Hello to everyone! I have been thinking about buying a digital recording machine like the BR1180, Zoom 1266, or the Korg digital recordings but the price is to steep for me. My question is, has anyone in this group used the "Cakewalk SONAR2.2XL Multitrack PC Recording Studio"? It cost about $400.00! I have been thinking about going to PC recordings but I understand you have to really know what your're doing!! Please advice me. Your opinon counts and will make a big diffrence. Thank you very much!

Aloha!!
Johnny

Highly recommended (by me, anyway). I use it together with the Roland StudioPak with great results!

(I also have an MRS-1266 which is a killer machine as a standalone workstation - but with USB is even better....)

I use Sonar, but targetted at midifie creation. I import audio tracks from CD for comparative purposes during this process.

Is is pretty easy to use given the complexity of the problem. You can import audio or record directly then chop it up and cut and paste it around. There are also bundled audio effects but I don't know how good they are! Naturally the usual limiting factors are processor power, memory, and hard disc capability/capacity.

The downside of the PC is that you really need a non-budget soundcard as the quality of the converters on the soundcard will otherwise not be as good as those on the portastudio. I think you need to be looking at Audigy or better to be able to record seriously noise free, and even then the PC is not the most interference free device and you may get some occasional crackles (such as when the freezer kicks in).

I have been using Cakewalk products for a while now and love them. I think computer based DAW workstations are getting more and more affordable and stable. MacAllcock is right though, you will need a pro quality sound card to be able to get good quality sound out of the computer. ASIO based cards are the best. I use an ECHO Gina card. Also, having the ability to add plug-ins is some thing you can't do with hardware units.

It also depends on the kind of computer you have (processing speed, RAM and HD space/speed). Make sure before you buy Sonar, your computer meets the requirements of the software.

Over the years I have used cakewalk stuff, I have learned that having a dedicated PC for audio is the best thing. I also recommend having a dedicated second HD for Sonar only.

A Midiman delta 44 or even an Audiophile soundcard if you'll only need two inputs can both be had for less than $300 USD and will give you comparable results vs many of the standalone digital recorders. These use ASIO drivers and support the 24 / 96 standard. The Soundblaster stuff is ok too, and I haven't tried the Audigy, but I get noticably better quality and results ( S/N in particular )with the Audiophile vs the SB Live card I have installed. I kept the SB live however as a second midi interface and because I use soundfonts ( Creative's sampler technolgy ).

I'm in agreement here. The main reason that I use the software approcah is because of the flexbility and capability of adding plug ins to it.

AJ

I thank you all and for those who have been responding to my post about the "Cakewalk Sonar for PC". I appreciated all of the input that has been given. In the mean time, I am 99% shure I will probably get the Sonar. As for the sound card, I have the Delta 66 sound card along with the "OMNI I/O Integrated Desktop Audio Station". Everything is installed on an HP 1.2 GIG computer with 128 ram but probably upgrade to 256 ram once I get the sonar.
Again, thank you all very much!
Aloha!!!
Islander

Bluezplayer,
Have you tried the LiveSynthPro DXi plugin
soundfont player with Sonar(to possibly
replace your SB Live Card)?

The Fostex vf 80 Digital recorder is down to $399 with a 20 GB Hard drive. It alows to slow down without pitch change to learn fast licks. It allows for removal of vocals from CD's. It is 8 tracks.

You just turn it on and start recording. You don't even have to wait for it to boot up everytime a thought crosses your mind that you'd like to record right away before you leave the house for any reason.

I'm looking hard at this recorder my self.

Thanks for the info brickboo!

Johnny

The only downside to being part of this forum is being reminded of the continued disparity between UK and US prices. I've been looking at portable stuff and concluded that the VF80 is about my minimum spec. Except over here it's 399 pounds sterling....