Anderton

yevster
And speaking of competition, with Cubase 8 pro selling in GuitarCenter and Musician's Friend for $400 with an included MIDI controller, perhaps the $499 intro price tag is counterproductive.

Well...not quite. They're selling off old stock of Cubase 7.5 for $399, with an upgrade to 8 when it comes out in February. But if someone buys SONAR in February for $499, they not only get the software that's current in February, they get updates and content for the next year culminating in the next "version" of SONAR. A more comparable analogy would be if you could buy Cubase 8 in February, and when you purchased it, get an update to Cubase 9 locked in at the same time for an extra $99, with the Cubase 9 features being downloadable as soon as they're ready.

Nope. Cubase 8 Pro has been out for a month and has already been updated to 8.05.

I will subscribe for $149, just to make that clear at the outset. I will upgrade from X3e to Platinum.
 
My personal wishes for the next version seem not to be included (colour flexibility, varispeed, improved staff view). Also, the new features happen not to particularly interest me, simply because they don't address my own needs and I already own practically everything else offered (Dim Pro, Rapture,  etc., etc.).
 
This being said, I do believe in supporting and going forward in Sonar as I have since the 12 Tone days. I believe in the sincerity of the Bakers and am sure I will appreciate any solidity improvements they have included here. That brings me to this:
 
I would really like to see an exhaustive list of bug fixes and other smaller improvements. Making an informed decision to spend (for me) quite a bit of money would feel better if I knew that the stability of the platform in general had been improved.
 
So, please give with the details (hoping there are some) and best of luck for a smooth and painless transition to the new model to all of the staff at Cakewalk!
 
Thank you!
lj

kellerpj
 Will users that purchase the use of Sonar Platinum this year, have to pay the full upfront price ($499) for the following year or will there also be a renewal price for existing Sonar Platinum users that's in line with the $149 we're used to paying?
 

They can pay for a renewal, see pricing info here http://www.cakewalk.com/P...SONAR/Versions#pricing

alewgro
So, when will the product be available for download?   

Do you have reason to believe the new version is not available for download now?  They are certainly offering to sell it now.  It would be pretty sleazy to take your money and then say, "Oh by the way, it will be another 30 days."  It looks to me like you can download immediately.

cparmerlee

alewgro
So, when will the product be available for download?   

Do you have reason to believe the new version is not available for download now?  They are certainly offering to sell it now.  It would be pretty sleazy to take your money and then say, "Oh by the way, it will be another 30 days."  It looks to me like you can download immediately.

Money quote from the Sweetwater download page:
 

SONAR Professional, part of the newest SONAR lineup, will be released on January 21st, but you can go ahead and order your upgrade from Sweetwater today with the benefit of a myriad of payment options, and we'll deliver your download code to you on release day, complete with Sweetwater's stellar after-the-sale support.

 
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/SonarPltUp

yevster
Ooh, and looks like JRRShop has a bit of a discount

That is a big discount.  Is there any downside to buying from JRRShop instead of directly from the company?  IN other words, will the product end up registered with Cakewalk the same way in either case and qualify for the same pricing in the future?

ChazEd
As a user of Steam version of Sonar, how it will be handled?
 
While at it, will Cakewalk increase the number of products avaliable on Steam?

 We are still finalizing the details with Steam but should be the same. We'll have more info later this month. We would like to add more products to Steam. They are an important partner for us.

Sonar Platinum looks great with all the new features. I just upgraded to Sonar X3 at the end of last month.
 
My question is this. Because of viruses and such I don't have my main music PC attached to the Internet or Wireless at all and there is no access in my studio room. I normally download updates and patched onto an external drive and install from there. With the new Membership process, will my PC now have to be connected to the Internet permanently to keep Sonar from reverting to Demo mode? 
 
Thanks
 
Rick M

RMcCoy
Sonar Platinum looks great with all the new features. I just upgraded to Sonar X3 at the end of last month.
 
