Graphics

[Tommy Byrnes]

I thought the switch to vector was supposed to be a big step up. I have image bleed and audio stutter when scrolling. Upon loading a project I get the Project Open dialog and then there is 15 to 20 seconds of blank screen before the images in the project load, many in the wrong place as in the pix below. What is up? Also, notice the difference between the console view in CbB and Sonar. Everything is much easier to read and much easier on the eyes. And, why don't the meters have hash marks? 

Graphics bleed:

Console in CbB:

Console in Sonar with Tungsten theme (I dislike all  the orange but it's the only dark theme that shows the active plugin in the FX bin)

[sjoens]

8 minutes ago, Tommy Byrnes said:

Graphics bleed:

That looks like a system display issue.  You may need to reboot, reload, or reinstall Sonar.

Also may depend on if you're using large or small icons.  CbB, at least, has an issue resizing them properly on project load.  Right-click and reset icon usually fixes it.

Edited Tuesday at 06:18 PM by sjoens

[timeworx]

For me, this is a massive step back. When you're working in front of a display for hours upon hours, the visual appeal matters and adds its own level of sophistication to reflect the work being created. I've used Cakewalk forever and I'm not changing at this stage, but the vector display just feels cheap. I created a highly customized theme for previous editions and fear it will never see the light of day again.

 

[John Faughey]

26 minutes ago, timeworx said:

For me, this is a massive step back. When you're working in front of a display for hours upon hours, the visual appeal matters and adds its own level of sophistication to reflect the work being created. I've used Cakewalk forever and I'm not changing at this stage, but the vector display just feels cheap. I created a highly customized theme for previous editions and fear it will never see the light of day again.

 

that theme is freakin FANTASTIC!!! and even the other one posted.... i have made the switch to Sonar, and  the UI is the one thing i just cant get passed. i also have a custom theme that is miles ahead of the new UI in Sonar. i have been using Luna on and off..the UI is excellent, but the work flow...not so much...thats why i keep coming back to Sonar...i just hope they start to make some serious upgrades to the UI... 

[John Faughey]

1 hour ago, Tommy Byrnes said:

I thought the switch to vector was supposed to be a big step up. I have image bleed and audio stutter when scrolling. Upon loading a project I get the Project Open dialog and then there is 15 to 20 seconds of blank screen before the images in the project load, many in the wrong place as in the pix below. What is up? Also, notice the difference between the console view in CbB and Sonar. Everything is much easier to read and much easier on the eyes. And, why don't the meters have hash marks? 

Graphics bleed:

Console in CbB:

Console in Sonar with Tungsten theme (I dislike all  the orange but it's the only dark theme that shows the active plugin in the FX bin)

LOVE your custom theme!!! 

[Tommy Byrnes]

Sonar does not look like a serious piece of software anymore. Rectangles with a center line for fader caps? Really? Look at the custom fader caps in the above CbB theme (thanks to Panu and the old Duckbar). I know that's not possible anymore but can't we have something that at least 'looks' like a fader?

Earlier today, when a client saw his project pulled up in Sonar instead of CbB he commented that its flat look was more like EDM software. He's a retired session mandolin player from Nashville working on a solo project and he knows his stuff. The two console views in the above post are two of his tunes. He said it looked unappealing in comparison and chided me again for not using ProTools or Studio One. 

And using external inserts caused a pause in the audio engine toggling on/off so I couldn't use outboard  gear with him here. Embarrassing. I had to switch back to CbB for the rest of the session. Not a good look to a pro and a final nail if it's not fixed before CbB goes belly-up.

No numbered hash marks on the meters. That is not a good design choice. I don't look at the numbers at the bottom I look at the meters, like I've been doing in software and hardware for over 50 years. "Somewhere around here" doesn't work for me. 

     

The Tungsten theme is the only one that highlights the active plugin in the FX bin so now in a busy mix I can't just look quickly at the FX bins to see which one it is. The other dark themes are pretty meh and the light ones are like looking into the sun. I'd use Cosmic but no active plugin highlight. And, the text and the numbers are kind of blurry.

This all bums me out. Since 2007 I haven't really been disappointed in a Sonar release but this one may have broken me.  The whole look and feel is so underwhelming. With my studio booked out I need to have a DAW that is both rock solid and inspiring. CbB  is  both for me. We'll see about Sonar.

[John Faughey]

2 hours ago, Tommy Byrnes said:

Sonar does not look like a serious piece of software anymore. Rectangles with a center line for fader caps? Really? Look at the custom fader caps in the above CbB theme (thanks to Panu and the old Duckbar). I know that's not possible anymore but can't we have something that at least 'looks' like a fader?

Earlier today, when a client saw his project pulled up in Sonar instead of CbB he commented that its flat look was more like EDM software. He's a retired session mandolin player from Nashville working on a solo project and he knows his stuff. The two console views in the above post are two of his tunes. He said it looked unappealing in comparison and chided me again for not using ProTools or Studio One. 

And using external inserts caused a pause in the audio engine toggling on/off so I couldn't use outboard  gear with him here. Embarrassing. I had to switch back to CbB for the rest of the session. Not a good look to a pro and a final nail if it's not fixed before CbB goes belly-up.

No numbered hash marks on the meters. That is not a good design choice. I don't look at the numbers at the bottom I look at the meters, like I've been doing in software and hardware for over 50 years. "Somewhere around here" doesn't work for me. 

