Tagged As: Sonar Producer Edition
Question:
I bought a Fostex MR-8 digital 8-track recorder earlier this year to replace my dying cassette-based 4-track machine. It's got some limitations compared to the much more expensive digital multi-track recorders, but it suits my current budget and goals. It doesn't include a hard disk or a CD burner, but it's easy to dump tracks onto my PC for archiving and burning. That said, I'd like to put some software on my PC that would give me more options with respect to tailoring and mixing the tracks before burning them on to a CD. The MR-8 comes with three preset modes for CD-ready masters, but I'd like more flexibility. What do you use or recommend? Let's say that my budget is in the $300 range. Let me know if I need to state more requirements than I've offered.
Answer:
I've been a fan of Cakewalk products for the PC over the years, mainly because they're about the only company that actually writes specifically for the Windows platform, so you're not dealing with a funky Mac port, or a clumsy combine Win/Mac interface. The interface acts like it belongs on Windows. There is also a good user support group for their products... both a web-based forum on the company site, and a Usenet group (cakewalk.audio). I think the user support groups are just as important as the software features with this kind of program, because at some point you're going to need help. I know I did. :) If you just want to dabble and get your feet wet, I'd suggest Cakewalk Guitar Tracks for $50. That has the basics... 8 tracks, EQ, delay, chorus, reverb. The EQ and effects are not world-class quality for that price, but it's usable for songwriting, archiving, and putting a few MP3 tunes online to share with your friends. Cakewalk has a mid-level program calle Home Studio, but if you need what it has (more tracks, better EQ and FX) then I'd recommend going all the way to their flagship Sonar product. That's what I use for Midi sequencing. I use another DAW called Paris for audio recording, but I can't recommend it because it's discontinued, and at any rate you couldn't buy into a Paris system for $300 because there are hardware components that drive the cost up, even on the used market. With a $300 budget you can just squeeze in the Studio edition of Sonar 3.0. This is a full-featured Midi sequencing and audio recording/mixing package. It doesn't have quite everything you need to master your own music and crank out CD's... you'd need an ancillary program for CD burning. I use WaveLab 4.0 but there are less expensive options. Sonar 3.0 is a good program, very stable. It does require Win2000 or XP, so you're limited to Cakewalk Guitar Tracks or Home Studio if you're running Win98 or ME. If you can stretch the budget to $500, you can get the Producer Edition of Sonar 3.0, which adds integrated EQ (shows up in the console instead of being a plug-in per channel), the Lexicon reverb plugin, and a big (but complicated and undocumented) software sampler instrument. That's probably overkill. You can upgrade to this version from the 3.0 Studio Edition later, if you need it. There are other options out there... Cubase, CoolEdit, Samplitude. I'm recommending Sonar, or the simpler Guitar Tracks, mainly because the programs are stable and there is a good user support community.
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