Noel Borthwick [Cakewalk]

kine321
It's interesting how developers make programs more CPU intensive and resource hungry the more powerful CPU's become. Also shows that these updates come at a cost.

 
That isn't true in this case. There are tons of optimizations in Platinum that do not exist in X3. 
And there are even more coming in the next update.

That's good to hear and I stand corrected if that's the case, however, why change the listed minimal requirements, if the latest versions actually are more efficient than the X series, that list lower minimal specs than now? Seems this could  cause some lost business if customers think their system is under specs- and may cause issues for them if they seek support. It would be easy for any company to say your system doesn't meet min. requirements, so our ability to help you is limited. I'm not saying CW would do that, but, customers do assume the worst case scenario's. 

kine321
Actually, this thread encompasses several points of interest. Yes, midi merge is a main interest, however, I did mention I was interested in all aspects that would keep users from upgrading.

What's keeping me from upgrading is Sonar's lack of 'integration.'  It has many great features, but some are disintegrated to the point that I have to struggle to get things done.  Even simple things.  Worse still, some features like ACT never really worked 100% (not to mention that it's needlessly complicated to setup).
 
All DAWs that have been around for a while, like Sonar, have a range of both old and new features.  But Sonar seems to be near the bottom when it comes to how well these features appear, and are accessed by the user.  I think part of the problem is that Cakewalk has focused on adding sexy new features in each release (like Addictive Drums) rather than investing in the underlying program itself.  At times this strategy has resulted in orphaned features; like V-Vocal.
 
I realize that this is just my take on things given that there are many satisfied users.  On the plus side, Cakewalk is a progressive company with an active forum, so I'm hopeful that eventually the interface will improve.  Cheers...

abb

kine321
Actually, this thread encompasses several points of interest. Yes, midi merge is a main interest, however, I did mention I was interested in all aspects that would keep users from upgrading.

What's keeping me from upgrading is Sonar's lack of 'integration.'  It has many great features, but some are disintegrated to the point that I have to struggle to get things done.  Even simple things.  Worse still, some features like ACT never really worked 100% (not to mention that it's needlessly complicated to setup).
 
All DAWs that have been around for a while, like Sonar, have a range of both old and new features.  But Sonar seems to be near the bottom when it comes to how well these features appear, and are accessed by the user.  I think part of the problem is that Cakewalk has focused on adding sexy new features in each release (like Addictive Drums) rather than investing in the underlying program itself.  At times this strategy has resulted in orphaned features; like V-Vocal.
 
I realize that this is just my take on things given that there are many satisfied users.  On the plus side, Cakewalk is a progressive company with an active forum, so I'm hopeful that eventually the interface will improve.  Cheers...

I think you will actually find that Sonar 2015 is constantly being optimized with each update. I am one that really doesn't have a need for Addictive Drums because I have BFD 3. Yet for many they are a great addition to Sonar. That said I still installed them. Audio Snap has gone through many updates as has many other areas of Sonar. The PRV for example is much better now than it was in X3.
 
V-Vocal is still working on my system because I installed it from a previous version. V-Vocal is a Roland product and Cakewalk is now a Gibson company. CW took care to replace it with Melodyne which is a more powerful audio editor. This meant CW had to redo how V-Vocal and Melodyne accessed the audio in Sonar with Region FX. A great new access protocol for accessing audio based on ARA. Both Melodyne and V-Vocal benefit from it.
 
There was also R-Mix that was dropped when CW left Roland. Yet it still works and can be installed from an older version.
 
ACT does work. It may not work well for you but it does work.
 
We now have Mix Recall and Vocal Sync plus Drum Replacer all of which have found very positives reviews here and elsewhere.  
 
Not everything CW offers will be useful to everyone all the time. It is impossible for any DAW maker to create a DAW that meets every need of a single person without having some features that some wont need. On the other hand CW does offer a range of features in three different versions. Artist has the fewest features but is still a powerful DAW. Producer has many more and Platinum has the most. Pick the one that is right for you and you wont need to complain about too many features.    
 
 

Well,  for me it's simply this, Cakewalk hasn't sent me an email offing any discounts or notices about new products in years.   The only email I receive from cakewalk is when I purchase something from them by coming directly to this website after seeing the large advertisement or reading a post that's informing the forum that something is available.
 
I sent emails to Cakewalk several time letting them know that I haven't received promotional emails from them since I purchased Sonar 8, I believe.   I have been buying Sonar products since Sonar 2.2 XL and I still remain faithful to Cakewalk products, however, they don't seem to understand what I am requesting.  
 
I've seen the promotion on this Cakewalk site a few days ago for Sonar Platinum for $99.00  from JJRRSHOP and Sweetwater when I hit the upgrade to SPlat button for their shops, but the Sonar upgrade button remained $149.00. I didn't want to take my purchase outside of Cakewalk as I am fearful that there may be problems with upgrades or something unforeseen.
 
All I want are EMAILS FROM CAKEWALK ADVERTISING THEIR SPECIALS AND PRODUCTS!!!  is that too much to ask for?
 
 

Jesse G
Well,  for me it's simply this, Cakewalk hasn't sent me an email offing any discounts or notices about new products in years.   The only email I receive from cakewalk is when I purchase something from them by coming directly to this website after seeing the large advertisement or reading a post that's informing the forum that something is available.
 
