Between Sonar or Cubase what would you choose and why?

Posted: Wed Nov 19, 2008 4:57 pm

This may have been discussed recently, however, I would like very current opinions on which software to go with today.

I'm adapting to PC and additional software other than PT which I've been using for 10 years on a Mac.

Between Sonar or Cubase what would you choose and why?

I have a choice on 32 bit or 64 bit system.
I want the scoring feature of cubase but if sonar out performs cubase, sonar would be my choice. I'm looking for stability and quality. Either platform will be new to me, including PC, so it has nothing to do with what I am used to. Its all new to me.

Thanks in advance!

Posted: Wed Nov 19, 2008 5:10 pm

I should add a few more points

, this new system is for composing, and heavy midi production. if it was a good tracking system to boot, I would be even happier.
Ultimately I will be teaching my oldest child the world of digital audio production.

Posted: Wed Nov 19, 2008 5:44 pm

Not sure if I should respond to this?

While I'm a user of neither, I have been exposed to both. I nearly called the cops on 'em fer that but I digress....

I'de be more incliened to go with the Steinberg/YAMHA product. From Cubase you can tightly intigrate to NUENDO & back. Yamaha will be around longer in the end I would also imagine?

Cakewalk is well just a plain Cakewalk. Look out for all that sticky iceing. You don't want to time slip.

Time keeps on Slippin' slippin' slippin' into the future.............
Ms Remy Ann David

Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 1:04 am

I don't agree with Remy on this one. Cubase (V4) no longer supports DX effects or instruments and from what I have read, technical support is something you can forget with Steinberg.

On the other hand I have used Cakewalk products for around 20 years and have never had a big problem with support - or indeed the product. Remy's Steinberg/Yamaha argument is also moot as of the start of this year as Roland now have a large stake (majority I think) in Cakewalk.

In Sonar 7 Cakewalk introduced major revisions to their ageing MIDI editing structure and this seems to have addressed the vast majority of the gripes expressed on their forums.

They have recently introduced V8 and although there have clearly been a few teething problems, these have already been addressed with two updates. For the lesser gripes, another update is apparently being worked on. I don't think you will ever see support from Steinberg like this. Indeed when Cubase 4 was released, promised updates to clear bugs in V3 were abandoned, this resulted in many users changing over to Sonar. I don't think I know of any "converts" who are dissatisfied. It seems the workflow differences are the only big changes other than relatively minor features being missing from one or the other.

Overall, if you like good support and frequent updates from a company who seem to listen to their user base, I think Sonar is the only logical choice. JMHO!

EDIT: P.s. From what you said about usage I don't think Remy's point about Nuendo is relevant either. Sonar can show video clips so you can sync to video, but a video editor it is not! Many users seem to use multiple software and don't appear to have major problems with import/export. Again these facilities have been enhanced considerably over the last two releases.

Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 3:19 am

I chose Sonar only because I don't like dongles. If Cubase didn't have a dongle, I would have chosen it.

Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 4:27 am

Yes, DX plug-ins are no longer natively supported in Cubase4 but they can be used just fine within a wrapper. Many plug-ins come in different varieties, VST, DX, AU, etc. This was really only a big problem for people who had existing projects that used DX plugins. When they loaded in the older projects cubase would not load the plug-ins. To fix that, users had to reconfigure their project with a wrapper and apply their DX plugs as needed. For people who used Waves, DX, they had to jump through a couple hoops to change from using the DX version to VST.
BUT, for a new user, I don't see any of this being a problem.

I haven't use Sonar a lot. The last time I checked it out was 4 years ago. At that time Cubase just simply blew it away as far as MIDI implementation/functionality was concerned which was one of my major concerns. I've heard great things about Sonar's 64bit implementation which has been out for a couple years now whereas Steinberg just released a 'beta' version with Cubase4.

I'm not going to say alot because I can't really compare/contrast the two applications but here's what one recent convert had to say about his switch from PT. Check out the other posts there as well. There's plenty pointing out problems and plenty giving it props.

Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 4:29 am

fmw wrote:

I chose Sonar only because I don't like dongles. If Cubase didn't have a dongle, I would have chosen it.

Assuming Cubase didn't require the dongle, why would you pick it over Sonar?

Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 5:44 am

If I went with Sonar, what other scoring software is out there?

Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 8:52 am

pr0gr4m wrote:

Yes, DX plug-ins are no longer natively supported in Cubase4 but they can be used just fine within a wrapper.

Do you know what specific wrappers are available to use my DX plug-ins in Cubase 4? I have been looking and the only one I found is no longer compatible.

Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 4:28 pm

FFX4
or
EffectsChainer

There's another one called buzz or something like that. It seemed a bit complicated to set up.

Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 5:09 pm

bigtree wrote:

(W)hat other scoring software is out there?

Leisure Suit Larry?

Fruity Loops?

Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 8:38 pm

pr0gr4m wrote:

fmw wrote:

I chose Sonar only because I don't like dongles. If Cubase didn't have a dongle, I would have chosen it.

Assuming Cubase didn't require the dongle, why would you pick it over Sonar?

It just has better placement among pro studios. I don't think it does anything Sonar can't do for my purposes. It would have to be really, really, really special to get me to buy a piece of software with a dongle.

Posted: Fri Nov 21, 2008 4:19 am

pr0gr4m wrote:

I haven't use Sonar a lot. The last time I checked it out was 4 years ago. At that time Cubase just simply blew it away as far as MIDI implementation/functionality was concerned which was one of my major concerns. I've heard great things about Sonar's 64bit implementation which has been out for a couple years now whereas Steinberg just released a 'beta' version with Cubase4.

That's why I mentioned the overhaul of MIDI with Sonar 7. It really has changed almost beyond recognition now and I have seen very few criticisms of the new implementation. Personally I find Sonar more intuitive than Cubase, but that is probably because I have been using Cakewalk products for so long now.

4 Years ago you would be comparing Sonar 4 to Cubase 3 (I think). Sonar 8 is almost unrecognisable from Sonar 4. I have a good friend still using Sonar 4 and whenever he asks a question (he's not very technical and calls at least weekly) I find I have to open Sonar 4 (still on my system for this very reason) just so I can work out how I used to do things! It reallly highlights the improvements that have been made.

Posted: Sat Nov 22, 2008 1:13 pm

Thanks for your opinions all.

I'm going with Sonar 8. Sounds like its a step ahead of Cubase. From what I understand, it does have a basic scoring feature ( Staff View) that will hopefully be updated. If not, there are a few third party options out there. Has anyone used Sibelius, Finale or Overture..?

Posted: Sat Nov 22, 2008 6:53 pm

I suppose it's too late now but I use Cubase still. It's a great program. I've used Sonar in the past and it's alright. It has it's own issues. I can't remember but I'm pretty sure it had issues with my interface. The thing I don't like about Sonar is their insistence on maintaining DX plugins. It's one of few DAWs that still use this platform. Of course you can use VST with a wrapper.

The support issues with Cubase I think have improved quite a bit since Yamaha took over and Avid(as in Pinnacle and Digidesign) dropped out of the picture.

I think at this point it all comes down to personal preference.

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