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Cubase SX 3.0 vs Sonar 4.0
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Zombie0729
we all know Steinberg & Cakewalk have been battling for years about who has the better sequencer and with both of their new versions coming out at the same time i'm curious where people will lean.

i know most people use cubase now, but the difference between sx 2 & sx 3 doesn't seem worth the 400-500$ upgrade. I use sonar 3 and the sonar 4 upgrade seems well worth it, if you guys want i can list spec's on each.


i'm curious what everyone is thinking though. will you choose cubase just out of convience? sonar because of all the new features and the immense looping & multi-depth pan capabilites now?


Top-10 new features of Cubase SX3


Audio Warp: Realtime Time Stretching and Pitch Shifting offer extensive new audio editing and processing capabilities, including ACID® File support: loops automatically adopt a project’s tempo; audio files can follow tempo changes in realtime.


Intuitive Play Order Track for pattern-based arranging adds a new level of creative music editing. Divide your song into sections, and then re-arrange it on the fly. Compare alternative versions of your song and then convert them back into a linear form for mixdown and mastering.


New Inplace Editor supports ultra-fast direct MIDI event editing from within the project page. Edit MIDI events in context with audio or video.


New MIDI Device Maps / Panels support direct access to external MIDI hardware with user-definable graphic editing panels. Import VST Mixer Maps or create your own editing panels, even for the Track Inspector or the mixer’s channel strip.


User-definable Workspaces (window layouts) help organizing your desktop. Create and save a separate workspace for each step of the production process. Switch Workspaces on the fly, as if working on multiple computers or monitors.


Studio Connections “Total Recall” support (optional integration of Yamaha’s Studio Manager 2). The first step into a new dimension of software/hardware integration. This modular editing system builds a powerful bridge between the virtual and physical studio. Opening a project can recall an entire studio setup within seconds.


External FX Plugins allow for direct integration of external hardware effects processors into the VST audio mixer. Use your favorite outboard gear just like plugins – including automatic delay compensation.


Extended Freeze function for virtual instruments and audio tracks with added flexibility and improved performance. Freeze virtual instruments with or without insert effects. Then automatically unload the instrument to free up RAM. Freeze audio tracks with insert effects to free up even more CPU performance.


New part-based Volume Envelopes for direct control of dynamics. Fix level problems on the fly without wasting automation tracks. Then move events with their volume envelopes.


User-definable Color Coding for tracks and VST mixer channels provides more clarity and better orientation – especially in complex projects.

Cakewalk Sonar 4.0
Producer Edition exclusives

Multi-format surround mixing and editing with over 30 configurations supported (5.1, 7.1, LCRS, etc.).

Intuitive surround panner: focus, width, angle, front/rear balance controls, LFE send; speaker muting & soloing; control surface/joystick support.

Lexicon® Pantheon™ Surround Reverb—get the pristine sound of classic Lexicon Reverbs—for the first time ever in multi-channel environments up to 5.1. Stereo version of Lexicon Pantheon also included.

Sonitus Surround Compressor—a professional, nine-channel compressor specifically designed for surround applications.

SurroundBridge™—use stereo plug-ins in multi-channel environments. Patches and links plug-ins across all channels on a surround bus allowing for control from a single UI. Unlink for different settings on different channels.

Sonitus:fx Suite—critically acclaimed automatable effects: Compressor, Delay, Gate, Modulator, Multiband Compressor, Parametric EQ, Phase, Reverb, Surround, Wah wah.

Video Thumbnail track—makes scoring to video even easier, perfectly align audio with on-screen action, auto-snap to frame, more.

POW-r Dithering—unique, patent pending algorithms for converting 20, 24, and 32 bit audio to CD standard 16-bit format, while retaining dynamic efficiency and very low noise, optimized for use with all sample rates.

Prosoniq MPEX time scaling—great for matching audio to video or for loop/sample authoring.

Dynamic Console with per-channel EQ and assignable FX controls—access effect and EQ setting directly from the Console view without opening plug-in windows.

video for cakewalk here:
http://www.cakewalk.com/Products/SONAR/s4video.asp
video for steinberg cubase 3.0:
Here
Subtle
I do think Steinberg is a little more innovative than Sonar, I have never used Sonar.. only tested demos and I do think their is an easier approach in learning and using Cubase.. (just what I am thinking) the VST`s featured in Sonar beats the crap out of the VST bundled in Cubase.. thats a fact..

basically it is just a matter of taste really..

but could u please list the specs on both.. would be great..

:)
burns
Bring on SX 3.0 !!
Zombie0729
you gotta watch the video on the surround panner, its such a good idea

also the loop construction video is superb
Subtle
hmm... well, the Cubase SX 3 features looks much more tempting than the Sonar ones.. I mean.. surround and video features are hardly useable for the masses.. in regards of trance production..

in SX 3 u got the Dynamic Events, Screensets, Inplace editor, Play Order track and color coding etc..

I must say SX 3 looks more than tempting..

:)
Zombie0729
i will admit, steinberg's website was easier to get info off of. Cakewalks listed all 100 new features and i dont have the time to go through all of them and pick out whats good for us. Some independent research might be needed
Expher
SX3 is really tempting... can't... hold... me... :D
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