Music software with an excellent mix of recording, composing, editing, mixing, and mastering tools for less.

If you own Guitar Tracks Pro, SONAR Home Studio, Kinetic, Project5, pyro Audio Creator, you know how easy Cakewalk software is to use, and what kind of results you can get. Now you can get the 8.5 Studio version of their flagship digital audio workstation, SONAR, with this great upgrade offer.

Cakewalk SONAR 8.5 Studio
SONAR 8 Studio gives you what you need for audio recording, composing, editing, mixing, and mastering. Get innovations that matter, from exclusive features to ignite creativity and perfect your tracks, to groundbreaking technologies that always keep you in control, all backed by 64-bit audio quality. Cakewalk SONAR 8 Studio provides go to music production tools you want with an excellent collection of virtual instruments, mixing, and mastering effects found in any digital audio workstation.

Now with version 8.5, SONAR Studio continues to innovate on all fronts. New-to-the-series features including beat creation and arrangement tools, a drum instrument loaded with stellar kits and patterns, enhanced audio quantizing, multi-stage effect plug-ins for vocals and percussion, and more combine together to make SONAR the most complete, most professional, and best-sounding DAW to deliver your productions.

Cakewalk SONAR 8.5 software continues to innovate on all fronts with new beat creation and arrangement tools, a drum instrument loaded with stellar kits and patterns, enhanced audio quantizing, new multi-stage effect plug-ins for vocals and percussion, and more combine together to make SONAR the most complete, most professional, and best-sounding DAW to deliver your productions.

Step Sequencer 2.0
SONAR's integrated Step Sequencer view is known for being one of the most advanced and comprehensive available in any DAW today. SONAR 8.5's Step Sequencer 2.0 takes this power to a new level with the depth of control over sound. Step Sequencer 2.0 was built with 3 goals in mind: to clean up and simplify the workflow and interface, to design a set of useful and powerful per-lane controls, and to provide control over finer per-step adjustments to create an elegant and musical workflow.

To launch and start programming step sequencer patterns — just click the new Step Sequencer button found on the toolbar of any virtual instrument UI and then simply drag and drop patterns from the Media Browser.

A redesigned dynamic controller pane provides simple per-lane controls over swing, time offset, duration, and velocity offset, as well as the timing of the flam feature. In addition, each lane can be easily routed to any instrument in SONAR's Synth Rack. Drilling down deeper, the controller pane offers per-step audio editing for velocity level, time offset, and the new-to-the-series Probability feature.

This exclusive Per Step Probability feature solves the age-old problem of step-sequenced grooves sounding repetitive by giving users control over the probability that a step will be triggered. Use it to create automatic variations (make some steps only play occasionally) to keep step sequencer patterns sounding fresh.

Parameter values are now displayed as bars, drawn underneath the steps in the controller pane, making sound editing per step parameters such as Velocity, Step Offset, Probability, & other MIDI articulations quick and easy.

AudioSnap 2
AudioSnap introduced the world to powerful, nondestructive, multitrack control over audio and MIDI timing. Sonar 8.5's AudioSnap 2 provides a refreshing new look and refinements to all the core controls from previous versions, significantly improving workflow. Some of the new-to-the-series features include a simplified UI, dedicated transient tool, a new proportional stretching mode, and multitrack stretch and quantization that maintains accurate phase relationships. Proportional stretching can be used both to correct unwanted timing fluctuations without hard quantizing, and to make smooth and gradual timing adjustments across several transients. Audio fidelity is enhanced with Radius Mix Advance Mode that provides new controls over the phase and pitch of the Izotope Radius timestretching algorithm, for more natural sounding vocals, reed, and brass instruments.

Enhanced fidelity with Radius Mix Advanced mode The Radius Mix settings includes two new sliders for adjusting pitch coherence and phase coherence. Pitch coherence preserves naturalness of timbre for pitched solo voices, such as human speech, vocals or reed and brass instruments, while avoiding smearing, or phasiness, and the audio artifacts present with the use of traditional vocoders and pitch correction algorithms. The application of higher values of pitch coherence or smoothness produces a higher audio quality output of processed source material, especially, polyphonic material. The phase coherence slider affects the processing of stereo audio and works to preserve the phase relationship between channels.

