the sound. Also, clicking on a pad in loop mode briefly spikes the CPU meter into the red, at which point it goes back to a more rational CPU consumption figure.

 

Furthermore, inserting just one instance of the RXP in a sequence with no other audio or MIDI tracks, then playing back a MIDI track into the RXP, gave CPU consumption figures that fluctuated between 25% and 42%. I realize CPU consumption figures are relative, but with Sonar 4 it used to take several hungry soft synths, plus multiple audio tracks, to reach these kind of levels – and that’s without any other goodies that might hit the CPU, like the new waveform preview drawing feature.

 

Hopefully a future rev will optimize the RXP’s performance, but meanwhile, it’s great to have REX support and some REX file editing capabilities - and hey, you can always freeze the track or bounce it to an audio track if the CPU thing gets iffy.

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This may not seem like a big deal compared to some of the other new features, but I’ve found the new metering options can definitely improve the aesthetics. The basic idea is that now you can choose between the standard “segmented” meters (where there are divisions between each “virtual LED”) and a non-segmented meter look. Click on the Attachment to see the difference – you’ll see the same track with non-segmented meters on the top, and segmented meters on the bottom.

 

The non-segmented meters look quite nice – they default to a sort of bluish “fluorescent” look, with higher levels being a lighter shade of blue. The non-segmented meters seem a little taller (when horizontal) or wider (when vertical) in the track view. But actually, when in a console on inspector track strip, the meter calibrations sit on top of the meter, so the meters take up less space and are more visible.

 

You can specify segmented or non-segmented metering independently for the Track and Console views, but also note that the Inspector is considered a subset of the Console view, so you can use segmented meters in Track view but have the inspector show non-segmented meters. Another cool feature is that you can change colors for the meters, the clip indicator, and the calibrations. For example, light orange looks pretty cool for the meters.

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I was definitely thankful for the workflow enhancements and other improvements, but I get the feeling a lot of existing S3 users figured they’d wait until S5 because surround wasn’t a big enough draw for them.

 

That would have included me. :)

 

I'm really looking forward to reading this one Craig. :cool: :cool:

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Hey Craig, This may be a stupid question, but does the VST integration mean that I can now use my Spectrasonics instruments in Sonar?

 

Also; is it now possible to use a UAD-1 or TC Powercore cards in Sonar?

 

That was my main reason for switching over to Cubase SX. I had been doing my midi in Cakewalk Pro Audio, and then converting the midi to audio in Pro Tools. Since I couldnt use the UAD or TC Powercore in either Cakewalk or PT, and since the midi in PT was very weak I migrated over to Cubase SX.

 

SX 3 has had quite a few issues and I am eligible for an upgrade to Sonar. What are your thoughts?

 

Thanks in advance for your response.

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Originally posted by Jotown

Hey Craig, This may be a stupid question, but does the VST integration mean that I can now use my Spectrasonics instruments in Sonar?


Also; is it now possible to use a UAD-1 or TC Powercore cards in Sonar?


That was my main reason for switching over to Cubase SX. I had been doing my midi in Cakewalk Pro Audio, and then converting the midi to audio in Pro Tools. Since I couldnt use the UAD or TC Powercore in either Cakewalk or PT, and since the midi in PT was very weak I migrated over to Cubase SX.


SX 3 has had quite a few issues and I am eligible for an upgrade to Sonar. What are your thoughts?


Thanks in advance for your response.

 

 

VST instruments in Sonar was always possible using either the Fxpansion VST adapter or DirectiXer. Cake bought the Fxpansion adapter and has integrated it into Sonar 5. I have been using Atmosphere and Trilogy with Sonar since version 1...no issues whatsoever!

 

There are some people with the UAD-1 card working...I'd recommend you search through the Sonar forum at Cake's site for more info.

 

Bill

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Many people have been using the UAD cards since SONAR 3. The only issue I knew of left was with looping which was fixed in the 4.0.3 patch. I have read that most people have very smooth operation using the UAD-1 vst effects rather than the DXi's. I also think there are a few people running the Powercor cards.

 

(BTW, I don't own either)

 

Cheers,

 

Roberto

 

 

Originally posted by Jotown

Please also check out if the UAD and or TC Powercore cards can be used with Sonar 5.


Thanks in advance.

 

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I really liked the way S4 implemented loop recording, and the mute tool was a valuable addition. But S5 has taken it a step further, giving more control over the individual layers.

 

Click on the Attachment to see how Cakewalk handles the new track layer features. Note the new Track Layers On/Off button. When on, you see the layers; when off, everything collapses down to the size of the track that contains the layers.

 

Also note the M(ute) and S(olo) switches just to the left of each take. Solos are exclusive (enabling a Solo turns off any existing Solos), while Mutes are additive – you can have as many as you like. The best part of this, though, is that if you have a bunch of mutes set and select Solo, the program remembers which mutes were enabled. If you turn off Solo, the selected mutes go back to their muted status.

 

You can of course still use the Mute Tool, but once you’ve opened up the layers view, you can overlap tracks (with S4, you couldn’t – anything that overlapped was moved to its own layer). However, there’s also a “rebuild” command that puts overlapping tracks back into their own layers. So a typical scenario for loop recording would be:

1. Record multiple takes, then show the layers.

2. Use Mute and Solo to determine which tracks are candidates for compositing.

3. Delete layers that are of no further use.

4. Go Track > Layers > Compact Layers. This new command automatically expands the heights of any remaining layers to take up space used by the deleted tracks.

