Homebase for Sonar users

I’m another Sonar refugee joining the ranks of Cubase warriors. My first stop was Studio One. While it’s a great DAW in many ways, the lack of MIDI support was a deal-breaker for me. So here I am.

I was a devoted Cakewalk user for over 20 years. I also own the Cakewalk/Roland V-Studio VS-700 system. It’s a wonderful system, even outside of Sonar. I got the built-in Fantom VS synth working via JBridge. All the audio ins and outs work fine.

The control surface is, on the other hand, is much more limited. It’s supposedly Mackie Control compatible, but a lot of functionality seems missing. The faders work, along with solo, mute, arm and select. The shuttle works (slowly) as do most of the transport controls. Oddly, the pan knobs don’t seem to work. Nothing shows up on the time display. Everything else is “press at your own risk.” So here’s a question. Is there any way within Cubase to map functions to a control surface like the VS-700c? Any help would be appreciated.

Other than that, I’ve been enjoying getting to know Cubase. The score editor is fantastic. The program as a whole shares much of the same functionality as Sonar, but differs considerably in terms of navigation and operation. There’s a definite learning curve, though not an unpleasant one.

It’s done in the Pool.

  1. Project → Pool, or Ctrl P.

  2. Find the file under Audio, Right click and goto ‘Convert Files.’

  3. From the ‘Channels’ dropdown, select Stereo Interleaved.’

  4. Check the ‘Options’ dropdown for New or Replace, so you don’t accidentally overwrite the original file.

Thanks for the reply but yesterday I’ve found one solution on this YouTube video

Another long time (25 years or so) Cakewalk/Sonar refugee here.

I’ve been using the Cubase trial for a few days now and it seems pretty good. Looks like it will be a steep learning curve but may be worth the plunge. Unfortunately, I was living under a rock and missed the whole cross-grade offer announcement. I’m assuming it is too late and that is no longer valid?

Thanks!

There is still a cross grade option on the Buy page, but not sure if Sonar is still a valid product, IIRC from threads on GearSlutz and other places it would be, what isn’t on offer is a further reduction on the cross grade price. Also, I think the offer was for Platinum/Professional only.

Best bet is to contact Steinberg or one of their dealers.

One thing to note is that you will need an eLicenser if you don’t already have one.

Hi. I also just recently switched from Sonar after 14 years. Steinberg still offer cross-grades for “Sonar Platinum/Professional” to Cubase Pro. The discount just isn’t as big as it was December to mid-January (IIRC).

Thanks for the info. Yes, I’m on Sonar Platinum so that isn’t an issue. And I already have an e-licenser, so that isn’t a problem.

Looks like the cross-grade price is something like $70-80 more than the special Dec-Jan price was, so it’s still a solid deal, but wish I had noticed sooner.

Thank you for confirming this!

This might be of interest:

BandLab Technologies today announced the acquisition of certain assets and the complete set of intellectual property of Cakewalk Inc. from Gibson Brands.

I this post getting out of hand or not ???

Yes…this post is getting out of hand. We need some sub-folders or something. There are now 221 posts…that’s too much stuff to sift through to get to your question and answer.

Time to start your own topics then…

Steve… I think people are saying that this very large “post” has no way to navigate it. Maybe you’re privy to the intent of starting a “Homebase for Sonar Users” post? I think most of us Sonar refugees figured it was because we would have questions that long-time users would find trivial. Enlighten us.
I’ve found that a lot of my questions, but certainly not all of them, are answered by digging into the manual deeper.

I get the impression that regular users aren’t interested in wasting time with noob questions. Certainly some questions I posted here were answered, others weren’t after which I posted them in a new thread. Then I did get answers, even though they were embarassing for me. I agree that the purpose for this Homebase-thread is not altogether clear anymore as no old hands seem to be interested. Or maybe we’ve already outgrown this thread :smiley:

Sorry about that, but because of the way this forum is setup and the way we usually browse it, it’s easier to keep track of new questions if you make new threads for them. It’s also easier to discuss alternative solutions to the questions and/or workarounds this way.

My take on this is that it depends on how clear the subject line is. If a question can be formulated briefly enough to fit in there, answers will come quickly. Using Cubase specific terminology will also help.

So a subject like “How do I route my 8-track tape player to both the bathroom and the kitchen” will get more answers than “Should I buy a new house?”

Here is the thing…

A user ask a question, now another user answer but needs some more info to correctly help out. Now the user who asked reply with more info, but in between all of this 20 other users have asked/answered/talked about other things and now it takes a long time to answer the question because we need to find the original question again to refresh our memory and at the same time see if anybody else has provide some info or a solution.
It’s way better the create your own thread as it is much more easy to help out that way.

“Homebase for Sonar Users” sounds like it should be useful, but as KHS said, it’s too hard to follow any thread in this so-called “homebase”.

Indeed, it was very helpful at first but now, it is getting harder to follow. I’ll close this thread now. If you have any specific questions, please post them in new threads. Adding Sonar in the subject might help to keep an overview.