Features

SONAR 4 Producer Exclusives

• Multi-format surround mixing and editing with over 30 configurations supported (5.1, 7.1, LCRS, etc.).
  
• Intuitive surround panner: focus, width, angle, front/rear balance controls, LFE send; speaker muting & soloing; control surface/joystick support.
  
• Lexicon® Pantheon™ Surround Reverb—get the pristine sound of classic Lexicon Reverbs—for the first time ever in multi-channel environments up to 8.1. Stereo version of Lexicon Pantheon also included.
  
• Sonitus Surround Compressor—a professional, nine-channel compressor specifically designed for surround applications.
  
• SurroundBridge™—use stereo plug-ins in multi-channel environments. Patches and links plug-ins across all channels on a surround bus allowing for control from a single UI. Unlink for different settings on different channels.
  
• Sonitus:fx Suite—critically acclaimed automatable effects: Compressor, Delay, Gate, Modulator, Multiband Compressor, Parametric EQ, Phase, Reverb, Surround, Wah wah.
  
• Video Thumbnail track—makes scoring to video even easier, perfectly align audio with on-screen action, auto-snap to frame, more.
  
• POW-r Dithering—unique, patent pending algorithms for converting 20, 24, and 32 bit audio to CD standard 16-bit format, while retaining dynamic efficiency and very low noise, optimized for use with all sample rates.
  
• Prosoniq MPEX time scaling—great for matching audio to video or for loop/sample authoring.
  
• Dynamic Console with per-channel EQ and assignable FX controls—access effect and EQ setting directly from the Console view without opening plug-in windows.
  

Surround Panner
(click for larger view)

Lexicon Pantheon
Surround Reverb
(click for larger view)

New features

There are over 100 new features and enhancements in SONAR 4. Here are some of the key new features:

• Track Folders with the ability to edit the Track Folder Composite Clip
• Loop record into layers or individual tracks
• Enhanced comping and editing features: nudge, clip muting, partial-clip muting, auto-crop tool with cross-fade mode, audition selection, isolate,
• Group editing (simultaneous multi-clip): slip edits, loop-rolling, fade drawing
• Loop construction enhancements: slice-based envelope control of gain, pitch, pan; slice preview; auto-loop
• Freeze tracks, effects, and synths; edit, arrange, and convert frozen data into groove clips; unload samplers from memory
• Scalable Navigator view to quickly navigate and size viewable area of projects
• Configurable Pan law (six stereo panning laws supported)
• Professional Metering (peak, RMS, peak and RMS, pre-fader, post-fader, and pre-fader post effects) with configurable ballistics
• Key Binding enhancements: presets; templates to mimic keyboard assignments of other DAW programs
• TTS-1 multitimbral, multi-out GM2 synthesizer with authentic Roland® sounds
• Full control over file export parameters, now with useful and customizable presets
• Windows Media Audio 9 (WMA), WMA9 Pro 5.1, and WMA9 lossless encoding and decoding
• Open support for external command-line encoders: surround, LAME, Ogg Vorbis, Monkey's Audio, etc.
• Supports QuickTime, Windows Media Video with 5.1 Surround Sound, and AVI with 5.1 Surround Sound
• Busable Audio Metronome
• Full-control over color settings
• Optimized audio engine performance
• Export buses and tracks into a composite mixdown, or as individual files
  

Workflow Enhancements

Workflow—Track Folders

These days, professional projects can easily reach 60, 80, or even more than 100 tracks. SONAR 4's Track Folders allow you to organize tracks into folders for managing your large scale projects and loop-recorded takes. When tracks are organized into folders, you can quickly mute, solo, record, archive and perform other functions on all of the tracks in the folder. This is a great feature for managing a multi-mic recording such as drums, or for tracks that you would normally group together such as background vocals. In addition you can also import multi-channel audio into track folders.

Track Folders Composite Clip

Exisitng audio/MIDI track clips that overlap the same time range are dipslayed in a Composite Clip that you can cut-copy-paste, move, slip edit, and split. A track folder can contain multiple composite clips.

Track folders with composite clip give the best of both worlds: fast arranging of multi-mic or grouped parts, plus the capability to expand the folder for complete control over individual parameters when necessary.

