The SONAR X1 Mind Map

1 Overview

1.1 Welcome

Hello everyone and welcome to 2010 edition of the SONAR fine print The SONAR X1 Mind Map! We have the most feature laden and groundbreaking version of SONAR for you this year so there is a lot to share. There is also a ton of information on our new website including great new videos, screenshots and marketing literature so please check that out if you haven't seen it yet. In this document I will try and cover some of the background and internals of the new features in X1 from an engineering perspective. Most of the information presented here is from internal documents and notes so I apologize in advance for any inaccuracies. The intent is to share with you some of the back stories of all that went into SONAR X1. The changes in SONAR X1 run very deep. Its normal to take some time to get acclimatized to the new interface and paradigms of working. For most it is a surprisingly quick transition and once used to the X1 interface its very hard to go back to working in an earlier version. X1 has a beautiful user interface but make no mistake, its not skin deep! A lot of thought and careful consideration went into the design from many groups of people, from Product management, Engineering, Marketing, Sales, Support, Beta Testers and the feedback from our end users. The end result is an application that is a massive improvement over our previous generation of products and we hope you will enjoy using it. Its never been a better time to be a SONAR user. If these notes appear non linear, it's as intended :-) To write this article I used a Mind Mapping program called FreeMind (and an Android mobile version called ThinkingSpace). Mind Mapping is a neat way of intuitively arranging and presenting concepts in a non linear way. It made it way easier for me author the myriad topics in this article. If you wish to read this offline, I've provided both MindMap and PDF downloads for this. Its way cooler to read it in the original mind map format though. Enjoy! Noel Borthwick
Download this document PDF format SONARX1FinePrint.pdf FreeMind mind map Download Mind Map SONARX1FinePrint.mm http://www.cakewalk.com/FinePrint/SONARX1FinePrint.mm Download the FreeMind client http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Download
You can also read this portably on an Android device via the ThinkingSpace application which supports the FreeMind format. (available from the Android store)

1.2 The X1 Vision

SONAR is a powerful DAW that has evolved over a 10 year period, longer if you consider its legacy from Pro Audio product line. While its feature set is very deep, its incremental evolution inevitably led us to a point in time where important features were somewhat hidden, thereby preventing many users from fully exploiting its power and available tools most effectively. It was time to rethink and refactor some of our fundamentals to make the application interface more streamlined. One of the primary goals for SONAR X1 was to completely overhaul the SONAR user interface with the intent of improving workflow, and simplifying the learning curve for new users. Some of the basic goals for improving the UI were (.) Reduce clutter by replacing toolbars with an intuitive control bar Replace the proliferation of icons with menus, key commands and icons Modernize the application with a 21'st century user interface Use a a more rich, engaging, yet neutral color palette for the UI Devise a modern 2010 interface which allows for maximum flexibility for laying out views using either floating views or docking style interface Take better advantage of multimonitor use scenarios Create consistency with Global Tools, unifying the behavior of tools across multiple views X1 is a new beginning. The start of a new series of products that build and expand upon the new paradigms established in X1 A product design change of this magnitude is no mean task. In order to achieve our goals for this version, we extended the product cycle by 3 whole months.

1.3 Why X1?

We had some controversy surrounding the naming of our prior release SONAR 8.5 and you might wonder why we didn't just call this version SONAR 9. X1 is the one of the biggest releases of SONAR in the 10 year history of the product. The user interface alone involved a large architectural revamp and a change in direction to simplify and enhance user workflow. X1 is our first product to include all these changes, so we felt it appropriate that the product name reflected this change.

