Which version of SONAR is right for me?

Between SONAR Home Studio 7, SONAR Home Studio 7 XL, SONAR 8 Studio, and SONAR 8 Producer we are certain that there is a version of SONAR that's absolutely the right choice for your level of experience, music production needs, and budget. Although having choices is great you might be confused about which version of SONAR is the right one for you. To help you see how simple it really is, we've prepared the following comparisons to help you make the right decision.


SONAr Home Studio 7

SONAR Home Studio 7 XL

SONAR 8 Studio

SONAR 8 Producer

SONAR Home Studio 7

If you're a musician looking to build your own music studio, an MC looking to record and make your own beats, an educator, a video editor, or podcaster who wants to edit and record audio, or just looking to get started with digital recording, SONAR Home Studio is the best entry-level digital audio workstation on the market today.

Based on Cakewalk's award- winning SONAR technology, yet with the easiest interface in the Cakewalk family, it offers you the fastest way to get powerful results.

 

SONAR Home Studio 7 XL

SONAR Home Studio XL gives you all the functionality and ease of use of SONAR Home Studio 7, but with the addition of more tools, effects, and virtual instruments. You get additional capabilities to create a more polished final product. SONAR Home Studio XL is perfect for aspiring producers, musicians who need a backing band, or anyone who's looking for more value.

 

SONAR 8 Studio

SONAR 8 Studio offers the best creative tools, and the most power of any digital audio workstation in its price range. If you used an earlier version of SONAR Home Studio, SONAR 8 Studio's user interface will be familiar to you but it will take your productions to the next level with unlimited tracks, advanced editing and mixing capabilities, more effects and instruments, and higher quality audio. Built upon the same core feature set as SONAR 8 Producer, SONAR 8 Studio is perfect for producers, engineers, and musicians who do not need the additional effects, instruments, surround, and mastering capabilities of our flagship SONAR 8 Producer.

 

 

SONAR 8 Producer

If you're serious about your music production, there is no better solution than SONAR 8 Producer. SONAR 8 Producer features our best creative tools, our leading technology innovations, an unmatched recording and mixing environment, the most effects and instruments in our product line, and it is all backed by the industry's leading 64-bit audio quality throughout. SONAR 8 Producer gives you what you need for recording, composing, editing, mixing, and mastering, and is used daily by Grammy and Emmy-winning professionals in the music, film, TV, gaming and post production industries.

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What do the product managers have to say?

Watch Samara Krugman, Cakewalk Product Manager discuss the vision for the new SONAR Home Studio 7.

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Watch Alex Westner, Cakewalk's Director of Product Management discuss the main themes of SONAR Producer & Studio and the goals for version .

Basic Comparison Chart

 

SONAr Home Studio 7

SONAR Home Studio 7 XL

SONAR 8 Studio

SONAR 8 Producer

SONAR Home Studio 7
SONAR Home Studio 7 XL
SONAR 8 Studio
SONAR 8 Producer

User Interface

Simple
 

Simple

Professional

Professional

Number of Tracks

64
 

64

Unlimited

Unlimited

Included Virtual Instruments
 

5

7

11

14

Included Audio Effects

12
 

14

31

42

Maximum Audio Quality

24-bit/96kHz
 

24-bit/96kHz

24-bit/384kHz

24-bit/384kHz

Internal Audio Engine

32-bit
 

32-bit

64-bit

64-bit

Creative Tools

Good
 

Good + More Plug-ins

Better

Best

Editing Capabilities

Intermediate
 

Intermediate

Advanced

Advanced

Mixing Environment

Basic

Basic

Advanced

Advanced including Surround

Mastering capabilities

None
 

Basic

Intermediate

Advanced

Upgrades start at
$59
 
$79
$99
$179

Estimated Street price

$99
 

$159

$299

$499

 

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Need more details? High Level Feature Comparison

The chart below details some specific feature differences between the versions of SONAR Home Studio 7, SONAR 8 Studio, and SONAR 8 Producer. Please note, this chart only provides highlights and is not a complete comparison. For a more detailed feature specification, we suggest you read through the specific product pages for these products.

 

SONAr Home Studio 7

SONAR Home Studio 7 XL

SONAR 8 Studio

SONAR 8 Producer

 
SONAR Home Studio 7
SONAR Home Studio 7 XL
SONAR 8 Studio
SONAR 8 Producer
Active Controller Technology
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Video Thumbnail Track
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Simple Instrument Tracks
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
New Loop Explorer View
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Step Sequencer
No
Yes
Yes
Yes
AudioSnap audio quantize tools
No
No
Yes
Yes
V-Vocal Vocal processor
No
No
No
Yes
Mastering Features
None
Boost 11
Boost 11, Windowed Sinc Sample Rate Conversion
Boost 11, LP-64 mastering FX, TL-64 Tube Leveler, POW-r Dithering, Windowed Sinc Sample Rate Conversion
Track Comping Tools
No
No
Yes
Yes
External Hardware Inserts
No
No
Yes
Yes
Dimension Synthesizer
None
LE
LE
Pro
Beatscape Loop Instrument
No
No
No
Yes
Z3TA+ Waveshaping Synthesizer
No
No
No
Yes
TruePianos Amber VSTi
No
No
No
Yes
64-bit version for Vista 64, more RAM access, 64-bit processing
No
No
Yes
Yes
Smart MIDI Tools
No
No
Yes
Yes
Per-clip effects
No
No
Yes
Yes
User-customizable interface
No
No
Yes
Yes
Internal Sidechaining
No
No
Yes
Yes
Cakewalk Publisher
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
Integrated CD Ripping & Burning
Yes
Yes
Yes
Yes
 
 

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