I only read the first page so if this is already out there, excuse me...
 
Cakewalk is a business, the more money they make the more people (R&D) they can employ. We surely don't want Gibson to see Cakewalk as a loser or even revenue neutral. I think it is in our collective best interest for them to thrive. I will be buying another year, I will probably keep buying after I am no longer able to make much use of it. I will purchase pretty much everything they offer. I VALUE Cakewalk very much and will support them by buying, even if I don't "need" what they offer.
It is my choice. I am absolutely AMAZED at all the things Sonar can do and do well. Does anyone remember 10/15 years ago when you needed expensive computer horsepower and expensive external gear. ADAT anyone? Roland 24 track table top recorders with the 'virtual tracks'. A MIDI sync. You could spend a PILE of money, thousands... and not get what we so easily get with Sonar. Now, I realize it isn't all Cakewalk, it is also MS, intel, and others... and there are other DAWs but MY DAW is SONAR and it will be SONAR and it is in my interest to support them so that they do well and get better and better... that is my vision. If I'm wrong, well... it won't break the bank but if I'm right, we all WIN.
 
Sign me up!!
 
Julien

jbow
there are other DAWs but MY DAW is SONAR and it will be SONAR and it is in my interest to support them so that they do well and get better and better... that is my vision. If I'm wrong, well... it won't break the bank but if I'm right, we all WIN.
 
Sign me up!!
 
Julien

I totally agree

Thing I've noticed with Sonar problems, is it seems to be the same people all the time. They don't just have a bit of a bug or glitch one time, but every month there's some problem.

Now it seems to be that there is also a huge group of folks who don't have any serious issues and only an occassional well known problem that gets fixed pretty quickly.

This all tells me that there are folks who just don't know computers as well as they think and their systems aren't as well put together as they think. Under those conditions it's easy for a program to show up deficiencies in a PC. I know because I've been there.

It's easy to blame Cakewalk, but how could it be possible that it's such a bad program considering that the greater number of users, by far, have little or no problems with Sonar.

mudgel
Thing I've noticed with Sonar problems, is it seems to be the same people all the time. They don't just have a bit of a bug or glitch one time, but every month there's some problem.

Now it seems to be that there is also a huge group of folks who don't have any serious issues and only an occassional well known problem that gets fixed pretty quickly.

This all tells me that there are folks who just don't know computers as well as they think and their systems aren't as well put together as they think. Under those conditions it's easy for a program to show up deficiencies in a PC. I know because I've been there.

It's easy to blame Cakewalk, but how could it be possible that it's such a bad program considering that the greater number of users, by far, have little or no problems with Sonar.

Well said.

BMOG
I am struggling to find a reason to pay for another year of subscriptions. I plan to upgrade to Kingston tonight so what would I really be missing out on if I don't re-up? Price just does not seem worth it to me your thoughts?

My thoughts? Only you and you alone can know what YOUR needs/wants are and what's worth spending YOUR money on.
 
Why are you asking us? We all have our own needs/wants/budget that are likely to differ from your own (and each others). We have no idea what you want/need nor do we know what Sonar 2016 will bring.
 
If you asked why OTHERS might resusbscribe... that's probably a better question.

PS: X3 was good but had a few EXTREMELY annoying bugs that seriously slowed down my personal workflow. Those have been fixed and some of the new features have been ultra useful to me (and stuff I'd been asking for).
 
Could I still work in X3? Yup... but it ain't as good as SPlat... IMO... but my needs/wants are my needs/wants. They are completely unrelated to how anyone else works.
 
knowaddimean?

mudgel
This all tells me that there are folks who just don't know computers as well as they think and their systems aren't as well put together as they think. Under those conditions it's easy for a program to show up deficiencies in a PC. I know because I've been there.

As have I, which is why after owning a Dell I made a policy decision years ago to purchase computers only from companies that integrated systems for music. For reliable and efficient music-making, that was the smartest decision I ever made. I credit much of my virtually trouble-free operation of SONAR (and Sony Vegas, for that matter) to the platform on which I run them, my referring to documentation, and my willingness to come up with a workaround (which is almost always possible) when problems do occur.
 
Helpful people in the forum don't hurt, either :)

Soundwise
 
That's quite an investment, Craig!  But then you had been one of a few who owned such equipment and people were booking time weeks or months ahead to get to your studio and make a recording. So this investment was very rewarding.

 
Absolutely not the situation. I never could own that kind of gear, so I paid for studio time...where every 90 minutes I paid the equivalent of the Splat upgrade. Or more accurately, it was deducted from my record royalties before anything (except the ASCAP songwriting royalties) ended up in my bank account. And if you think running a studio was a "very rewarding" investment, that was true for only a handful of world-class studios due to the high operational costs, and only for a relatively short window of time.
 

My point is, an average DAW user is a hobbyist or semi-pro. So investing in a software product is something people will think twice about before "pulling the trigger".

Then hobbyists who are watching budgets super-carefully shouldn't buy more costly software that's designed for hardcore professional users who make a living off of it. They can buy SONAR Artist, or Music Creator, get a bundled version of an LE program with an interface, or whatever rather than complain about paying the price for pro-level equipment. Similarly, this is why Fender makes Squier guitars, Gibson makes Epiphone, and Porsche makes Volkswagens.
 

This thread has been marked helpful and I am proud of that. The original question was about your thoughts not do you agree or disagree with my thoughts. What I have learned most from this thread is that we all have a unique purpose for this DAW which drives what decision we make. I don't know the user who said it but the message was their is no right or wrong way to give your thoughts on this question. I do feel some took the topic seriously as if I was calling it a sub par DAW for being on the fence for renewing my subscription. Not the case at all they must have skipped all the times I wrote what I have now fits my needs. I should have known in a public forum to expect that but hey that is what this forum is all about expression.

BMOG
I am struggling to find a reason to pay for another year of subscriptions. I plan to upgrade to Kingston tonight so what would I really be missing out on if I don't re-up? Price just does not seem worth it to me your thoughts?

hum? I think that 12 months of updates would not exactly end in December... I got it the end of January and with the original purchase you get 12 months of updates and my 1st update was the end of February, so wouldn't January be the 12th month to get an update?