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SONAR SONAR Platinum SONAR X3 Producer

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Funkybot's Evil Twin wrote:
baaz wrote:How good is the bundled Drum replacer plug-in? Anyone using it ?
Just tried it for the first time. The idea of ARA drum replacement is great, and it seems to work pretty well on first glance. So after a few minutes...

Pros
ARA integration is nice

Ease of use is high

Cons

Haven't found a way to audition samples before loading them
You can use the media browser to preview the sound then drag and drop it.

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brozobob wrote:Did a new install from Bandlab Assistant yesterday. My Studio Instruments showed up as "Uncatagorized" and looked like this: SI-Strings (32-bit). They are located in the C:\\Program Files directory so should be 64-bit, but they are a yellow color in the Uncatagorized folder, same with the other Studio Instruments. Same behavior with a new install of Dimention Pro. It show Dimension Pro x64 - (32-bit)...also in the C:\\Program Files tree...not Program Files (x86).

Any thoughts as to why? I installed this earlier in the month on another PC, and didn't have the same issue.
They really shouldn't be showing as 32-bit as this is a fully 64-bit install as far as I know. Have you installed a previous version? I don't see how that's possible otherwise.

As for them being in the 'Program Files' directory, that doesn't necessarily mean they have to be 64-bit. You can have 32-bit programs in there as well. It's a common misunderstanding. If they are showing up as 32-bit programs then I would wager that they are indeed 32-bit no matter their source directory.

As for your studio instruments showing up as uncategorized, that shouldn't be happening either. But it's not a major problem. If you want to put them in to their correct folder then do this: Right click on the instrument then when a dialog box pops up you can select the right category from the drop down box. They will then move to the correct place.

Sounds like you've had a previous install and something has got confused somewhere along the line. Did you have Sonar on your computer before? It sounds like you will need to reinstall, including your Dimension Pro. The Bandlab installer is a mess, sorry to say.

It took me about 12 hours to correctly install this program. It's a nightmare. The fact I uninstalled my previous version of Sonar Home Studio didn't help. I should have just installed in parallel. They both work together.

One thing you should be aware of is the fact that the Classic Creative suite is not included with this version of Cakewalk/Sonar. If you had SHS or Sonar previously then you will already have them, but if you uninstall like I did they will be unregistered and will not show up. Even though they will still be in the shared plugins folder. This is because they are Direct X plugins. They don't show up in a VST scan so it's pointless trying to get them to work like that.

I had to reinstall my older version of SHS, then install the Creative suite that comes as another installer, then they showed up automatically after being 'registered' again.

If you have not had a previous version of Sonar then these plugins are not included in this Bandlab version for some reason. This is a pain because there are calls to these plugins in the Pro-channel so a certain amount of those presets will not work.

See what plugins are missing here:

https://www.cakewalk.com/Products/SONAR/Versions

Look under Creative Suite -

AliasFactor
Chorus/Flanger
Classic Phaser
Compressor/Gate
HF Exciter
Modfilter
Para-Q
Tempo Delay

There is a spreadsheet that tells you what it omitted from this release but I'm not sure how up to date it is. They seem to be including new stuff such as the Sonar Theme Editor, so it's not gospel.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... edit#gid=0

Also they say that the Percussion Strip and the Vocal Strip and the Tube Leveler are not included, but they show up and work for me. This is odd as I only ever owned SHS before and they weren't included in that release either. Only in Sonar Platinum.

I'm not complaining. This version definitely seems a bit more stable than my previous SHS which was a real crash fest.

If you want to get the missing plugins I believe you can still get SHS on the Computer Music magazine. I think that comes with Rapture Session as well which is excellent and comes with nearly 4GB of sounds. Both my Z3ta and previous version of Rapture showed up and worked no problem with this new install.

It would be worth paying the few quid for CM just to get that Rapture library, never mind the missing plugins. I believe you also get a library by Big Fish Audio as well with that version.

Who knows, maybe Bandlab will include those missing plugins at a future date.

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Also they say that the Percussion Strip and the Vocal Strip and the Tube Leveler are not included, but they show up and work for me.
Can I use those you mentioned in another DAW even after I delete Cakewalk. I mean, they are just regular VST effects like the Sonitus?

Thanks!
John
"B4serenity"

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gave it a try after they fixed that pesky antivirus problem.

this is without a doubt a bomb in the daw market. thats a professional STUDIO tool for nuts. unbelievable.
my first impression maybe wrong, but compared to my first impressions testing cubase or studio one once its allover on par with these daws - with their big suites. not the limited ones for starters.
tbh this is almost a waste of talent on the usual edm bedroomproducer. i couldnt even utilize it properly without the right equipment, i bet. i recommend 3-4 widescreens. and a mixing console^^. :D

geez...how dumb is gibson to waste this?

very underrated software indeed.

