Last week was our fourth installment of CakeTV Live, which we broadcast bi-monthly, live, from Center Staging in Burbank, CA. In this latest episode we showed over 450 live viewers the new features of SONAR X2. In case you missed it, the webinar is now available for viewing on CakeTV (or right from this web page, below).
During the webcast we did our best to cover all of X2’s new features like Smart Grid, ProChannel FX Chains, and R-MIX SONAR. However, there were a few new features that we didn’t have time to demo that we think are worth mentioning.
Automation Copy/ Paste
Copying and pasting automation is now possible across all types of tracks and buses, including Instrument Tracks. For example, automation in SONAR X2 can be copied from a track to a bus, a bus to a track, a track to a track, or a bus to a bus. And automation across multiple tracks can be copied and pasted from one section of the song to another, something that is immensely useful when arranging a project.
The benefits of X2’s new Smart Tool behavior of left-click + drag = range select quickly becomes apparent when selecting ranges of automation for copying and pasting.
Automation Modes
SONAR X2 also brings new automation modes to the party; Overwrite, Touch, and Latch. Overwrite writes automation from the position of the automated control as soon as playback begins. Touch only writes automation while the control is being moved. And Latch only begins writing automation when the control is first moved.
Automation Real-time Arm/ Disarm
Along with the new modes, Automation Write can now be enabled and disabled on the fly without stopping playback. This is true for entire tracks, individual plugins, or synths.
Metronome Real-time On/ Off
The metronome can also be turned on and off on the fly in SONAR X2. While routing the metronome to a bus is still handy for volume control and headphone sends, now all that needs to be done to turn the metronome on or off during playback or recording is to reach for the blue metronome buttons in the Control Bar.
PRV Controller Lane Improvements
The Piano Roll View has also received a good amount of love in X2. Now, each individual controller lane has its own Edit Filter to choose which controller value is displayed on said lane. Additionally, the Smart Tool now free-hand draws via simple left click + drag, rather than the older method which required a double key-command + drag. This should greatly enhance the workflow of those who write and edit a lot of controller data in the PRV.
Timeline Scroll
Scrolling just got a lot easier in SONAR X2. Along with Timeline Zoom comes Timeline Scroll, which in a nutshell allows you to scroll the project left or right by left-clicking and dragging horizontally in the timeline. This is incredibly handy when combined with Timeline Zoom for fast and easy project navigation.
Icon Alpha Blending
Track and Console View icons now alpha blend, which means their background is transparent. Which means there are no more blocky, ugly, square, gray backgrounds around and behind the icons.
Pre-purchase your upgrade to SONAR X2 today. And if you’re upgrading to SONAR X2 Producer, there’s never been a better time since you’ll get DSF Synphonic Strings HD expansion pack for Dimension Pro free when upgrading before September 30th at the Cakewalk Store.
New to SONAR? Purchase SONAR X1 through October 31st from one of our worldwide retailers and get SONAR X2 for FREE when it becomes available.