Music Production Software
Information
Please check the latest SONAR X1 Production Suite includes SONAR X1c Producer, SONAR X1 Expanded, PC4K S-Type Expander/Gate module, and Z3TA+ 2 Waveshaping Synthesizer!
Movie: When Two Worlds Collide
Studio Composition Meets Live Performances
Interactive Tour
Experience it! Product Interactive Tour for PC/iPad is available here!
DAW 2.0 has arrived. SONAR X1 Essential has a completely redesigned user interface that makes creating music faster and easier than ever. Create with cutting edge musical tools like the Step Sequencer and The Matrix. Customize your workspace with the Skylight interface. Get hands on control with Active Controller Technology (ACT). With a powerful collection of effects and instruments to get you started and more available tracks than DAWs costing twice the price, SONAR Essential is the perfect way to get your feet wet and to begin crafting your own masterpiece.
SONAR has been one of the most popular DAW’s on the market for nearly a decade now. And we've learned a lot along the way. But things have changed over the past ten years, so we felt it was time to take our more than 20 years experience in creating music software, combine it with cutting edge music creation tools, and wrap it in a totally modern design. Watch the video below to learn more.
For more detail, please refer to the CAKEWALK SONAR X1 Essential page.
Let’s face it - constantly shuffling and resizing lots of floating windows is so last decade. Precisely suited for today’s music production, SONAR X1's unparalleled user interface design speeds up workflow and provides a clean and modern creation environment.
Skylight introduces a next generation workspace and ushers in a new level of simplicity by providing an intelligent interface that moves beyond contemporary, single-window design and layout clutter.
Browser — all your content unified
The completely redesigned Browser organizes all of your content into one, easily managed place. Drag and drop just about anything you can think of from the Browser directly to your workspace.
Inspector — Find what you’ve been looking for
Get all your clip, track, and channel data - centralized and at your fingertips. The new Inspector shows a wealth of data in a small footprint and allows for ergonomic track mixing. With Skylight, it’s also fully collapsible, expandable, dockable and floatable.
SONAR’s tools have been completely revamped for X1. Most functions are now performed with a single implement that switches automatically based on context. This dramatically speeds up editing and arranging by eliminating the need to constantly switch tools.
Access crucial functions quickly and clearly with the new modular Control Bar. Modules logically group related functions and can be arranged to suit your desire. It’s fully collapsible, expandable, dockable and floatable.


The MultiDock is an integral part of the Skylight interface that allows you to dock and easily access any of SONAR’s views all in one place. The Console View, Step Sequencer, Piano Roll - even instruments and effects can all be contained within one consolidated area. For ultimate flexibility, the MultiDock itself can be quickly collapsed or expanded and can even be placed on an entirely separate monitor.

Per-project Screensets remember every window position, size and state and are accessed directly from the Control Bar or via your qwerty keyboard. Default Screensets are ready-to-go for just about any production scenario imaginable or create your own Screensets for tracking, mixing, jamming or experimenting. Recall everything - exactly the way you left it.
Cakewalk Publisher requires you to have available web server space with FTP access privileges.
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ASIO and VST are trademark of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH.
All specifications and appearances are subject to change.