Looking for Sonar 8.5 producer boxed.

Sorry to tell you but one strict rule with Sonar is you cannot transfer the licence to anyone once the serial number has been activated. It's a one time deal. 
And most people have used that original licence to upgrade so it's would be complicated at best. 
There is not much chance of finding an un registered version at this point. 
Especially here, everyone here is most likely a registered user with a Cakewalk account that tracks all their serial numbers. 
There are many, many pirated versions and your a good person for avoiding the temptation. 
But bottom line is 8.5 is now a collectors item and to tell the truth I thought I'd miss it, but I don't at all, I still run it on my old XP laptop and it's instantly harder to use compared to X3 and onward. 
You might find it on e bay but you'll be taking a chance that it cannot be registered, As a matter of fact you might find Cake walk no longer even will allow registering older versions. 
So in the end it being a legit copy is a mote point. 
 
 
 
 
 

Hopefully a demo of the latest SONAR version will become available soon,

Cactus Music
Sorry to tell you but one strict rule with Sonar is you cannot transfer the licence to anyone once the serial number has been activated. It's a one time deal. 
And most people have used that original licence to upgrade so it's would be complicated at best. 
There is not much chance of finding an un registered version at this point. 
Especially here, everyone here is most likely a registered user with a Cakewalk account that tracks all their serial numbers. 
There are many, many pirated versions and your a good person for avoiding the temptation. 
But bottom line is 8.5 is now a collectors item and to tell the truth I thought I'd miss it, but I don't at all, I still run it on my old XP laptop and it's instantly harder to use compared to X3 and onward. 
You might find it on e bay but you'll be taking a chance that it cannot be registered, As a matter of fact you might find Cake walk no longer even will allow registering older versions. 
So in the end it being a legit copy is a mote point. 
 
 
 
 
 

Thanks for letting me know, I did not know that.

jungfriend
I've got one and it isn't even too dusty. Otherwise I am on X3 and won't ever go back to an earlier version so I can part with it no problem. It is registered to me though so I don't think you would be able to register it because Cakewalk does not allow license transfers. Nothing I can do about that, but if you still want it we can make a deal. 

Based on what I know now that would be illegal for me to do so. Thanks for your offer, I'm not interested.
 
 

Like you I was looking for copy of 8.5 since I bought a VS-700 system virtually just before Roland officially "replaced" it with the new Capture series ... unfortunately it didn't come with the boxed Sonar 8.5 anymore so I was disappointed when I reliazed that the X1 series doesn't work well with it ...
 
Hence, I got in touch with Cakewalk directly, bugged them repeatedly for purchasing one of the left over copies, even sorted out payment details ... but never received it (and thankfully never got charged) ...
 
Edit: that was more than 2 years ago ...
 
You are out out of luck getting an official legacy version, but there's actually no need for it - X3 has been great, Platinum builds on top of that ... so looking back I'm glad I never received that boxed version ...
 
 

jungfriend
I've got one and it isn't even too dusty. Otherwise I am on X3 and won't ever go back to an earlier version so I can part with it no problem. It is registered to me though so I don't think you would be able to register it because Cakewalk does not allow license transfers. Nothing I can do about that, but if you still want it we can make a deal. 

You can't legally sell 8.5 even if Cakewalk permitted transferring of licences. You currently may own many versions of Sonar but only one licence which has allowed you to upgrade from one version to another. If cakewalk did permit transfers you'd have to sell 8.5 and any version before or after it that you've used for the purpose of an uPgrade. That's how it works.

I have the same curiosity as Craig... why 8.5? It is not overly important, but got many of us wondering, I think. Due to OS limitations and some other things I would expect X3 to be sought if one wanted an "older version."

dubdisciple
was there really "universal disappointment" with X1? It's so funny what a difference perspective makes.  I liked 8.5 ok but truth be told i found it a much worse experience than X1.  

I would characterize it as "significant" or "considerable" rather than universal. Some people saw where it was going, and were willing to put up with it being released prematurely (which I definitely feel it was) because they figured it would improve. I think by the time X1d came out, there was little reason to stick with 8.5. However, the initial launch had tainted X1 sufficiently that people were wary until X2 came out, but that's when there were issues within the company itself. X3 realized the promise of the X-series, and now SONAR 2015 is fulfilling its potential.
 
Maybe 8.5 will acquire the status of pre-CBS Fenders or something..."Check out that vintage toolbar!"

I'm kind of in the same boat as the OP.   I liked sonar 5, never bothered to upgrade to 7 or 8, and when I upgraded to X3 really, sincerely did not like it and could not use it.   So many many extra mouse clicks in finer and finer tiny areas I can't see.    I'm using cubase now, not perfect by far, but my old sonar 5 doesn't work well on windows 7 64 bit, and I need that.   So: legit copy, I'm another customer.  Contact me. 
 
[Edit] In case anyone adds yet another mean post: I read manuals.  I re-read them.  I use the index. I use the table of contents.  I search.    See Finale 2014 for a beautiful user's manual. 

garybrun
I do have an 8.5 which I have never registered or used.
I bought the full vs700 set a while ago but never installed the software as I was already on the X versions.
I have to find the disc.

You should hold for ONE MILLION DOLLARS