Is Cakewalk Sonar X2a On Windows 8 The Future Of DAWs? January 4, 2013
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Cakewalk has announced SONAR X2a – an update to the popular Windows DAW which includes many fixes, enhancements, plus support for multi-touch.

Since music apps first started appearing on Apple’s iPad, many users have been anticipating the same types of multi-touch interaction coming to traditional DAWs. Sonar X2a is a major step in that direction.

SONAR X2A offers a new creative environment on touch enabled devices. Highlights include:

  • Skylight User Interface
    • Pinch-to-zoom horizontally and vertically on tracks and other data.
    • Swiping gestures to scroll through different components of the project.
    • Arranging the work-space by re-positioning, dragging, docking and un-docking.
  • Matrix
    • Touch transforms any touch screen into a virtual pad controller for triggering.
    • Preview, and then drag-and-drop loops into cells in the Matrix View.
    • Adjust all settings in the Matrix View.
  • Mixing
    • Console View fully supports multi-touch.
    • Automate and control faders, plugins, ProChannel parameters, the Inspector and more.
    • Navigate through the views easily by swiping and scrolling tracks vertically and horizontally.

Is Sonar X2a + Windows 8 the future of DAWs? Check out the video and the details and let us know what you think!

Cakewalk has announced SONAR X2a – an update to the popular Windows DAW which includes many fixes, enhancements, plus support for multi-touch.

Since music apps first started appearing on Apple’s iPad, many users have been anticipating the same types of multi-touch interaction coming to traditional DAWs. Sonar X2a is a major step in that direction.

SONAR X2A offers a new creative environment on touch enabled devices. Highlights include:

  • Skylight User Interface
    • Pinch-to-zoom horizontally and vertically on tracks and other data.
    • Swiping gestures to scroll through different components of the project.
    • Arranging the work-space by re-positioning, dragging, docking and un-docking.
  • Matrix
    • Touch transforms any touch screen into a virtual pad controller for triggering.
    • Preview, and then drag-and-drop loops into cells in the Matrix View.
    • Adjust all settings in the Matrix View.
  • Mixing
    • Console View fully supports multi-touch.
    • Automate and control faders, plugins, ProChannel parameters, the Inspector and more.
    • Navigate through the views easily by swiping and scrolling tracks vertically and horizontally.

Is Sonar X2a + Windows 8 the future of DAWs? Check out the video and the details and let us know what you think!


Windows 8 Multitouch + Sonar X2a

With Sonar X2a, Cakewalk is bringing the type of multitouch that most associate with iPads and other tablets to a full-fledged Windows DAW. According to Cakewalk, the touch experience on Windows 8 lends itself perfectly to music composition with instant visual and audio response.

Some of the basic features for music production include touch, multi-touch, scrolling, dragging, holding, zooming, swiping and tapping in different musical environments.  Some examples include sliding a fader (or multiple faders) during the mixing process, tapping sample-loaded cells to trigger sounds, or zooming in and out by pinching to re-size the views. [Sythtopia]

Availability:

The free SONAR X2a update for SONAR X2 Essential, SONAR X2 Studio and SONAR X2 Producer will be available December 21, 2012 via a free download from the Cakewalk site.