1.4 Acknowledgments

It takes a lot to release a product on this scale, but in my time at Cakewalk I have never experienced a product development cycle with so much inter departmental interaction and cross pollination of ideas. Contributions of many groups of people were huge and the product wouldn't be what it was without any of them: Product management for their design and the mammoth tasks of keeping

Audio File: If an Audio track is selected, import to currently selected track. Otherwise, create new Audio track containing the Audio file. Track Template: Add track to end. Project Template - Add tracks to end Soft Synth Add to Synth Rack, create new Simple Instrument track at end Full Drag and Drop Support Audio/midi media to Track inserts media into existing track as new clip Audio/midi media to Track View empty space inserts media into new track Audio/midi media to Matrix View - Cell inserts media into cell Cwp/cwb/wrk/bun into Track imports tracks into existing project starting at current track Cwp/cwb/wrk/bun into Track View - empty space imports tracks from project file as new tracks Track icons to Track View - Track sets the track icon to the selected icon Track icons to Track View - Bus sets the bus icon to the selected icon Plugin Browser Tree view to browse available effects and instruments and chains Full drag drop support Drop anywhere on a track or bus to insert effects Drop to effects bins to insert within a bin Drop to effects chains container to insert into an existing chain Audio/Midi Plugin to Track - Effects Bin inserts the FX into track effects bin at dropped position Audio/Midi Plugin to Clips View - empty space appends the FX into track effects bin for that track Audio Plugin to Clips View Clip appends the FX into the clip effects bin Synth to Track View appends the synth into track effects bin for that track Synth to Track View - empty space inserts the synth into the synth rack and adds a synth track Synth to Clips View appends the synth into track effects bin for that track Synth to Clips View - empty space appends the synth into the synth rack and adds a synth track Rewire Synth to Clips View appends the rewire synth into the synth rack and adds a synth track Rewire Synth to Track View appends the rewire synth into the synth rack and adds a synth track Double click to insert synth VST and DX plug-in effects VST and DX virtual instruments MFX MIDI effects Rewire devices Browse and drag and drop effects chains Custom plug-in layouts
Synth rack Streamlined Synth Rack Inspector Goals Provides unified and easy access to all vital track bus and clip properties in one logical and quickly accessible location track notes color position timing automation advanced MIDI functions (Arpeggiator and Input Quantize) and more. A wealth of data in a small context sensitive footprint Accelerate your workflow by quickly changing settings without needing to open property pages and dialogs Easy access to previously buried features such as track descriptions Shows full channel strip and related bus for ergonomic track view mixing One-click display of entire ProChannel. Fully collapsible, expandable, dockable, and floatable Track Inspector Clip Inspector Pro Channel Multidock view Back Story The MultiDock is a powerful new feature of SONAR X1 that allows the user to hold all or their favorite views within one container. It is possible to dock the MultiDock within the main application window as well as float it on another monitor. Views docked in the MultiDock appear as tabs. Several gestures are available for opening, closing, and docking views within the MultiDock, as well as floating them separately.

It is interesting that the idea for the MultiDock evolved purely out of our experimentation with trying to nest views. The experiment worked so well that it evolved into this powerful and integral feature in X1! Allows you to dock and instantly access any number of SONARs views in one combined area. The MultiDock is a container that can host one or more other views. The MultiDock appears automatically when you dock a view at the bottom of the Track view. The MultiDock is only visible when at least one view is docked there. By default, the MultiDock is displayed at the bottom of the screen, below the Track view, but you can also float the MultiDock and even position it on a second video monitor. You can also maximize the MultiDock to do detailed work in a docked window, or drag the splitter bar at the top of the MultiDock to enlarge the tabbed view area. When you drag a window towards the bottom of the Track view, a colored rectangle indicates that the window will be docked in the MultiDock
when you release the mouse button. The Control Bar and MultiDock can both be docked at the bottom at the same time. In this case, the MultiDock appears above the Control Bar. The Console View, Step Sequencer, Piano Roll - even instruments and effects can all be contained within one consolidated area in the Multi Dock For ultimate flexibility, the MultiDock itself can be quickly collapsed or expanded and, can even be placed on an entirely separate monitor. Ideal for making the most of your workspace whether you are using a single, high-resolution display or a multiple monitor setup. Docking Management Skylight includes a powerful integrated docking management framework which handles all operations for docking views Docking can be achieved by using the Docking options menu that every dockable view exposes, or by dragging and dropping the window When you drag a window to dock it, a colored rectangle indicates when you are hovering over a valid drop location. When you release the mouse the view will be docked within in the indicated region. Docking Locations The Inspector and Browser can be docked vertically to the left and right of the workspace Most other views can be docked horizontally at the top and bottom of the screen You can also dock most views within the composite Multidock view The Control Bar and MultiDock can both be docked at the bottom at the same time. In this case, the MultiDock appears above the Control Bar. The Control Bar and MultiDock can both be docked at the top at the same time. In this case, the MultiDock appears below the Control Bar. The Multidock itself can be docked in 8 locations for maximum customizability Top of Screen Top LeftCenter Top Center Top CenterRight Bottom of Screen Bottom LeftCenter Bottom Center Bottom CenterRight You can override the docking management by pressing the CTRL key when dragging any window To dock a window do one of the following: Drag the window to the MultiDock. Click the views Docking Options menu, and choose Dock in MultiDock. Click the upper left corner of a window, and choose Dock in MultiDock from the pop-up menu. To undock a window do one of the following: Drag the windows tab out of the MultiDock

