Cheap Computer Books Best Computer Book

Well done
This is a great book for someone new to Sonar and computer based audio recording. The author covers Sonar well as well as providing background information for sound physics (but not overly technical), MIDI, etc. I have NO problem recommending this book to someone who is a beginner or even an intermediate level user.

The reason I didn't give it 5 stars is two fold:

1. I have been recording for over 20 years and have been a Cakewalk (makers of Sonar) user since the early 90's. I've mainly been a hobbyist although I ran a small commercial project studio for 10 years as well.

The documentation book that comes with Sonar is not very comprehensive. They do include a thorough PDF file that probably covers everything (it's 1700 pages) but I don't like reading PDFs, especially that size. I prefer reading books.

I was hoping that Scott's book would basically go through all of the different dialog boxes and offer uses for all of the functionality. I have only picked up perhaps a half dozen things that I wasn't aware of before but most of those are things that I don't use anyway (e.g., I don't do much MIDI editing, don't use drum patterns, etc.). One of the items I hadn't used much, but was aware of, was key binding. I tried the example but couldn't get it to work.

The book isn't a complete waste for me, I did get a few things from it. I just wish it was geared more for advanced users.

2. The initial discussion about A/D conversions and audio physics seemed a bit to simplistic. I know Scott's trying not to lose readers, but I think the typical Sonar user must be fairly sophisticated or they wouldn't be using the program. Consequently even if the details aren't covered in detail in the book it would be nice to provide additional references to more detailed explanations. This could be coupled with a statement emphasizing that the book is focused on the Sonar user interface and not a lot of the background technical details.

Overall, it's a good book. Advanced users probably won't get a lot out of it in my opinion but the other reviewers here tend to illustrate that it's not really intended for advanced users.

Still Reading and Learning, but...
I am still reading and attempting to learn Avid. I feel confident I will master and improve over time, and I know that I am more than capable (as I have learned to edit on both FCP and PremPro - the latter of which, Mr. Kauffmann, can be used on either a PC or Mac), but loved the idea of using this book in conjunction with the DVD ROM touted as existing on page XXIV in the introduction (and again referenced on pp 419-421).

There was no such DVD, and mine was a new copy of the third edition text.

What's more, I find it odd that references to the length of the third edition varies wildly from the description of 448pp stated in the desciption to the actual 421pp of the edition in hand.

I am encouraged by the comments written by those who purchased and have used this 3rd edition text, but wonder if they were likewise shortchanged on the DVD ROM and the lack of pages?

iPod
It took forever to get this book. It does not have much info on the iPod touch , so did not help me at all.

general
item was received ahead of expected date, very well packed and in good condition. thank you for your attention to this order.