My question is this. Because of viruses and such I don't have my main music PC attached to the Internet or Wireless at all and there is no access in my studio room. I normally download updates and patched onto an external drive and install from there. With the new Membership process, will my PC now have to be connected to the Internet permanently to keep Sonar from reverting to Demo mode? 
 
Thanks
 
Rick M

Nope, there's offline activation. In fact, I think you can see the tab for it the www.cakewalk.com/my-account page. 

Here is my new question and maybe it has been asked already now that there is 23 pages  of comments, etc...
Is Gibson/Tascam/Sonar working on a new controller system that will integrate with what's about to be offered??????
 I am still using the V 700 C & I/O anybody - somebody - guys and gals what are you using  and or what is coming new??????????
 
Just asking to get an ideal - I seemingly always hang on to my stuff to long and end up not getting any value of it???

listen
Here is my new question and maybe it has been asked already now that there is 23 pages  of comments, etc...
Is Gibson/Tascam/Sonar working on a new controller system that will integrate with what's about to be offered??????
 I am still using the V 700 C & I/O anybody - somebody - guys and gals what are you using  and or what is coming new??????????
 
Just asking to get an ideal - I seemingly always hang on to my stuff to long and end up not getting any value of it???

It's been discussed once or twice.

Anderton

cparmerlee

aidanodr
I upgrade my Sonar X3 Producer to Platinum via the $149 one off payment. I get 1 year membership for the following 12 months. My choices then are:
 
1. Stop subscribing,own the Platinum outright with updates ONLY up to that point
2. Continue subscription via another yearly sub of $149 or greater ( after intro offer ) in perpetuity 
3. Continue subscription via monthly sub of $14.99.

 
And the big problem I see with #2 is that there is no assurance of any release upgrades at that time.

 
I'll say it again, Cakewalk will be sharing announcements on upcoming developments more readily than in the past. They've already said Drum Replacement is on-deck.
 

he only feature in the present announcement that I see a compelling case for (in my circumstances) is the ability to snapshot different mixes.  That is powerful, and if I had an expectation of ongoing improvements of that magnitude, I wouldn't have a big objection to the annual fee program.

 
I'd pay $100 just for Mix Recall, it would be that useful to me. So I figure $25 for VocalSync and $25 for the new Control Bar is all I need to justify the cost, but there's all the other stuff too... 
 

Would like to chime in. VocalSync is a very powerful tool and there is already a similar plugin out there that is pretty much a staple in every major studio which sells for $500. So $25 is not at all even close to the value. VocalSync actually came about from discussions with professional producers who wanted an integrated vocal alignment tool in the program. While it's easy to say "just sing it right the first time," the fact is that there's always a need to align and tighten vocal parts and it's a time consuming process. This plugin is a huge time saver and a key to getting commercially sounding vocal parts. With ADR work, obviously the need is even more obvious. You need to replace dialog that was recorded poorly or with lots of ambient noise. This tool makes it easy replace that vocal. It really is a valuable production tool.

kellerpj
I understand the current upfront "intro price" for X3 Producer users to upgrade to Sonar Platinum is about the same as what we've been paying (which is $149).  That's really good.
 
I'm wondering though. Will users that purchase the use of Sonar Platinum this year, have to pay the full upfront price ($499) for the following year or will there also be a renewal price for existing Sonar Platinum users that's in line with the $149 we're used to paying?
 
Thanks,
Paul

Renewal pricing is $199 upfront or $19.99/mo.

Here's the complete pricing information: http://www.cakewalk.com/Products/SONAR/Versions#pricing
 

cparmerlee

yevster
Ooh, and looks like JRRShop has a bit of a discount

That is a big discount.  Is there any downside to buying from JRRShop instead of directly from the company?  IN other words, will the product end up registered with Cakewalk the same way in either case and qualify for the same pricing in the future?

That's quite an incentive, as my UK credit card works for this, and I get to escape UK VAT, which is just as well, being I don't live there.

I think it could be cool for playing with a groove of a bassline, in real time, until it feels just right