Media Browser
SONAR 8.5 Studio is a music production software that features an updated and expanded Loop Explorer View. In its new form, Media Browser is the hub for SONAR content. Step Sequencer Patterns, REX Loops, and Project5 MIDI PTN files can all be previewed in Media Browser and easily drag and dropped into any track. As well, video files can be viewed in Media Browser and easily drag and dropped into a Video Thumbnail Track. Users' content folders can be stored and recalled as handy Media Browser presets. SONAR 8.5 ships with out-of-the-box presets that point directly to Beatscape REX Loops, Session Drummer 3 MIDI Drum Loops, Step Sequencer Patterns, RXP REX Loops, PTN MIDI Patterns, and MIDI Groove Clips.

Integrated Arpeggiator
Each MIDI and Instrument track in SONAR 8.5 now has a built-in arpeggiator which allows you to turn even the simplest of patterns into exciting new sound textures. The SONAR Arpeggiator is a perfect tool for adding variety to any audio or MIDI track such as chord progression that repeats a number of times in a song, or for creating new complimentary parts using other instrument sounds that follow your chord progression. The SONAR Arpeggiator includes hundreds of patterns and classic algorithms, and provides not only powerful controls over the rate, octave range, latch, swing, flam, velocity, duration, and pitch offset of the arpegiation, but also control over mix, channel input, and shape. It includes hundreds of presets.

Engine optimizations and leading technology innovations
Engine Work
A SONAR update wouldn't be complete without under-the-hood enhancements. Topping the list is the ability to hotswap Audio and MIDI Devices, including Control Surfaces, without restarting SONAR. Audio Interfaces, MIDI Interfaces, and Control Surfaces can now be disconnected and reconnected again while SONAR is running. This is particularly useful for plugging in a new MIDI controller while inspired to lay down a piano part, or in the event an audio interface needs to be power-cycled. Cakewalk SONAR 8.5 also includes optimizations and stability improvements for recording audio, and while looping.

Open Support
Cakewalk has been, and will continue to be, a proponent of open standards in software and hardware. SONAR 8.5 brings a variety of compatibility improvements for VST plug-ins, as well as for Cakewalk's BitBridge technology, which hosts classic 32-bit "x86" VST plug-ins in a 64-bit "x64" environment. SONAR Studio customers can take advantage of the new BitBridgeXR, which automatically hosts up to 32 BitBridge servers, each capable of using up to 4GB of RAM, for a total of 128GB! And last, but not least, SONAR now provides native REX loop support, via the Track View, updated Media Browser, and new Matrix View.

Windows 7 Ready
SONAR 8.5 Studio is ready for Windows 7 right from the get-go. Cakewalk has been testing SONAR 8.5 with Windows 7 Beta and Release Candidates, and is pleased to recommended Windows 7 as a platform for SONAR 8.5. Additionally, SONAR 8.5 was evaluated at an independent Microsoft application compatibility lab and officially passed the rigorous Win7 compatibility testing.

Cakewalk SONAR 8.5 Studio Upgrade from Guitar Tracks Pro, Sonar Home Studio, Kinetic, Project5, pyro Audio Creator Features:

• AudioSnap 2.0 audio quantize tools
• AudioSnap Palette presents all commands and options in one easy-to-read toolbar
• Simplified transient marker appearance reduces visual clutter and enhances focus on relevant information
• Transient Tool allows for dragging or snapping of transients without having to worry about inadvertently moving an audio clip; lasso selection allows for grouped transient edits
• The Merge and Lock transients command is great for editing, stretching, and quantizing multitrack drums while keeping audio in phase
• Grouped proportional stretching allows for the easy correction of fluctuations in the tempo of a performance without losing feel
• Tab to Transients available from the Track and Piano Roll Views, follows Audio, Groove, Step Sequencer, and MIDI Groove Clips
• Tempo detection, tempo mapping, and tempo syncing audio
• New tempo detection algorithm auto-detects the tempo of all audio in SONAR and the Clip Tempo Map feature allows for easy manual tempo mapping of non-rhythmic, non-constant, or atypical audio
• Enhanced fidelity with Radius Mix Advanced Mode: Radius Mix settings improve "pitch coherence," which preserves the naturalness of timbre in human speech, vocals, reed and brass instruments
  
