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Sonar 8.5 gives you the new toys that Sonar 8 didn't.

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The interface consists of a grid, in which each row is assigned to any track in your project. Splayed out across these rows are an unlimited number of cells, into which you can drag a single MIDI or audio clip - only one cell per row can be active at once, but you can pile on as many tracks/rows as you like.

If Groove Clips are used, your loops will lock to the current tempo. Loops can start playing immediately or at the next bar or beat division (down to a 64th-note), and can be retriggered, latched, controlled via MIDI and more. Your real-time performances can also be recorded for further editing.

"Some of the most fun to be had with Sonar 8.5 comes courtesy of the Matrix View, which is a performance environment for audio and MIDI loops."

The AudioSnap audio quantisation system is now at version 2. The palette has been reworked to improve workflow, and it certainly makes much more sense to us than previously. There's now a dedicated tool that enables you to drag and snap individual transients into position, and tempo detection and audio rendering quality have been improved, among other things.

We've covered the headline additions, but suffice to say that enhancements and refinements abound. There's REX file support, audio engine tweaks, hardware hotswap capability, tabs to flip the mixer on the lower half of the display to show the Synth Rack or revised Media Browser (formerly Loop Explorer)… the list goes on and on.

Effects

The 11 new effects bundled with Sonar 8.5 constitute yet another pleasant surprise, as this kind of stuff is usually reserved for full version updates.

The shining stars of the group are, without doubt, the PX-64 Percussion Strip and the VX-64 Vocal Strip. The former offers transient shaping, dynamics, EQ, delay and tube saturation for knocking your percussion tracks into shape, while the latter is for shining up vocals, comprising a de-esser, compander, tube EQ, doubler and delay. Oh, and saturation, of course.

They both sound the business and could easily retail for the upgrade price on their own. As a bonus, there are dozens of presets for each, covering a wide range of needs.

Joining these channel strips are several individual effects taken from Cakewalk's Project 5 DAW. There's a particularly nice filter/bit-crusher in the shape of Alias Factor, and we were also pleased with HF Factor, an exciter designed to be used as an overall sweetener, adding high-end harmonic content to make the signal brighter and give it increased presence.

There's also a mod filter, a retro phaser, a chorus/flanger, another delay (stereo, natch), the self-explanatory Stereo Compressor/Gate and a rather nice, CPU-friendly parametric EQ. Oh, and a new version of Studioverb.