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Sonar XL is Cakewalk's new flagship digital audio sequencer. It appears in place of Pro Audio 10 - apparently Twelve Tone Systems, makers of the Cakewalk line, felt that the brand was due for a freshening. Having reviewed Pro Audio 8 for Game Developer (March 1999), I was quite interested to see if more than just the name had changed in the last couple of years. After working with Sonar, it certainly does feel like they've taken the software in a new direction - and a good one at that.
I installed Sonar on a 700MHz Pentium III running Windows 2000 with a Sound Blaster Live! doing MIDI and audio duty. Installation was quick and easy, and featured automatic migration from Cakewalk Pro Audio 8, and automatic detection and configuration of the sound hardware. Performance was consistently excellent, even with lots of tracks and effects running. In true Cakewalk tradition there is a thorough and helpful printed manual provided and deep, easy-to-use online help. But neither should be necessary, as operation is impressively intuitive.
In use, Sonar looks more like Sonic...