Product Reviews

Sonar 5 was our favourite music-production software, not so much because it excelled in any particular area, but because it performed well in every area. Its core timeline and MIDI editing tools are among the best available. It includes powerful loop-manipulation functions in the style of Sony Acid and a highly flexible mix architecture. Video and surround-sound support are comprehensive, and its scoring facilities are up to scratch. However, if there's one real highlight it's the bundle of extras in the Producer Edition, with professional-quality effects and instruments that go way beyond those of the competition.

Sonar 6 takes the plug-in bundle to new heights. The VC-64 Vintage Channel is a combined noise gate, de-esser, compressor and parametric EQ with a retro-styled interface and audio characteristics to match. Digital effects are often accused of sounding clinical and lifeless, but this one successfully emulates the warmth and vitality of analogue processors. Its range of options can make it intimidating for new users, especially as it's omitted from the manuals, and we would have liked some kind of valve distortion simulation built in. Still, the compressor in particular is the best we've heard of any plug-in bundled with music-production software.

The new addition to the instrument

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bundle is Session Drummer 2, a drum machine that uses acoustic drum samples and comes with a selection of MIDI patterns for you to drop into your compositions. Although there isn't much scope to edit sounds beyond pitching them up and down, each drum has been sampled at different volumes to capture the nuances of a live performance. The results are easily good enough to use in commercial recordings.

The new feature we're most excited about is AudioSnap. This identifies transients (percussive hits) in audio recordings for a variety of objectives: locking the master tempo to a recording, quantising the timing to a strict tempo or even applying the timing of an audio clip to other audio and MIDI recordings. It isn't the easiest feature to get to grips with, but with a bit of practice it's possible to lock samples into a really tight groove and even move individual hits around manually without resorting to complex edits with the scissors tool.

However, AudioSnap doesn't deliver as much as we'd hoped. Most disappointing was the fact that although it can work with multi-track recordings, it doesn't process them with phase accuracy, so manipulating multiple-microphone drum recordings caused them to drift a few milliseconds out of time with each other. The result was a tighter-sounding performance, but with the sound of someone eating a packet of crisps in the background.

Other new features include improved mapping for hardware MIDI controllers, quicker zooming of the timeline and a host of other workflow improvements. Sonar still isn't the prettiest-looking music software and its busy controls can instil fear into new users, but packing so much information onscreen makes it quick to use once you know your way around.

Other packages will appeal to certain niche groups, but for the best - or close to the best - of everything, Sonar still rules the roost.