For example, the Inspector, Browser and Multidock panes can all be individually minimised to make more space for the Track View, panes can be resized, the Control Bar can be moved to the bottom of the screen, if you prefer, and panes can be dragged from their docked position to become separate floating windows, if desired (perhaps to place on a second monitor). Finally, at the bottom is the Multidock pane: by default, this shows the mixing Console, but other elements, such as virtual instruments, can also be docked in this area and accessed via a tab system. To the right is the Browser, which is more than just a means of searching for audio or MIDI loops: plug-ins and virtual synths can be easily accessed also. To the left is the Inspector panel, where the content changes to reflect the details of the currently selected track and provides easy access to key controls. Along the top is the Control Bar, providing easy access to key tools, while the central portion of the display contains the Track View, with the usual vertical list of tracks and horizontal timeline display. By default, the screen is split into five elements. The fundamentals of Sonar X2's Skylight interface are much as they were in X1.

In the top-of-the-range Producer version, these include Overloud's TH2 guitar amp modelling plug-in and Breverb reverb, and the R-Mix Sonar plug-in. The new X2 update sees numerous tweaks to this interface, augmented by a healthy crop of new features. The revamped interface, termed Skylight by Cakewalk, was generally well received, and provided users with a much more flexible system for organising and accessing the program's extensive set of features. As Mark Wherry's April 2011 review of that release ( /sos/apr11/articles/sonar-x1.htm) describes, the major innovation was a comprehensive redesign of the user interface. Cakewalk's programmers seem to be constantly pedalling the upgrade cycle! We find out what's new and exciting in the latest Sonar X2.Ĭakewalk's last major upgrade of Sonar reinvented it as 'X1'.

Download sonar suit