Logic 9 vs Sonar 8.5 vs Cubase 5

hardware implementation is best in cubase, its way more simple than any other daw that i have used.
 
I'm glad to see people comparing Sonar and Cubase.... it seems I will most likely be sticking with PC just cause Macs are stupid expensive. I'm surprised to hear people saying Logic is difficult to use.... I figured it would have similar elements to GarageBand with both of them being Mac programs. Guess not. Hearing good things about Cubase but it seems that Cubase's strongest points are in its MIDI capabilities, am I right? I think I am most concerned with finding simplicity and effectiveness of audio recording at this point. I am currently using FL Studio which is wonderful for MIDI stuff but is a horrendous pain in the ass to record and edit audio, almost as if it is considered a bonus play toy to even be included in the program. Maybe just me.
 
xday32x said:
I'm glad to see people comparing Sonar and Cubase.... it seems I will most likely be sticking with PC just cause Macs are stupid expensive. I'm surprised to hear people saying Logic is difficult to use.... I figured it would have similar elements to GarageBand with both of them being Mac programs. Guess not. Hearing good things about Cubase but it seems that Cubase's strongest points are in its MIDI capabilities, am I right? I think I am most concerned with finding simplicity and effectiveness of audio recording at this point. I am currently using FL Studio which is wonderful for MIDI stuff but is a horrendous pain in the ass to record and edit audio, almost as if it is considered a bonus play toy to even be included in the program. Maybe just me.
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IMO Cubase is the best when it comes to audio editing man! You can do whatever you want there in the easiest and quickest way, cut audio, fade it, crossfade it, volume arrangement, pitch shifting, no DAW beats Cubase in this area, you can count on me on that!
and the MIDI is great also, I just can't compare it to other DAWs in that area because I've never tried working in MIDI in other DAWs, but it's great in Cubase. and the sound engine in Cubase 4 and 5 is amazing.

All the hype about pro tools and logic, let them keep talking, ad let us Cubase users make things happen, quick, easy and fun!
 
Completely left to how you produce. I won't say any is beeter, and if you're starting from scratch, whichever you learn will give you the best workflow once it's learned. Also may want to consider Studio One, Reaper, and Ableton Live. Check Digital Performer if you end up going Mac.
 
THA-REAPER said:
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.
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You actually can choose which tracks show up in Sonar's mixer. Just press M to bring up the track manager. There's a seperate Track Manager for both the Console view and the Track View. There's also an option to sync the two.
 
xday32x said:
I'm glad to see people comparing Sonar and Cubase.... it seems I will most likely be sticking with PC just cause Macs are stupid expensive. I'm surprised to hear people saying Logic is difficult to use.... I figured it would have similar elements to GarageBand with both of them being Mac programs. Guess not.
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That's the thing, Logic is NOT a Mac program, it's a program that Apple acquired. The odd thing is that Apple ever acquired a program so utterly "un-Mac-like". Long before Apple got it, Logic had a reputation for being so counter intuitive. I figured Apple might make so big effort to make it more like other Apple applications, but in the end, that would alienate long time Logic users. So, I think Apple should have just acquired some other application that wasn't so unintuitive. Logic Studio 8 basically made some templates to help people somewhat avoid having to visit the environment which is a big part of why Logic is so complicated. The best thing about Logic is the included instruments, fx, presets, track presets, etc, etc, all far and away better than what you get bundled with any other sequencer. Particularly the instruments. I haven't used Samplitude enough to say that Logic is better than that, but generally, Logic is incredible in this dept. Better than Cubase by the same distance that Cubase is better than Logic in everything else. LOL

xday32x said:
Hearing good things about Cubase but it seems that Cubase's strongest points are in its MIDI capabilities, am I right?
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No. Cubase has no weaknesses in the major areas. It's arguably the strongest midi in town, and the undisputed heavy weight audio editor. The audio editing is particularly impressive, and version 5 took both audio and midi to a new height.

xday32x said:
But I think I am most concerned with finding simplicity and effectiveness of audio recording at this point. I am currently using FL Studio which is wonderful for MIDI stuff but is a horrendous pain in the ass to record and edit audio, almost as if it is considered a bonus play toy to even be included in the program. Maybe just me.
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OK, I'll buy that. I think the problem with FL is that it is just wacky when it comes to dealing with audio directly in the sequencer. They fixed a lot of things that weren't broken. Their system of "make unique" is enough to just make you angry. Crazy, dangerous key commands that cause you to make mistakes. Stretching a piece of audio can't be "undone" with Cntrol/Z. It doesn't work. Generally, I find that FL is getting farther and farther away from being something I can work with, even as it gets more powerful. It's just continuing down the path of weirdness in the way it does things. So don't judge other DAWs by how FL deals with audio sequencing. FL is just particularly odd about it.
 
