Following the acquisition of certain assets and the complete set of intellectual property of Cakewalk Inc. from Gibson Brands on 2/23/18, BandLab Technologies announced the relaunch of SONAR as Cakewalk by BandLab - available free-to-download to all BandLab users worldwide.
As of Feb 21st 2018, information elsewhere on this website may no longer be accurate.
WINTER NAMM (Booth 6800), Anaheim, CA, (January 16, 2003) - Cakewalk, developer of the leading music and sound software for Windows, has announced that its flagship SONAR audio and MIDI production software will add support for ASIO-compatible audio hardware, in addition to existing support for WDM- and MME-compatible devices. Support for ASIO hardware will be added to SONAR as part of a free 2.2 Update, available to all registered SONAR 2.x by February 1, 2003.
Now musicians, producers and engineers using ASIO-compatible audio hardware can expand their PC studios with SONAR's extensive set of digital audio and MIDI production tools. ASIO-compatible hardware includes the RME audio cards, the Creative Labs Audigy™, and Digidesign's 001™, 002™, Mbox™, and Pro Tools | HD™ products.
SONAR already works with many Windows audio hardware products using WDM and MME drivers, from leading companies including Aardvark, Echo Audio, Edirol/Roland, EGO-SYStems, ESI, Event, Frontier Designs, M-Audio, MOTU, Presonus, Soundscape, Yamaha, and others.
"Extending SONAR's support to include hardware products like those from RME and Digidesign provides our customers with more choice and flexibility in configuring their PC studios," commented Michael Hoover, VP of product marketing at Cakewalk. "It also provides an opportunity for customers who own ASIO-based hardware to take advantage of SONAR's extensive suite of audio and MIDI tools, without having to modify their existing hardware or driver configuration.
"Nearly all audio hardware today uses high-performance WDM drivers, the standard built into the Windows OS. A few hardware products support only the older ASIO interface. The 2.2 Update extends SONAR's support to those products, completing the set of choices for our customers," added Hoover.
Cakewalk's award-winning SONAR is the industry's only digital audio and MIDI production software designed and optimized exclusively for the Windows platform. SONAR offers unlimited digital audio and MIDI tracks; a centralized interface design for improved creative workflow; advanced audio looping and editing tools; ReWire™ 2.0 support; global support for control surface hardware; DXi software synthesizer plug-ins; automatable DirectX 8 audio plug-ins; real-time MIDI FX plug-ins; and ACID™-format audio loops and SoundFont libraries.
In October 2002, the company released a free SONAR 2.1 Update on its web site that adds support for OMFI file exchanges between compatible software like Pro Tools™, Avid™, and Logic™. The 2.1 Update also adds support for the Mackie Control™, allowing musicians and producers to use the popular Mackie surface hardware to control SONAR's recording, editing, and mixing operations.
Pricing and Availability
SONAR has a manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) of $479 U.S.; SONAR XL is $599 MSRP. The SONAR 2.2 Update is scheduled for release by February 1, 2003. Registered SONAR 2.x users will be able to download the 2.2 Update for free from the Cakewalk web site. For more information visit Cakewalk at the Winter NAMM 2003 Convention, Booth #6800, Anaheim Convention Center; visit www.cakewalk.com; or call 888-CAKEWALK (617-423-9004 outside U.S.).