5.1 Surround

[baldo]

Can you record in 5.1 surround w/SONAR?

[AcousticPro]

You can track 5.1 with a lot of different programs. How easy it is to do is another question. By setting up busses you can create an environment where even panning and assignments let you do 5.1. I have mixed 5.1 on an analog 8 bus, but it quickly eats up your bussing structure. If you are refferring to a surround panner then that is a different story. The part that many people miss even after all this is what do you do with this mix? Well you can save it using third party software of some proprietary format that your mastering or duplication house may not be able to use or you can dump it digitally to a DA78HR or something of that sort with stems. Otherwise you need seperate encoding software. Realisticly if you want to do this on a professional level you need to ask some very deep questions of yourself and how far you want to take surround work. It's not super plentiful and won't pay the bills but is nice plus income and will give you the edge and experience when everyone is doing it in five (or however many) years. I hope that helps some. If you want specific opinions on particular products and how they would suit your needs you'll have to call me. I have to be careful what I say here. :)