Homebase for Sonar users

Hello everyone,

I am a new Cubase user from France.

I haven’t already read all these pages about migrating from SONAR to Cubase, but I will try to. Thanks Cubase for the generous crossgrade offer and the help.

If you are a MIDI user, I can tell you that I don’t see any program that could be better than Cubase. I do like SONAR Platinum very much, I remember the wonderful first year of updates, but within the last year, the software wasn’t really improved anymore, especially about MIDI. The best example is the awesome Cubase chord functions, that we asked Cakewalk to implement and it was never done.

I have been working with Cubase Pro 9.5 (not the latest update) for more than 1 month. I created one of my best tracks very easily. The incorporated VST synths are awesome. There are 12 VST synth playing along with a few audio tracks. No stuttering, very stable (one crash upon saving but there is a strong autobackup function). Since Windows 10, I had BIG stability problems with SONAR and people said that my Roland interface wasn’t good anymore. Now I can tell you that it works well with Cubase, with unnoticeable latency and very stable. I think that there were problems between Cakewalk and Roland, hence no optimization efforts…

I’m not saying Cubase is perfect, but certainly it’s very close to this. Some little things like ARA or 32 bit VST support aren’t there, but there are so many things to discover too.

That said, it’s very difficult to understand some differences of concepts and vocabulary. I will now read the manuals (something like 2000 pages) to have a more precise experience and improve my skills. I must admit I have not much tried audio recording, I have focused on VST MIDI, where Cubase is outstanding.

SONAR community is excellent. I hope to find here as many kind and helpful people as in the SONAR forum.

As a conclusion, if you’re a MIDI hero, buy Cubase… If you’re more into audio, I also think it’s the best tool now available but I have to test it a little bit more.

Thank you Steinberg!

Hello, folks

I’m trying to move some projects from Sonar to Cubase, and the tempo is messing me up. I have a few audio tracks (starting with a very simple project) and I can import them from an OMF. Looks good. But the tempo is off, and that’s going to be a problem with projects that use midi. So, what exactly is the process to allow the audio to be imported into the correct time position with the correct midi time base?

Thanks!
Tim
Another Sonar Platinum refugee… with MOTU 2408mkIII - Windows 10 - i7-960 - fwiw

I’m just saying hello as former SPLAT user (with Cake about 10 yrs). Made the switch to Cubase Pro. Greg made a good offer early and in researching, Steinberg looked good. And so far so Good!
Best to all,

Tim
To be safe you need to set the tempo in Cubase before the import - the import of OMF doesn’t seem to preserve the Sonar project tempo.

(And remember that changing the constant tempo in Cubase DOES NOT change the tempo in the tempo track. So if you decide to use a tempo track that needs to be set correctly)

Anyone making the move to CB from Sonar I’d suggest checking how the backup project feature works. Projects don’t save the same using Sonar method many used. ( save the project to a new folder & the audio is saved with it)

Projects don’t save the same using Sonar method many used. ( save the project to a new folder & the audio is saved with it)

Also make sure to check out Audio / Statistics. A feature in which Sonar sorely lacked ir’s a great way to check your audio files. EBU, LUFS, peaks, DC offset etc…
Simply select/ highlight 1 or more audio tracks then menu / audio/ statistics. Has a copy feature to paste info into a WP as well.

It doesn’t look like anyone answered this but its my understanding that you need to throw money at the situation in order to solve this issue. Google jbridge, throw him some coin and problem solved.

Sorry, I didn’t see the question for some reason. No Cubase no longer supports 32bit plugins directly. You have to use a bridge VST of some kind. There are lots of options including jbridge.

