Thanks Andrew,
That is exactly the statement I was looking for.

jatoth
Thanks Andrew,
That is exactly the statement I was looking for.

That's the same thing that was already said. But now that you have been answered, can we just drop this!?

Get a life Grem. Was your post helpful at all?

Andrew Rossa [Cakewalk]
If there is content that is only exclusive for the month, we will let you know. Otherwise, unless stated, it will be included as part of Command Center and you can download it at your leisure. The core program will always be the latest when you start. That's one of the advantages of this system. You aren't going to go to a store and find an "old" version and realize you have to catch up. The first update is coming soon so people will get a chance to download it on Command Center and see how it is presented. I believe all the content for update 1 will be permanent. 

 
The core program will presumably be the same for all versions of Sonar--so all will be getting whatever falls under that rubric. But it is not clear that there will be any different "new content" for platinum vs artist or professional. Currently it looks like the main new content differences for Producer upgraders between Platinum and cheaper versions is VocalSync and some loops (really? loops?). Will there be any differences in "content" that the higher priced Platinum users will get compared to the lesser versions? If not, then the price difference will basically be just what the Platinum upgrader will be paying for VocalSync unless he values your particular loops. Is that the case?

OK I am greatly impressed with the quality and quantity of the loops. That said, if I had access to a free download of the best 5000 loops ever created I would not give them hard drive space. I just never use loops. I am afraid they are the kind of content that has little value for me, although it undoubtedly justifies a high price for some. The same can be said for synth voices, reverb tweaks, guitar amps and so on. If Cakewalk were to include a new synth of the quality of Z32a, or Dimension Pro, I could use that. I bought both at full retail before they became free "content" for Sonar. I do not even have much use for a large number of audio effects, although I know the aficionados of such things treasure them immensely. Still I expect that usually such connoisseurs buy the ones they want retail. But it sounds like the kind of thing you were offering as a bonus to Sonar owners a while back, which I also found no use for.
 
I am pretty sure I do not represent the typical Sonar user, but from the hodgepodge of content listed, it is difficult for me to discern who Cakewalk thinks their typical user is. My strong impression is that in terms of visible usable improvements, this iteration of Sonar is less than impressive. The under the hood improvements may be worth the money, although I have not found X3 unusable for anything I have tried to do, but if the "content" included in this update is typical of what members can expect, I am not tempted. 
 
btw It appears that, although some of the items in this update were undoubtedly off the shelf available at an earlier date, they were bundled into a single release. I understand that this makes distribution (and marketing?) easier, and I never really expected Cakewalk to offer downloads of updates "as soon as they were ready." I do not think that really matters to anyone, I just wonder why it became so central to the membership hype. With X3 Cakewalk did a good job of prioritizing and releasing bug fixes pretty much as soon as they were ready anyway.