Why I buy this one ?
- Active Controller Technology (ACT) dynamically re-maps effect, mix and instrument parameters to hardware controllers
- AudioSnap suite of tools includes - Non-destructive audio quantize; Quantize one track with another track's feel; Convert audio beats to MIDI; Slip-stretch clips to a new time or length; High-quality processing with multiple algorithms including iZoptope Radius, Percussion Mode & more
- New Synth Rack makes managing, controlling, and automating your instruments simple
- Console view redesigned for ergonomic mixing
- Modular Transport provides easy playback control and vital visual feedback

What our customer's say!

"A Must", I wish i could have got the producer version for this price because it has the PSP vintage warmer($159)But at 40 bucks this is a steal, and your able to update to version 8 for $100. I've been using Cakewalk products since 2000, and they keep getting better. 1 1/2 thumbs up (only cuzz there is no warmer)

"Is there such a thing as too much control?", I was looking for a sequencer application to use with my soft synths and Cakewalk's SONAR 6 won out over Sony's ACID 6, which is still slanted towards working with loops, because that's where it started life.

SONAR 6 comes in a few different flavors, and I settled on the middle choice (Studio), because I didn't want to be at the bottom of the upgrade path. The price is reasonable for the power they give you, but...

Don't expect to dive right into this one without having the manual nearby.
You probably won't be able to kludge your way through SONAR, because just about every feature you work with has options and sub-options, and there must be three different ways to do something easy that should just have one, clear method. Case in point is the metronome - ok, you've got menus and submenus dedicated to metronome control -swell, but it's just too easy to inadvertently turn it off, then spend several minutes tracking down where you went wrong...I'm just trying to keep time, for cripes sake!

It IS highly customizable as a result, and to be fair, the more I work with it the easier things get - but not everyone has the time for option overload.

Plus the look of SONAR is kind of clinical, and it's 2007. You wouldn't see this interface on a MAC.

Propellerhead's Reason 3.0 Propellerhead Reason 3.0 is beautiful and comparatively far more intuitive than SONAR 6, but it's a self contained application that doesn't do plug ins, per se.

So you need to make sure the tool you're considering does what you need it to before you buy, unless you like having a bunch of tools.