Mark Morgon-Shaw

I don't think it's just a case of needing time to adjust — I've been using the new Sonar on and off for around 18 months now, and I still find the visuals difficult to engage with. And I know I'm not alone in that. (By contrast, my jump from 8.5 to CbB years ago was nowhere near as jarring...and I loved 8.5 dearly.) I fully understand and appreciate the technical reasoning behind the switch to vector graphics — modern scaling, high-DPI support, cross-platform readiness, etc. That all makes sense. But here’s the sticking point: Other modern DAWs also use vector-based UIs, yet they still manage to look polished, inviting, and visually distinctive — without being cluttered or hard on the eyes. So I suppose the question is: why does the new Sonar UI feel so flat and uninspiring by comparison for so many of us? At this point, I'm wondering — is this more or less the intended aesthetic going forward, or is there still significant design refinement planned? Because honestly, with the clock now ticking on CbB even some subtle use of contrast, colour, and depth cues would go a long way toward making the interface feel more "alive," and "comfortable" without compromising the scalability and performance benefits of vector graphics.

Hmmm..... I mean several ideas spring to mind. Make a copy of the project is the first thing I would do so you can experiment. 1. Turn off snap and Nudge or Drag the tracks back to where they should be manually ( use the 1 key on the key pad for the smallest nudge ) 2. Delete the track to the right of the the split, then select all the remaining tracks and grab the right hand edge of the clips. Slide the mouse over to extend the clips back to their original length 3. Right click each clip that's in the wrong spot and use " Revert to original Time Stamp" Those are three approaches that spring to mind, I'm sure there are other ways someone will chime in with.

How so? Dithering is not really required for 24bit audio files

Telling people to “just don’t use it” isn’t exactly helpful, especially when folks have sunk years into this ecosystem.

Well spotted, I would never have guessed. Can confirm I too have more than one source selected on export

No

I have had the same issue, I brought it up months ago but still happening

It's a CPU architecture that's been powering phones, iPads, and smart fridges for years because it sips power rather than guzzling it like traditional x86 chips. But now it’s showing up in full-fat PCs — like Apple Silicon (which is ARM-based), and the new Snapdragon-powered CoPilot+ laptops from Microsoft.

I've never used that method, I just drag and drop mine from the Browser. I dind it quicker..well I did except the text is harder to read now than CbB 😐

Oversampling is one of those things where the benefit really depends on what the plugin is doing. If it’s a saturator, distortion, limiter, or analog-modelled EQ, then oversampling can absolutely make a noticeable difference — especially up in the high end where aliasing can creep in. Without it, those kinds of plugins can throw out nasty artifacts that sound fizzy or harsh. With it, they tend to sound a bit smoother, more open, and more "expensive" if that makes sense. If you’re just running a reverb, delay, or basic EQ, oversampling probably won’t do anything other than chew CPU for no reason. That said, sometimes the difference is subtle — it’s not like switching plugins entirely — but in a full mix it can add up, especially on anything doing aggressive processing. I usually just enable it on render rather than in realtime unless I really need to hear the difference as I’m working. Saves the CPU hit and still gets the benefit on the final bounce. Quick test: stick a saturation plugin on a drum bus, turn up the drive, A/B with oversampling on and off. That’s where it’s most obvious. Hope that helps. – Mark

Cakewalk Sonar Free Tier will open them

I agree it looks like it's been through the washing machine too many times and faded

I've been banging this drum ever since I first the new GUI , it seems to fall on deaf ears unfortunately

When I was younger I never would have believed my music would end up on MTV Sadly it's in the background on crappy reality TV shows 😆 ...who knew.

Brand doesn't matter that much as long as it does what you want. Have you checked out Framework? They do laptops that are modular and upgradable which is fairly unique.

Melodyne is a much better tool for the job.

Right click it on the taskbar and then select it

Seems fine here , I've not come across any patches that cause it to glitch. CPU use is on the higher side for sure . Some of the complex patches consume 20- 30% Engine load at 128 sample buffer playing 3 -5 notes ( Ryzen 5950x - 16core + RME Babyface )

Cakewalk Sonar is still pretty poor as far as legibility goes. I wish they'd just hire someone to fix it -I don't see this with other DAWs

No Cakewalk Column

Yeah should be a huge improvement but there were loads of reports of stability issues with that chip so maybe do some research to see if things have improved or look at something like a Ryzen 7950x

With a gaming PC you'll likely be spending over the odds because of the powerful GPU that you don't really need fow DAW use but can be the most expensive part of a gaming system. Better to buy from a music PC specialist or build your own ( it's not that hard and there are some great build guides out there like on Linus Tech Tips Youtube )

Humanise would be more useful, it's a giant omission in Cakewalk/Sonar's midi editing feature set in 2024 ( apart from using CAL )

Nice cover. Guitars sound really good. My only critique would be the vocals sound unsupported. You have a nice tone for this but it's a little uncomforatble to listen to as you sound like you're running out of breath.