Getting back to the OP, I have to say I was a little disappointed with Cake's room at IMSTA at the SAE Institute in New York a couple of years ago. I believe that was pre-Gibson? Anyway the Cake staff who were there were friendly and informative enough, but all they really had was a computer with I believe X3 loaded up and a bunch of people chatting among themselves. I was in there for an hour or so and didn't see any kind of demo of the software, it was really just a "well there it is, take a look if you want" kind of affair. 
 
I contrasted this with the Studio One room, which featured a large projector and a guy giving a fast paced talk about all the new features, which he demonstrated very well, despite my embarrassing tendency to lean back against the wall and inadvertently switch the lights on  There was then an in depth Q&A session. Of course it didn't persuade me to make the switch, but they did manage to create a genuine buzz in the room. About the only thing I can remember from the Cakewalk room was sitting on the sofa next to a guy who complained non-stop about having lost his workflow with the X-series. There was no projector, no demo and no Q&A. I definitely came away feeling like they'd sold themselves short somewhat, especially since X3 did look quite dapper on the screen. 

AndertonNot when you're cleaning up as you go along every month. Rewrites are being done all the time, and they're not "nasty"...they're optimizations that just make SONAR better. I think most everyone would agree that SONAR has never been faster or more stable. Let's hear it for "nasty" rewrites 

wadr, and i realise you're no dev, but this is really dumbing down the analysis and developer effort required to refactor years-old (20+ some of it by now?) code, "nasty" is actually a useful and accurate description sometimes :-)

>> Anyway the Cake staff who were there were friendly and informative enough, but all they really had was a computer with I believe X3 loaded up and a bunch of people chatting among themselves. I was in there for an hour or so and didn't see any kind of demo of the software,
<<
 
By contrast, when I saw Brandon Ryan at the Frankfurt Musikmesse (many years back, Roland days) he demoed the Matrix and afterwards I was able to clarify some details with him regarding the Session Drummer.

Anderton
 
Another reality is that the number of audio interfaces outsells the number of DAWs sold or updated by a huge margin every month. So either people are using 7 or 8 interfaces with their copy of SONAR or Cubase or whatever, or...there are a lot of people stealing software via torrents.

 
Yes, rampant piracy is an undeniable reality. I have - for a very long time - espoused the view that the "digital recording revolution" is made possible by piracy, more than technological advances. 99% of current "Independent Producers",  "Youtube Artists" and "Soundcloud Sensations" would not be making music if they had to pay for every single product they use.
 

Anderton
The attitude of some people on this forum makes it obvious why software companies are having such a hard time: people don't want to pay what's required for these companies to grow and prosper. They have this unrealistic sense of entitlement that they should be able to pay $50 - $150 a year in a tiny, tiny business and get flawless code, insanely great support, discounts, their pet feature requests implemented, deals, and a big trade show presence. 

 
Honest users have EVERY RIGHT to expect a competitively-priced product. Frankly, I  could not care a bit less if 10 million people or just a single lonely teenager steals your software. Why should I subsidize theft?
 
Reality is that if Cakewalk does not offer an attractive, competitive price, everyone will move to Studio One, Reaper, Samplitude, Logic, ProTools,  Ableton, Digital Performer, GarageBand, Cubase, Nuendo, MixBus, Reason, MixCraft, FruityLoops, BitWig and a thousand other products that get the job done as well as Sonar.
 
And yes, I personally DO have this  "unrealistic sense of entitlement that they should be able to pay $50 - $150 a year" - in fact, I will not pay more than $100 for my next Cakewalk subscription, if I decide to renew it.
 
 

Anderton
FWIW many companies basically subsidize their software through sales of interface hardware (or in the case of Apple, $800,000,000,000 in the bank and a zillion iPhones; or in the case of Reaper, selling Winamp to AOL back in the day for $500,000,000) - remember, hardware can't be downloaded from a torrent. So, software-only companies have to do whatever they can to try and meet the unrealistic expectations of consumers who are unaware of the realities of being in business.

 
It seems to me YOU are the one not aware of the realities of being in business. People do not care how much Apple or Cakewalk make or lose on their products. Why should they? Should users ignore Logic's price and go for a more expensive product that does not offer better features...because?????
 
Should we hate or love Justin Frankle for spending his own money giving users a product worth much more than what they paid for it?
 
Get in touch with reality, Anderton...stop offending your loyal customers.

irvin

Anderton
 
Another reality is that the number of audio interfaces outsells the number of DAWs sold or updated by a huge margin every month. So either people are using 7 or 8 interfaces with their copy of SONAR or Cubase or whatever, or...there are a lot of people stealing software via torrents.

 
Yes, rampant piracy is an undeniable reality. I have - for a very long time - espoused the view that the "digital recording revolution" is made possible by piracy, more than technological advances. 99% of current "Independent Producers",  "Youtube Artists" and "Soundcloud Sensations" would not be making music if they had to pay for every single product they use.
 

Anderton
The attitude of some people on this forum makes it obvious why software companies are having such a hard time: people don't want to pay what's required for these companies to grow and prosper. They have this unrealistic sense of entitlement that they should be able to pay $50 - $150 a year in a tiny, tiny business and get flawless code, insanely great support, discounts, their pet feature requests implemented, deals, and a big trade show presence. 

 
Honest users have EVERY RIGHT to expect a competitively-priced product. Frankly, I  could not care a bit more if 10 million people or just a single lonely teenager steals your software. Why should I subsidize theft?
 
Reality is that if Cakewalk does not offer an attractive, competitive price, everyone will move to Studio One, Reaper, Samplitude, Logic, ProTools,  Ableton, Digital Performer, GarageBand, Cubase, Nuendo, MixBus, Reason, MixCraft, FruityLoops, BitWig and a thousand other products that get the job done as well as Sonar.
 
And yes, I personally DO have this  "unrealistic sense of entitlement that they should be able to pay $50 - $150 a year" - in fact, I will not pay more than $100 for my next Cakewalk subscription, if I decide to renew it.
 
 

Anderton
FWIW many companies basically subsidize their software through sales of interface hardware (or in the case of Apple, $800,000,000,000 in the bank and a zillion iPhones; or in the case of Reaper, selling Winamp to AOL back in the day for $500,000,000) - remember, hardware can't be downloaded from a torrent. So, software-only companies have to do whatever they can to try and meet the unrealistic expectations of consumers who are unaware of the realities of being in business.

 
It seems to me YOU are the one not aware of the realities of being in business. People do not care how much Apple or Cakewalk make or lose on their products. Why should they? Should users ignore Logic's price and go for a more expensive product that does not offer better features...because?????
 
Should we hate or love Justin Frankle for spending his own money giving users a product worth much more than what they paid for it?
 
Get in touch with reality, Anderton...stop offending your loyal customers.

PFFFFF........

thing is, the digital realm has completely changed the game, and the dust is still settling... let's see where we are in another 10 years or so (i'm feeling entitled to rift interface support ;-))

Psssst, Irvin, it's not a subscription

Bristol_Jonesey
Psssst, Irvin, it's not a subscription

:-)
i think we should be calling it a sub, even if only to clash with bloody adobe, because that's what it is

Bristol_Jonesey
Psssst, Irvin, it's not a subscription

psssst...membership, upgrade, subscription, financed purchase, rent-to-own, whatever, I won't pay more than $100 per year; that's my decision and I respect other people's decision when they think it's worth more or worth less. To me, $100 is about right for good software like Sonar. No complaints here.

Good for you