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b4serenity wrote:.... I mean, they are just regular VST effects like the Sonitus?
The Sonitus effects included in Cakewalk are not VST -- they are DX.

A VST version was offered for purchase separately years ago... but if you didn't buy them, then what you have are the DX version.

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b4serenity wrote:
Can I use those you mentioned in another DAW even after I delete Cakewalk. I mean, they are just regular VST effects like the Sonitus?

Thanks!
I just loaded up my 64-bit Reaper and I can confirm they do work. You need to add the Cakewalk path to your VST folders of course.

Also the Softube Saturation Knob works and the Boost11 Limiter.

They are in the Shared Utilities>Internal folder, so back that up before you uninstall. Whether they will actually work then you will have to see. I would imagine that they do. Obviously they are 64-bit plugins so keep that in mind.

The Sonitus FX suite is DXi only as well iirc and 64-bit. They showed up in Reaper just now. They don't work in 32-bit hosts obviously - I just checked to be sure.

The good news is that if you have the Classic Creative Suite including the plugins I listed in my previous post, they will show up in Reaper x64.

The Classic Suite also shows up in Sound Forge which can load DXi plugins as well, but that is because I have 32-bit versions of them in my previous install of SHS.

Not sure how many x64 DAWs there are that load DXi these days.

Samplitude can apparently -
http://forum.cakewalk.com/m/tm.aspx?m=3708013&p=11

You need to make a change to the .ini file or whatever. This means you should be able to use the Sonitus FX and also the extra ones I listed in this post.

=====================================
DX plugs (Sonitus) are turned off by default.
Here is how to enable DX plugs:

Edit "Sam_X64.ini". (located in "C:\ProgramData\MAGIX\Samplitude Pro X3 Suite")
Insert this line under [setup]:

NoDirectXInit=0

It should look like this when you are done:

[Setup]
NoDirectXInit=0
NoASIOBoost=1
MidiInDontUseSysex=1

/***********************************************/

Don't forget to add the dx folder path: "C:\Program Files\Cakewalk\Shared Plugins"
The Sonitus compressor and gate do not work because of the incompatible method of sidechaining that Cakewalk implemented.
======================================

And you can even use them in Studio One as well:

http://forum.cakewalk.com/m/tm.aspx?m=3696738

=====================================

So here's the deal...this assumes a 64-bit OS and 64-bit Studio One Professional.

1. Go to https://www.xlutop.com/buzz/zip/
2. Download the zip file dxshell_v1.0.4b.zip
3. Extract it.
4. Copy the files dxshell.x64.dll and dxishell.64x.dll to the folder where Studio One looks for VST plug-ins.

That's pretty much it...open Studio One, and you'll see all the 64-bit DX and DXi plug-ins...this includes Groove Player, Cyclone, SFZ, Z3TA+, PSYN II, and...wait for it...the TTS-1!
============================================


You can even force the Compressor and Gate to work in Reaper:

http://forum.cakewalk.com/m/tm.aspx?m=3696738&p=10

===================================
For Reaper. In case someone want Sonitus Compressor and Gate,
find the following in %APPDATA%\REAPER\reaper-dxplugins64.ini
and make sure "Load=1" is set for both (Reaper set it to "0")

[{C54E2D60-F9CA-11D2-8C30-00805FE9FC03}]
Name=Sonitus:fx Compressor
Load=1
[{C54E2D90-F9CA-11D2-8C30-00805FE9FC03}]
Name=Sonitus:fx Gate
Load=1

Notes:
* no side chaining
* if you force Reaper re-scan DX plug-ins, they will be reset to "0" (but continue to work in existing projects)
* the compressor adds one buffer delay (not Reaper specific, just simpler to see in it).
============================================


I've got a bit confused with things because I must have installed the 32-bit version of SHS first of all (which I then deleted before installing the Bandlab 64-bit version). That is why I still had the 32-bit versions of the Classic Suite still on my system. They weren't deleted when I uninstalled.

So the DirectX Sonitus suite of FX is only 64-bit with the Bandlab version. There is no Classic Suite either as I've mentioned. At all.

If you want the 32-bit versions of Sonitus and the five plugins I've mentioned above (the channel strips etc.), and the Classic Suite, you will have to buy the SHS version from somewhere if you can't get it at CM mag. Either that or another version of Sonar will have them.

