Dega
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Convince me . . .
A (long) while back I upgraded from 8.5 Producer to X1 Producer and before I even really used or learned I it upgraded again to X2 Producer. Been using that for a while now and overall very happy with it and, more importantly, I'm actually starting to know it and how to get around. So Cake tells me (quite frequently in emails) that as a loyal long time customer I can get X3 Producer for $150. I've been reading a bit on their product page and some here in the forums but just wanted to ask those of you who have already upgraded . . . Is it worth it? And, more importantly, how different is it and how steep is the learning curve?
Please . . . no posts from Cakewalk bashers trying to convince me the "other" DAW is better. I am, in fact, a loyal Cake user and too old to try and learn another DAW so I really just want to hear from those who have or have not upgraded, why you did or didn't and if you did how has your experience been?
Russell ________ Don't ever try and be like anybody else and don't be afraid to take risks. Waylon Jennings
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Sanderxpander
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Re: Convince me . . .
2014/07/11 16:38:32
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☄ Helpfulby Dega 2014/07/11 16:34:23
For me personally the upgrade was worth it, and a pretty big difference too. The main selling points for me;
1. The new comping, it's amazing
2. Melodyne/ARA (mainly because I've personally always preferred Melodyne over V-Vocal and the integration is great now). You'd need an upgrade to Editor in order to make the most of this feature. Celemony offers a discount. Also, as long as you leave X2 installed, V-Vocal will work
3. Good selection of extra content - Addictive Drums (2) is great and so is Tone2 BiFilter. The Nomad BlueTubes are a little dated but are a nicely rounded collection if you don't already own lots of 3rd party stuff. The delays in particular are nice.
4. QuadCurve EQ with flyout analyzer. Almost forgot because I use a 3rd party offering now but it's a GREAT EQ upgrade.
5. VST3 support. Includes side-chaining for 3rd party plugs.
Oh and also, it's more stable and relatively bug-free, especially comparing X3e to X2a.
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Beepster
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Re: Convince me . . .
2014/07/11 17:14:59
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☄ Helpfulby Dega 2014/07/11 17:10:50
Conceptually I liked X2. In practice it was an annoying arsed mofo to work with. There were lots of glitches and weirdness that slowed me down severely (which was very exasperating as a n00b still learning) and the new features which were well intentioned were not implemented as well as they could have been (half baked). All that and the lack of patches to fix some of these issues had me at the end of my rope with Sonar and Cakewalk in general.
Then came X3. I have not had a single problem with it (on the exact same system without any changes to it whatsoever) and the features that should have been awesome in X2 (but fell flat) sprang to life and become what they should have been and more.
There are also all the extra goodies that I did not think I "needed" or even "wanted" but after messing around with some of it there are things that I actually did need (or I at least find extremely useful) so that was just an extra bonus.
My point? If you like X2 then I see absolutely no reason why you won't love X3. It's just better.
I will say though $149 is the max price for a Producer to Producer upgrade. You should really wait for a special and snag it for $99 or some ridiculous freebies. We are nearing the end of the release cycle so the specials should be coming down the pipe very soon. We have already seen quite a few discounts.
So yeah, if you can wait then you could probably save some cash (if that is important to you). If you wait long enough you might even qualify for a free upgrade to X4 if they run their usual end of cycle promos. Then you'd have both.
Also give the trial a run through. Check out comping. That seems to be the one thing that some people have gotten weird about but personally I think it's great.
Cheers.
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Splat 
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Re: Convince me . . .
2014/07/11 17:15:53
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☄ Helpfulby Dega 2014/07/11 17:11:25
Already been done...
Plenty of videos and posts on Sonar X3.
I'm not going to spend time trying to justify my argument. Sonar X3E is the best so far because I say so.
Cheers...
Sell by date at 9000 posts. Do not feed. @48/24 & 128 buffers latency is 367 with offset of 38. Sonar Platinum(64 bit),Win 8.1(64 bit),Saffire Pro 40(Firewire),Mix Control = 3.4,Firewire=VIA,Dell Studio XPS 8100(Intel Core i7 CPU 2.93 Ghz/16 Gb),4 x Seagate ST31500341AS (mirrored),GeForce GTX 460,Yamaha DGX-505 keyboard,Roland A-300PRO,Roland SPD-30 V2,FD-8,Triggera Krigg,Shure SM7B,Yamaha HS5.Maschine Studio+Komplete 9 Ultimate+Kontrol Z1.Addictive Keys,Izotope Nectar elements,Overloud Bundle,Geist.Acronis True Image 2014.
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Beepster
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Re: Convince me . . .
2014/07/11 17:24:18
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Sorry... I forgot. I have encountered one very minor bug that's annoying but have a workaround for it. So one problem so far.
One... as opposed to something screwing up every time I sat down in front of the DAW. Pretty big improvement. ;-)
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wizard71
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Re: Convince me . . .
2014/07/11 18:59:08
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It knocks X2 out the park, both in reliability and functionality. You won't be disappointed.
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Guitarpima
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Re: Convince me . . .
2014/07/11 20:25:29
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Even with the lack of colors, still, X3 is much better as a DAW.
Notation, the original DAW. Everything else is just rote. We are who we are and no more than another. Humans, you people are crazy. Win 7 x64 X2 Intel DX58SO, Intel i7 920 2.66ghz 12gb DDR3 ASUS ATI EAH5750 650w PSU 4x WD HDs 320gb DVD, DVD RW Eleven Rack, KRK Rokit 8s and 10s sub
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robert_e_bone
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Re: Convince me . . .