Click the views Docking Options menu, and choose Undock. Right-click the windows tab, and choose Undock from the pop-up menu. Note: When you undock a window, the window will be float enabled. If you do not wish to float the window, click the windows icon menu in the top left corner and choose Disable Floating. To dock/undock the MultiDock do one of the following: Click the Dock/Undock button. Click the Docking Options menu and choose Dock at Top or Dock at Bottom. Drag the MultiDock to the top or bottom of the screen. To undock the MultiDock, do one of the following: Click the Dock/Undock button. Click the Docking Options menu and choose Undock. Click to the right of the tabs and drag the MultiDock away from the bottom of the screen Right-click the windows tab, and choose Undock from the pop-up menu. To maximize/restore the MultiDock (when undocked) double-click the MultiDock title bar. To close a window in the MultiDock do one of the following: Click the tabs X button. Right-click the windows tab, and choose Close from the pop-up menu. If you close the last remaining tab, the MultiDock closes automatically To navigate between docked windows do one of the following: Click the desired tab Hold down the SHIFT and CTRL keys and press the LEFT ARROW or RIGHT ARROW key. To expand a docked window To expand a docked window so it fills the Track view, double-click the windows tab or press SHIFT+D To restore the view to its original docked size, double-click the tab again To expand/collapse the MultiDock Click the Expand/Collapse button in the bottom right corner.

2.5 Redesigned Console

Can now be docked at the bottom or top of the workspace, for access to mixing controls across a bank of tracks Console strips now sync with Track View strips and auto scroll the view to show the strip if necessary More efficient use of vertical space. At its maximum height, the new Console View is shorter than it used to be. Show hide adjacent ProChannel strip from any console audio strip

2.6 Screensets

Highlights Screensets in SONAR X1 are a powerful replacement for the Window Layouts of previous versions.
Difference between old Window Layouts and Screensets Screensets also save the state of open plug-in windows. Screensets are easier to load, save. (menu item replaced by toolbar) Layouts are global, Screensets are per project Great tool to help you manage all of your views and save the layout as a screenset. Save the locations of windows whether they are docked or floating. You can store up to ten different screenset per project. Include which windows are open, their size, position, and state. Save automatically when changing to another Screenset seamlessly integrating into any workflow. Can lock Screensets from changes as well as importing them from other projects. Screensets Control Bar module houses all relevant controls. Key Bindable Create or save Arrange your views as you like Choose a different screenset (using numerical keys, quick access buttons, or menu) The current screenset is saved and the newly-selected Screenset is loaded Name or rename Choose the screenset you want to rename by loading it (using numerical keys, quick access buttons, or menu) From the screenset toolbar menu choose Rename Current Screenset Duplicate a Screenset onto another Screenset location Select Duplicate Screenset to > [destination Screenset] -orShift+Num. The current Screenset is saved to the selected slot and that becomes the current Screenset. If the destination Screenset is locked or the same number as the current Screenset, the option is disabled. Load a Screenset: From the QWERTY keyboard Simply press the 1,2,keys (not num pad) From the Screenset Toolbar Module Choose the Screenset from the Screenset menu Click one of the QuickAccess button on the Toolbar Revert Revert Recalls the saved state of the current Screenset either from the project file (its state upon loading) or i.e.: Ive loaded a Screenset I like. I make changes to it. I decide I want to go to a different Screenset but I dont want to save the changes I made to the current screenset, so I select Revert. The screenset reverts to its state before changes were made. Importing Screensets from another project file If two project files are open, SONAR will check to see if the other project file contains valid Screensets. If so, the Import Screensets from source.cwp menu item will be available, and source.cwp will display as the name of the other project file. If more than two project files are open, SONAR will only acknowledge the first one (containing Screensets) as a valid source.

