Thanks for joining me, today I’m investigating the beloved, and recently overhauled DAW Cakewalk, since renamed as simply Sonar. I have purposely chosen the free edition to see how well BandLab are catering the legion of users who supported them over the years.
It’s strange to be writing about Cakewalk/Sonar again. This is a DAW with a history longer than many of its users have been alive. I first encountered Cakewalk back in the early 2000s when it was still bundled with a soundcard I could hardly afford at the time. It vanished for a while after Gibson pulled the plug, then BandLab swooped in to resurrect it as Cakewalk by BandLab, a surprisingly capable free DAW.
Fast-forward to 2025, and the phoenix rises again: Sonar is back, now with a free tier sitting beneath a paid flagship edition.
Naturally, I went straight for the free version to see what kind of experience you actually get, and more importantly, whether it’s a viable environment for serious composing and production work.
First Look: The Familiar Face of a Survivor
At first glance, Sonar looks reassuringly… familiar. BandLab hasn’t torn up the script, and that’s probably wise. Long-time users will recognise the classic Skylight interface – dockable views, a timeline that can get cluttered fast, and an almost intimidating number of tiny icons that promise power if you can remember what they all do.
It’s not the most modern-looking DAW on the planet, especially when you’ve been working in slick environments like Bitwig or Studio One. Still, it’s functional, with a no-nonsense layout that somehow feels like a real studio desk – just one that’s had decades of extra buttons bolted onto it.
Performance-wise, Sonar Free feels solid but there is a slight laggyness to the interface that doesn’t affect the playback or performance, its more the GUI is a little under-optimised.
Loading times, however, are snappy, even with large Kontakt templates, and CPU management has noticeably improved from the old BandLab build. The audio engine itself is as tight and clean as ever.
There’s a reason this software has been used in professional studios for years: it’s reliable when it matters.
Sonar vs. Cakewalk Next – What’s the Difference?
BandLab now splits its DAW lineup into two distinct paths: Sonar and Cakewalk Next. They share a name and even some code under the hood, but they target very different kinds of musicians.
Sonar is the traditionalist. It carries the legacy of the old Cakewalk lineage – a fully fledged desktop DAW built for engineers, composers, and serious producers. Its layout mirrors a conventional recording studio, with a linear timeline, console view, and deep routing options. Think of it as the continuation of Cakewalk by BandLab, now modernised and offered in both Free and Paid (Professional) editions. The Free version includes the complete audio engine, unlimited tracks, and core mixing tools but lacks advanced extras like surround mixing, and premium instruments. The Paid edition unlocks those features, making it suitable for film scoring and full production work.
Cakewalk Next, on the other hand, feels like a clean slate. It’s BandLab’s answer to modern, clip-based, loop-friendly DAWs such as Ableton or Bitwig. It focuses on simplicity and immediacy, with a streamlined interface and tight integration with BandLab’s online platform. It’s designed more for beatmakers, songwriters, and creators who prefer fast results over technical depth. The Free tier lets you record, edit, and publish directly to BandLab’s cloud, while the Paid version adds higher-end features like advanced plugin support, automation, and expanded export options.
In short: Sonar is for studio-minded composers and mixers who want precision and control. Next is for modern creators chasing speed, collaboration, and a lighter workflow. Both share BandLab’s philosophy of accessibility, but they’re two very different instruments tuned for very different players.
For Composers: A Double-Edged Sword
Coming at this from the perspective of a theatre and film composer, Sonar is both inspiring and exasperating. Let’s start with the positives.
MIDI editing remains one of Sonar’s biggest strengths. The Piano Roll View is detailed, clear, and refreshingly tactile. Velocity and modulation lanes feel natural to manipulate, and you can layer controller data in ways that many newer DAWs make weirdly complicated. For orchestral mock-ups, this kind of precision is gold.
The articulation maps (Cakewalk’s version of key switch handling) are brilliant for orchestral libraries, letting you assign and manage articulations without resorting to complicated track duplication. It’s not as fluid as Cubase’s Expression Maps, but it’s close enough to make a meaningful workflow difference.
Sonar includes basic video support, which is all you need to compose music to film, so massive tick right there.
However, I did find some frustrating walls. There’s still no built-in notation view worth mentioning – only a rudimentary staff editor that feels trapped in 2007. It’s serviceable for checking notes, but that’s about it.
Track management is another area that could use modernisation. You can create folders and hide tracks, but on large orchestral projects (I’m talking 400+ tracks), it becomes messy. Scrolling fatigue sets in fast. A proper visibility system like Reaper’s would make a world of difference.
The GUI is a little cramped, or even busy for unfamiliar users like me, but it’s an environment that rewards patience and discipline. There’s a certain satisfaction in building your template here, routing groups manually, and knowing exactly how your audio is flowing. It feels grounded in engineering tradition, not consumer software trends.
