So along comes Bandlab - to resurrect the software previously known as Sonar.
By now, I'd selected the option of looking at Studio One, even though it didn't "check all of the boxes".
Why? Because. Really - that's the best I can come up with. Yeah, there are a lot of things that I really like about the way that Sonar worked and I was very familiar with it, but after trying out Studio One, I have found it to be VERY responsive to my needs. It doesn't feel like it's going to crash at any moment, which is something that has really plagued Sonar for a while now. I just didn't feel like I could depend on it. As someone who doesn't get a lot of time to "play" in the studio and also someone who does computer troubleshooting for a living who also doesn't really want to do it while trying to get a part down, I really want reactive software that doesn't crash, doesn't feel like it's going to crash, and just behaves "like an appliance" to a certain degree. Studio One does that.
So now - Studio One Professional 4 comes out and I have to consider if I am going to dump another $150 on this program right now. That new version doesn't have a huge number of +1 things for me, but one of the negatives it had before was a lack of a decent drum map. V4 has this. It's still not as extensive as Sonar's was, but it is definitely in the right direction.
All that said - I will still keep the Cakewalk By Bandlab software on the computer, but FREE doesn't always win. Presonus has won me over with their very stable software. I am trying to start all new songs in Studio One at this point.
As a business owner, I know that keeping a client is easier than getting a new one. Re-gaining a previous client is even harder in many ways, and Bandlab is really going to have to go 10 steps beyond to get me back as a loyalist!
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