When importing, Screensets that are currently locked will not be overwritten. Locking and Unlocking Locking Create or load a saved Screenset Choose Lock / Unlock Current Screenset from the Screenset menu on the Screenset Toolbar module. Currently-locked Screensets will appear with a small lock icon to the left of their name in the Screensets menu. Unlocking Load it Choose Lock / Unlock Current Screenset from the Screenset menu on the Screenset toolbar module Locked Behaviors When a Screenset is first locked, it saves its current state as both the working copy and the backed up copy in memory. Any subsequent application (invoking) of that Screenset causes it to reload the saved locked state. The locked state is also persisted to the project when it is saved. The Name cannot be changed on a locked Screenset. Revert on a locked Screenset causes it to load the saved locked state. Revert on an unlocked Screenset causes it to load the last saved state of that screenset (or default, if never saved). The current Screenset number is also saved with the project. When a project opens, it will select the last used Screenset. If that Screenset is locked, it will load the Screenset as it was at the point it was locked. If a file has never been saved (i.e. new or legacy projects) it will default to Screenset 1 (and then present any saved views for a legacy project i.e. last saved state).

2.7 Unified Menus

Simplified Application menus SONARs menus have been redesigned making access to various functions far more ergonomic View Menubars Replacement for view toolbars Confusing and intimidating toolbars have been replaced with friendly and intuitive menus that invite exploration and help you discover many of SONARs powerful features. It is now easier than ever to find your way around SONAR. Let's face it - toolbars are so 90's :) Less Toolbars and buttons, making them more potent and usable Cluttered view toolbars mostly replaced by view specific menu bars Context menus

2.8 Key Clusters

Keyboard Shortcuts in SONAR have been exhaustively reworked Intuitive keyboard shortcuts that make accessing SONARs various functions simple and logical. Intelligently organize all key commands around a single alpha key for
simple access. For example, B for Browser, Q launches the Quantize menu. All related functions are a shift or Ctrl modifier such as Shift + Q launches input quantize settings and Ctrl + Q Enable/Disables input quantize.

2.9 Preferences

Get up and running faster with SONAR X1s unified preferences view. Every option and setting is now neatly arranged allowing you to apply changes as you go. No more obscure aud.ini tweaking necessary - all commonly used configuration variables are available to change directly from the Preferences UI Project and global options all available from one place Sections Audio preferences Devices Driver Settings Playback and Recording Audio Profiles (Advanced) Configuration File (Advanced) Sync and Caching (Advanced) MIDI preferences Devices Instruments Control Surfaces Playback and Recording Drum Map Manager (Advanced) File Folder Locations Audio Data VST Settings Initialization File (Advanced) Advanced (Advanced) Project Record MIDI Metronome AudioSnap Clock (Advanced) Surround (Advanced) Customization Display Colors Snap and Nudge Editing (Advanced) Key Bindings (Advanced) Audio Meter (Advanced)

