Cakewalk SONAR Home Studio XL (Windows)

Manufacturer's Description for Cakewalk SONAR Home Studio XL (Windows)

Sonar Home Studio XL Exclusives

Cakewalk Sonar Home Studio 7 XL adds more value by giving you the tools you need to take your productions to the next level. Features include Cakewalk's acclaimed Step Sequencer, Dimension LE with Garritan Pocket Orchestra, Studio Devil VGA+ Guitar Amp Simulator, Cakewalk Studio Instruments backing band, and Boost 11 Peak Limiter.

Cakewalk Sanar Home Studio XL: Studio Instruments

Can't play bass, drums, piano, or violin? No problem! Just point and click and you are making music. It's that easy!

New to Sonar Home Studio XL is Cakewalk Studio Instruments which includes a high quality Drum Kit, Bass Guitar, Electric Piano, and String Section that can be played stand alone or inside Sonar Home Studio XL.

Cakewalk Studio Instruments include pre-recorded patterns played by ace session musicians so you can build sections for your songs, practice, or just have fun jamming along.

Cakewalk Sonar Home Studio XL: Studio Devil VGA+ Guitar Amp Simulator

Leave your amp at the practice space and keep your neighbors happy. Plug in your guitar or bass for direct recording and get amazing overdrive and distortion sounds and more right from within Sonar Home Studio XL.

Studio Devil VGA+ features all the controls you need to craft your sounds including bass, middle, treble, and presence as well as the ability to toggle between two different cabinet models and Direct Box emulation.

Cakewalk Sonar Home Studio XL: Boost 11 Peak Limiter

Get more volume and punch from your final mix with this easy to use limiter/maximizer. Boost 11 gives you professional results with a simple to use interface.

Boost 11's features include:
- Look-ahead peak detection prevents clipping
- Program dependent Release minimizes pumping
- Dynamic waveform displays of input vs. output
- Stereo peak and RMS input/output meters
- Operation at sampling rates up to 192 kHz
- 64-bit double precision signal path
- VST Automation

Sonar Home Studio XL: Dimension LE

A special version of the acclaimed synth from Cakewalk. Dimension combines real instruments with advanced synthesis, giving you endless sound possibilities

Sounds:
- Over 400 factory programs spanning acoustic, electric, and synthesized instruments
- Sounds range from real bass, organ and electric piano samples to cutting-edge synth sounds and rhythmic grooves
- Over 150 MB of Guitar, Bass, Piano, Percussion, and Ethnic Multisamples
- Full compatibility with programs created in Dimension Pro
- Expand using SFZ, AIF, WAV, OGG, REX files

Garritan Pocket Orchestra

Expands Dimension LE with more instrument sounds from the industry's standard bearer of quality for orchestral instrument libraries. This special edition of the Garritan Pocket Orchestra expressively, programmed for Dimension LE features orchestral instrument libraries of unrivaled quality that include strings, brass, woodwinds, keyboards, and percussion sounds.

Sonar Home Studio XL: Step Sequencer

Create beats, grooves, and synth lines easily with the integrated Step Sequencer.

- Sequence up to 16 steps per beat with 64 beats per pattern
- Supports odd time signatures (non 4/4 meters)
- Features a powerful "Fit Pattern to Quarters" control that fits patterns into lengths of any number of quarter notes for creation of polyrhythmic parts (5 against 4 rhythms, hemiolas, septuplets, etc.)
- Control velocity offset and scale values in an entire row all at once
- MIDI controller automation drawing
- More: step ties; monophonic/polyphonic toggle switch; global portamento toggle switch with time control; swing and articulation controls.

Sonar Home Studio Overview

Sonar Home Studio 7 is the easiest way to turn your PC into a full-fledged music production studio. From start to finish, Sonar Home Studio will help you capture your creativity and share it with the world. With Sonar Home Studio you can record live instruments, vocals, or any audio source. You can easily edit audio, MIDI, and music notation. The updated Loop Explorer gives you the tools to build backing tracks faster than ever. Add real instrument sounds using the included virtual instruments suite. Bring your mix together with studio-quality audio effects and professional mixing tools. When you are finished, share your music on the web or burn it to CD for fans, friends, and family. Sonar Home Studio is the complete solution for creating and sharing professional quality music--now easier than ever.

Cakewalk Sonar Home Studio 7 is perfect for:

Bands who want to produce their own album

Singer-songwriters who want high-quality versions of their songs

MCs who need beats and an easy tool for recording

Aspiring producers and engineers getting started with recording

Educators who need to create accompaniment and lead sheets

Video editors and podcasters who are looking to create their own soundtracks

Anyone who dreams of having their own multitrack recording studio

Cakewalk Sonar Home Studio XL: Get Started Quickly

Get up and running quickly using the library of included project templates and assistant tools.

Cakewalk Sonar Home Studio XL:Hands on Mixing

Now it is even easier to mix your tracks. The new Console view allows for effortless mixing, and provides all the visual feedback you need to get the perfect mix.

Cakewalk Sonar Home Studio XL: Work Smarter

When you are ready to create music, the simplified user interface guides you through the process, making it easy to achieve professional results.

Cakewalk Sonar Home Studio XL: MIDI Made Simple

Editing and arranging MIDI is just as easy as audio. Just click on your instrument track and go to work with enhanced tools and a visually simplified interface.

Cakewalk Sonar Home Studio XL: Live the Dream

Realize the full potential of your music by adding backing tracks and instrumentation using the new Loop Explorer and included virtual instruments.

