long, long time user, stuck at 8.5.3

I've never been into the Matrix, ableton Live is the king of that kind of workflow, and does it the right away in a stable fashion. If I wanted that kind of workflow, I would switch to ableton Live. I've never been into audiosnap. The feature was very poorly implementated, and logic and even Studio one is far more advanced in that department. If my life depended on those functions, I would use those applications. I've never been into the step sequencer, another stitched ''functionality'' that just doesn't flow as well as it does with a program like Fruity Loop in wich everything revolves around that kind of workflow. I've been a sonar user for years, and what I liked about it has slowly but surely been stripped away. And with the release of X1, what has been going on for years is pretty obvious, at least to me. X1 is just a vehicle for all of roland technology, all of the v-vocal stuff is based on their Variphrase technology, the Prochannel stuff is probably based around their COSM modeling technology, all of that and more, foreced-fed into a poor lil application that needs more basic fixing than gadget transplanting. we were close with 8.5.3, and all I baddly want from x1 is the media browser, wich although present in 8.5.3 is pretty useless and pretty bugged up. I just can't be forced-fed X1, I don't want to be trapped in an occult interest war beetween a decaying industry giant such as roland and a bullied industry second... I'm sure this will resonate with a lot of users, so please cake, fix whatever's left to fix in 8.5.3, maybe throw us a usable media browser as a nice gesture, and we'll be pretty happy -

I agree, I get a lot done with 8.5.3, but it's natural to feel a bit shortchanged when you're like me, almost begging to pay to have that application more stable and FINAL, with all implemented feature working & stable, and being told ''change your work habits, feast your eyes on new colors and gadgets, and don't take for granted that decade old bugs and performance issues will be fixed anytime soon''

Can't think of anything I've lost

I can't help thinking that an upgrade should be about what you'd actually gain.

I'm just old-fashioned that way I guess.

"I can't help thinking that an upgrade should be about what you'd actually gain."

You get a extra version of Windows Explorer colored up in black with blue lettering.

Back in the early 90's that would have driven the Mac guys crazy with envy.

bitflipper


I'm actually still pretty happy.

Happily making records with 8.5.3, that is. Sure, it's got bugs that will never be fixed, but at least I know about them and I know how to work around them.

X1 doesn't do it for me, either, but I'm not overly concerned about that. It's not as if 8.5 isn't a viable alternative while we wait to see what happens next with SONAR. And even if the next version is equally unattractive, Reaper and Studio One won't have been sitting still in the meantime. They're both growing up fast.

Meanwhile, now free of DAW-related distractions, I'm making more music nowadays than ever before. So I'm happy still.

Also still on 8.5.3 and I feel the same way. X1 was a disappointment, but its not holding me back. I have been using NI Maschine along with 8.5.3 and keeping things simple, and its made music fun again. I was originally pretty dismayed by the apparent change in direction at Cakewalk, but with all the alternatives out there - its really up to Cake to pay attention to the substance of their program next go around and get a lot of things right if they want to stay competitive. Like the OP says - most of us will simply use the right tool instead of a half baked feature (such as using Ableton instead of the half finished matrix view in Sonar). If Cake continues with unfinished features and lacks focus to finish things out and fix old bugs I imagine many of us will not be back to the upgrade path.

And well, if it doesn't work out - Reaper with SWS extensions and Reamenus installed is very clean, and the feature set is very rich these days. There is little it cannot do that Sonar can, so if future versions of Cakewalk don't pan out I think I will still be all set.

D

cornieleous

bitflipper


I'm actually still pretty happy.

Happily making records with 8.5.3, that is. Sure, it's got bugs that will never be fixed, but at least I know about them and I know how to work around them.

X1 doesn't do it for me, either, but I'm not overly concerned about that. It's not as if 8.5 isn't a viable alternative while we wait to see what happens next with SONAR. And even if the next version is equally unattractive, Reaper and Studio One won't have been sitting still in the meantime. They're both growing up fast.

Meanwhile, now free of DAW-related distractions, I'm making more music nowadays than ever before. So I'm happy still.

Also still on 8.5.3 and I feel the same way. X1 was a disappointment, but its not holding me back. I have been using NI Maschine along with 8.5.3 and keeping things simple, and its made music fun again. I was originally pretty dismayed by the apparent change in direction at Cakewalk, but with all the alternatives out there - its really up to Cake to pay attention to the substance of their program next go around and get a lot of things right if they want to stay competitive. Like the OP says - most of us will simply use the right tool instead of a half baked feature (such as using Ableton instead of the half finished matrix view in Sonar). If Cake continues with unfinished features and lacks focus to finish things out and fix old bugs I imagine many of us will not be back to the upgrade path.

And well, if it doesn't work out - Reaper with SWS extensions and Reamenus installed is very clean, and the feature set is very rich these days. There is little it cannot do that Sonar can, so if future versions of Cakewalk don't pan out I think I will still be all set.

D

I honestly believe the powers that be at Cakewalk don't give too much of a hoot of what goes on here on the forum - except to put out the wild fires that break out now and then.   I may be wrong, but I don't think so.

I think the powers that be (this does not include Brandon or Seth, or Willy, as they make a good effort) care about the newer users they can grab who don't bring any baggage to the table of wanting this or that feature and seem to settle for WAY less than some of us do.

I also think it's about finances.  How does a company the size of Cakewalk keep revenues flowing.   There are probably multiple ways, but they have made some choices and now have to live (or fade) with it.

Time will tell where all this goes.  8.5.3 was good.  X1(E) for me is at least as stable now.  But the bugs just keep on comin', and the business approach CW is dishing out these days is very disturbing.   The PR rhetoric is even more so.

While doing some development, I have had the need to run all the many Sonar versions. I am currently at x1e but bounce back and forth between x1 and 8.5 to check my work.

While I am sympathetic to the onward and upward spirit that the market dictates I like how 8.5 has everything in front of me. I even loaded up Sonar 4's demo last night to do some testing. They really had it goin on even back then. Or so we thought 

I thought I was getting Déjà vu.  http://forum.cakewalk.com/tm.aspx?m=2420336

If it is about money - Cakewalk could use this forum to poll information. For instance, how many 8.5.3. users (and I suppose 7 and 6 users) would pay $300 for a 8.5.3. update? If enough would do it, maybe they would take it to the next level?

It's doubtful a company the size of Cakewalk has the resources to maintain two versions. One last fix release would buy a lot of goodwill and extend customer loyalty, but it would also open the floodgates for further requests and imply an obligation to keep working on 8.5, and that's probably not feasible.

Cakewalk is not alone in this policy. You won't be seeing any more bug fixes for Kontakt 4, SampleTank 2.5 or Ozone 4, either. Our best hope is that the next version of SONAR addresses current customer objections, and that is almost certainly going to happen. Patience.