Lifetime Updates - Is it real.....hmmmmmm?????

Hi. I hope this thread gives you some piece of mind
http://forum.cakewalk.com/FindPost/3434770
All the best.

Zargg71
Hi. I hope this thread gives you some piece of mind
http://forum.cakewalk.com/FindPost/3434770
All the best.

 
Not really that helpful. I guess, sorta, he is stating the program will be there for 2 years. It does not really answer if this is really a "lifetime". I am really curious if there is some safeguard that there will not be a new name in 3 years....4 years....7 years. Simply coming out with an update one day that Sonar is no longer platinum, well, then the "lifetime" no longer applies.
Listen, I love cakewalk. I have been here since, i dunno...cakewalk 6??? Nowadays I use another DAW as well. I am fine with the version I have now and the coming updates in the year to work out any remaining bugs. But this lifetime thing is awesome. I do not really want to fork out 200 bucks but if this is for life....how can I not fork out 200 bucks???? If there is a chance we will jump to a new name as done in the past then I am sure the updates would not apply to this new program/name. In this case, maybe I would have been happy to stay with what I have. If someone from cakewalk chimes in and says "dude, this is for life no matter what" then this is the greatest thing to ever happen in the DAW world. Cakewalk is going to lock in several for life, they will convert several on mac for life and finally, FINALLY, get mentioned in articles, vids etc where they currently list every DAW but Sonar (which annoys the piss out of me).
Anyway, that was way more than I intended to respond. My apologies. I would just like some sort of minimum guarantee on the amount of time. I know "lifetime" is a guarantee but Cakewalk has been very good at carefully using the name platinum each time they mention it. If Sonar is officially "platinum" until the end of time....well, this is simply incredible.

I'm looking forward to September 1st, let me tell you.

Boogit
If someone from cakewalk chimes in and says "dude, this is for life no matter what" then this is the greatest thing to ever happen in the DAW world. 

dude, this is for life no matter what :)
Seriously relax, this is not something we are doing to trick users. Please read the points I made in the letter I posted. 
We have carefully considered this. We're offering lifetime updates only for platinum since its too complex right now for us to manage too many different SKU's. While our Lifetime offer is time limited now we will continue to honor updates for users who sign up for lifetime membership. Can we guarantee that there will always be a SONAR product? Not any more than we can guarantee that any one of us will be alive next month - nothing is certain in life :) However Cakewalk has been developing the SONAR brand since 2000 and the product is the best its ever been right now in 2016. As long as users keep supporting Cakewalk as a company I don't see this changing.
Its not really up to me to suggest you buy it, but if you have use our products and believe in them, this is a no brainer deal.
 

Noel Borthwick [Cakewalk]

Boogit
If someone from cakewalk chimes in and says "dude, this is for life no matter what" then this is the greatest thing to ever happen in the DAW world. 

dude, this is for life no matter what :)
 

 
Haha. Noel beating around the bush again! You just can't get a straight answer from Cakewalk.

Noel Borthwick [Cakewalk]
Can we guarantee that there will always be a SONAR product? Not any more than we can guarantee that any one of us will be alive next month - nothing is certain in life :)

I beg to differ. Cockroaches can survive just about anything. 

Thanks Noel (and everyone).
I'm sold. 
Sirius radio, now Sonar.....if I can just get Verizon Fios to do the same thing.    Hmmmmmmmmm???

Noel Borthwick [Cakewalk]
We have carefully considered this. We're offering lifetime updates only for platinum since its too complex right now for us to manage too many different SKU's.

Noel, thanks for this explanation. I didn't find anything along these lines anywhere yet, not even the open letter (or did I miss it?)
 
But this is a rational explanation why this was done.

Noel Borthwick [Cakewalk]

jeff oliver
This is the first time I've decided to opt out. For me it just came down to I didn't want to spend any more money than I already have. Love Sonar! But this year I was underwhelmed by the updates compared to last year. The big issue was the new EQ and Limiter not working on my system.
 

 
Is the EQ still not working for you? The graphics rendering issues were fixed AFIK.
Regarding the updates themselves I think there have been plenty of really valuable features added this year but of course it depends on whether you use them. Themes are huge for some people and so was the melodyne tempo detection as well as the brand new plugins. We have some very deep features we are working on that will come online only later this year and we are only halfway through the year. Plus the focus this year has been on prioritizing stability and fixes. Some value those more than "features".

