Anderton

ampfixer
It just looks like more stuff that nobody has asked for. Not sure what's going on this year.

Being able to conform a tempo map to music played without a click track or recorded is a huge deal, very difficult to implement, and many have asked for it. Cakewalk is one of only two DAWs with the ARA integration needed to pull it off. Also if you look at the forum requests for ways to learn about SONAR, and the many questions that are already answered in Help, it's pretty clear the entire way of doing help needed to be revamped. I think those two things alone make this a pretty strong release.
 
And although no one may have asked for multiband processing track templates, multiband processing is a huge part of what I do, and patch points/aux tracks make it sooo much easier...I suspect once people try it, they'll be hooked.

I have to admit I was hoping for an update for the mastering plugs, but I think this should turn out to be a good update for me.
I use electric pianos all the time, so the lounge lizard update is welcome.
The ultra analog looks cool even if I have some classic synths on hand.
As a user returning to SONAR after some years away, I welcome an improved help interface.
I plan on using Melodyne, so any upgrade is welcome. 
I'm going to wait until it's fully baked, but I think I'll be able to make good use of the new stuff.

Mine shows version 22.03.00 build 70 in the help menu in Sonar and is working as expected. I have not checked what CCC says the version is.
 
 Pasting the tempo from melodyne to the timeline works very well.

Anderton

ampfixer
It just looks like more stuff that nobody has asked for. Not sure what's going on this year.

Being able to conform a tempo map to music played without a click track or recorded is a huge deal, very difficult to implement, and many have asked for it. Cakewalk is one of only two DAWs with the ARA integration needed to pull it off...

Absolutely. This feature alone would have saved me many hours over the last few years. I've been really impressed at Melodyne's performance in extracting timing, but pulling that into a SONAR project has been pretty long-winded. I hope this works as well as it promises to.
 
And I hope to see multi-track Melodyne integrated with SONAR as well. Nothing is better for tightening up harmonies (sorry VocalSync), but doing it involves a lot of exporting and importing of files back and forth between the programs.

what is this multiband processing track templates

Can I just verify - if we *don't* install the early release, it will eventually show up as an *update* (in a week or two?) in the command center?