Logic 9 vs Sonar 8.5 vs Cubase 5

[xday32x]

So on the quest for a new DAW with the most up to date features, I have narrowed it down to either Logic Studio 9, Cubase 5 or Sonar Producer Edition 8.5. Now I am trying to narrow down those three to my specific needs. I am looking for high quality stock instrument sounds and user friendliness mainly. I use a lot of vsts/software instruments and I will be recording audio guitars, bass and vocals here and there. Also, I want a good drum sequencer that can replicate live drums for rock songs.... don't wanna record live drums!! I know there are similar posts to this, but I haven't seen any that include the latest versions of these 3 DAWs. Any input, pros/cons or opinions will be wayyyyy appreciated!

 

[houbal]

tried all of them , they are all very capable , and ull get the same result using the 3 daws , its about the person working and the workflow u feel comfortable with , i was a cubase user for 7 years now , thats why i use cubase 5 , but have tried logic and sonar and they are awesome too, just try them and see what suits you the best

 

[Xabiton]

well r u on a pc or mac?

 

[xday32x]

I don't have a pc or mac preference, familiar with both and I'm looking at getting a new computer soon that will be strictly for recording. If I decide to go with Logic, I will be getting a mac, if not it will be pc. I am hearing Logic has a pretty intuitive interface, almost similar to GarageBand? I also hear it has great instruments... this true? I also hear Cubase is a little more difficult to learn than most DAWs? I wish I could "rent" these things to try em!

 

[Xabiton]

in that case my fav of the bunch is sonar

 

[Lysol]

cubase made VST and been out long as PT, so I reccomend that.

 

[Inverted314]

Sonar is the best in-the-box value IMO. The plugins you get with it are great from production, to mixing, and mastering.

I can't comment on Logic I havn't used it. A shame because I hear it is similar to garageband interface wise, and if that is true then I want it now lol. It sucks most DAWs dont come with a demo these days.

 

[CPhoenix]

I don't have experience w/ Logic but I hear it's awesome.
I have experience w/ Sonar 8 (i think 8.1) and Cubase 5. Don't have experience w/ 8.5 of Sonar... but I know they made some serious upgrades like audio quantizing.

Cubase 5 vs. Sonar 8... Cubase haswon hands down for me for 2 reasons.. it seems more intuitive midi-wise and w/ VSTs for one, and two it runs smoother w/ ReWire IMO. For example, when you change loop points while ReWiring in Sonar, the playback skips a second or two... in Cubase, it plays smooth as a baby's ass. Yet then again this might n ot effect u if u get a new computer... this is just w/ my 2ghz CPU, but it's the principle! lol

Sonar is good don't get me wrong, but personally after using both i'd recommend Cubase.

 

[starbeezy]

From what you had describe, Sonar is the best of the 3. It comes with so many instruments out of the box like True Piano, Guitar Rig, Session Drummer, Rapture, and more.

 

[L. A. Stone]

Cubase is the most user friendly while probably having the least serious instruments. It is also the most advanced.

Logic has by far the best instruments, effects, presets, track presets, etc. It has been ahead of the game in that dept for 5 years or so, and nothing is trying to compete with that. Logic is also the least user friendly of all the popular sequencers. Can't have your cake and eat it too.

Sonar is kind of OK. I never could warm up to it. It has always felt like shareware. Clunky, and jerky. One thing Sonar and Logic have in common is the audio dropout. Both will suddenly stop audio playback for no reason at all. Both have a built in method for getting the audio engine started back. It's weird. Neither have solved this problem to date. That doesn't surprise me about Sonar, but while Logic suffers from pointless dropouts, it also has the smoothest audio engine of any sequencer. In other words, you can add a VST Instrument, during playback and the audio won't skip a beat, nothing. It's amazing really. You can add a track preset. That's a VST instrument with like 5 effects that load up automatically, during audio playback, and the audio won't skip a beat. Do that with Cubase and you'll wonder if your computer is going to explode. I'm told that this is because of Cubase's superior implementation of automatic plugin delay compensation which by the way works for both internal and external instruments and fx.

Cubase and Logic both have very powerful midi, but Cubase might have an edge for some of it's more advanced midi tools. Sonar is also pretty good.

Logic has horrible audio editing. You'll be surprised just how weak it is. Cubase is arguably the very best audio editor. The kind of powerful audio editor that makes you not need an external editor. It's that serious. Sonar is not bad but not near Cubase.

Cubase is my favorite but I would kill for all of Logic's instruments, fx, presets, etc, etc. That content is just amazing.

Oh yeah, IMHO.

 

[CPhoenix]

In other words, you can add a VST Instrument, during playback and the audio won't skip a beat, nothing. It's amazing really. You can add a track preset. That's a VST instrument with like 5 effects that load up automatically, during audio playback, and the audio won't skip a beat. Do that with Cubase and you'll wonder if your computer is going to explode. I'm told that this is because of Cubase's superior implementation of automatic plugin delay compensation which by the way works for both internal and external instruments and fx.

Sonar is even worse in this area IMO. It even takes longer for me to load a heavy project w/ 3-4 VSTs.
(Again.. my disclaimer is I have a weak CPU... but still, it's principle! lol Cubase is quicker. I'd love to try Logic one day.)

