Don't Jump Ship Too Soon

I'm speaking from experience here. I've been through this before with other software. So right now there is mass hysteria. People are flying about all over the place panicking and buying dumb deals. So Cakewalk hasn't actually passed away yet. It's not gone cold, there is still blood pumping and it has a breath. Sonar is still likely to be perfectly usable for at least another year! All the rats are jumping from the ship before it has even sunk and before the life rafts have even been launched. Just calm down!
 
So I've been through this before more than once and last time I made a really bad decision because of it, so I urge you to just hold back for a bit and don't panic. I made a bad decision because a software I used, a development framework, suddenly found its self in exactly the same position Cakewalk is in now. It was all doom and gloom and was basically over. I joined the horde and migrated to another system as soon as possible. That meant a massive learning curve and a huge outlay of time spent redeveloping and porting to the new system and of course more expense. However, at the 11th hour, the software was saved and became even better for it! Rather than all the learning, time and expense, it cost me, I could have just kept my cool and carried on! OK, I didn't know it was going to be alright, but I should have done because I had been through the same thing before with another software company. Alright, it was open source software on that occasion but that makes no difference as there is always a large company behind and sponsoring open source software. There are still huge commercial interests.
 
So before you jump ship consider the following. You purchased Sonar. It still works. It will most probably work for at least a year which is essentially what you purchased. You have plenty of time to see what might develop without immediately rushing out and spending another load of money. What might develop? Well, it's still possible someone might purchase Cakewalk from Gibson. While Gibson might have privately offered it for sale to a few companies before the news broke, other companies have only just heard about this at the same time as you. Cakewalk and Sonar are big brands that have great software, a great team, a load of great customers and assets. Any slump in sales is down to management - Gibson of late. Gibson has huge financial problems and is about to die. If they can recoup anything by selling Cakewalk and its assets, they would do so rather than just bin it to cut losses. So Cakewalk isn't dead yet, and I would be surprised to see it die now. Wait and see. Then there is always the chance a phoenix could rise out of the ashes - some of the best software has come about from top brand developers being displaced and starting something new.
 
On the other side of things, if Cakewalk was to die in this tragedy, there are plenty of rival software companies ready to pick up the custom. They will happily offer ridiculous offers to get the dispossessed Cakewalk users in their customer base. It's worth a lot to them. The offers will come and they will be hard to pass up because they know that once you have been through the learning curve, you will stick with their product, make the brand more popular and buy into the updates and add-ons. The problem is right now Sonar users migrating to Prosonus are inflating the crossgrade prices. A company will sell its product for the highest price it can - it's supply and demand. They won't offer no-brainer deals if people are already snapping it up at the going rate. So again, chill out, see what happens, if Cakewalk lives we still have our Sonar. If it dies we still have our Sonar for a while and the crossgrade deals will become ridiculous. Jump ship now and you are just pushing the conclusions and driving the prices up.

I will continue to use Sonar. Its a great DAW and will continue to function.
Problem is though, Customers are jumping off the ship right now real fast.
 
I now believe that when Cakewalk offered Lifetime updates they had to have known something was going to go wrong... where is our income going to come from now ? Gibson was in debt.
 

I agree, I'm staying with Sonar! Even in the version it's in now (2017.10) it's still better than anything else that's available. As some have said and the old saying goes, if it ain't broke don't F with it.
 

Hey, if it works for you, use it until you can't anymore!  That could easily be five or more years- depending on Microsoft.  In my case I HAVE to maintain a legacy copy because I have 15 years and 1600 or so songs on this software!  There's also a chance someone may acquire the rights to the code and re-start it.  I'm not freaking at all, just crossing my t's.  I'll probably get Studio One especially if they throw a righteous bone our way. 

BobF
Hysteria?  Flying about all over the place? Dumb deals?
 
Seriously?

 
Nothing like a bit of hyperbole eh? 
 
I don't see anything wrong with buying an alternative piece of software to run alongside Sonar, if that's what you want to do. How is that 'jumping ship'?

Well, I'm glad the OP is a voice of reason. Initially I had this ugly sinking feeling in my gut and I still cringe at the idea of having to export wav's and miditracks and reassemble them in another DAW. I'm not even talking about learning curves. However, I'll take a year to look at alternatives. In the past years I've tried stuff like Reaper and didn't like it, simply because it wasn't Sonar. I'll take a year to get used to the idea that there are more ways than one to get things done. A year to loosen up my mind.
 
Still wish for someone to continue Sonar.