2.10 FX Chains

Back Story
We have wanted to provide a simple way for users to manage effects chains for a long time. The solution we implemented goes beyond simply managing presets of chained effects, to provide for treating chains of effects as fully independent composite objects. Often when you are working you are thinking of a sound and don't want to be distracted by the mechanics of producing it. i.e, if you want your favorite big guitar stack, or mastering suite for a bus, you can now just pull in a chain preset that includes all the plugins that create the sound you want.
Effects chain objects are like having private effects bins that you can move around as objects freely. In fact they are implemented as nested effects bins internally. Another advantage of the object approach is that you can mute chains or drag them around without affecting the order of effects in the chain itself. Highlights SONAR X1 includes the ability to save and load chains of plug-ins. An FX Chain can be thought of as an embedded FX Chain container that can be renamed, moved between tracks or buses or saved to disk as an FX chain template, allowing users to save and load their favorite FX bins. Can be used in any effects bin in SONAR X1 including clip effects bins Create combinations of multiple effects, including DSP-based fx that reside in one container object and manipulated them as a single effect Object oriented effects chain management Drag and drop from the Browser Drag and drop between tracks Drag and drop to individual clips for clip fx chains. FX Chains can even be mixed with other individual effects, preserving all the flexibility of SONARs signal routing Operations Create chain To load an FX Chain Preset do one of the following Right-click an effects bin and choose Load FX Chain Preset on the pop-up menu. Select the desired FX Chain Preset file (*.fxc) in the Load FX Chain Preset dialog and click Open. Right-click an effects bin, point to FX Chain and select an FX Chain preset from the submenu. From the Plug-in tab of the Browser, under Audio, expand the FX Chain branch and drag the preset to an effects bin. TIP: You can automatically extract plug-ins when loading an FX Chain preset. To do so, hold down the SHIFT key while loading the preset. Convert an effects bin to an FX Chain object Add effects to the bin as normal Right click the effects bin and choose Convert Bin to FX Chain on the pop-up menu. All plug-ins in the effects bin are consolidated into a single new FX Chain Editing

to produce the minimum achievable deviation from the analog shape. We've put a *lot* of work into making sure we have the absolute highest quality algorithms around for the compressors, the EQ and the saturation module. All the modules are seriously accurate and awesome sounding and we are using the best possible techniques to give you the best DSP out there with the stuff we've got in the Pro Channel. You can all trust that with one click, you now have access to high end DSO, on every channel, and it's going to always sounds great, and always be convenient. Highlights The ProChannel is a SONAR X1 Producer exclusive that expands SONARs already impressive console with big, epic pro-studio sound built right in to every channel. ProChannel provides one button access to bigger and punchier mixes without ever needing to leave your mix view or launch and manage separate plug-ins. Each channel has a highly musical EQ, a choice of two compressors, two types of tube saturation, flexible drag & drop routing to order the processing, and the entire ProChannel can be pre or post FX bin. EQ Highlights The ProChannels Gloss EQ is carefully designed to sound clear and musical on virtually any source material. Utilizing the latest techniques, Gloss EQ injects the smooth beauty of an analog EQ directly into SONARs mixing console. Pro Channel EQ Pure, Vintage and Modern modes 6 bands, 2 shelf/bells, 4 bell/notches 2 fully parametric filters (high and low-pass) Gloss mode for one-button shine Legacy Sonitus EQ support EQ Plot Compressor Highlights The Pro Channels integrated channel and bus compression is designed to offer the big, punchy sound of classic studio hardware with no need to manage plug-ins Two switchable compressors on one strip Unique in this design both compressors include a wet/dry knob for easy instant parallel compression setup. The PC76 U-Type channel compressor employs classic FET design with fast attack and analog-style warmth The PC4K S-Type bus compressor glues a mix bus together, imparting the radio-ready sound made famous by classic, large-format consoles Sidechain ready Tube Saturation

2.12 Navigation

Improvements to zooming, scrolling and document navigation Zoom and scroll in the time ruler You can now zoom and scroll by dragging in the top half of the time ruler To zoom, drag up/down in the top half of the time ruler. To scroll, drag left/right in the top half of the time ruler. To lock the time when zooming in or out, hold down the ALT key.