  Step Sequencer 2.0
• Add Flam to any step by simply double clicking it (then use the flam time knob to adjust timing)
• Easily load/save patterns from the Options button or drag and drop patterns from the Media Browser
• New Auto-populate feature provides shortcuts to fill a lanes every 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 steps
• Redesigned Controller Pane for per row articulations and controls, including Volume, Pan, Pitch Bend, Mod Wheel, Portamento
• Per step parameter controls for Velocity, Time Offset, Probability, Lane-based MIDI articulations, Filter Cut and Filter Res
• Parameter values are now displayed as bars underneath steps in the controller pane, making editing per step parameters such as Velocity, Step Offset, Probability, and other MIDI articulations quick and easy
• Exclusive Per Step Probability provides control over the probability of how often a step will be triggered. Use it to create automatic variations (make some steps only play occasionally) to keep repetitive patterns sounding fresh
• All this is combined with the functionality from Step Sequencer 1.0 including: Step Recording, the Velocity Multiplier, Fit to Quarters capabilities, and more
  
  Included virtual instruments: 12
• Included effects: 51
• Arpeggiator
• New-to-the-series Media Browser
• Active Controller Technology
• Video thumbnail track
• Simple instrument tracks
• New-to-the series Media Browser
• V-Vocal Vocal processor
• Mastering Features: Boost 11, Windowed Sinc Sample Rate Conversion
• Track comping tools
• External hardware inserts
• Dimension Synthesizer LE
• 64-bit version for Vista 64, more RAM access, 64-bit processing
• Smart MIDI tools
• Per-clip effects
• User-customizable interface
• Internal Sidechaining
• Cakewalk Publisher
• Integrated CD ripping & burning

Take advantage of this upgrade offer today and save big! Order now!

Cakewalk SONAR 8.5 Studio Upgrade from Guitar Tracks Pro, Sonar Home Studio, Kinetic, Project5, pyro Audio Creator Specifications:

• System Requirements
• Operating System
• Windows XP SP3, Windows Vista SP2 (32 and 64-bit), or Windows 7 (32 and 64-bit)
• Processor Speed
• Minimum: Intel Pentium 4 2.8 GHz [EMT64] or AMD Athlon XP 2800+ or higher
• Recommended: Intel Core 2 Quad Core Q8400 Yorkfield 2.66GHz or AMD Phenom Quad Core 9750 2.4GHz or higher
• RAM
• Minimum: 1GB
• Recommended: 4GB
• Graphics
• Minimum: 1024 x 768, 16-bit color
• Recommended: 1280 x 960, 24-bit color or higher
• Hard Disk Space
• Minimum: 200MB (Minimal Installation) or higher
• Recommended: 50GB (Full Installation) or higher
• Hard Disk Type
• Minimum: Any
• Recommended: EIDE / Ultra DMA (7200 RPM) or SATA
  
  Windows-compatible MIDI Interface: required to connect external MIDI devices
• Windows-compatible Audio Interface: required for audio playback
• Media Drive: Dual Layer DVD-ROM, DVD+/- R, OR DVD+/-RW for installation/ CD-R OR CD-RW capability required for CD audio disc burning, audio playback
• Web Server Access: Cakewalk Publisher requires you to have available web server space with FTP access privileges. An internet connection is require for music uploading. A broadband connection is recommended.
  
  Note: SONAR does not officially support Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP x64 or pre-release (RTM) versions of Windows7