Bear in mind that support is about technical support. Part of the reason for the backlog is people using support for feature requests and asking "how to" question about using the program. Feature requests should not go to support because that's not what they do, and the forum is actually the correct place to ask "how to" questions about getting the most out of SONAR.
 
Support does get questions from people who want to know things like how to get a good mix or how to mic a guitar amp, but those kind of questions are well beyond the scope of support's intended purpose.

Anderton
Support does get questions from people who want to know things like how to get a good mix or how to mic a guitar amp, but those kind of questions are well beyond the scope of support's intended purpose.

No wonder there is no support! I'd make a run for it too.

kennywtelejazz
Understandable point brought up by the OP ... Yet , isn't that only just a temporary customer support situation ?
...
Cakewalk is currently in the process of hiring people and training them ....

Exactly.
 
I understand being a noob, and wanting the "safety net" of tech support available... but the vast majority of issues a beginner would encounter can easily be handled by the forum (and in a much timelier fashion).
 
In fact, the best thing you can do for yourself is watch the Sonar - Getting Started Video series and also the many videos on Sonar available on YouTube.  If you don't mind paying for the education, there's an excellent Sonar video series at Groove3.com.  These can be purchased individually (downloads) or via subscription (streaming).

Cakewalk has stated that the tech-support issue is a temporary thing.
I have never used support in 8 years. I consider this forum as tech-support
 
Platinum is worth the upgrade cost even without the lifetime updates.
With lifetime updates, it becomes a no-brainer.
If the money is no problem, by all means do it.

Anderton
 
Support does get questions from people who want to know things like how to get a good mix or how to mic a guitar amp, but those kind of questions are well beyond the scope of support's intended purpose.

I've never had to contact support.  But I hope they have a "form" response to these kinds of requests.  
 
Also, from what I read about frustrated users here that contact support for non-show stopping bugs, it makes me wonder what a miserable job that must be.

Support for a product as complex as Sonar which also has many system and I/O dependencies is a daunting task. You cannot get just anyone off the street to read from a script and expect them to be useful. Even with experienced support people, it is going to take some time to get them up to speed.

microapp
Support for a product as complex as Sonar which also has many system and I/O dependencies is a daunting task. You cannot get just anyone off the street to read from a script and expect them to be useful. Even with experienced support people, it is going to take some time to get them up to speed.

I think an interim solution until support can get up to speed is to put in a Hot Line (with a red phone) that connects Tech Support directly to Scook. He can answer any technical question on Sonar! 
 
Walt

If free technical support for individual users were the make or break issue in deciding to purchase software, no one would be running Microsoft Windows. Without putting down a substantial payment, you will not get anything from them live except some help with installation/activation and update issues. The last time I found a major bug issue in Windows, I was told I would have to pay for per incident support, but that the payment would be refunded if they confirmed that it was in fact a bug at some later point in time. 
 
What Microsoft has done well, and Cakewalk has done less well, is to create an online database of support solutions (Knowledgebase) that sophisticated customers can access and understand, and more recently downloadable software that fixes common problems automatically. Cakewalk could probably save thousands of technical support hours by investing in user friendly and much more complete online help systems. 
 
Unsophisticated users are not so fortunate in any case. Someone incapable of or unwilling to understand the documentation is going to need a lot more hand holding than any company is going to be able to afford to provide at the kind of prices we are willing to pay. Engineering the kind of FixIt apps that Microsoft provides is probably more than Cakewalk resources will permit, but it would be a very useful feature.
 
In any event, it should be possible to prioritize technical support so that a new user who is having trouble installing or registering his software gets his answer first, and someone who is having trouble installing a Ukrainian trojan horse plugin, or who wants to know what the funny button next to the dojigger on the screen with all the buttons on it does has a longer wait. 
 
btw Microsoft stopped giving users even a basic manual ages ago. The Sonar Reference Manual, albeit no longer apparently being updated, is one of the best software manuals I have ever seen. 

I've been using Sonar since 2004 (actually before that with Cakewalk Pro Audio 9) and have got all my support from these forums.....never really needed actual tech support that the forum folks couldn't resolve.
I'm also going for the lifetime upgrade (soon) as Cakewalk has proved to me they're here to stay for the long haul.
 
Speaking of lifetime upgrades, the reason the Bakers are taking their time in hiring support is because the applicants  all need to be young enough to outlive us (and need their parents consent to work).    

I have  only used support once and that was only when an upgrade was incorrectly shipped from the US to the UK and I had to pay the import duty on the marked price of the full software. I didn't get the money back but I was given the next upgrade free so I was happy.