View of an Expanded
Track Folder
(click to enlarge)

View of same Track Folder
not-expanded, showing composite clip
(click to enlarge)

Workflow innovations—comping tracks

Edit your audio and MIDI takes into a perfect composite track faster than ever with Track Layers and SONAR 4's powerful new comping and editing enhancements.

• With Track Layers, you can now display overlapping clips in individual lanes. This makes it easy to see and edit each take individually without using separate tracks
• Record takes with non-destructive Auto Punch Record Mode
• Patch one instance of effects on multiple track layers, saving CPU
• Audition selected content while comping parts
• Build your composite using Clip Muting or Partial Clip Muting (time-based within a clip) to isolate takes or sections of takes
• Seamlessly set the transition from one clip to the next in a single gesture with SONAR 4's Auto-crop tool with crossfade option

Simultaneous Clip Editing

Speed your editing sessions to completion by performing the following edits on multiple clips simultaneously: nudge, roll out groove clips, slip edit, and add/edit fades. In addition, clip data is now displayed while moving clips.

Nudge

Use this new clip/note editing enhancement to fine tune and time correct your music. You can now Nudge both vertically and horizontally within the Track and Piano Roll views. SONAR 4 offers extremely flexible nudge resolutions (musical time, seconds, milliseconds, frames, samples, ticks, follow snap settings) with a total of eight nudge commands that can be assigned to any key or MIDI event.

Workflow—Loop construction enhancements

Version 4 extends SONAR's powerful loop editing and composition capabilities with slice-based control of gain, pitch, pan. First introduced in Cyclone DXi, this functionality has been incorporated into the Loop Construction view and enhanced by giving you envelope automation control over these parameters. Slice preview with auto-loop simplifies marker placement and adjustments during the loop construction process.

Now you can take any audio loop and make it your own, manipulating it to perfectly work harmonically and sonically with your projects.

Workflow—Freeze redefined

Break through the limits of your effect and synth use with SONAR 4. SONAR 4's superior freeze implementation for tracks, effects, and synths allows you to optimize your system resources with a new level of flexibility.

• Render your tracks to reduce CPU load in one easy step
• SONAR will automatically unload plug-ins, releasing memory back to the system (especially helpful when using large sampler banks)
• 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. This allows you to experiment with settings of Frozen tracks, and you can revert back instantly if you decide not to make the change.

Edit and arrange frozen tracks

A distinguishing feature of SONAR 4's Freeze implementation is the ability to move and edit frozen data—you can even convert loops of frozen data into groove clips.

Workflow—more enhancements

Navigator View

Making sample level edits in SONAR's Track View has never been easier. SONAR 4's 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 enhancements

• Version 4 extends SONAR's keystroke actions with access to single key functions and the transport keys now active in all views including plug-in windows
• Version 4 also includes built-in keystroke emulating templates for other DAWs including Cubase, Nuendo, Logic, Digital Performer, Samplitude, and other DAWs providing convenience on cross-platform projects or for easy migrating to the SONAR platform.
• You can also Import/Export your custom SONAR key binding presets for sharing/backup/transfer to other workstations.

Bus-able Audio Metronome

You can 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; you can also use custom sounds.

Color enhancements

• Additional new color entries and color scheme presets
• Completely configurable Console view colors
• Per-clip background and foreground color settings
• Tracks now have assignable clip/data colors that remain with the track, even when sorting.

Surround & AV Capabilities

Surround mixing and editing

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, and others.

Surround Panner

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 allows you to monitor specific speakers or isolate specific channels for fine tuning, or shut off specific speakers to eliminate unwanted bleed
• LFE send, and extensive control surface/Joystick support further accentuate the flexibility of the SONAR 4 surround implementation
  

In addition, SONAR 4 offers transparent down-mixing and bass management, and any surround bus can be routed to another surround or stereo bus to deliver different mixes.

Exclusive 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. With its simple and powerful interface and legendary sound you will quickly find this reverb to be an indispensable tool for your surround projects. Features numerous factory presets and full editing capabilities for creating custom presets. Stereo version of Lexicon Pantheon also included.

