Cakewalk^® Announces SONAR 4 Producer Edition™, the Definitive Audio Production Environment on the Windows Platform

—New features include workflow innovations at every level: Track Folders with editable composite clip; Freeze; multi-take comp tracking and editing; Navigator view; bus-able Audio Metronome; extended key binding support; multi-format surround mixing with Lexicon® Pantheon™ Surround Reverb, Sonitus Surround Compressor, SurroundBridge™ stereo-to-multichannel plug-in converter; video thumbnail track; extensive AV delivery options; POW-r dithering; MPEX time scaling; TTS-1 DXi GM2 synth with authentic Roland® sounds; more—

Boston, MA (September 1, 2004)—Cakewalk, developer of the best-selling music and sound software for Windows, today announces SONAR 4 Producer Edition. SONAR Producer Edition has a well-earned reputation for delivering powerful production tools in a fast, streamlined user interface. With new version 4, Cakewalk has added powerful recording, editing, comping and navigation tools that optimize workflow for today's professional. In addition, version 4 combines innovative surround and AV capabilities along with precise engineering tools, making SONAR 4 Producer Edition the definitive audio production environment on the Windows platform.

New features, workflow innovations, and enhancements include:

• Track Folders with the ability edit the Track Folder Composite Clip
• Enhanced comping and editing features including track layer display options, clip muting/isolating, audition selection, customizable nudge, multi-clip slip edits, roll-outs, and fades
• Freeze tracks, effects, and synths with the ability to edit and arrange frozen data
• Loop construction enhancements including slice-based, envelope control of gain, pitch, pan
• Navigator view
• Extended Key Binding enhancements including keystroke-emulating templates for Cubase SX, Nuendo, Logic, Digital Performer, Samplitude, and other DAWs
• Multi-format surround mixing and editing with over 30 supported configurations (5.1, 7.1, LCRS, etc)
• Lexicon® Pantheon™ Surround Reverb
• Sonitus Surround Compressor
• SurroundBridge™—easily use stereo effects in a surround environment
• Video Thumbnail track with support for QuickTime, Windows Media Video, AVI, MPEG
• Extensive export options with useful and configurable presets
• POW-r Dithering
• MPEX Time Scaling
• TTS-1 DXi multitimbral GM2 synthesizer with authentic Roland sounds
• Configurable RMS and Peak Meter ballistics
• More
  

Track Folders—efficiently manage your large scale projects and loop recorded takes with SONAR 4's convenient Track folders—allows for the organization of multiple tracks into one single folder; simultaneously mute, solo, record, archive and perform other functions on tracks in a folder; all tracks within a folder are displayed as a Composite Clip which you can cut-copy-paste, move, slip edit, and split; import multi-channel audio into a track folders. SONAR 4's Track Folders are ideal for managing multi-mic or grouped recordings (drums, choir, piano, orchestra, acoustic guitar).

Comping Tracks—complete your multi-take, composite tracking of both audio and MIDI faster than ever with Track Layers and SONAR's new comp editing enhancements. Recorded and edited takes are displayed in multiple layers of a single track; audition only the selected content in a project while comping parts; quickly mute or isolate unwanted/wanted takes or sections of takes using Clip Muting or Partial Clip Muting (time-based within a clip); blend elements together using auto-crop tool with crossfade option; non-destructive Auto Punch Record Mode.

Loop Construction—Version 4 extends SONAR's powerful loop editing and composition capabilities with slice-based envelope control of gain, pitch, pan; slice preview & auto-loop simplifies marker placement/adjustments.

Freeze—optimize your system resources with a new level of flexibility using SONAR 4's superior freeze implementation for tracks, effects, and synths. Render tracks to conserve CPU in one easy step; automatically unloads plug-ins, releasing memory back to the system; SONAR 4 efficiently freezes only when data is present, conserving disk space; Quick Unfreeze/Freeze retains frozen data when unfreezing, for quick toggling/auditioning of tracks. A distinct feature of SONAR 4's Freeze implementation is the ability to move and edit frozen data ? you can even convert frozen data into groove clips.

Simultaneous Clip Editing—Perform the following edits on multiple clips simultaneously: nudge, roll out groove clips, slip edit, and add/edit fades.

Nudge—use this new clip editing enhancement both vertically and horizontally within Track and Piano Roll views; extremely flexible nudge resolutions (musical time, seconds, milliseconds, frames, samples, ticks, follow snap settings); a total of nine nudge commands can be assigned to any key or MIDI event.

Additional SONAR 4 Workflow Enhancements

Navigator View—provides a bird's eye view of an entire project. Swiftly navigate through projects and view exact details with quick adjustments of track height, duration, and viewable area.

Key Bindings—extends SONAR's keystroke actions with access to single key functions; transport keys now active in all views including plug-in windows; includes built-in keystroke emulating templates for other DAWs including Cubase SX, Nuendo, and Logic providing convenience on cross-platform projects or for easy migrating to the SONAR platform. Import/Export your custom SONAR key binding presets for sharing/backup/transfer to other workstations.

Audio Metronome—route SONAR 4's Audio Metronome through any bus for flexibility in multi-player recording sessions (any selected bus, in turn, can be send to any available main out); allows for the adjustment of separate metronome levels in each headphone mix; easy automation of mute/volume; users can also add custom sounds.

Surround and AV Capabilities

Engineered to meet the needs of mixing professionals, SONAR 4 Producer Edition provides a complete surround mixing and editing environment with support for over 30 configurations, including 5.1, 7.1, LCRS.