L. A. Stone said:
It's just continuing down the path of weirdness in the way it does things. So don't judge other DAWs by how FL deals with audio sequencing. FL is just particularly odd about it.
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Agreed lol. I know were comparing Logic, Sonar, and Cubase, but couldn't resist.

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^^LOL. Some people say that FL is made for kids. It's something I'm reluctant to co-sign, but when you see stuff like that, it's hard not to agree with it. It's weird though because FL is so powerful while at the same time, seems to be playing to the pre-teen crowd. In the end, they're just trying to sell a product, but stuff like the dancing fruit character probably really pushes away anyone who considers himself serious who might be looking at the program for the firs time.
 
LA Stone, I agree that Logic has decent instrument sounds, but I don't agree that it has better effects than Cubase 5.

I've used both Logic 8 (for one year) and now back on Cubase 5. C5's effects are by far better than the ones in Logic.

In fact I didn't even touched the ones in Logic because I found them so bad, I rather used my own. The only plugins I used was SpaceDesigner and the Delay plugin.

Now I'm still using my own mixed with C5's effect plugins.
 
Live a Dream said:
LA Stone, I agree that Logic has decent instrument sounds, but I don't agree that it has better effects than Cubase 5.

I've used both Logic 8 (for one year) and now back on Cubase 5. C5's effects are by far better than the ones in Logic.

In fact I didn't even touched the ones in Logic because I found them so bad, I rather used my own. The only plugins I used was SpaceDesigner and the Delay plugin.

Now I'm still using my own mixed with C5's effect plugins.
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All three programs are so similar, that it is hard to give an unbiased opinion about each one. From what I hear:

1. Logic comes with the most instruments/plug-ins.
2. Cubase has the most in-depth midi editing features.
3. Sonar is more aimed for mixing.


In truth though all three programs go in depth on all three areas. I use Sonar and Sonar PE comes with good plug-ins out of the box, has in depth midi features, and is clearly aimed for mixing.


One thing all three of these apps have in common is a steep learning curve.

None of these programs will totally come to you immediately, however one program might be wired more to the way you work.


I do like Sonar because it is highly customizable, but so it Cubase and Logic.

Sonar's mixer is very flexible with it's bussing, sidechaining, built-in EQ, 64 bit audio engine, and flexible metering. Also I like its track management features and how the screen can be customized.

I think that sums up Sonar most for me.

It is good for midi as well, but it can get a little too deep in the midi area sometimes (all three programs are somewhat like this though), but that issue is more of a learning curve than anything.
 
One thing I friggin hate about Sonar is its interface, it's extremely ugly and for my personal workflow counter-intuitive. But just from the features Sonar seems to be a dope DAW.
A year ago I've read on the Sonar forums that people were as well complaining about its interface, and that a redesign is definitely needed. As far as I can remember it's even one of the top requests over there.
 
I use Logic. Its a beast. And because of that, its very hard to learn. Ive used cubase and pro-tools shortly and i could tell quickly its not on Logic's level!
 
Xabiton said:
Ableton Live, Reaper, Record, and Fruity Loops can all be rewired into other hosts.
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yeah...and neither of those are considered the TOP D.A.W'.z...now are they?

all i am saying is that it kinda sucks that you can't ReWire a host to a host...

that is prolly the only limitation of music production software IMO.
 
I don't know what a top DAW is. Everyone has their own opinion on what Daw is better than others and in most cases nowadays people only chime in with what they have heard about this daw or that daw or the one they use. Now if we are talking popularity then all of the Daws I mentioned are considered top daws.
 
look...since you want to argue over semantics, my POINT is that HOSTS can't be ReWired...

feel free to disagree.
 
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