Blades
Beware: Long post is a comin'...it's not a bunch of negative complaining though, so if you have a few minutes of reading time, I'd appreciate your ear/eyes and input.
 
I am one of the folks who got sidetracked away from my music hobby.  I've been so busy running my business, working IN that business, working ON that business, learning new things about writing/creating websites and the like, and just having too little time left to dedicate to music that I've forgotten a lot of what I knew, from how to use Sonar to its fullest potential (or even creating videos teaching others how to use it) to how to play my instruments as well as I could, which aside from drums was already a challenge for me to get through.
 
I stopped at X3, but realistically, I got through 8.5, knowing it really well, got on the X1 bandwagon and didn't use it a lot, skipped X2 for many of the reasons above but also because it just didn't seem that the X generation of the application was fully baked and still stammering, then went to X3 with the intention of getting "back into it", which I basically have not.
 
When the rolling updates of Platinum and monthly or yearly subscription fees came along, I didn't nay-say like many - at least not completely.  I was watching with interest as new stuff got added, developments came out, many good, some sort of "what the heck is that and why would I care" (especially with the modules Anderton released, where maybe I'm just missing the bus, but seemed like "well we have to add SOMETHING this month...").  I also saw some of the items getting added that I think would not qualify as Core updates, like the bass loops that got added early on, described as "get these now or if you sign up later, they won't be added in the package".  These are the sorts of things that I don't really care anything about and the kind of things that I was concerned would make up a lot of the rolling updates plan.  I think I was wrong here.
 
So now I look through what all has changed with the Core of the program on the rolling updates page, plus the things that got added that I think would fall into that description in the Updates for Life plan even if they aren't actually Core like Notepad is Core to Windows.
 
So now I'm presented with a great deal: $199 for forever updates.  In the "old" non-subscription model, I'd have paid $179 in any given year to get to the new version.  I think there was one $99 time and one or two $199 times, but the jist of it is that for the most part, the $199 I'd pay now to upgrade for Lifetime updates is not that dissimilar to what I used to pay for a year.
 
If I were to go with monthly payments (like I considered when the subscriptions started), I'd have paid $180/year at $15/month.  I wouldn't have to go much past a year at the new model to make it worthwhile.  Likewise, if I had paid the $99 upfront for a year of updates, I'd only have to have done that for the two years since I stopped updating to have spent the $199. 
 
Now I can spend that same $199 and get it for good.  Granted, I didn't get any use of any of those updates for the past two+ years, but it still seems like a pretty good deal to me.
 
But only if I use it.
 
I am still trying to wrap my head around all that will get updated compared to my X3 version, how many new features will pile onto an already somewhat unfamiliar feature-set (of X3 that I can use but not as fluently as I'd prefer), how many bugs will be fixed.  I also wonder if I'll even notice many of these things, like the subtle changes in the Prochannel, the workflow changes in things like comping that are coming (I was still an old "layers guy who never really adopted the full capabilities of comping"), the additions of Melodyne Editor when I don't really think I've used Essentials over the old V-Vocal, the addition of Addictive Drums 2 when I didn't use the AD except for fiddling around, etc. 
 
I see that a ton of bugs have been fixed, but are the ones that I have addressed?  It seems that each update I've seen since quite some time has carried forward all of the bugs that have bothered me with no response as to even acknowledge that they exist.
 
I still see that there are many things that hold onto the old interfaces, like the Drum Map Manager for example.  Hideous and still somewhat problematic in the display as far as the maps themselves (and you all know that I'm a huge Drum Map advocate).  It all sorks fine, just seems really disjointed from the rest of the interface that moved forward.  I see that there are issues with the Mackie Control that never got fixed after the X series was released.  They sent the dll out to the open source and except for AzSlow, nothing seems to have happened.
 
And they are making a Mac version.  Nice for them, but I would have preferred that they at least buttoned up some of the long term things as above, fixed some stuff that people have complained about incessantly like the staff view, and focused on the program from the perspective of the (I have to imagine) the great majority of folks who use Sonar because it's great but also because they have PCs and not Macs.  I don't envision that people have PCs FOR Cakewalk as much as this other way around.  I am sure there are cases of all examples, but my guess is that people use PCs for the most part because that's what they want to use. 
 
I also see things like the Contour Shuttle device that I bought from Cakewalk many years ago - abandoned. No more plugin past the version of Sonar that was available at that time.  I understand that it was a third party product, but it was purchased from Cakewalk with software that integrated it INTO Cakewalk and then they chose not to develop that same software into their new version and now the device is far less useful and has been waiting for a miracle as it sits unplugged longing to be used again.  I have a BCF2000, an Edirol PCR800, and a Frontier Design Tranzport, and none of them are as cool as the Contour Shuttle was when it was released for controlling all the transport functions.  Just the scrub wheel not being usable at the "beat" level and instead only at the "measure" level kind of killed the device for me - seems really trivial but it was a great time saver and just worked better than any of these other devices because of its variable speed, spring-loaded wheel.
 
I only bring up a few of these as the Devil's Advocate:  How long before "lifetime" is the "lifetime of Sonar Platinum".  How long before Melodyne gets dropped out of the integration because of Sonar updates? - just an example as a third party application integration.
 
How the heck am I going to even find the things that are new, let alone learn them?
 
This early-morning post has been coming for quite some time and I've just finally had a chance to sit down and write.  So I'm sure it is a lot of rambling on a lot of topics, but I feel like I must be thinking some of the same things as many who have been around these forums for a long time as I have.  I welcome any feedback anyone has about any of this.  I'm likely to take advantage of this lifetime opportunity, but I sure would enjoy the encouragement!

bsantini99
I for one am not buying into this money grab to support MAC development...

Blades
I was disappointed that Melodyne crashed at every turn, especially after dealing with the mess that they have in getting it registered.  

bapu

Blades
I was disappointed that Melodyne crashed at every turn, especially after dealing with the mess that they have in getting it registered.  

Say wha?
 
I am on the latest verison of Platinum and have yet to get any sort of crash with Melodyne, EVER.
 
I'm am 64bit all the way, if that makes a difference I don't know.

bsantini99
I for one am not buying into this money grab to support MAC development. Part of your money will go toward this and not toward updating Sonar PC. I am not giving these guys $199 of my money without seeing what I am getting.

bsantini99
I for one am not buying into this money grab to support MAC development. Part of your money will go toward this and not toward updating Sonar PC. I am not giving these guys $199 of my money without seeing what I am getting.