5. Use the Mute tool to “fine tune” which sections of layers you want to use or not use.

6. Select the clips containing audio you want to use, and choose the “Bounce to Clips” command to collapse them all into a single track.

 

Of course, you can still crop layers, use the underrated “overlap cropping tool” to crop two clips simultaneously, as well as add layers if you so desire.

 

If you’re into loop recording, this part of the update is an unqualified home run. Cubase SX used to have the best loop recording; with Sonar 4, Cakewalk achieved parity. But with Sonar 5, I feel Cakewalk has pulled ahead of pretty much any program that does loop recording.

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Well I’ve worked with Sonar 5 for a lot of hours now, and it finally crashed. However, I’m almost 100% sure this was caused by a beta version of a plug-in I’m testing (no, I’m not allowed to tell you about it) so I can’t really blame Sonar 5…especially because once I re-opened the program, everything worked as expected.

 

I'll let you know as soon as I find a repeatable, Sonar 5-related bug.

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This is one of those apparently small – but extremely useful – features. Click on the Attachment to see Waveform Preview in action.

 

When you click on the Waveform Preview button for a Bus or Soft Synth audio track, Sonar draws the waveform as you play the sequence. Better yet, it turns red wherever there’s clipping (circled in yellow in the screen shot)

 

For example, in the illustration, Waveform Preview has been switched on for the Master Bus and Effect Send bus. Sonar has been put into play, and is drawing the bus output waveform.

 

Okay, so it’s nice eye candy…but much more importantly, it gives you a much better idea of how the levels are shaping up. It’s easy to see if levels are higher or lower than expected, and especially easy to see if there was any clipping. Besides, didn’t that big empty space in the Clips view next to a bus bug you? Well, now there’s something to fill it up.

 

But this is only one part of the equation: Sonar 5 also has sophisticated peak-finding options so you can locate precisely where level “overs” or other issues might be occurring, and their exact values.

 

We’ll get into that in a bit, but it's time to put dinner together. Well, hopefully I’ll be back after a nice meal :)

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Originally posted by Anderton

Well I’ve worked with Sonar 5 for a lot of hours now, and it finally crashed.
However, I’m almost 100% sure this was caused by a beta version of a plug-in I’m testing (no, I’m not allowed to tell you about it) so I can’t really blame Sonar 5
…especially because once I re-opened the program, everything worked as expected.


I'll let you know as soon as I find a repeatable, Sonar 5-related bug.

 

 

SONAR 4 displays the waveform as well while recording. What is the difference? (My S5 won't come in till Wed)

 

Thanks,

 

Roberto

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I think the other point is that it draws the WAVs in the "bus lane" as well a pointing out where the peaks are, and leaving that indication right in the wav file, rather than you having to guess where the over was simply by noting that there was a peak SOMEWHERE in the tune.

 

Also, he mentions some ability to calculate where the peaks got to the buses from - did I just imagine this part?

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>

 

Sonar 4 draws waveforms in tracks while recording. S5 can do that, but also draw waveforms in busses and soft synth audio tracks while playing back (or recording).

 

>

 

Yes, but the soft synth track thing is very useful too.

 

>

 

Exactly. We're getting a little bit ahead of ourselves, though...

 

 

 

I think you imagined it from a different post I did in the "Volume Wars" thread, on how to get a louder sound without using excessive compression.

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Interesting…when I loaded the Sonar project I’d been working on before dinner, it sounded fine – but the audio Clips had no visible audio waveform. Huh? If I zoomed in enough, a waveform would appear; but if I zoomed out past a certain point, the waveform would just disappear, and the clip looked as if it had no audio recorded in it (even though there was).

 

As the clip was a loop from the Discrete Drums series, I just brought the loop in again, and you could see the waveform. I quit Sonar and re-opened it, just to check; the audio was both audible and visible. Maybe this was just a glitch…we’ll see what happens over the next few days.

 

Okay, about Peak Markers: While playing back a track and/or bus, the Peak Markers follow along behind the cursor and indicate the highest value attained up to the point where playback stops. Click on the Attachment to see how these markers appear in a track and two buses (one master and one effects). It’s as if you took the little numeric that shows up in the track’s title bar, and moved it to the location where the peak actually occurred.

 

I’ve always enjoyed the feature in Wavelab where you could jump to peaks, and in Sonar, the Peak Markers really help in terms of trying to track down the source of any distortion. For example, if you see distortion in a bus, you can check whether any of the tracks had usually loud levels at that point.

 

There’s somewhat anomalous behavior while looping. During the first pass of the loop, everything works as expected. But suppose during the second pass, you suddenly turn up the effects send and there’s an overload on the bus being feed by the loop. The marker will show up in the bus where it would have appeared if you had “rolled out” the loop to twice its length. As another example, if turning up of the effects send happened on the third pass, it would show up in the bus where it would have appeared if the three looped segments had been placed end to end and not looped.

 

I can handle that, though. It seems the Peak Marker function is really more for playing back tracks during the mixing process, as it gives exceptionally useful insights into what’s happening with the headroom (and where anything is happening, too). Also note that you can jump to a peak in case it's off-screen - nice.

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