First off, since I ran the most recent Manchester patch all my issues seem to have gone away!
 
For my previous Octa-Capture problems, it was recommended by Cakewalk support that I switch over to Wdm/ks. The little predelay after hitting start was just killing me.
 
Once I ran the Manchester update I also switched back to ASIO and so far I haven't had a single crash...before that I reinstalled a newer Roland MIDI driver. I had already reinstalled the main Octa-Capture driver. Nothing changed.
 
Thanks for everyone's input. It's kind of ironic that I bought the Roland unit because Cake was owned by them and it seemed logical to go with the company line.....back to work I go.... 
 
 

MGC59
I have had some sort of problem with every single upgrade since I went to Sonar Platinum in August. All different, all having to do with basic functions.
 
None of my gear has changed just versions of Sonar. At this point I can't say that I'm a big fan of this subscription method...I think it is creating more problems than it is worth.

Yep, I wrote about this a couple of weeks ago as I feel the same way.  I like the concept of the subscription model, but this rush to produce new features with every release risks SPLAT turning into a constant 'Early Access' product.  With each release you have to balance the risk of getting fixes against new problems associated with the new feature set.
 
I dunno if it works for me as a package.  The idea of a significant annual update, complimented with regular patches through the year to address bugs seems to make sense for a product that is designed for use in a serious capacity.  I'm holding off Manchester right now, but if I wait too long we'll get the next one and I'll be back to square one.  For the same reason I'm holding off from an early renew of my sub for next season.
 
To an extent you can select which new features to install with each release, but I wonder if this could be taken further.  Perhaps by having 'core engine' updates separated from 'new functionality'.

There are more than a few of us who have had no issues and have no issues with monthly updates. In fact, we look forward to it.

Wood67

MGC59
I have had some sort of problem with every single upgrade since I went to Sonar Platinum in August. All different, all having to do with basic functions.
 
None of my gear has changed just versions of Sonar. At this point I can't say that I'm a big fan of this subscription method...I think it is creating more problems than it is worth.

Yep, I wrote about this a couple of weeks ago as I feel the same way.  I like the concept of the subscription model, but this rush to produce new features with every release risks SPLAT turning into a constant 'Early Access' product.  With each release you have to balance the risk of getting fixes against new problems associated with the new feature set.
 
I dunno if it works for me as a package.  The idea of a significant annual update, complimented with regular patches through the year to address bugs seems to make sense for a product that is designed for use in a serious capacity.  I'm holding off Manchester right now, but if I wait too long we'll get the next one and I'll be back to square one.  For the same reason I'm holding off from an early renew of my sub for next season.
 
To an extent you can select which new features to install with each release, but I wonder if this could be taken further.  Perhaps by having 'core engine' updates separated from 'new functionality'.

That, to coin a cliché.
 
I wasn't expecting major new stuff every month in the subscription model. I worry about the pressure for Cakewalk to pull a rabbit out of their hat monthly.

We shouldn't expect major new stuff every month.It just so happens we were very fortunate this year.

vanceen
I worry about the pressure for Cakewalk to pull a rabbit out of their hat monthly.

They pulled a rabbit out of their hat more or less monthly previously to the membership model, but all the rabbits were let loose at once in a yearly update.
 
There's no need to install updates every month. You can wait a year, download the most recent update, and it will contain all the features and bug fixes from previous updates. Bottom line is you can choose to have a yearly update, monthly update, quarterly update, whatever.

We did have many months of new features this year, but then we had two or three updates in a row that were mostly fixes and optimisations (probably some of the best receIved upates of the year, particular the speed increases). I think Cakewalk have proven this past year that they know how to balance the two. Sonar is more stable for me than it has ever been, and monthly goodies gives me the chance to consider them in bite sized chunks.
 
 

Being mostly a firmware writer in a schedule driven environment, the new monthly model terrified me and I said as much on this forum last Jan.
However, after a year I think Cake has done an excellent job with balancing (as tenfoot said) the schedule demands with all the other things that need to be done.
There has only been 2 or 3 'emergency patches' to fix serious  problems and even these were mostly GUI issues. I think it will get even better as Cake tunes the Beta Test Armada.
Believe me, it could have been a whole lot worse.

Yeah, this has happened to me on a couple of occasions during the monthly updates last year. One update had some of my soft-synths starting at didn't times and finishing later when I stopped the project. This was fixed by the next update - which unfortunately blew out another VST synth I had just bought. So I was without the new updates for two months but it was great to be able to easily go back to a working version. I do think there should be some kind of refund or end of year discount if a member is for whatever technical reasons they are unable to use the 'paid-for' update. At the end of it though, Plt is working really nicely so I can't complain.
 
FWIW, I gave up on Quad Capture on my setup. Maybe it would work better now with Win 10 but frankly, I had it up to you know where with the audio card suddenly dropping from Sonar, or not being found upon a restart - usually caused by the drivers which were rarely updated by Roland (support HA!) and pretty obsolete - It was on-going. Best investment on my time was buying an RME UFX. Even if Sonar crashes - which is still rare - the drivers drop out of the system almost immediately and I can restart Sonar straight away...even if on a rare occasion the drivers get stuck, ending the task in TM has them closing immediately. Goodbye to having to between 5-8 minutes for them to be released.
 
Perhaps as Craig mentioned, Win 10 works with them better but I wouldn't work with it again.

Now this is a much more constructive thread than the 'other' one relating to the model!  All things considered, although I'm still a bit nervous about the new feature:fix blend, I do take Craig and others' points that effectively I can make an informed decision to update as and when I need - and the total cost of ownership doesn't really change from what it was previously.
 
Lexington gave me the first bad crash/hang last night (think I was inserting an Omnisphere instance at the same time as doing something else which must have sent it over the edge).  That needed a full reboot but I had an auto save to fall back to.  So maybe I will move to Manchester this weekend and see what happens...