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Whats your guys favorite music mixing software? I'm looking to upgrade from SONAR Home Studio 4 to something a little more elaborate with more features....

Thanks

Lost Ego

Been using Cubase SX3 for the last 3 years, it's pretty good. Never had any real problems with it.

LostEgo
Whats your guys favorite music mixing software? I'm looking to upgrade from SONAR Home Studio 4 to something a little more elaborate with more features....

Thanks

Lost Ego

What do you mean by 'Mixing' do you intend to just mix pre-recorded music or do you intend to compose also?

If you are just mixing music then Sony ACID would make sense. If you compose then you have a wide choice, including...

Acid Pro 6
Cubase 4
FL Studio 8 Producer
Live 7
Logic Pro 8
Pro Tools 7 LE/MP
Sonar 7 Producer

I use FL Studio (including Edison) for 99% of my audio work.

digifish

I am a happy Steinberg Nuendo user from the start. Nuendo 4 it is now. Very reliable, stable, compatible with the majority of systems, plug-ins, OS, etc. It is great for mixing. I like its classic mixing logic with busses, inserts, sends, etc. - like a hardware studio situation and it also integrates well in a hybrid analog+digital scenarios - you can insert harware as you would plug-ins, etc., great automatic delay compensation, intuitive automation, in v.4 also veeery good channel EQ and other Nuendo plug-ins that are on the highest level of sound processing, etc. Very good editing functions, cross-fades, etc. and a very clear and logical GUI that I am admittedly used too. It is ofcourse a killer for post-production and anything else you want and need in audio, including mastering.

I also quite like the simplicity and logic of Adobe Audition, formerly known as Cool edit. One of the greatest for quick radio montages, etc.

I second Satoration's thoughts. I've been using Nuendo since V1, and its a very solid, logical application. over the years ive been able to tailor its features to my liking and am pretty quick with it.
Nuendo is always a good [the best] choice.

yeah, digifishmusic rite!
Fl is enough!!

Over the last few months I've been using REAPER as Host, and loving it

1. If you need a DAW just for mixing and sound production, then pretty much any of the main packages will do, although arguably Nuendo/Cubase, Logic and ProTools are supposed to be the best for the job.
Don't know much about Sonar, so I can't tell you whether it's worth to upgrade to the current full version (ask someone who uses it).

If you use Linux or Macintosh, you can also give Ardour a try - it's a free, open-source DAW, similar to ProTools (although the current version doesn't have MIDI sequencing) - www.ardour.org

2. However, if you want to record, mix, produce AND compose, then I definitely recommend Logic (if you're a Mac OSX user) or Nuendo/Cubase (if you're a Windows user).
Reaper (Windows/Mac OSX) is also a (very) cheap alternative, but it still has some issues.
ProTools, in my view, has terribly limited MIDI sequencing and composing features - it's mostly aimed at recording, editing, and mixing/production.
Logic and Cubase have a much better workflow if you're going through the whole process (wrtiting, recording, editing, mixing, mastering).

Also if you are into techno music, I would recommend you get the NEXUS VSTi plugin with a couple of expansions.

kreutzkamp
Over the last few months I've been using REAPER as Host, and loving it

Same here. It's getting better and better ...

http://www.reaper.fm

why not upgrade to a better version of sonar? homestudio is beyond basic.

mY DaW kissed your DaW under the windowsill ?

I second FL as a VERY VERY easy to use and abrupt mixing and mastering system with great features if you dig into it hard enough. Sound Forge 9 is wicked for Post mixing pieces and fading in and out and applying effects to individual pieces, Acid is good for painting and if you dig through VST settings you can set individual parameters of a VST to certian portions of a loop, But its still paint by techno.
Reaper is great, CPU Friendly most of all, and have super simple mixing interfaces. CakeWalks Sonar reminds me of Adobe Audition 3 (I think it was Cool Edit Pro before?) Which is really good for mashups and pasting track over track with cuts and fades, But only just like SF9 will not support VST's that are time based, say for instance Glitch or Replicant or Effectrix.... And it it usually CPU friendly.... also upgrade your ASIO and Sound Card.... they make a HUGE difference in quality???? But play with reaper and FL before you upgrade, even if your set to it you can still try them

I guess the only difference is I'm not sitting in front of your DAW.....

Logic 8 does it all...

I use Reason 4 and Recycle for making tunes and decks and mixer for mixing my vinyl...Reason 4 is all ya need for production.i love it.