 

[dmensah1]

just a little advice. dont take our words for whats more user friendly. DAWs in that regard are very subjective. for example, I find ableton live very user friendly and easy to understand, many others cant wrap their heads around it. All 3 of those packages are very up to date. as far as features go, it appears that Sonar updates itself more often out of the 3 and Logic the least. Not that it is necessarily a bad thing. I use Logic 8. I havent upgraded to 9 yet. I can tell you, the included instruments and loops, FX presets/chains/templates are great! I own Sampletank 2.5, korg Digital, Ultra Analog, and NI Komplete and I find myself using the stock Logic stuff quite often. It can definitely hold its own and it is a very good start. Sonar Producer edition has a great offering of stock plugins and the Cakewalk synths like Dimension pro and Z3ta are very very good. I would say they definitely rival Logic's. There should be a demo to Sonar i think. try that out and see if you dig it on the PC side. Cubase 5 i think is the only DAW out of them that still requires a usb dongle to run (correct me if im wrong). the good thing about Cubase is it works on both Windows and Mac OSX.

 

[xday32x]

Thanks for all the input guys, I'm getting some good info here. Many of you are right though about DAWs being so subjective to the user... I just like hearing what people like/dislike about them so I can find their strengths to try and tailor it to my needs before I spend 500 bucks! I am leaning toward Logic mainly because I like to have good instruments/plugins right out the box. I am hearing more positives about Cubase than Sonar though, which is not what I expected. One more thing: Are the "education editions" of things like Cubase any different from the full version, or just cheaper?

 

[Inverted314]

Thanks for all the input guys, I'm getting some good info here. Many of you are right though about DAWs being so subjective to the user... I just like hearing what people like/dislike about them so I can find their strengths to try and tailor it to my needs before I spend 500 bucks! I am leaning toward Logic mainly because I like to have good instruments/plugins right out the box. I am hearing more positives about Cubase than Sonar though, which is not what I expected. One more thing: Are the "education editions" of things like Cubase any different from the full version, or just cheaper?

IMO Sonar comes with the best sounds stock. Dimension Pro, Rapture, Z3ta, True Pianos, and others.

 

[mrgibbs]

i wouldn't say logic has a horrible audio editor is actually pretty good its just not as simple as cubase and i love cubase but the only downside to cubase to me is the pop up windows its too many for me but i love cubase and i love logic i have them both.

 

[D-Kakes]

Cubase is arguably the very best audio editor. The kind of powerful audio editor that makes you not need an external editor. It's that serious.

LOL "Oh yeah. IMHO"

So "IMHO" I respectfully offer another P.O.V.

Cubase doesn't allow you to configure an external sample editor, the way my old DAW (Adobe Audition 3.0) allowed me to. While the built-in Cubase editor is better than Sonar's, it is still very limited. IMHO. I've improved my basic usage of the tool, but still forced to do most audio editing externally in Steinberg WaveLab. It's ridiculous how little integration Steinberg has with these two products, back-and-forth... but like someone else said, "you can't have your cake and eat it, too."

But in response the the OP, I've never tried Logic but have demo'd nearly every DAW software option out in late 2009 -- and Cubase 5 is the closest to "eating the cake, too" that I've found! (for MY personal needs). I highly recommend Cubase 5

 

[Blessed Fingas]

are any of you running 64 bit sonar. because I have 8.5 on 64 bit windows vista home premium with 8gbs of ram and I haven't had a problems since ver 7. As far as trcking I think sonar is the best.

 

[L. A. Stone]

Cubase doesn't allow you to configure an external sample editor, the way my old DAW (Adobe Audition 3.0) allowed me to. While the built-in Cubase editor is better than Sonar's, it is still very limited.

Very limited? If you're comparing it to Wavlab, then of course it's limited. In the context of what people need when in the middle of making some music, it's all powerful.

IMHO. I've improved my basic usage of the tool, but still forced to do most audio editing externally in Steinberg WaveLab. It's ridiculous how little integration Steinberg has with these two products, back-and-forth...

What kind of editing are you doing that forcr you to use an external editor most of the time?

 

[THA_REAPER]

Just a bunch of random differences. Correct me if Im wrong at any.

I have sonar in the studio and Cubase at home. Sonar feels kinda like driving a truck, Cubase is more like a car. Its like sonar feels kind of more bulky like heavier on resources. The Cubase windows don't stay focused it keeps minimizing. You always need to right click on everything and set it to "always on top" I checked that option on just about everything in Cubase so the windows don't lose focus anymore, but it is annoying.

Cubase does give you what commonly used in an audio editor you just need to explore the menus instead of looking at the GUI. Sonar can feel cluttered depending on how you set your tools and windows. In Cubase you basically control whats seen on the tracks and the mixer. It has various options in the preferences menu, but not as much options in that area when not in the preferences, like docking resetting meters by clicking, dragging the GUI to see more stuff.. The mixer seems more customizable in Cubase. I think its less customizable than Sonar overall, but I said it before you'll probably want to customize Sonar first time using it. Sonars more easier to route also. Cubase has the pool, great for doing non destructive work. Cakewalk gives way better support to users, most Steinberg users will say their assholes in terms of helping. Cubase is more wide spread in popularity so it probably will be quicker to learn from your net resources etc. I think sonar has better comping, than Cubase, but when recording takes stacked and stacked 2 is king.

Like someone said it doesn't let you use an external audio editor. I believe it used to, but not now. I'm more comfortable in sound forge in terms of audio editing. I just think Cubase's zoom is kind of wild for me, but you can always just open the audio editor and make changes and import the new take in the pool. Sonar still lets you use an external editor. Sonar comes with more instruments, but I think Cubase comes with more useful effects.
Automation is easier to draw in Sonar than Cubase imo. Cubase you can set your inputs and outputs of midi and audio to a specific project only. Sonar you can but less options.

Its a bunch of strong points and weak points comparing the two.

 

[Guy Gabriel]

Cubase 5 is the most simple DAW in the big pro league, you can't go wrong with that. great midi support, the BEST audio editing.
And it's a lot more simple than the Logic, I've tried Logic and gave it up because it was too complicated compared to Cubase.