Recording - June 2014 - 26

...where we bring you follow-up articles
with application hints and upgrade news
about gear already reviewed in Recording

&

Cakewalk SONAR X3 Producer
New tools are the crowning touch on a very tasty upgrade
by Allen Goodman

Having used one iteration or another of Cakewalk's sequencing/DAW software ever
since I had an actual Roland MPU-401 interface card running on a 80286 PC with
DOS (I'm dating myself here), I am pleased to announce that the newest version of its
flagship, SONAR X3, is no letdown. It's certainly changed throughout the years, but like
any software it has definitely matured-and for the better.
I reviewed this version on my main DAW, which currently houses an AMD Phenom
X4 975 3.6 GHz processor with 16 GB of RAM, running Windows 7 64-bit along
with an insane amount of storage capacity. Speaking of
which, the minimal install is 4.5GB and the full install with
all content runs around 20 GB. Also note that as of X3,
SONAR no longer supports Windows earlier than version 7.
With version X2 Cakewalk focused on the interface and
stability, rather than bundled tools and sweeping changes.
Now, with X3, SONAR sees upgrades in performance, interface, and an upgraded selection of new tools.
There are still the old familiar faces that were upgraded with
the introduction of Skylight in SONAR X1: the Matrix View,
Piano Roll, Loop Construction, Step Sequencer, and the Smart
Tool, which changes context depending on what sort of action
you are performing. The main sections still remain the same,
and provide a logical form for SONAR on your desktop; however, as in previous versions you still have the ability to move
windows around within the interface to make it your own.
What's included?
As with previous releases of SONAR, Cakewalk offers
three versions to suit your specific needs or price range, with
multiple upgrade paths. The core program spans all three
versions; the only difference is the extras. Be sure to check out the Cakewalk website
for the version comparison and decide for yourself what you'll need. For this review I'll
be discussing the top-end SONAR X3 Producer, which bundles an impressive list of
new plug-ins, such as:
Addictive Drums by XLN Audio. This is the full version of this powerful virtual drum
software. It comes with fast load times, a lot of flexibility, and professional-sounding
drum samples. There are hundreds of presets and thousands of MIDI rhythms recorded by pro drummers.
Lounge Lizard Session, by Applied Acoustics Systems, gives you the sounds of the
Rhodes electric piano right at your fingertips. The unit comes with many presets that
you can fiddle with to your heart's desire, as well as many effects.
Strum Acoustic Session, also by AAS, lets you experience the feel of an acoustic guitar right from your keyboard. It is modeled to let you strum and voice chords without
ever having to pick up a guitar.
SONAR offers up a 64-bit end-to-end double precision engine, while still allowing
you to use 32-bit plug-ins via Bit Bridge. SONAR also includes the capability to mix
surround sound with plug-in support via Surround Bridge. Supported file formats
include WMA, WAV, FLAC, MP3, AIFF, and quite a few others, including various video
formats such as AVI, QuickTime and MPEG.
What's New?
SONAR X3 now supports the VST3 format, and now displays VST2/VST3 in separate folders in the browser window. SONAR also automatically detects new plug-ins,
meaning no re-scanning, and will automatically switch to the VST3 version in a project
if both versions are available. Cool!
Track colors can now be customized, which is really handy for managing large projects. Apply a color to a particular bus, and SONAR will automatically color all the tracks
that are connected. Another streamline to the workflow is the new audio comping system,
26

RECORDING June 2014

which allows you to record multiple track
takes, and then composite the results
together to obtain the perfect end result.
Getting your stuff out "there" used to be
an arduous task, but not any more. SONAR
X3 now adds YouTube integration, as well
as Gobbler, to its existing SoundCloud integration.
This may be bad news for some diehard
fans, but V-Vocal is gone. In its place, however, Cakewalk brings in Celemony's
Melodyne Essential. Fully integrated into
SONAR X3, this powerful plug-in enables

you to do advanced audio pitch correction, time stretching and audio-to-MIDI conversion. Cakewalk has placed Melodyne
directly into the software by supporting
Audio Random Access technology; you
just click to work with Melodyne, no extra
editor window is required. To convert
audio to MIDI, just drop an audio clip onto
a MIDI track! It's really nicely done and
will save a lot of time for many users.
QuadCurve EQ Zoom is a sweet little
EQ plug-in with a large interface and builtin spectral analyzer. It expands from the
mixer and provides some seriously slick
and intuitive control of your sound. The
Tape Emulator is another new addition and
resides in the ProChannel. Need some
warmth? Plop it in, pair it with the Console
Emulator, and add some luscious analogue warmth. Tone2 rounds out the package beautifully with biFilter2, with 47 filter
types, 100 presets, and 8 distortion types.
But wait! There's more!
SONAR X3 also includes effects suites,
each of which contains numerous plug-ins to
help with a wide range of workflows.
There's Nomad Factory Blue Tubes FX
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