I just installed the 32-bit version of SHS on top of my 64-bit SHS install, and now the Sonitus FX are showing up along with the channel strips etc.

I tried to use FLStudio as well to load DXi but they stopped supporting it in version 11.


There is a separate installer containing the Creative Suite when you get SHS and that gives you the option to install either 32-bit or 64-bit.

Then you should be able to use the Sonitus Suite FX, the Classic Creative Suite FX and the Vocal Strip, Percussion Strip, Boost Limiter, Softube Saturation Knob and the Tube Leveler in either 32-bit or 64-bit hosts as long as they support DXi for the relevant plugs (Sonitus and Classic FX).

In fact, the Softube Knob doesn't show up from the 32-bit install, so scrap that. The others work though.


So to answer your question b4serenity, yes I think you should be able to use those in another DAW, but remember that the Sonitus FX are not VST, they are DXi (as is the Classic Suite).

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Thanks so much for the help guys! I use REAPER as well so shouldn't be a problem.
John
"B4serenity"

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I downloaded and installed this to see what all the fuss was about and the fat that I used it quite a bit but on Windows 3.1 eons ago back when you had to have an arsenal of hardware to make a peep.

-The fact that this is free is mind blowing, though BECAUSE it's free, it might go unappreciated.

-I found some annoying things about it, which if were taken care of, I'd probably use it as my primary DAW.

-Screensets, while potentially useful, are fidgety to the point of not being useful. Things are always moving around not where I set them. They are specific to the project and NOT global which makes no sense.

-I find the lack of midi note names on the notes highly irritating. Coming from Cubase I rely on that feature to make sense of the mass of midi information.

-Drum maps and track templates. Go forbid you save a track template, which is a great feature, with a drum map, if you have other drum maps in the same project, it will load ALL of them if you later load that one track in a new project. That means you have to load the Track Template, then load the drum map, then go change the target if you have more than one map, way too many steps. Cubase does this elegantly.

-CAL needs to be resurrected OR replaced with something newer like Lua or Javascript. There are brilliant CAL programs out there I've collected that boggle the mind in terms of adding esoteric midi functions, dropping CAL was a BIG MISTAKE though it still works somehow.

There are other little niggles here and there but and things I wish for but could live with. The fast start up, efficient use of resources, ProChannel, keyboard driven GUI, real fullscreen, Step Sequencer etc., CAL are great. It this thing were cleaned up some it would be fantastic...
"and the Word was Sound..."
https://www.youtube.com/user/InLightTone

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Along with scripting, they should resurrect StudioWare (the editor was removed in version 3 I think).
- dysamoria.com
my music @ SoundCloud

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After using this for a few weeks I have revised my initial positive opinion.

Its temperamental.

Midi input is hit or miss. It does not like multiple usb interfaces.

I had a nice template setup, and then it decided to do its own thing and boot up as it wished.

Deleted the template, re-made a new one, nope, no dice.

Its not buggy in the sense of it crashing the whole daw. Its buggy in that sometime things work, and sometimes they dont. It has a mind of its own. :(

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@dellboy - You 100% correct with that assessment. As a long time Sonar user I can confirm that it is one frustratingly buggy program. Complete crashes happen less often (but more than any DAW I've ever used). It's the 'little' odd occurrences that happen frequently and can grind a work session to a halt, like missing midi notes even with a small number of 64bit only vst's, strange volume changes, missing automation data, deleting a clip of muted midi data on a different lane which inexplicably deletes active midi data on another lane, the list goes on. And don't even think about using track freeze. It's never worked right, your instrument will come back changed and completely unrecognizable.

I don't care about Bandlab and whatever they're doing with Sonar, as long as what they are making shares the same code as Sonar I won't get within 100 miles of it. I migrated to Cubase and it's like night and day.

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@dellboy & @SomeTrees: I concur. I wanted to like it, but after about a month of using it, I can't get past all the bugs & quirks as well. I can't believe it was being sold as "professional" software in it's present state. That and the lack of note names on the midi notes in the PRV are a show stopper for me coming from Cubase. Too bad because if it were functioning correctly, there is some nice stuff in there like Cal, the Step Sequencer etc....
"and the Word was Sound..."
https://www.youtube.com/user/InLightTone

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Has Bandlab updated their installer to allow users to change the installation drive?

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tooneba wrote:Has Bandlab updated their installer to allow users to change the installation drive?
Yes...

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Trancit wrote:
tooneba wrote:Has Bandlab updated their installer to allow users to change the installation drive?
Yes...
Cool thx

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