Australian
Musician Spring 2002
Cakewalk's
release last year of it's flagship audio/MIDI
sequencer "SONAR" was seen as truly
groundbreaking even for a company like Cakewalk.
The interface was great (still is with 2.0XL
and with some added benefits) and the whole
package was stable and intuitive to use. I
guess the Cakewalk tech heads must be workaholics
because it is rare to see such a major upgrade
so soon after an initial release. So what is
new in Sonar 2.0?
The
significance of DXi's (plug - in synths built
with Microsoft's Direct X technology,
first seen in Sonar) in Cakewalk's climb
to international prominence cannot be underestimated
and this technology is further enhanced in
Sonar 2.0 with improved performance and easier
integration. DX Instruments are an exciting
new form of software synthesizer with super
low latency and loads of response. In Sonar,
DXi's are used as plug-ins but can now also
be loaded by selecting View-Synth Rack.
The
Synth Rack which is new to Sonar 2.0 is used
to view and configure your DXi's, Rewire instruments
(also new to Sonar 2.0, which means ReBirth
and Reason work seamlesly in integrated bliss
in Sonar 2.0) and Stand alone synths and Soundfonts.
Each time you insert a new synth into a song
a row appears in the Synth Rack view with it's
name, and current preset. Presets can be changed
in the Synth Rack view and all the synths relevant
information is at your fingertips.
Sonar
2.0 supports the new CM Labs MotorMix, Roland
U-8, Peavey StudioMix and Tascam US-428 external
controllers and also provides support for many
other brands of controllers via a generic software
interface or Sonar's online help. These are
by no means minor inclusions and will hopefully
make the competition change their mean spirited
ways of "Use our software, use our extremely
expensive controller - only."
Cyclone
is a new DXi from Cakewalk that is basically
a sampler which allows you to play Wave files,
Riff Wave files, substitute beats, trigger
loops, and is great for ACIDized loops. You
basically import the sample in the above file
formats and assign them to
16
pads and manipulate away using the pads sync,
tempo, volume, pan, mute, solo and loop knobs.
You can also control pad group parameters such
as velocity-low, velocity-high, tails (extends
the "tail" or decay of a slice) and
Pitch Markers that automatically transpose
loops to the Sonar 2.0 song that you are working
on.
Cyclone
is a multi-output DXi that is launched simply
by inserting it into a Sonar song. The value
of Cyclone makes Sonar 2.0 the most competitive
Audio/MIDI sequencer on the market based on
price alone. Cyclone has a unique feel to it
but is simple to get the hang of.
Sonar
2.0 contains stunningly good but simple to
use new drum features, including the Drum Grid
Pane, the Pattern Brush Tool and Drum Maps.
These features allow you to edit drum kits,
drum parts, map notes from the same track to
different outputs, and a whole range of various
applications.
New
to Sonar 2.0 is the ability to save Groove
clips (digital audio clips that "know"
their tempo and pitch information and automatically
respond to changes in a songs tempo) as Riff
Wave Files. Sonar 2.0 now
has many and varied file management capabilities
that are probably the best of any sequencer
on the market from locating missing files,
restoring missing files to saving a song, and
it's audio in the best way that suits your
workflow.
Sonar
2.0 has a formidable array of effects from
Mastering gems Sonic Timeworks Compressor (
with XL version) and Mastering EQ to the ReValver
SE amp simulator that we have used before and
reckon is as good as Amp Farm. You also get
analogue synth emulation and the ‘so
cool’ DR-008 (XL version) advanced DXi drum
synth sampler.
With
multi national computer corporations purchasing
some of our favourite software and making it
Operating System exclusive, you need look no
further for an all in one Windows based audio/MIDI
sequencer that can do it all and more.
Things
we liked: Cyclone DXi 16 part groove sampler,
Synth Rack, Reason/REbirth integration.
Things
we don't like : Please make this for a Mac!
Things
on the way: OMF support so you can transfer
files from home environment to a Pro tools
Studio, plus support for Mackie Control surface.
What
we reckon:
QUALITY
PLAYABILITY
BANG-F0R-YOUR-BUCK
OVERALL
