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.
Boston, MA (March 3rd, 2009) — Cakewalk, the world's leading developer of powerful and easy to use products for music creation and recording, today announces availability of free updates for SONAR 8 Producer, SONAR 8 Studio, and SONAR V-Studio 700. The updates are now available as free downloads for registered SONAR 8 and SONAR V-Studio 700 customers at www.cakewalk.com/SONAR83 and www.cakewalk.com/VS700_11, respectively.
The SONAR 8.3 update adds classic Roland® sample content for Dimension Pro and Dimension LE, drum kits for Session Drummer 2, along with new usability enhancements and engine optimizations. The SONAR 8.3 update also addresses performance issues reported by customers after the initial release of SONAR 8. Additionally, since the initial Winter NAMM update announcement, numerous enhancements are now included in a version 1.1 software update for SONAR V-Studio 700 and a firmware update for its onboard Fantom VS hardware synthesizer.
Classic Sounds Added in SONAR 8.3
Vintage Synth Sounds for Dimension Pro and Dimension LE: original samples of the legendary Roland SH-101, TB-303, and VP-330, along with classic sounds of the Arp Odyssey, Moog Minimoog and Sequential Circuits Prophet 5 optimized for use with SONAR's included Dimension synthesizer. Users can now tap into the authentic sound of these classic instruments right within SONAR, and also use them with Dimension's advanced synthesis capabilities as the springboard for new sonic creations. Includes over 40 new patches and nearly 100 MB of sample content.
Classic Drum Kits for Session Drummer 2: genre-defining original samples of the classic Roland TR-707, TR-727, TR-808, and TR-909 drum synthesizers, along with kits from Sequential Circuits Drumtraks and Linn Electronics LinnDrum. Adds 16 new kits to Session Drummer 2.
New Features in SONAR 8.3
Snap Presets: SONAR has always provided flexibility in snap settings, allowing for audio and MIDI edits to specific musical or absolute times (to snap points, or by time intervals), clip events, transients, and markers. SONAR 8.3 introduces user-defined 'Snap Presets' that can instantly recall your most commonly used settings in one click, providing a fast, efficient way to switch between snap resolutions in your workflow.
Live PDC Override: allows for the disabling of plug-in delay compensation on live tracks (an input-monitored track or synth track), thereby removing the latency on playback and recording caused by inserted plug-ins, useful when monitoring through SONAR or playing/recording virtual instruments.
Global Effects Bypass: provides the ability to globally bypass all effects in a project (all effects bins or by category, i.e. tracks/buses/clips), useful for A/B-ing wet/dry tracks and mixes, or to quickly save CPU while tracking or playing soft synths.
New Split / Clip Group Options: new options to create new groups after splitting a clip or group, and to choose what portions of clips remain selected after clips are split, providing maximum flexibility for any editing task.
Aim Assist Enhancements: SONAR's visual guide for precision editing can now follow snap settings or automatically align to clip start and end points.
Improved Performance in SONAR 8.3
Optimized Multiprocessor Load Balancing: more efficient handling of multithread processing for improved CPU utilization and better overall performance.
External Inserts: allow you to insert outboard gear into your projects, while providing sample-accurate delay compensation. New optimizations for SONAR 8.3 include: improved sync when mixing external hardware with other plug-ins that require delay compensation; multiple external inserts can be used in the same project; improved stability on multiprocessing machines; and improved sync while looping. The "ping" test has also been improved to consistently return sample accurate offsets without any further adjustments.
Guitar Rig 3 LE and TruePianos Amber Module updates: updated version of these plug-ins found in SONAR 8 Producer now offer support for Windows Vista x64.
SONAR V-Studio 700 enhancements
A comprehensive list of all feature enhancements and refinement of the user experience can be found at the SONAR 8.3 update download pages.
All of the new features included in the SONAR 8.3 and SONAR V-Studio 700 1.1 updates are a direct result of active dialog with our users. Cakewalk's delivery of timely product updates is an extension of Cakewalk's commitment in providing the very best in product support for our customers.
Availability
The free SONAR 8.3 and SONAR V-Studio 700 1.1 updates for Windows XP and native Vista (32-bit & 64-bit) are available as a free downloads to registered SONAR 8 and SONAR V-Studio 700 customers at www.cakewalk.com/SONAR83 and www.cakewalk.com/VS700_11. SONAR V-Studio 700 customers are advised to obtain updates from both locations.