will Sonar 6 CWB files open in the latest sonar? (upgrade question)

i have 14 projects in the works, all at once,
and i'm considering doing my DAW upgrade now.
 
problem is, i don't want to upgrade now unless i can seamlessly (minus plug-ins, of course) blend the old projects over into the new DAW.
 
 

that's a good sign for my situation, thanks!
 

Don't uninstall Sonar 6. You can still revert back to it for projects that don't behave in the new version. I have a lot of old projects that were initially created in Sonar 6 and developed further in Sonar 7. Although they all open in Sonar X3 without any issues and seem to playback ok at first, they usually crash after a few minutes.

Cakewalk has always gone out of their way to preserve backward compatibility. I have never had a problem going from one version to the next, so I wouldn't be worried.
 
And of course your guarantee, your insurance, is to install 6PE on the new DAW. You'll always be able to fall back to it in a pinch, plus you'll retain any SONAR-bundled plugins that have been dropped since version 6 (e.g. Pantheon, Vintage Channel).
 
More likely, your biggest headaches will result from the hardware change.
 
If you followed any nonstandard conventions when installing third-party software on your old DAW, be sure to stick to them when re-installing on the new machine. That's not always as easy as it sounds. Kontakt in particular will be a PIA if, for example, you add an SSD for virtual instruments and it has a different drive letter than where the libraries lived on the old DAW. 
 
New hardware also means many of your third-party licenses will be invalidated. In some cases that can require de-activating your existing license and then re-authorizing. That can be time-consuming if you have a lot of third-party software, and it might be months before you find them all.
 
 
 
 
 

The thing your going to hate the most is dealing with W10. I hate it because very time I try and get any work done it is yet again updating,,, ya, updating 100 apps I'll never use.... And once it's done you often have to re set your preferences and re authorize things like AD2.  
My wife hates it as well. She want's me to re install W7.   I use windows 7 at work where the IT guy's say they have no plans to upgrade, why would we they say.. W10 is not a good system for huge networks. 
If you can get your hands on a copy of W7 I bet you'll be much happier.... 
I think it will be supported until 2020. 
 

Pre Pro Chanel, Sonar used to have its own EQ which was at some time upgraded to the Sonitus Eq for versions of Sonar that didn't have Pro Channel.
This meant that for backward compatibility, the Sonitus Eq was used instead of the default and lesser capable standard Sonar Eq.
 

I had an issue when opening Sonar X1 sessions on Sonar Platinum... The output of individual tracks were playing out at a lower volume than they should be. There were no Offset mode volumes. Once I turned the input Gain knobs off 0dB and back again, it reset the tracks to their correct volume and stayed that way after re saving the new project. Must be a bug.

I'll tell you the issues I've had, bats...and you can just keep these in your back pocket.
 
For starters, definitely put Sonar 6 on the new machine. It's such a small fingerprint, it's worth it to have just in case, like the others have mentioned to you. Plus, you will have all those old faithful plugs that you will NOT have on the newer Sonar.
 
Next, go into plugin manager in Sonar 6 and export all your custom plugin saves you may have. You will be able to easily import them all back in and have them if you need them. I have several "good starting point" plug saves that I use religiously. I'd really miss them if they weren't there. You can do this if you use DX plugs as well. You'll see an export option in plug manager and an option that allows you to see what saves are literally in that plug menu. It's pretty cool.
 
If you are an embedded, per channel Sonitus user, you're pretty screwed. The pro channel change and backwards compatibility are a bit tricky and I hated that whole thing. Though there was probably no other way the baker's could have done this, it's always something that has bothered me. Clicking on the grid sometimes alters your settings in the Sonitus....you know how you double click to see the plug on the channel? That's what I'm talking about.
 
When you double click, it can alter the eq settings and you can't even see what you touched. Once you open the plug, if you didn't memorize the eq setting, you don't know what moved when you double clicked it. But you'll see the grid change so you know something changed. So any Sonitus eq stuff (the embedded Sonitus) will be a challenge. If you used Sonitus in the bins, you're fine.
 
Waves: I've had quite a few issues due to updating Waves and them changing either CLSID numbers, (each plugin has a unique number like a license plate) or when I used the Sonar option "hide related VST 2 plugins" due to the implementation of VST 3. So you may be redoing a few things until you figure everything out. Other times, I've had no issues at all.
 
Lastly, take notice to how your pan laws are set in Sonar 6. This has made quite a bit of difference for me with older projects. Currently, I have Sonar 8.5, X1, X2, X3 and Plat installed on my system. This way I can open old projects that were created in those versions if I really need to. But if you use the pan laws you had for Sonar 6, you'll have less of a chance things will be different. Then again, I believe Sonar has some new thing in it that knows what pan laws were used in an older project and may compensate or something. I know I read that somewhere, but do not know the full story there.
 
The main issue you will have is anything you do in this new version, will not work as well in the old version should you need to go back. If I can think of anything else, I'll let you know. Good luck with everything!
 
-Danny

batsbrew
all good insights...
 
and danny, your suggestions are spot on for the way i run stuff...
i'll have to do a lot of note taking before i open up in newer version,
and just simply use new plugs for the ones that bugger up.
 
and pan laws, good point.
 

Yeah if you have any issues or whatever, let me know. I have a feeling you an I run the software very similar...like a big tape machine without all the bells and whistles, right? LOL! I was perfectly happy with Sonar 8.5. If they didn't come out with so many more innovative things that I found both useful and less time consuming, I'd still be on 8.5. So I can relate with you staying on 6 for so long. When something works with this stuff...man, you stick with it as long as you can.
 
I didn't do Windows 10 (which I may regret down the road) for free when I had the chance, but I'm done for if I have to sit around playing with drivers and software that won't work any longer. It's bad enough they get you for a new pc and a new operating system, then you need new software too and the learning curve and time spent is really insane. It makes you want to just buy a freaking reel to reel and get back to work! When you are used to getting your work done (whether it be you as an artist or in business) one of the most depressing things is to sit and tweak a computer to where the one you had before fired right up and worked the way it should.
 
I look at computers and software like a bios update...you don't do it unless you absolutely have to. A well-oiled machine is just that....a well-oiled machine. HOWEVER......
 
The new Sonar Platinum is an extraordinary piece of software. Once you learn where everything is and get used to it, you'll find your work flow will not only improve, but will get faster. Some things, you won't be down with because you will definitely need to change the way you think as well as the way you work. But once you get used to the things you HAVE to do, I think you'll be in much better shape. The good thing about you is...you don't need software or plugins to make you sound great. You got that part down. ;) It's learning all this stuff and sort of starting from scratch that will beat up on you at first. At least you have a few hundred brothers on here to help you out should you get stuck....so you're still in good shape. :)
 
-Danny