Yeah, and it has been so long since most users have installed a new product/upgrade they have forgotten what happens. I have seen a lot here forget to check preferences or copy over config files. Some have forgotten they set their old version to run as administrator. All of this was less common when the upgrade cycle was 1 year to 18 months. It has been years since most have performed an upgrade.

I just wanted to say I apologize to all who saw my rants and especially BandLab. No excuses, but I was really ticked at Gibson and doubted Bandlab's commitment to Cakewalk Sonar until now. I apologize everyone, I'm sorry for the rants. 
 
I would also like to say that the support for BandLab is outstanding and would like to convey my own personal experience as of late with a few questions I asked them. 
 
I had several questions I asked Banlab's support, and they answered them all in a timely fashion and were very helpful. Didn't take days, it took a couple hours. One of the people who replied said they were a former Cakewalk employee and stressed that if I needed more answers to reply further. 
 
This really reassures me that BandLab "IS NOT GIBSON" and they are not here to take advantage of anyone like Gibson did. 
 
Whatever the Case, this is AWESOME NEWS! As for those of you griping about "I PAID THIS OR THAT", well, you got what you paid for, think of this as : "Your getting something your not HAVING TO PAY FOR". 
 
A few things on the install of this software, and maybe someone will chime in and correct me if I am wrong, but I wanted to convey a few personal things that might be helpful to others. 
 
First thing I done was download the Cakewalk By Bandlab Installer and installed it by selecting the Top option : Which I think was worded something like "Install Cakewalk By Bandlab with everything", since I am an owner of Sonar Platinum that was a mistake. 
 
In my case I always keep a Image backup of my system just incase I ever needed it. And why was that a mistake? Because I already had Sonar Platinum with the 3rd party plugins I didn't need to reinstall them. 
 
So I reset with Image backup and started again to install Cakewalk by Bandlab Assistant. Only this time I select : "Install Cakewalk by Bandlab Only". 
 
Everything installed fine. 
 
The thing is, I found that "In my case and keep in mind I am keeping Sonar Platinum Installed" I had to add the search areas for my plugins and everything once again.  
 
Some things I did do that helped, I copied some files, and you'll see if you use Sonar platinum and install this version of Cakewalk bandlab. 

I copied SOME files NOT ALL from the C:\Cakewalk Content                directory. 
There are two folders, you have : C:\Cakewalk Content\SONAR Platinum        - Which is the Sonar Plat directory.
and you have the new area which is : C:\Cakewalk Content\Cakewalk Core    -  Which is the New directory. 
 
I also had to go into AppData : C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Cakewalk
to copy my AD2 Drum maps from the C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Cakewalk\SONAR Platinum
to C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Cakewalk\Cakewalk Core\Drum Maps
folder. 
 
It was very simple and I hope I explained it right. I did the same things with my Custom VST/VSTI's "PLUG-IN MENU LAYOUTS" list that I had saved. You just go into %APPDATA% and select your USERNAME and Roaming and then CAKEWALK and you'll see Sonar Platinum  and Cakewalk Core where you can copy files "If you need them to Cakewalk Core".  But like I said, I just copied the AD2 Drum maps and my VST/VSTI "PLUG-IN MENU LAYOUTS". 
 
Anyway, I hope I didn't confuse anyone and I hope this helps. It was really an easy transition, and I have no problem keeping the older Sonar Platinum on my machine considering it means I can use my previous 3rd party plugins. I simply deleted the Icon from my desktop for Sonar Platinum and now use Cakewalk by Bandlab. 
 
I would like to reiterate that the support I got from BandLab with the questions I ask was OUTSTANDING!
 
Thank you BandLab, and Noel, for without Noel & BandLab NONE OF THIS WOULD BE POSSIBLE!!!
 
Bobby
 

DeBro

bsantini99
Sonar was never the industry standard because it fell behind in key areas of improvement and failed to remain relevant to the music production of the day. Also, the interface became cluttered and the workflow inefficient. Noel and team made horrible decisions on the development and marketing strategy that brought us to where we are today.
 