The intuitive Surround Panner is the nexus of version 4's surround mixing paradigm offering control that extends far beyond a simple x/y axis. The Surround Panner utilizes focus, width, angle, and front/rear balance controls to provide a more responsive and expressive control interface. Speaker muting and soloing, LFE send, and extensive control surface/Joystick support further accentuate the flexibility of the SONAR 4 surround implementation. Any surround bus can be routed to another surround bus to achieve dynamic mixing configurations. In addition, SONAR 4 offers transparent down-mixing and bass management.

SurroundBridge™—this innovation takes the SONAR 4 surround feature-set a step further, allowing for the use of any stereo plug-in within multi-channel environments. SurroundBridge seamlessly creates multiple instances of any effect, providing complete linked/unlinked control across all channels from a single UI.

Video Thumbnail Track—perfectly align audio with on-screen action; quickly locate video scenes across an entire project; thumbnails resize dynamically to project zoom; auto-snap to frame.

Lexicon® Pantheon™ Surround Reverb—access the world-class, pristine sound of Lexicon reverb for the first time ever in multi-channel environments up to 7.1; simple and powerful interface, indispensable tool; numerous factory presets and full editing capabilities for creating custom presets.

Sonitus Surround Compressor—a nine-channel version of the critically acclaimed Sonitus Compressor, specifically designed for surround applications; flexible and totally automatable.

Surround and AV Delivery—complementing SONAR 4's extensive surround mixing and editing capabilities are a powerful array of delivery options that include: Windows Media Audio 9 (WMA), WMA9 Pro 5.1, and WMA9 lossless encoding and decoding; QuickTime, Windows Media Video (with 5.1 surround audio), AVI (with stereo or 5.1 surround sound); open support for external command-line encoders (surround, LAME, Ogg Vorbis, Monkey's Audio, etc.). SONAR 4 also provides a convenient export video option with control over quality settings and codecs; powerful presets for frequently-used export settings; export buses and tracks into a composite mixdown, or as individual files.

Precise Engineering Technologies

POW-r Dithering—provides the highest quality ultra-transparent digital-audio bit reduction; reduces 20, 24, and 32 bit audio to CD standard 16-bit format, while retaining perceived dynamic efficiency with very low noise; scalable for use with all sample rates.

Prosoniq MPEX time scaling—a superior time scaling algorithm that employs psychoacoustic properties which simulate attributes of human audio perception. This 'intelligent' algorithm yields a more fluid feel and flexibility in the sound representation that makes for better Time Scaling. Great for matching audio to video or for loop/sample authoring.

TTS-1 DXi multitimbral GM2 synthesizer—a high quality, multitimbral, multi-out GM2 (General MIDI System Level 2 compatible) DXi synthesizer that is equipped with a genuine Roland synth engine; 256 instrument sounds and 9 drum sets are included; dedicated control panel for easy customization of sounds.

Professional Content—SONAR 4 Producer Edition also includes an extensive assortment of content from leading sample and loop developer SmartLoops™. Included are hundreds of megabytes of MIDI Groove and ACID-Groove Clips, Live Studio Drums CWB files, Session Drummer files and Pro Drum Works loops.

discWelder BRONZE DVD Audio authoring (trial version)—Customers can experience SONAR 5.1 mixes of their music in a high resolution DVD Audio format with the included, easy-to-use discWelder BRONZE DVD-Audio authoring tool by Minnetonka. Provides: extensive DVD-Audio player and DVD+/- R/W support; Imports Linear PCM (WAV and AIFF) 16 and 24 bits files with sample rate support up to 192kHz; 44.1 and 48kHz sample rates for 5.1 Surround.

SONAR 4 Studio Edition

SONAR 4 Studio Edition is a special version of SONAR 4 designed for project studios and aspiring professionals. Studio Edition is built upon the same core engine and feature set of SONAR 4 Producer Edition. NOTE: SONAR 4 Studio Edition does not have the following features found in SONAR 4 Producer Edition: surround mixing and editing, Lexicon Pantheon Surround Reverb, Sonitus Surround Compressor, Sonitus:fx Suite, enhanced mixing console with assignable fx controls and per-channel EQ, Video Thumbnail track, POW-r Dithering, MPEX Time Scaling.

Pricing and Availability

SONAR 4 Producer Edition has a manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) of $959 U.S.; SONAR 4 Studio Edition is $479 U.S. (MSRP). SONAR 4 will ship September 28, 2004. Registered SONAR 3 Producer customers can upgrade to SONAR 4 Producer Edition directly through Cakewalk for $179; SONAR 3 Studio to SONAR 4 Studio Edition for $99. For more information, visit Cakewalk on the web at www.cakewalk.com; or call 617-423-9004.

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Cakewalk is a registered trademark and SONAR, Project5, Kinetic, SurroundBridge, and the Cakewalk logo are trademarks of Twelve Tone Systems, Inc. QuickTime and the QuickTime logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc., used under license. Lexicon Pantheon is a trademark of Lexicon Pro, a Harman International Company, ASIO and VST are trademarks of Pinnacle Systems, Inc. ReWire and Reason are trademarks of Propellerhead Software, AB. MPEX Time Scaling technology licensed from Prosoniq Products Software, http://www.prosoniq.com. ACID is a registered Trademark of SONY Pictures Digital, Inc. Other trademarks mentioned are held by their respective owners.