Still, I had to keep reminding myself Cakewalk doesn’t market to theatre or film composers, so I found myself appreciating Sonar’s old-school sensibility and simple toolset.
Workflow and Usability: A Tale of Two DAWs
Using Sonar Free in 2025 feels like working in two eras at once. The core workflow – record, edit, mix – is as traditional as it gets. You could teach this to someone who learned on an analog console in the ’80s, and they’d be right at home. But layer on the modern features, and you start to feel some tension between old and new.
Take the Control Bar, for example. It’s flexible and informative, but it also eats up a lot of space. The browser pane is crammed with instruments and effects, yet it doesn’t feel as context-aware as more modern systems. Everything is there, but you’re left doing a lot of manual digging.
On the plus side, routing in Sonar is excellent once you get the hang of it. The console view is still one of the most detailed and rewarding mix environments in any DAW, complete with hardware-style signal flow. For composers who also like to mix their own scores, it’s immensely satisfying.
Sonar still has CD burning functionality – how quaint.
MIDI routing, on the other hand, can feel clunky. You can do multi-channel setups, but it’s not nearly as fluid as in Cubase or Logic. There’s no “retroactive record” either, which I sorely missed – especially after playing a perfect improvised cue and realising I wasn’t recording.
That said, the workflow grew on me. After a few days, I found myself enjoying the deliberate pace. Sonar feels like a DAW designed to make you think about what you’re doing, rather than just throw clips onto a grid.
That’s not a bad thing, expecially when I had to keep reminding myself – this is a 100% free DAW.
Sound and Instruments
There’s something oddly honest about the sound of Sonar. It doesn’t flatter you. Mixes sound clean, slightly dry, and uncoloured – like a control room before you turn the monitors up.
The bundled MIDI tools in the free version are limited, but the included arpeggiator, delay and MIDI event filter are always handy, which will be familiar to anyone who’s used Cakewalk in the past twenty years. Anyone using Sonar will most likely require a decent collection of 3rd party synths and sample libraries, but it would have been nice to see one or two built-in instruments to see the platforms capabilities.
The stock effects, on the other hand, are solid. The Sonitus suite may look dated, but they sound neutral and dependable. The VX-64 Vocal Strip is surprisingly good, you’d pay decent money for this elsewhere alone. Each track can host its own channel strip with compression, EQ, saturation, and even tape emulation, all neatly integrated into the console. It feels tactile and musical in a way that most stock plugins don’t.
I’d still reach for third-party tools for any serious mix, but Sonar’s built-in options give you more than enough to do a convincing demo or even a finished track if you’re careful.
Value: The Free DAW That’s Actually Free
Let’s be honest – DAWs labelled “free” often come with a catch. Limited tracks, missing exports, nagging upgrade reminders… you know the drill. Sonar Free is surprisingly generous. You get the full audio engine, full mixer, and unrestricted track counts.
For songwriters, home producers, and even theatre composers working on demos or concept sketches, this is a fantastic tool at absolutely no cost. It’s not a toy; it’s the real Sonar, just trimmed of a few luxuries.
Compared to Bitwig, which costs hundreds of dollars plus a service plan, or Logic which still doesn’t exist on Windows, Sonar Free fills a gap that no other major DAW does. It’s a fully professional Windows-native environment that you can use indefinitely without feeling punished.
Sonar does have an annoying habbit of reminding you constantly you’re on the “peasant” edition, placing little gold crowns all over the place to remind you of features that aren’t for you. At $99 USD per year, or $8.25 per month, and considering the huge amount of extra samples, loops and sound packs you get in BandLab, its not bad value overall, and very easy to simply enable a month’s worth of access whenever you need it. It might be a little embarrassing if you’re charging your client, whose then sitting there looking at all the little “Get Membership” nag icons.
Conclusion
Cakewalk Sonar Free isn’t a revolution. It’s more like a classic car lovingly restored and put back on the road. Sure, it doesn’t have the self-driving tech or the flashy screens of newer models, but there’s something undeniably authentic about it.
As a theatre composer, I would be keen to use it as my secondary scoring DAW, though it lacks a few niceties, its more than capable of producing pretty much anything I can think of. For sketching themes, arranging songs, recording live players, or mixing finished tracks, it’s a reliable and surprisingly enjoyable platform.
Sonar has always carried a slightly underdog charm. It’s not trendy, and it’s never shouted the loudest, but it gets the job done with quiet confidence. The free version carries that same spirit.
If you’ve never tried Sonar, or if you left it behind years ago, it’s definatly worth a fresh look. In a world where software subscriptions are swallowing the industry, it’s refreshing to see a company still offering a genuinely capable free option.
And really, that might be the most “Cakewalk” thing about it – no fuss, no frills, just a solid DAW that lets you get on with the business of making music.
For full details on Cakewalk Next and Sonar, visit www.cakewalk.com
