Cakewalk has recently released Sonar (Studio and Producer) 8.5! An upgrade to the recently released Sonar 8, 8.5 not only upgrades and expands upon existing features, but adds some core technologies and bundled plugins as well as Windows 7 support!
Lets take a look and see whats new in Sonar 8.5.
Core Technologies
There have been several updates and second versions of core technologies and non-plugin technologies…
Sonar Studio and Producer 8.5
- Windows 7 Ready!
- One Click Default Install to Get Going Quickly
- Expanded Media Browser
- Sonar’s New Hub For Content. All Loops, Sequences, ect and drag/drop-able into Tracks
- Arpeggiator
- Each MIDI and VST Track has a built in Arpeggiator with many varriables
- Step Sequencer 2.0
- Includes pattern saving/loading, Flams, UI Enhancements, and more
- AudioSnap 2.0
- New UI and Tool Set
- Hot Swappable Interfaces – Engine Work
- Unplug, Plug In, and Swap Interfaces and Controllers without restarting Sonar
- Continuing Open Plugin Support
- Now using “BitBridge” to provide legacy support for x86 Plugins to run in a x64 environment.
Sonar Producer 8.5 Only
- Matrix View
- A non-linear cellular based Audio and MIDI editing tool
- Drag and Drop Audio, Patterns or Samples to Arrange your Compositions
Plugins!!!
As per usual with Sonar, 8.5 introduces a plethora of new plugins to help with your creations…
Sonar Studio and Producer 8.5
- Roland V-Vocal
- Vocal Plugin that provides Pitch Correction, Phrasing Correction, Dynamics, Vibrato and Pitch to MIDI Conversion in a strictly Non Destructive Format
- Project5 “Half-Rack” Tempo Synced Effects including the Alias Factor Bit Decimator, Classic Phaser, Compressor/Gate, HF Exciter, Mod Filter, Chorus/Flanger, Para-Q, StudioVerb II, and Tempo Delay
Sonar 8.5 Producer Only
- Session Drummer 3
- The New Version of Sonar’s VST Drum Kit
- Includes a Mixer to Mix Drums as if each element was Tracked Individually
- Mix and Match Kits
- Use over 700 New MIDI Patterns
- PX-64 Percussion Strip
- A Dynamic Plugin Specifically Designed for use with Percussion
- VX-64 Vocal Strip
- A Seven Stage Dynamic Processor Specifically Designed for Vocal Use.
Cost
Of course there are different costs depending on what system you are upgrading for, or if you’re starting from scratch…
Also keep in mind that if you did purchase Sonar 8.0 this summer, that you qualified to get a free upgrade to 8.5… So check into this before purchasing!
Also, all of these upgrades are available at the Cakewalk Store, some available via download only which proves to be a bit cheaper.
Non-Upgrade Versions of Sonar 8.5
SONAR 8.5 Producer Standard – $499 @ Guitar Center
SONAR 8.5 Studio Standard – $299 @ Guitar Center
Uprade Versions of Sonar 8.5
SONAR 8.5 Studio from SONAR 1-8 Studio/Producer – $99.99 @ Guitar Center
SONAR 8.5 Producer from SONAR 7-8 Producer Standard – $179.99 @ Guitar Center
SONAR 8.5 Producer from SONAR 8 Studio Standard – $199.99 @ Guitar Center
SONAR 8.5 Producer from SONAR 7 Studio, SONAR 6 Standard – $229.99 @ Guitar Center