Cakewalk Sonar Home Studio XL: Audio & MIDI Recording

Now easier than ever: featuring an overhauled, intuitive interface that lets you quickly record, edit, arrange, and mix your music. New simplified Instrument Tracks allow you to set up, play, and record virtual instruments faster than ever. The updated Loop Explorer allows for quick auditioning of audio & MIDI loops and audio samples, increasing your workflow and efficiency. Record guitars, keyboards, vocals, live turntable scratches, CD samples, or any other sound. Even record MIDI performances in perfect time with Input Quantize. Sonar Home Studio puts it all together seamlessly.

Cakewalk Sonar Home Studio XL: Enhanced Synth Rack

Use the new Synth Rack to control the VSTi and DXi instruments in your project from one easy to manage window. Find instruments quickly with customizable Synth Icons and display customized controls for each instrument, putting the most needed controls right at your fingertips. Get more synth sounds by patching Project5(TM), Kinetic(TM), Reason(TM), ReBirth(TM), and other ReWire compatible synths.

Cakewalk Sonar Home Studio XL: Instruments

Sonar Home Studio 7 includes four instruments with thousands of sounds ranging from drums, bass, and guitar to keys, horns, and strings. Spark your creativity and layer your tracks using these new instruments:

DropZone Drag-n-Drop Sampler -- Perfect for creating remixes or for building the perfect hook for your song. Includes real instrument sounds, drums, vocals, REX-format loops, and more.

Roland GrooveSynth - Get sounds from the classic Roland synths and beat boxes that shaped hip hop and electronica.

TTS-1 GM2 synth - A high quality, multitimbral, multi-out GM2 synthesizer with a Roland(R) synth engine to generate amazing, expressive sounds. Includes Keys, horns, strings, guitars, drums, percussion, and more.

Square 1 - An easy-to-use vintage analog synthesizer, oriented to the serious music enthusiast. High quality sound with a warm and easy layout, perfect to learn synth programming.

Cakewalk Sonar Home Studio XL: Remixes

Just drag and drop a sample into DropZone, and make it part of your beat. Perfect for creating remixes or for building the perfect hook for your song. You can also use the new Loop Explorer to preview and audition audio and MIDI loops in the tempo and key of your song, and quickly drag them into your project to create layers of tracks.

Cakewalk Sonar Home Studio XL: Video Soundtracks

Sonar Home Studio provides a fast and effective way to create, edit, and dub soundtracks for digital video files. Just use Sonar Home Studio to import and sync any Windows AVI or MPEG video. With video thumbnails and easy video export, you can quickly score, edit, and share soundtracks and sound effects for band videos or home movies.

Cakewalk Sonar Home Studio XL: Music Notation

Sonar Home Studio integrates notation tools that allow you to create and print your own musical scores. Record and transcribe performances using any MIDI instrument, or just point and click to edit notes directly on the staff. Print up to 24 staves per page, with chord charts and symbols, lyrics, dynamic markings, and more.

Cakewalk Sonar Home Studio XL: Effects

Make your tracks shine with studio-quality effects. Sonar Home Studio 7 has you covered with 10 effects that can be used to mix your tracks or can be used while you record, in real-time. Effects include:

- Sonitus:fx EQ integrated into every track
- Alias Factor
- Tempo sync modulation filter
- Tempo sync delay
- High frequency exciter
- Tempo syncing classic phaser with feedback
- Studio reverb
- Multi-voice chorus/flanger
- 2-band parametric EQ
- Compressor/gate

Cakewalk Sonar Home Studio XL: Active Controller Technology

Using your favorite MIDI controller or control surface has never been easier with new Active Controller Technology (ACT). Easily control and automate effects, instruments, and your mix from MIDI controllers by automatically remapping controls to whatever has the focus. It includes templates for some of the most popular MIDI controllers and control surfaces on the market today.

Cakewalk Sonar Home Studio XL: Share Your Music

Sonar Home Studio 7 introduces Cakewalk Publisher, an innovative new tool that helps users publish and present their music online. Cakewalk Publisher allows Sonar Home Studio customers to create a customized, online, streaming music player with playlists of their music that can then be directly uploaded from Sonar Home Studio to band websites, MySpace pages, and other Internet sites. zZounds is an authorized dealer of Cakewalk products.

System Requirements

Minimum
Operating System: Windows XP (32-bit) / Vista / Mac OS X with Boot Camp

Processor Speed: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 1.3 GHz or AMD Athlon(TM) XP 1500+ or higher

RAM: 512 MB

Graphics (resolution, color depth): 1024x768, 16-bit color

Hard Disk Space: 100 MB for full program installation

Hard Disk Type: Any

MIDI Interface**: Windows-compatible

Audio Interface***: Windows-compatible

Media Drive: DVD-ROM, DVD+/-R, or DVD+/- RW Drive

Web Server Access****: Available web server space with FTP access privileges

Recommended
Operating System: Windows XP (32-bit) / Vista / Mac OS X with Boot Camp

Processor Speed: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 2.8 GHz [EM64T] AMD Athlon(TM) XP 2800+ or higher

RAM: 1 GB or higher

Graphics (resolution, color depth): 1280 x 960, 24-bit color or higher

Hard Disk Space: 6 GB for program and content

Hard Disk Type: EIDE/Ultra DMA (7200 RPM) or SATA

MIDI Interface**: Windows-compatible

Audio Interface***: Windows-compatible

Optical Drive: DVD-ROM, DVD+/-R, or DVD+/- RW Drive

Web Server Access****: Available web server space with FTP access privileges

* SONAR does not support Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000 or XP x64
** Required to connect external MIDI devices
*** Required for audio playback.
**** SONAR is presented on DVD media. DVD-ROM, DVD+/-R, or DVD+/- RW Drive required for installation.
****Cakewalk Publisher requires you to have available web server space with FTP access privileges. An internet connection is required for music uploading. A broadband connection is recommended.