Exclusive Sonitus Surround Compressor

No surround implementation would be complete without a full-featured surround compressor. SONAR 4 includes a nine-channel version of the critically acclaimed Sonitus Compressor, specifically designed for surround applications. All nine channels are grouped by default and any peaks in any channel will trigger compression/limiting. With the Sonitus Surround Compressor it's easy to isolate channels in up to 4 groups, an example of when this could be useful is when your LFE might need its own threshold setting. The Sonitus Surround Compressor features a
Peak/Sum detector to further enable your dynamics processing power.

Exclusive SurroundBridge™

This innovation takes the SONAR 4 surround feature-set a step further, allowing you to use your favorite stereo plug-in within multi-channel environments.

SurroundBridge seamlessly creates multiple instances of any effect, providing complete linked control across all channels from a single UI.

That means when you move one control it will simultaneously affect the audio on all surround channels.

You can also unlink channels or individual controls from the SurroundBridge UI which allows for subtle refinement or drastically new surround effects.

Video Thumbnail Track

• Perfectly align your audio with on-screen action
• Quickly locate video scenes across an entire project
• Video thumbnails resize dynamically to project zoom
• Auto-snap to frame
  

Support for industry standard video formats

SONAR 4 adds import/export support for QuickTime, as well as Windows Media Video (with 5.1 audio), and AVI (with 5.1 audio). As you would expect, SONAR still includes support for MPEG video.

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 stereo or 5.1 surround sound), AVI (with stereo or 5.1 surround sound)
• Additional formats can be exported with SONAR 4's open support for external command-line encoders (surround, LAME, Ogg Vorbis, Monkey's Audio, etc.)
• SONAR 4 provides a convenient export video option with full control over quality settings and codecs
• Includes useful and configurable presets for frequently-used export settings
• You can also now export buses and tracks into a composite mixdown, or as individual files, which is perfect for collaborating with studios that may not have support for file formats such as OMFI

POW-r Dithering

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

When you combine this with SONAR's Windowed Sinc, ultra-high-quality sample rate conversion, you now have the flexibility to import and export audio at any bit depth and sample rate, while preserving pristine levels of audio fidelity.

Prosoniq MPEX Time Scaling

Time scaling (also known as time stretching, time compression/expansion and time correction) is the process of changing a sound's length without changing its pitch. SONAR 4 Producer Edition features Prosoniq MPEX time scaling, a superior time scaling algorithm that is great for matching audio to video or for loop/sample authoring.

The MPEX algorithm simulates some properties of human perception. It makes your computer 'learn' what's being played, using a technique called 'Artificial Neural Networks', which is a computer simulation of the activities of human nerve cells. Our ears are very good at adapting and learning what is being presented to it, so if we simulate the processes that make our ear work the way it does, we will to some extent simulate a part of its abilities.

MPEX looks at your audio in regular intervals, 'learns' its musical aspects, and then tries to extend it in a natural sounding way. It is this 'intelligence' and flexibility in the sound representation that makes MPEX a better Time Scaling technique.

Professional Metering with Configurable Ballistics

Accurate metering provides the essential feedback you need when mixing in a professional environment. SONAR 4's Meter performance has been dramatically improved with configurable rise, fall, decay, and more. SONAR's also allows more meter control with options to display meters with peak, RMS, peak and RMS, pre-fader, post-fader, and pre-fader post effects, and varying db ranges.

Configurable Pan Control (six stereo panning laws)

With version 4 SONAR now allows you to control your panning exactly the way you prefer with 4 constant power panning laws supported, and two additional panning laws supported:

Constant power panning

• sin/cos taper, boosts 3dB when panned hard left/right
• sin/cos taper, cuts 3dB when center panned
• square-root taper, boosts 3dB boost when panned hard left/right
• square-root taper, cuts 3dB when center panned

Additional panning laws

• Linear taper, cuts 6dB when center panned
• Balance control, with no boost or cut

Optimized audio engine performance

With every version of SONAR we continue to fine tune the responsiveness of the audio engine. You'll find that Version 4 is no exception: it runs smoother, is more responsive, and utilizes CPU more efficiently.