Hi. I am another former Sonar user trying out Cubase and I will probably go with it. I also tried Digital Performer and a couple others but have it narrowed to two now. I like the GUI of Cubase a bit better and it seems a lot more of the VST plug-ins (synths and fx) have migrated over. I used the 64 bit Sonar anyway, so having only 64 bit is fine. I had just got a new mixer (Behringer X-32) when the news about Sonar hit, but it seems like it is integrating well with Cubase although I have a lot to learn about the way Cubase handles i/o and tracks in general (I have 21 days left in the trial). Also the Mackie Control seems to work well with both the X-32 and my NI S-61 (Mk. 1) keyboard controller when dealing with remote control applications of those two pieces. I have some hardware synths too and it seems like Cubase does well with those too but I have a lot of work to do on the external devices pages. Having this topic is a great idea and I will be checking it out frequently. Thanks, so far.

Michael (Studio Vheissu)

In Sonar, you could toggle an option to prompt a warning message that you are about to move an audio clip (event).
Is there any way to do that in Cubase?

bump

I hav’nt found a way of getting a prompt before moving a clip, but an event can be locked in place.

Select the event, Edit > Lock.

To lock an entire track, select the track, and in the Inspector click on the top section and click on the open padlock icon.
See page 99 of the manual for a picture of what I’m referring to, it’s next to the orange crotchet.

Thanks for the advice, ceemusic. One thing, I tried the link you posted but it looks like it’s broken. Could you try that again, please?
Thanks

Sorry, I don’t know why a url was made there- it’s just a sentence…

My point is that many backup Sonar projects by saving it to a new folder & checking the ‘copy all audio with project’ option.
This doesn’t work in Cubase so I’d advise checking out the backup project feature early on. (Its what Sonar should’ve had instead of the workaround that was mainly used because of Cakewalk’s horrible ‘Clean Audio Folder’ feature)

Thanks for the response. Unfortunately that wouldn’t be a solution since I am still working on the clips such as cutting and/or adjusting clip lengths, etc.

Thanks for the response. Unfortunately that wouldn’t be a solution since I am still working on the clips such as cutting and/or adjusting clip lengths, etc.

It is possible to do that, though not that obvious - I found it by accident.

  1. Select event and Edit > Lock.
  2. Do Edit > Lock again
  3. A popup appears showing Position Locked, Size Locked, and Others Locked. Deselect Size and Others, leaving only Position selected.

You can now cut and change the clip lengths.

Size and position lock are self explanatory, Others disables cutting, fades, and possibly other things.

Other than setting lock options, when I don’t want to accidently move things, I set the snap to bars 1/1.

:bulb: YES, that is definitely a doable work-around, thanks eric!

I have been a Cakewalk user for 20+ years from Cakewalk, Pro Audio 9, Sonar (many version, to Sonar Professional. I had edited the instrument file adding new devices and their respective patch names and values. I fortunately found Cubase script files on the web for the Roland XV-5080 and SD-50 devices. Copied them into Steinberg/…/Roland and the are now installed in my Midi Device Manager and working in the track inspector, that is I can select by device and patch name.

My problem is I decided I didn’t like the format of the SD-50 and decided to do a NEW device. I have never yet been able to get it to work. I contacted support, but either I can’t explain to their understanding or they don’t know either. So I decided to try this venue

I added a new device in the Midi Device Manager, by selecting Install Device/Define New. Gave it a different name for the SD-50 and it now appeared in the device list. Using the Midi Device Manager editing commands, I created the Folder , Patch names, and. Bank Select and Program Change Values I got from the working SD-50 device I put in 15 or some presets to try it.

Now comes the problem. When I import a midi files and try to use the new device in the track inspector, it appears in the selection list along with the working 2 devices. However the place where you would select a patch name, it will only allow the Bank Select value and Program Change value to be entered. Using the working SD-50 device I get the list of folders/patch names to select from.

Is there something else I need to do to complete the installation of the new device. After entering the new device in The Midi Device Manager and all the values , I just close it out. There are no boxes to check that say install.


Thus far I have been able to do most of the midi functions I used in Sonar, although it has taken some time figure out. But I have sometime left on my 30 day trial

Can you clarify something?
It sounds like the device works for patch select as long as you don’t import a MIDI file. Is that correct?

In Sonar there’s this fun thing called Retrograde, with which you can mirror a midi track (maybe audio too, I’m not sure), so it plays backwards. Is there a comparable function/script in Cubase?