The Bright Side?

rebel007
..... learning something I thought I already knew how to do. All projects can be signed off on, knowing nothing new will come along to make it better.
 
 
You'll only hear from me when I release "that single", the one that's going to rock the world.   

 
 
That first quote is a good one! Do you know how many times I used that one to acquire the funds necessary to make that "last" purchase!!
 
 
And I'm turning on the radio now waiting to hear 'that' song!! 
 
Good luck man! 

bitman
Ahh, the next stage. rationalism.

Exactly!

Grem
My view is that it's over. Get on with it.
 
Then I get the BF upgrade offer and install mess around a bit then....
 
I go to do some work and try to think of how I will proceed. So I have to transfer something to the new program, so I fire Sonar up.  Next thing I know it's several hours later, I am still in Sonar and I am thinking that I have no reason (or intention) of learning a new system.
 
So I guess I am firmly on the fence here!  Thinking:
 
A) I know what I have to do (eventually) so I might as well bite the bullet and get on with it.
 
B) Then the other part of me says why? Work with what ya got!

I hear you. I have been going through similar oscillations (I suppose that should more properly be 'vacillations' but hey, it's a music technology forum!). And I'm frustrated that I'm wasting so much time thinking about it. I don't think we're alone. 
 
I'm not even saying I've decided not to jump on one of the crossgrade offers - I have downloaded and set up the Studio One demo and poked around a bit and am interested enough that I will probably try to explore it a bit more before the window on the very attractive special offer closes. I'm not sure if/when the reduced price on the Cubase CC expires, it's basically double the price but Cubase is a very heavy hitter, no question. I missed the BF sale on Mixcraft and will likely wait while keeping an eye on it, as it looks very promising indeed. I have recently upgraded Reason to 10 as I've always had a soft spot for it despite its limitations, it's a very fun and creative environment and now some of the limitations are gone... and I jumped on Mixbus for $29 and will definitely be trying some mixing to see if I can feel the Analog Feeling that so many claim it nails in a way that nothing else does. And, for pete's sake I have a license for Live Suite 9 sitting on the (virtual) shelf begging to be explored more than I have ever made time for. And I know it's a pretty deep well. 
 
But I have done more work, and work I'm proud of, in Sonar than I ever have in anything else. It's where I am comfortable and can do what I want to do quickly, immediately, while the idea is fresh, rather than going, hmm, I want to do this, how do I do it? Poke away at it trying to figure it out intuitively, RTFM, search forums, watch an instructional video... Wait, what was I trying to do again? Oh look, it's time to go make dinner / pick up kid from school / go to my real job (playing piano in a crazy circus cabaret dinner show, could be worse I guess!)... 
 
So that's why the idea of just saying, hey man, chill out, make some music and let the chips fall where they may, is increasingly attractive. Cubase may be a powerful beast but so is Sonar and I already know how to use it. Studio One might be slick and stable but for the most part, so is Sonar and I already know how to use it. Mixbus may sound great but so does Sonar and I already know how to use it. And so on. 
 
Make sense?

Grem
Studio One might be slick and stable but for the most part, so is Sonar and I already know how to use it. 

Yeah, I hear you ... that will work for now but eventually Sonar will stop working, or at at least become increasingly unstable as the years go by and Windows updates roll in. And then you'll finally switch to another DAW anyway.
 
So you'd probably be better off switching to a different DAW now for any new work you start. Otherwise you'll have the problem down the road of having these projects in Sonar format that nothing else is going to be able to read. Whereas if you make the switch now and create any new work in another DAW you won't have that problem.
 
Anyway, last night I downloaded Studio One to give it a whirl. The first half hour or so I kept wishing I was back in Sonar, but stuck with it and ended up being surprised at how similar to Sonar it is. In fact, I had the eerie feeling a few times that it was just a different "skin" over Sonar!

bitmanAhh, the next stage. rationalism.

 
So, is rationalism Denial or Bargaining? Because we need to know which stage of grief we are at. 

 

Even older school...I think of Sir George Martin making how much history with a tiny fraction the recording, mixing and mastering power of what's available in SONAR as is?

I guess if you're trying to keep up with the Joneses then Sonar updates really do matter, but it occurred to me that if you're trying to BE the Joneses then maybe what we have may be all we need.