TTS-1

TTS-1 is a high quality, multitimbral, multi-out GM2 (General MIDI System Level 2 compatible) DXi synthesizer that is equipped with a Roland® synth engine to generate amazing, expressive sounds. 256 instrument sounds and 9 drum sets are included, and each instrument has a wide level of tone variation -all accessed from a friendly user interface and dedicated control panel for easy customization of sounds.

Features

• 256 instrument sounds and 9 drum sets, and you can create your own presets
• Up to 128-voice polyphony
• Up to 16 part multi-instrument playback
• Send different sounds to multiple outputs for more flexible mixing
• Up to 24-bit resolution and 96 kHz sampling rate performance
• Dedicated control panel to easily customize the sounds
• High quality reverb, chorus, delay, and EQ
• GM2 (General MIDI System Level 2) compatible
  Plus the core features that have made SONAR the definitive audio production environment on the Windows platform

Key features

SONAR 4 also contains all of the core features that have made SONAR the definitive audio production environment on the Windows platform.

• Record, edit, arrange and mix unlimited tracks of audio and MIDI
• Dynamic Console
• Universal Bus Architecture with on-the-fly configuration
• 32-Bit floating point audio engine
• Full plug-in delay compensation
• Ultra-high quality sample rate conversion with Windowed Sinc resampler algorithm
• Support for any sampling rate (44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 192, 384 kHz, etc.)
• Precise waveform display at any zoom resolution
• Rock-solid synchronization of audio, MIDI, video, external hardware
• Sub-sample accurate internal timing resolution for audio, soft synths and automation; 960 PPQN for external MIDI devices
• Multiprocessor optimization
• Loop-based composition, construction, and editing tools with ACID™ loop and MIDI groove clip support, Cyclone DXi
• Support for DirectX and VST audio effects; MFX MIDI FX; DXi and VSTi soft synths; and ReWire 1.0 & 2.0 clients (Project5, Kinetic, Reason, more)
• Includes 31 audio effects 4 DXi soft synths, 14 MFX
• Advanced MIDI routing & synth layering
• Unlimited undo/redo with edit history
• Assign hotkeys for custom screen layouts
• Views: Arrange, Big Time, Console, Drum Editor, Event List, Loop Construction, Lyrics, Markers, Multitrack Piano Roll, Staff Notation, Playlist, SYSEX, Synth Rack, Tempo list/graph, Video, more
• Professional Project File Management Tools: per project audio directories; consolidate project files for fast backup; search for associated files
• Extensive, context-sensitive online help
• Unparalleled, free customer service and online user community
• Hassle-free copy protection (serial number on installation)
• Designed exclusively for and optimized for Windows XP/2000

Hardware and compatibility

• OMFI & Broadcast Wave import/export for cross platform collaboration with Digital Performer, Logic, Nuendo, and Pro Tools studios
• Import formats: AIF, ASF, AU, AVI (with stereo or 5.1 audio), Broadcast Wave, MIDI, MP2, MP3, MPEG, MPG, OMFI, Quicktime, SND, WAV, Windows Media Audio 9 (WMA), WMA9 Pro 5.1, WMA9 lossless, Windows Media Video, proprietary Cakewalk formats (.bun, .cwb, .cwp, .wrk)
• Export: WAV, ACID-format WAV, Broadcast Wave, AVI (with stereo or 5.1 audio),, OMFI, MIDI, MP3*, Quicktime,, Real Audio G2, Windows Media Audio 9 (WMA), WMA9 Pro 5.1, WMA9 lossless, and proprietary Cakewalk formats (.cwb, .cwp); Other audio formats supported via external command-line encoders
• Open support for external encoders: surround, LAME, Ogg Vorbis, Monkey's Audio, etc.
• Export video with control over quality settings and codecs
• Support for any MIDI compatible hardware control surface (Edirol, Mackie, Tascam, more)
• Frame-accurate SMPTE sync with auto-detection of timecode
• Multi-port MTC and MIDI sync transmission
• Yamaha OPT Level 1 MIDI Hardware Link support
• Support for all Windows-compatible audio hardware (including Pro Tools | HD) via ASIO or WDM

System Requirements

* Required to connect to external MIDI devices

** Required for audio playback

Note: SONAR 4 does not support Windows 95, 98, ME, or NT