Today's music is split between snap to grid, electronic based music with people who don't play instruments and people that do orchestration. People doing audio focused recording is a dwindling population which is where Sonar was mainly focused. Hopefully, the Bandlab folks will learn from these lessons and improve the daw in ways to serve the current music production scene and improve/streamline the interface.

This is utter nonsense. This is what I term the dumbing down of music making as an artform.
 
I do not find the interface of this DAW in anyway cluttered and the workflow inefficient. I'm very productive in it and making good music.
Upgrading from Sonar Professional, I have no complaints whatsoever. CbB detected all the tools from previous Cakewalk installs plus I got some extras and I'm happy with things as they are. LONG LIVE CAKEWALK.

Sonar was never the industry standard because the industry controls the narrative, and it is well within their best interests to keep the standards so prohibitively high [as in bone chillingly expensive] it remains outside the reach of the common musician/artists. Talent does not control the standards of the industry, MONEY DOES!
 The industry standards remain to be Pro Tools, as a result, although I much, MUCH, much, MUCH prefer to work in SONAR, simply as a means of survival I am much more intimately familiar with PT than I would ever choose to be if I had a choice.
 And I would most certainly rate PT 12 the absolute best and most feature rich technologically advanced version of PT to date as it finally breaks into the world of x64.
 And I would also rate PT 12 almost advanced as Sonar 6 Studio Edition, just around 10 years behind and still not as stable.
 Now I am not in any way or means trying to imply that Pro Tools isn't an excellent DAW, but I am implying and pointing out that my experiences with both dictate that time and time again I have personally found my experiences with SONAR Producer/Platinum to be a much better, easier, and stable workflow with enough tools included in the box to take my work projects to the "ready for mastering" finish line.
 MUCH closer than I could ever "afford" to achieve with Pro Tools.
 
 Here's a fun fact... How many here in this forum today even far back as v6 know that Sonar can directly import and export project files directly into Pro Tools? Hmm?? Anybody???
 Of course things like automation, FX plugins, and MIDI instruments won't be translated as PT used different methods of automation, different Plugins and instruments, nor does it have a fraction of MIDI support as Cakewalk, but all audio tracks and bussing does. And that along saves an enormous amount of time and effort which makes the workflow and  set up for mixing sessions for collaborations between to two DAW's and platforms a much more smooth flowing breeze.
 However Pro Tools won't open Cakewalk projects. Why? SIMPLY because AVID won't allow support for .CWB file extensions.
 And that's simply all there is to it. No brain salad surgery nor complicated rendering algorithms. Simply batch convert all .wav extensions to .aiff or any extension Pro Tools understands and accepts.  But again, AVID doesn't like that idea.
 Why? Because Pro Tools is in fact the #1 crowned ruler of the industry and as such has no interests in supporting any DAW that shatters the rules of the industry standards and at a mere fraction of the cost. 
 
Another fun fact, for years now is Sonar projects are backwards compatible. But there are still the limitations of earlier versions of Sonar not being able to load plugins and instruments that it doesn't have.
 
OK, all that being said, I have downloaded Cakewalk by Bandlab and as pleased and excited as I ever was as a young child on Christmas morning with a perfectly smooth sailing upgrade from SONAR Platinum v 23.8.0.
 It picked everything up right where I left off, same customized configuration setting, recognized all plugins and external MIDI gear and controllers.
 All I had to do was remove some modules from the control bar that I don't use, and the only differences I've noticed so far is the name, the orange Icon on my desktop, and the really nice color changes in the piano roll window, and the warm and fuzzy feeling that my favorite DAW is still alive, well, and has a future. 
 And I fully intend to make a point to very happily contribute and support Bandlab starting in the very near future. 
I can only imagine what others who had SONAR Artist, Professional, or older versions of Sonar are experiencing or will experience with the added powerful plugins. What a great gift!
 
Thank You Meng!