2014/07/11 20:47:40
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Download the free demo and check it out for yourself.
All the add-on components will not be there (it's a demo), but you will see the main product itself.
Bob Bone
Wisdom is a giant accumulation of "DOH!" Sonar: Platinum (x64), X3 (x64) Audio Interfaces: AudioBox 1818VSL, Steinberg UR-22 Computers: 1) i7-2600 k, 32 GB RAM, Windows 8.1 Pro x64 & 2) AMD A-10 7850 32 GB RAM Windows 10 Pro x64 Soft Synths: NI Komplete 8 Ultimate, Arturia V Collection, many others MIDI Controllers: M-Audio Axiom Pro 61, Keystation 88es Settings: 24-Bit, Sample Rate 48k, ASIO Buffer Size 128, Total Round Trip Latency 9.7 ms
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John
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Re: Convince me . . .
2014/07/12 03:09:33
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☄ Helpfulby Shambler 2014/07/12 04:40:13
X3 producer is the version to have. I can see it being the one that would be useful from here on out. The major bugs were fixed and it is the most solid performer to date of all the X series versions.
If you like X2 you should love X3.
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e.Blue
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Re: Convince me . . .
2014/07/12 05:31:00
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I strongly feel that X3e is the most stable release of SONAR since 8.5.3. I can't believe that after all of these years and despite also owning several other DAWs ( Pro Tools 11, Cubase 7.5, Logic X, Live, Reason, Studio One 2, FL Studio and Reaper), SONAR still feels like home to me.  -e.B
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BlixYZ
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Re: Convince me . . .
2014/07/12 08:09:00
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The price will drop soon, then snag it. We are too close to x4 for you to pay full price.
James W BlixYZ Recording Studio BlixYZ Records Audient ASP800 thru Focusrite Saffire Pro 40 Mackie Control Universal + C4 Yamaha HS50's plus Matching Sub, Tannoy 501a Blue Baby Bottle, AT 4050, Neumann TLM 103, etc. UA 610, Focusrite/ART/Neve 2CH. Windows 10
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paulo
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Re: Convince me . . .
2014/07/12 15:37:22
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I never bothered with X1 or X2 because it seemed quite apparent that they both had considerable issues and 8.53PE was so solid for me that I couldn't see any advantage in upgrading. I was about to buy melodyne and considering addictive drums at the time X3 came out - so it became a no brainer for me. I'm still not in love with the console view (another reason I had previously avoided X series) but I don't regret buying it at all. There's a lot to like. ARA integration of melodyne and VV is probably worth the entry fee alone IMO - very slick. Bear in mind that you will probably want/need to upgrade melodyne to editor version (the included version is quite basic) but that still makes it a good overall price for editor. That said, at this time of year I would probably wait for the close-out buy X3 get X4 free type deal that probably isn't too far away.
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dappa1
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Re: Convince me . . .
2014/07/24 16:46:42
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loving x2 I have not been on these forums for ages because well its just wonderful to work in.
If I go to version x3 then it would have to be miles better than this one but I cant see that happening X2 is perfect!
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John
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Re: Convince me . . .
2014/07/24 16:55:33
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Well if you don't want VST 3 or great comping or color coding tracks or a pop out EQ with spectrum or super stable performance or Melodyne or ARA or Region FX then by all means stay with X2.
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Dega
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Re: Convince me . . .
2014/07/24 17:02:25
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I've pretty much decided to go ahead and get the upgrade . . . but as someone wise said in a previous post, I'm holding out for the eventual $99 deal . . . then snap! I'm on it
Russell ________ Don't ever try and be like anybody else and don't be afraid to take risks. Waylon Jennings
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wetdentist
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Re: Convince me . . .
2014/07/26 09:23:12
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X3 Producer is so good I think I am going to stick with it for a while
3.5 Ghz AMD 6-Core/16 gigs RAM, Roland Quad-Capture, Win 10, Cakewalk by Bandlab, Komplete 10, z3ta+, Z3TA+ 2, Rapture, Maschine 2.7 (MKI & Jam), Melodyne 4 Studio, Ozone 4, Jam Origin MIDI Guitar 2, Schecter Damien Elite, Fender Sonoran w/TronicalTune Plus installed, etc go here to hear Wet Dentist (2000-2016 RIP) my new sounds: The Das Kaput
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Anderton
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Re: Convince me . . .
2014/07/26 11:55:43
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wetdentist
X3 Producer is so good I think I am going to stick with it for a while
One point worth considering is that X3 is a "mature" implementation of the X-series concept. In other words, with X3 putting the main "big bits" in place (VST3, ARA, new video engine, and a radical new way to do comping), I would expect future updates to concentrate more on working within the solid framework that X3 has established. In theory, this would mean less of a learning curve because you won't have to learn something significantly different, like the new way of doing comping, but can learn new features "a la carte." It also means Cakewalk has the breathing room to re-evaluate features that were added in the past, but could use a refresh. We'll see...but as someone who uses Sonar almost everyday, I've always found the updates to be worth the bucks. It's clear Cakewalk's strategy is to include enough new features so that even if you only care about a few of them, the update is still cost-effective.
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Beepster
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Re: Convince me . . .
2014/07/26 11:59:44
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Anderton
It also means Cakewalk has the breathing room to re-evaluate features that were added in the past, but could use a refresh.
Keeping my fingers crossed for an Audiosnap reboot.
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