2.13 Misc Features

Simpler authorization You no longer need to first manually run the application as an administrator to authorize it You will automatically receive a UAC elevation prompt when you choose to register SONAR from a limited user account Optimized Installer content locations Default folder and content locations have been optimized requiring minimal file copying during the personalization process No more redundant file copies of content Clip fade in waveforms Audio clips can now optionally reflect clip-fades in the waveform itself Friendlier Staff view editing When drawing events in the Staff view, the staff is shaded to indicate where the current event type can be drawn. ALT modifier to replace bin with inserted effect Hold down the ALT key while you drag an FX Chain preset to an effects bin. The effects bin is cleared and replaced with the FX Chain container. This is a handy shortcut to replace a full effects bin with a single plugin Graphical big time view The big time view has a new metronome style graphical time display Default Presets for Plug-ins You can now as associate a default preset for any plugin within individual Plug-in Layouts. Open plugin manager and select a plugin in the plugin layouts pane right-clicking the Plug-in and choose properties In properties, then pick a default preset (you must first save a preset if no presets exist) These defaults are stored per Plug-in Layout, meaning that you can store different presets for the same Plug-in in different different plugin Layout. Once associated, the next time you use that plugin the default preset will be automatically loaded This can be a big time saver if you typically use a particular preset with a plugin Support for REX loops in X64 REX loops are now supported in the 64 bit version of SONAR Drag and drop rex loops in the SONAR browser Better Help
The Help menu is now categorized by topic so you can immediately jump to the area you want to browse without needing to open the help first.
3 Project File Compatibility
SONAR X1 is fully backwards compatible with all project files saved from earlier versions SONAR X1 project files may contain several new features that will be missing if opened in earlier versions. You will get a prompt when you open such files in earlier product versions. These features will be lost permanently if resaved in an earlier version: FX Chains Any nested FX Chain including their plugins will be removed. FX Chain plugin automation envelopes are orphaned For FX Chain plugins to be accessible in earlier versions you must "Extract FX Chain Plugins " in X1 before saving the file. Screensets saved in X1 projects will be unavailable in earlier versions ProChannel settings ProChannel settings will be lost if opened in earlier versions Legacy built in Sonitus EQ settings will be retained as long as you have not switched to using the new ProChannel EQ All docking and view specific settings from X1 will be lost when opening Toolbar settings are not compatible with earlier versions of SONAR and will be lost Template files saved from SONAR X1 will not load in earlier versions of SONAR. This is because of changes made to SONAR's view persistence code in SONAR X1. SONAR X1 can load projects from any previous versions of SONAR, but projects that are saved in SONAR X1 cannot be re-opened in SONAR 1.x or SONAR 2.x. In case you need to open a pre-SONAR X1 project, it is recommended that you always create a backup copy of the original project before you re-save the project in SONAR X1. Project files saved in SONAR X1 may appear to be missing automation data when opened in an earlier version of SONAR. To resolve this: Click the dropdown arrow next to the envelope tool in the Track view toolbar to display the Envelope Options menu. Choose Show All Envelopes. For more information see the online help section Showing or Hiding Envelopes included with the previous version of SONAR Project files saved in SONAR X1 will not open in SONAR 5 if they reference 64-bit audio clips. Project files saved in SONAR X1 will not open in SONAR 4 if they reference or include any of the following types of data or information: 32-bit and 64-bit audio clips, including clips and tracks that have been frozen or rendered as 32-bit or 64-bit data. Audio clips that are not all of the same bit depth

