Cakewalk, formerly SONAR, is a comprehensive audio software for music composition, audio recording, editing, mixing and mastering. It features a full suite of high quality audio and MIDI effects and instruments and composition tools ranging from drum sequencer and piano roll editor to a sophisticated score composer.
Cakewalk today announced that Sonar – a digital audio workstation with its roots in DOS, nearly three decades ago – is making the jump to Mac OS X.
And it’s going to be free.
SONAR OS X Alpha
This fall, Cakewalk plans to release Sonar OS X Alpha – a free version of the DAW that comes with a set of Cakewalk plug-ins and ProChannel modules and works with any Core Audio interface.
“Ever since SONAR appeared, Apple users have been asking for a Mac version,” says Cakewalk CTO Noel Borthwick. “We’re excited to explore SONAR for OS X, and open up our award-winning Windows software to a brand new audience of music creators.”
Cakewalk says it’s releasing the free version first, to gauge interest in a full Mac port. The company also has planned a dedicated forum will solicit feedback on the program and provide support.
Here’s a video of the announcement from CakeTV:
Cakewalk also announced news for Windows users.
SONAR Platinum with Lifetime Updates
From June 1 through August 31 2016, purchasing or upgrading to SONAR Platinum will get you free, lifetime updates of any future core features, enhancements, and fixes. Customers who purchase SONAR Platinum with Lifetime Updates will never again need to pay for another renewal of the Rolling Updates plan.
They also have announced that Cakewalk’s development team is focusing on a curated list of outstanding issues and requests from the SONAR community. Slated enhancements include a new ripple editing function, “load balancing” to allow loading more plug-ins without sacrificing speed, and updated comping and take management.
Pricing & Availability
SONAR OS X Alpha is expected to be available this fall, as a free download. You can find about about it and the new Platinum Lifetime Updates plan at the Cakewalk site.
A question I am frequently asked is, “Do you guys make SONAR X1 for the Mac?” The answer to which is no, SONAR X1 is made for Windows. But do not despair, there is a solution! For Macs with Intel processors there’s an application called Bootcamp which will allow you to install the Windows operating system on your Mac.Unlike some of the other applications that allow you to run Windows inside the Mac OS, Bootcamp allows you to boot exclusively into Windows or Mac OS on startup. This is the optimal method of running Windows as all of the Mac’s resources are available.
Applications like Parallels for Windows run the Windows OS inside the running Mac OS. While this is fine for low priority apps like Windows Office, the sharing of resources between the operating systems makes running DAW software cumbersome and difficult at best. I personally ran into this situation last month while attempting to install SONAR X1 on a Macbook Pro using Parallels for Windows.
![Sonar Sonar](https://assets.pcmag.com/media/images/409986-cakewalk-sonar-x3-producer.jpg?thumb=y&width=145&height=82)
Another issue is the fact that Parallels only allows for the use of stereo audio devices. Running SONAR X1 within the Parallels environment was pretty much impossible due to only being able to allocate 1.5GB of ram from the 4GB available. Any attempts to allocate more ram to Windows resulted in both OS’s freezing up. After using the Bootcamp method and reinstalling Windows, SONAR X1 runs great with no noticeable issues!
It’s worth noting that due to the occasional complexities and unknowns of running Windows audio drivers on Mac hardware, Cakewalk does not provide official support for SONAR X1 on Bootcamp. However, many customers report success using this method and free peer-to-peer support is available through our user forum.
So for those of you who have been missing out, the time is now to see what all the noise is about! Experience SONAR X1 in all of its pure 64-bit glory! Take advantage of Cakewalk’s competitive crossgrade offer to SONAR X1 Producer now! Visit us online for more information about the world of SONAR.