My main problem is that any significant feature may break at any 3rd party update (Windows or plugins). Sonar is the central component of my workflow but only maybe 5 or 10 percent of the software I own (like Waves, IzoTope, Komplete, Sibelius, Melodyne, Ableton etc). If I can't depend on any rearing issues being resolved I can't continue to use it. For me it's not an option to run an "update-free" machine because the system is just too much in motion with new plugs and software being added etc.
 
This Black Friday I'll be looking hard at good deals on Cubase and StudioOne I guess. I hear great things about StudioOne and I really really REALLY want a DAW with ARA but Cubase seems more mature and a guy I collaborate with uses it. I tried Reaper ages ago but it seemed clunky. FruityLoops might even be an option as I work with a lot of hip hop guys but I don't know how well it works for regular "linear pop" with multi track comping etc.
 
Gah. I so did not need this. Of course those who lost their jobs at CW have it much worse, commisserations to them. Compared to that, the mess in my professional situation is easily solved by spending a few hundred euros and some hours in moving over to the new package. I just hate it when working things break.

I agree. I'm simply continuing to work. I'll switch to another program when, and if, it becomes necessary.
I wish cakewalk could own itself again. Big corporations make terrible decisions because they care only about shareholders, not consumers or employees.
"Going public"ruins every great company.

As a former VP of Sales at Cakewalk for 12 years, and now VP of Sales at Acoustica for the last five years, we would greatly appreciate your kind consideration to take a serious look at Mixcraft 8 Pro Studio. It is maturing with each new version and will surprise many of you. At $179 (on sale this weekend for $99), it includes side-chaining, VST3 and MP4 support, 64-bit and 32-bit, automation and sub-mixing, live recording to performance panel grids and professional video editing. Beautiful pristine sounding VI's emulating Steinway, Moog and many other vintage analog synths, acoustic instruments and orchestral strings. Includes integrated Melodyne Essentials directly into the sound edit tab, and one-click simultaneous publishing to soundcloud, mixcloud, youtube, FB, tumblr and your other music and video sites. Check it out at  the Acoustica website.
 
Please allow me to point out the intangibles. We are a small software-only company focusing on the PC (like the early days of Cakewalk). We have a CTO who came from Sonic Foundry and was part of the senior development team that created Acid and Vegas, which is why you will see that the Loop Library asset management (over 7800 loops and samples with integration of freesound.org into the sound edit tab with instant access to thousands of more free loops) and video editing are far superior than any other DAW on the market today. Mixcraft 8 is for real!

Well, couple of years ago I was recording and mixing an album (on Sonar X1) and suddenly some of my Waves plugins GUI's went black after one [Waves] update and I had to update to X3 'cos X1 wasn't supported by Waves anymore.

Similar issue will happen anytime soon, there's no doubt when the Waves - or some other plugin company - (or Microsoft) update their plugin catalogue and then the SHTF. And if you're in the middle of recording/mixing on Sonar, that's not a good thing if you're trying to wrap up your projects.

Sorry but Cakewalk and sonar are dead. Yes the software will continue to work, and if you're using it in your basement or as a hobbyist or Semi-Pro, then that's fine. for me as a Pro Studio, I can't have the baggage of working with a dead platform hanging over me for marketing or reputation purposes . It was hard enough explaining sonar to some potential clients already ! Don't get me wrong, I love sonar and have used it for a last 11 years. But I've also learned to be DAW agnostic, any of them can get you great results, it's just a matter of finding what works with your workflow and has the features you like.

I downloaded the trial of Studio One, and have been watching a bunch of videos on it. So far I like it a lot. It has a lot of features that I've wished sonar had for years, and Implement some things much better. Of course it also is missing some things, but they appear to be mostly cosmetic at this point. The most important things to me which included melodyne ARA integration, working with my Mackie control surfaces, comping, and working with my plugins have all been perfect so far. Comping appears to be very similar to sonar. Anyway, I'll keep sonar around for quite a while if for no other reason than because I've got tons of songs and projects done in it that I might have to revisit. Most likely though for business and my own sanity purposes of feeling like I'm moving forward, I'll be buying Studio One next week. It is clear that they are going to have a special deal for sonar users probably by Tuesday.

For those of you who want to continue with sonar until it no longer works, that's your decision and is perfectly valid, especially if you don't have to worry about the positioning of your studio to clients. For me, I want to move ahead and I have to think about such things. Miss sonar? Yes. But it's a piece of software ..... not like my dog died.