4 Internals

New Compiler A somewhat obscure detail but important nonetheless. For SONAR X1 we converted our codebase to work with the latest Microsoft compiler VS2010 VS2010 had several enhancements for modern Windows user interfaces some of which we took advantage of. An example is the new file browser you see in X1. Additionally it has low level intrinsic support for the latest CPU chipsets. More later. Processor specific optimizations Intel AVX chipset support: Our friends at Intel have been busy helping us make SONAR run even faster. SONAR X1 has support for the next generation AVX chipset. Several mix operations have been tuned to run significantly faster on this platform with these optimizations. Additionally some common operations have been further optimized for SSE which is available on all current processor families. More of these optimizations will be available in an upcoming X1 update. New graphics framework In order to streamline graphics drawing SONAR X1 has a new framework (graphics engine) to handle all graphics drawing operations This framework abstracts the work of drawing objects minimizing kernel use, thereby reducing glitches even when navigating large projects in the UI We built a new graphics layer for the future which allows for the best possible rendering on various OS versions and affords the use of modern graphic primitives. The benefit is manifold. Easier to code, easier to debug, and nice to look at. Were taking advantage of several things that were a bit challenging to render previously. A few examples are anti-aliased rendering of many different types of geometric shapes (both outlined and filled), alpha blending, gradients, etc. in many places. Well be bringing more and more UI code into the future. Crash detection enhancements SONAR X1 now additionally will release audio and MIDI devices when a crash is detected Solves problems with stuck devices esp with some ASIO drivers that do not terminate on abnormal exit of the host

5 Employee Comments

Cakewalk employee tips and comments about X1: Jim Lima - QA Control Bar Record Button "hidden" features Right-clicking the Record button in the Control Bar opens the Preferences | Record dialog. Left-click mouse down and hold opens the Record | Step Record menu. Dragging synths from the Browser | Plug-ins | Instruments tab directly into to the Track View without going through the Synth Rack menus or
Insert menu. Making any view as tall as possible in the MultiDock (bottom docked), then using the Collapse button (or even better in X1A - the "D" key) to expand and collapse it. Using the new Quick Groups to assign multiple track Outputs to the same Bus. No more navigating the Tracks | Properties | Outputs menu. The new Quick Groups method - select tracks, CTRL+click a control. Dave Luiz - QA Drag and drop effects from the browser. very convenient! Bill Jackson - QA Track View follows Console View: While mixing, you can dock the Console view showing just a small portion of the Track view at the top. Then maximize track heights using CTRL+DownArrow. Now, as you mix, the track view shows the track you're working with. Quickly switch between edit modes with the middle mouse button/wheel: While editing in the Track View, you can quickly open your edit filter menu in the HUD by MMB clicking then flicking the scroll wheel down. Key Clusters: They're a little hard to get used to. But once you do they make perfect sense. Dan Cate - QA F5-F10 key Edit Tools switching and quick switching (holding down to temporarily switch between tools) Drag and drop plug ins, soft synths etc. from browser to bins, TI and CV. TV options in the TV menu, easy to get to, easy to remember where it is and easy to change as you need it. Lance Riley - QA Duplicating tracks while using the ProChannel for quick parallel compression with different eq and saturation settings. Fade in/out preview. Looks really cool too. Being able to hide everything and just edit / arrange a project. Open Project Press C,B,D,I all at the same time New Colors - They're so much easier on the eyes. Willy Jones - TS When you make a selection you can edit envelopes without needing to modify the start/end nodes of the selection David Guerette - TS Mine would be the floating MultiDock when using dual monitors. Ryan Munnis - TS SHIFT + Left-Click with the Smart Tool to select automation envelopes. Hands down my favorite SONAR X1 feature so far. Zyler Vega - PM The new MultiDock and the ability to easily work with many open windows The ability to drag-drop both Views and Content reliably throughout the application The unified Browser and Synth Rack The Control Bar and View menus for replacing all of the toolbars Screensets for allowing quick-switching between multiple workspaces Unified Preferences panel

