SONAR 6 Raises the Bar

Interview: Page (1) of 2 - 10/06/06

SONAR 6 Raises the Bar Cakewalk's Steve Thomas gives a guided tour of latest upgrade to the company's flagship DAW application By Frank Moldstad

SONAR 6 screens
Although Cakewalk?s SONAR 6 upgrade incorporates about 100 new features, its overall development was guided by two goals, according to Cakewalk?s director of public relations Steve Thomas. ?The themes we are moving forward with in this release are control and sound quality,? he says.

For example, version 6 introduces a totally customizable user interface. ?This allows you to have control over your environment and customize it so that it works for you, which may be different than the way it's going to work for me,? says Thomas. Other control-oriented features include AudioSnap, for nondestructive manipulation of all audio and MIDI timing; a redesigned Synth Rack that gives access to all parameters without opening the synth UIs; and Active Controller Technology (ACT), which provides greatly expanded control over instruments and plug-ins when using MIDI controllers and control surfaces.

Meanwhile, taking advantage of the extended sonic headroom from SONAR?s 64-bit engine are a new native 64-bit plugin called the Vintage Channel with algorithms modeled from analog processors, and the Session Drummer 2 plugin, based on the high-quality non-aliasing engine behind Cakewalk?s Rapture and Dimension Pro soft synths.

?SONAR?s double precision 64-bit engine gives so much more to work with, offering higher resolution than 32-bit or 48-bit systems, which ensures signal integrity during the mixing and processing stages through to final output,? says Thomas.

SONAR 6 ships with two installable versions of the application, one for conventional 32-bit Windows XP and the other for Windows x64. Either version is able to access SONAR?s 64-bit internal processing engine for increased headroom with effects processing and mixing, which includes a Bit Bridge for using 32-bit plugins as well as native 64-bit plugins. Those who use the program with Windows x64 get additional performance benefits, such as being able to access up to 128 GB RAM, giving access to far higher simultaneous plugin and virtual instrument counts.

Steve Thomas
But SONAR's internal 64-bit engine is available in conventional 32-bit Windows XP machines. "You engage the 64-bit engine by going into Audio Options and checking a box. Then all throughout the signal path it' s 64-bit precision,? Thomas says. ?Our users are reporting fuller sounds and buses of combined plug-ins, smoother reverb tails, and more overall definition and body to their tracks.?

And the 64-bit technology, combined with the new features and workflow enhancements in SONAR 6, makes this a big release, Thomas says. ?Our developers and project management are just doing an excellent job of listening to users, looking at what's out there on the market and seeing how can we raise the bar.?

AudioSnap, for instance, is a unique feature that offers nondestructive, multitrack control over all audio and MIDI timing, Thomas says. ?You can take the rhythmic timing from one track and then apply it to another. You can lock multiple tracks to the same grooves, instantly change project tempos, or quickly extract the transients and create MIDI from that. This is like a drummer's dream for working with guitar players who aren't playing in the box. It's really cool. And you can slip stretch, you can quantize multiple tracks in relation to each other, which is really cool as well,? Thomas says.

?The thing that's most different from other types of products like this is we give you a lot of control over the types of time stretch algorithms,? he adds. ?If you've got drum material, then the type of time-stretching you want to apply is more of a Recycle slice-based kind of algorithm. And if you're doing bass or certain types of vocals, you want to use a real high quality type, which is the IZotope Radius, which we include, and you have five different flavors within that you can apply.?

Another new feature, Active Controller Technology (ACT), offers major new workflow conveniences when working with controllers and control surfaces, allowing them to automatically react to whatever plugin is the current focus.

?ACT will automatically control your MIDI control surfaces, hardware, virtual instruments, effects, and all SONAR?s mix parameters as well,? Thomas says. ?When you are in it, if you have, say, one of the Sonitus compressors upfront, then your controller is going to control the parameters of that. The minute you switch to your Console view, whatever track you are on, the parameter controls are going to be immediately mapped to that. Also, the first time you set this up, SONAR goes in and looks at what you?ve got and basically remembers everything. So you don't have to be saving things -- once you are there are SONAR is going to remember everything.?

As noted, the Track and Console Views, as well as the Synth Rack, have been extensively redesigned for SONAR 6.

?You can set up a custom UI that's just going to work for you, including layouts, custom menus, color schemes, and global tool bars, with full color customization,? Thomas says. ?You can be as minimalistic as you want, or you can put the whole enchilada in there. Plug-in menus are now very easy to organize for quick grouping of clones. We've also put in there something that users were asking about, audio hardware port naming. We also have custom widgets. And we've redesigned the Console View with a fresh look, so now you can slide, show, or hide any module or controller setting, or toggle between global or per channel.?

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