     

The Tungsten theme is the only one that highlights the active plugin in the FX bin so now in a busy mix I can't just look quickly at the FX bins to see which one it is. The other dark themes are pretty meh and the light ones are like looking into the sun. I'd use Cosmic but no active plugin highlight. And, the text and the numbers are kind of blurry.

This all bums me out. Since 2007 I haven't really been disappointed in a Sonar release but this one may have broken me.  The whole look and feel is so underwhelming. With my studio booked out I need to have a DAW that is both rock solid and inspiring. CbB  is  both for me. We'll see about Sonar.

i could not agree more! i love the workflow, but the look is so uninspiring. i hope the bakers are listening. 

[timeworx]

On 7/1/2025 at 6:50 PM, Tommy Byrnes said:

it looked unappealing in comparison and chided me again for not using ProTools or Studio One

This is HUGELY IMPORTANT, especially when we're behind the 8-ball as it is, having to justify using Cakewalk in the first place. When clients or collaborating musicians would see my custom UI, they'd always react very positively. It's like going to a business meeting in a suit vs. t-shirt and jeans. Which look is going to be taken more seriously?

That said, changing back or even offering an image based display is a whole different animal. But I'll offer this - if the option is included in the future, I'll be happy to update my template accordingly and offer it to users here, with all the buttons, knobs and faders included. 

[timeworx]

Also, just noticed this on the Sonar page... did I miss something regarding customizing the new interface?

[Colin Nicholls]

Yeah, that's a [citation needed] if ever there was one

Edited 15 hours ago by Colin Nicholls

[Mark Morgon-Shaw]

On 7/1/2025 at 11:50 PM, Tommy Byrnes said:

Sonar does not look like a serious piece of software anymore.

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

[dougalex]

Very subjective of course... because for example, after taking 5 minutes to compare the Sonar themes, I chose Dark theme, then.... got right to work and never even thought about the GUI again. Not once. And interestingly, when I see the more colorful themes like the ones customized in the legacy Cakewalk, I find my thinking "Oh my! I could never look at that for a minute, much less all day!".

[Tommy Byrnes]

7 hours ago, timeworx said:

Also, just noticed this on the Sonar page... did I miss something regarding customizing the new interface?

That must have been left over from the X series, when they switched to the Skylight. Like, over a decade ago.

[Tommy Byrnes]

4 hours ago, dougalex said:

Very subjective of course... because for example, after taking 5 minutes to compare the Sonar themes, I chose Dark theme, then.... got right to work and never even thought about the GUI again. Not once. And interestingly, when I see the more colorful themes like the ones customized in the legacy Cakewalk, I find my thinking "Oh my! I could never look at that for a minute, much less all day!".

I would agree but there are important things missing from each of the themes available. The active plugin is only highlighted in the FX bin with the Mercury and Tungsen themes. In the dark theme the active track is only indicated by a thin blue outline around the track #. Tough to find the track in a busy mix. The markers and the timeline #s are the same color and again difficult visually. The contrast in the themes is not great. 

These are things I look for when scanning a mix. I mainly work in Console view so certain visual cues are important for me. I spent a lifetime in the analog world so the console view is my prefered way to work when mixing. 

 

[dougalex]

39 minutes ago, Tommy Byrnes said:

The active plugin is only highlighted in the FX bin with the Mercury and Tungsen themes. In the dark theme the active track is only indicated by a thin blue outline around the track #

I am optimistic that this is just a matter of time before the programmers work through their todo list... however they deem the priorities. 

I just now checked out out Tungsten, and since the highlights you mentioned are indeed more obvious in Tungsten, I now decided to just leave it on Tungsten unless/until I notice something that bugs me. 

[benstat]

On 7/1/2025 at 7:09 PM, Tommy Byrnes said:

I have image bleed

Hi @Tommy Byrnes,

That's definitely a UI layout bug. I'd like to fix it, but we've not seen it reported before, and isn't something we can reproduce in house.

Some questions:
1. Does it happen in all projects, or only some/one? If it only happens in some/one, please send us one of your project .cwp files.
2. Does it happen in a newly created project?
3. What is your screen/monitor setup? For example, I have two monitors side by side, so my setup would be: left/primary/4K/175% and right/secondary/4K/175%.
4. Are any of the Console View modules hidden (see the CV 'Modules' menu)?
5. Is the layout stuck like that, or are you able to correct it somehow? If so, how?

If possible, a full screen video showing you loading the project, opening the CV (if not already open), and potentially doing something to fix the layout, would be most helpful and increase the chances of us being able to reproduce/fix.

Thanks for the report. I hope we can get it fixed quickly with your assistance. Feel free to PM me if you prefer.

Ben

[benstat]

On 7/1/2025 at 11:50 PM, Tommy Byrnes said:

The Tungsten theme is the only one that highlights the active plugin in the FX bin

I'm not sure what you mean by this. I'm seeing the active plugin highlighted in all color schemes.

For example, this is the Dark color scheme:

And the Light color scheme:


The bottom plugin is active/highlighted in both cases. Admittedly, it's subtle (perhaps too subtle), but it is there.

Is the issue that it's too subtle for you, or are you referring to something else?

[msmcleod]

@Tommy Byrnes - what is your display scaling set to within Windows? 

If you're using a custom scaling (i.e. not the standard 125% / 150% / 175% / 200%), it's known to be problematic - in fact, Windows warns you it might cause problems if you try to set a custom display scale other than the standard ones.

Another thing worth trying is running dxdiag.exe  - this is a built-in Windows diagnostic tool that will check the integrity of your DirectX configuration.