George Persiantsev - Dev / PM Clip inspector Automatic fades drawing in clips Noel Borthwick - Dev Quick grouping of edit filter envelope choices to quickly add envelopes across multiple tracks MultiDock and Skylight! Drag and drop of FX Effects chains Mike Trujillo - Sales The Pro Channel in general. I love the flexibility of the comps and the wet/dry mix is really awesome for getting the effect of having two busses, one dry one squashed. The EQ sounds amazing and the hpf and lpf are a great feature And the tube sat? AWESOME!!! Ive been able to get anything in my imagination out of it from just adding a little meat to full on destruction! I really dig the new GUI, its smart and sexy and really pushes us into the future compared to 8.5 Browser window is great, makes workflow much faster and easier. Drag and drop of items in the browser is great too. And the unified preference view really helps streamline things Thats my two pesos on the mighty X1! Set Perlstein - Sales My favorite feature of X1 is the revamped Inspector and being able to access the Advanced MIDI functions right from it

6 Point releases

In an update as huge as X1 despite everyone's best efforts, there are bound to be some minor issues that slipped through the cracks at release time. With that in mind we have actively planned for X1 point releases. Reporting problems To report problems click here http://www.cakewalk.com/Support/ProblemReporter/ You can also contact support directly from the SONAR X1 help menu via Help | SONAR Online | Support. Then go to the "Contact Support" tab. Fill out the form completely with all of the requested information and upload a project to reproduce the issue if necessary Please do not use our web forums to report problems to us. There are several reasons why: Developers do not fix issues based on forum reports or check the web forums actively. Without a logged bug number your report will not get forwarded to engineering. The central location for bug reports is our bug database not forum threads. There is a lot more information that is typically required to address a problem report. The problem report form lists all the info needed. Without this we cannot investigate many issues. Please be as detailed in your reports as possible. Even if the issue may appear
obvious to you, there are many variables involved in any problem (configuration settings/OS/driver configuration) which might make it happen on your system but not on another users setup. Its critical for us to get a reproduction of the problem to be able to fix it. If the problem is project file related we will need the project file sent as part of the bug report. The reporting form explains how to send a repro project to us. We need your contact information - often a problem requires tech support to work one on one with you since many reported issues are configuration related or not bugs at all. The CWBRN reference number provides a central way to reference a bug with support. You can even view the status of a report you submitted online.

The CWBRN report avoids wastage of time on duplicate reports. X1A Engineering work has already commenced on this update. Many customer reported issues already addressed in this update The first update is intended to address more widely encountered problems and potential stability issues. The idea is to get these fixes out early to the maximum number of users. Other more minor issues will be addressed in a future update. Tentative release schedule approx week of Dec 20

7 Conclusion

A lot went into the design and construction of SONAR X1. The end result is is an application that is a massive improvement over our previous generation of products. We sincerely hope that our users will enjoy X1 and be more productive than ever using it. Its never been a better time to be a SONAR user especially with the low upgrade price to SONAR X1. Thank you for your support!

8 Product Descriptions

8.1 SONAR X1 Producer
http://www.cakewalk.com/Products/SONAR/X1-Producer/Default.aspx

8.2 SONAR X1 Studio

http://www.cakewalk.com/Products/SONAR/X1-Studio/Default.aspx

8.3 SONAR X1 Essential

http://www.cakewalk.com/Products/SONAR/X1-Essential/Default.aspx

9 Videos

9.1 Tools & Editing
http://www.cakewalk.com/CakeTV/video.aspx/axHd4sntdJg.ytb?t=Tools-andEditing
9.2 Getting Started With ProChannel
http://www.cakewalk.com/CakeTV/video.aspx/OrfDmFawdOE.ytb?t=GetStarted-ProChannel

9.3 SkyLight

http://www.cakewalk.com/CakeTV/video.aspx/uqFzau9r9gk.ytb?t=SkylightInterface

9.4 Unified Preferences

http://www.cakewalk.com/CakeTV/video.aspx/rawGwZtyH00.ytb?t=UnifiedPreferences

10 Screenshot Gallery

http://www.cakewalk.com/Products/sonar/x1-gallery.aspx