Originally Posted By: jazzmandan
After many years of Reaper I am seeing some cracks in its armor and this may be a good time to look elsewhere.

Since I am on a PC I am considering Cakewalks Sonar Artist.

I need:

1) a "professional" package
2) Solid performance - meaning bug free
3) Must handle midi as well as the best
4) must have a good user forum for help as needed
5) must be compatible with my collection of VSTs

Any thoughts?


Dan, I would suggest having a look at the Cakewalk lineup. Before you jump in, I would suggest either downloading the demo version of Sonar, or to enter for a lesser sum of money, get the Music Creator 7 DAW.

While the MC7 DAW is considered to be a "beginner's DAW" I would beg to differ. It is a full featured DAW and will run 99.9% of the professionally written VST's, synths, and FX plugs on the market. The only things I found that would NOT run on Music Creator were in fact, not the VST itself, but the sound sample set for some third party written things. And that was a sound font set supposedly written for SFZ. In addition, when you buy MC7, you get a bunch of synths and plugs that, if sold by themselves, would be worth the cost of the entire package. I really love the Cakewalk Sound Center Synth. Sampled sounds and a bunch of inexpensive add-on packs are available depending on what you need.

I ran the MC line on my DAW for many years and never exceeded it's capabilities. MC7 has actually broken through some of the limitations that MC, 4,5 & 6 had. I haven't kept up with the specs but I think it now allows more than 2 inputs at a time and the synth limit of 8 is now 24 IIRC.

Sonar and MC both have a very active and knowledgeable forum membership. I was quite active in the MC forums for a time and still pop in over there to assist with questions and problems. I have never regretted buying the Cakewalk line.

The only question you need to ask yourself regarding cakewalk is which product will do the job you need? Look at the specs and make that decision for yourself.

I have used the MC line with great results and satisfaction for years and only cross graded to Sonar X1 essentials because CW offered a "no-brainer" cross-grade deal to get X1e at a killer price. It does everything I need.

Here>>> http://www.cakewalk.com/Products/Music-Creator

You can find my music at:
www.herbhartley.com
Add nothing that adds nothing to the music.
You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both.

The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.