Thanks for the reply Noel. The graphics are still the same on my system. I'll double check to make sure but I did the last full update. Love the new theme BTW. I too, value fixes over features. I'm sure my experience isn't typical, last year it just seemed every month was going higher and higher to the point I said "this CAN'T keep going on like this." Meaning the features were so good that it had to run its course after awhile.
 
I still paid upfront for another year and then...this. $99 for lifetime updates. It was clear to me that what I had suspected had indeed come true. I'm sure there are some great things planned but trying to satisfy a monthly commitment for new bells and whistles has to be frustrating.
 
I would still have did the upgrade but putting a time limit for a lifetime user hit me the wrong way. Give me until my year run out at least. I really don't have the money due to illness. I've been here since the start. Please consider lifting the deadline. If that's impossible I will continue my membership on a yearly basis as always. Thanks for producing such a high-end DAW! I'm always proud to say I use Sonar Platinum.

jeff oliver
Thanks for the reply Noel. The graphics are still the same on my system. I'll double check to make sure but I did the last full update. Love the new theme BTW. I too, value fixes over features. I'm sure my experience isn't typical, last year it just seemed every month was going higher and higher to the point I said "this CAN'T keep going on like this." Meaning the features were so good that it had to run its course after awhile.
 
I still paid upfront for another year and then...this. $99 for lifetime updates. It was clear to me that what I had suspected had indeed come true. I'm sure there are some great things planned but trying to satisfy a monthly commitment for new bells and whistles has to be frustrating.
 
I would still have did the upgrade but putting a time limit for a lifetime user hit me the wrong way. Give me until my year run out at least. I really don't have the money due to illness. I've been here since the start. Please consider lifting the deadline. If that's impossible I will continue my membership on a yearly basis as always. Thanks for producing such a high-end DAW! I'm always proud to say I use Sonar Platinum.

Well we never ever promised new features every month but rolling updates. Unfortunately for us we under promised and over delivered so many took this to be the norm :) Some features take time to gestate and this year we are working on more deep seated changes to the user interface and internals as you have seen the beginning of with UI themes. Its no less than last year just rolled out differently...
The lifetime updates offer is a pretty incredible deal if I may say so myself, but like most special offers there is a time frame and three months seemed a generous duration...
 
Regarding the plugins, if you are still having graphics issues please PM me more details or send a CWBRN that has the data and we can follow up.

There has always been a tug of war between the "more features" and "more fixes" priorities different people have. Given Cakewalk's size it's not possible to do everything at once. Therefore it's not surprising to me that periods of more features are followed by periods of more fixes, and vice-versa. I think it's probably preferable to keep all of the people satisfied 50% of the time, rather than half of the people 100% satisfied and the other half 0% satisfied.

Anderton
There has always been a tug of war between the "more features" and "more fixes" priorities different people have. Given Cakewalk's size it's not possible to do everything at once. Therefore it's not surprising to me that periods of more features are followed by periods of more fixes, and vice-versa. I think it's probably preferable to keep all of the people satisfied 50% of the time, rather than half of the people 100% satisfied and the other half 0% satisfied.

Hey, Craig. "More features" require "more fixes" in some cases but not all. Your "kickmaster" plug in was exactly what I was looking for! Can't thank you enough for that. Not to mention your pedal boards and such, even thought I have Amplitube, and Revalver and Guitar Rig, I have used your plugs from time to time without regret.
 
Once you realize how much of the sound is actually coming from the decision you make before recording the less the plugs matter. So I was hoping for stability first because I have around 250 plugs, mostly from IK multimedia and that's all I need. I don't need 3 or 4 mastering suites. Get one, stick with it until you're certain its not doing the job.
 
Off topic Craig, but I have wondered why hasn't CW come up with it's own computer that's certified? Like the Mac, when people try and compare the two its really unfair. Mac is the computer first, then an operating system. When people say Windows their mainly taking about the operating system that will run on thousands of computers.
 
If CW built a high end computer that was the standard for SONAR I bet it would run like a champ! There would be so much less environments to think about. I use to build computers back in the day and noticed I never once built a mac. A mac was the same while pc's could be as vast as space. Thanks