I sent emails to Cakewalk several time letting them know that I haven't received promotional emails from them since I purchased Sonar 8, I believe.   I have been buying Sonar products since Sonar 2.2 XL and I still remain faithful to Cakewalk products, however, they don't seem to understand what I am requesting.  
 
I've seen the promotion on this Cakewalk site a few days ago for Sonar Platinum for $99.00  from JJRRSHOP and Sweetwater when I hit the upgrade to SPlat button for their shops, but the Sonar upgrade button remained $149.00. I didn't want to take my purchase outside of Cakewalk as I am fearful that there may be problems with upgrades or something unforeseen.
 
All I want are EMAILS FROM CAKEWALK ADVERTISING THEIR SPECIALS AND PRODUCTS!!!  is that too much to ask for?
 
 

Hmmm.... that's an interesting issue with the email notifications. Sometimes I'll find emails in my spam folder that I'm surprised ended up there, since I've read emails from these companies a number of times and never flagged them as spam.
 
I think there's 2 aspects to the upgrade discount. The $149 is for earlier versions of Sonar while the $99 discount seems to be for X3 users specifically.

Cakewalk, like most developers, has to avoid underselling their distributors if they want to keep them. A license from a distributor can well cost less than from the Cakewalk store, because the distributor is presumably paying a wholesale price and can opt to reduce their profit in exchange for more sales volume. Once purchased, a distributor activation code (I have not seen any actual media offered for the current versions) should give you the same upgrade entitlements as one bought from the Cakewalk store. The software gets registered at Cakewalk when it is activated on their website. 

In my case, just personal reasons. I moved to a new city and I had to fit my studio in the corner of my girlfriend's living room while we found and renovated a new apartment. In the process my desktop died, and I am running Sonar in a Vista laptop with my old Emu 1616m, that has no drivers for newer OS. I have a proper studio room in the new apartment, and I am delaying the purchase of a new desktop and audio interface until I move to the new space.

abb

kine321
Actually, this thread encompasses several points of interest. Yes, midi merge is a main interest, however, I did mention I was interested in all aspects that would keep users from upgrading.

What's keeping me from upgrading is Sonar's lack of 'integration.'  It has many great features, but some are disintegrated to the point that I have to struggle to get things done.  Even simple things.  Worse still, some features like ACT never really worked 100% (not to mention that it's needlessly complicated to setup).
 
All DAWs that have been around for a while, like Sonar, have a range of both old and new features.  But Sonar seems to be near the bottom when it comes to how well these features appear, and are accessed by the user.  I think part of the problem is that Cakewalk has focused on adding sexy new features in each release (like Addictive Drums) rather than investing in the underlying program itself.  At times this strategy has resulted in orphaned features; like V-Vocal.
 
I realize that this is just my take on things given that there are many satisfied users.  On the plus side, Cakewalk is a progressive company with an active forum, so I'm hopeful that eventually the interface will improve.  Cheers...

Integration? With what? On the hardware side, Sonar has better integration than my other DAW, Ableton Live, at least with my hardware synths. For starters, Live does not support sysex, and I find Sonar's sync tighter than Live's. It is true that with Live 9 and Max4Live things are getting better, but Sonar still wins. Of course there are dedicated controllers for Live available in the market, but once you need to map a generic midi controller I don' t really see any advantage over Sonar in other programs. I must say that I don't really use ACT, I have an iPad with Lemur that I find more convenient to control plugins.

Interface navigation in Sonar is much better, Live depends too much on the mouse, with less keyboard shortcuts, and more awkward, IMHO. Why press Ctl + Alt + B to open the browser while you can just press B? Not to mention that Sonar's interface layout is much more flexible, too, especially if you use more than one screen.

Anyway, I mention Live because it is one of the most modern and popular programs and it is what I know best, and while it has its strengths that make me still use it for some things, I do not consider it superior to Sonar overall, and I am under the impression that it is more or less the same for the rest of DAWS.

There is another thread active right now about MIDI merge.  SOS recording has been around forever, but you can end up with separate MIDI clips on top of one other, and this can cause display issues in PRV.
 
As far as upgrading, I intend to but I have not pressing need right now and I fear my work will be be on hold while I sort out getting all my virtual instruments set up right, interface and console working, etc.

kine321
Every time I see a new %off email from CW about Sonar, I often wonder- (considering the frequency at which they do this) are they failing to get a sizable amount of customers to take that step? CW has done several surveys, so they obviously tried to get a feel for what hold customers back. The coupon campaign has been effective in getting me to eventually make a move, because the price got so low that I couldn't ignore it. Those days however, are gone for me. I've stopped at X3, and have absolutely no intentions to go any further with the program, unless the much requested midi merge is added. I have at least 5 versions of Sonar I don't use, because such a basic core feature is omitted. I bought them because got caught up in the hype of the plugin packages.
 
CW, has added some interesting features that are more useful for some, while others may not use them at all. These updates can easily become bloated features if you only use them once a purple moon if at all. Reaper is only 8mb for the 32bit version, while the 64bit is 10mb by comparison. It has a lot of features in a small blueprint. What size is Sonar now? I'm not interested in bashing CW, because I think they're doing a good job. I can't take that away from them just because I'm displeased with an aspect of the program, so I'll get back to the point of this thread.
 
CW continues to add some great monthly features, but are there any long standing-desired ones that prevent you from upgrading from earlier versions, including (pre-X) versions? I'm interested in all feedback about the subject, but more specifically want to know if the lack of midi merge recording, is a significant deal breaker that would or has prevented you from upgrading? If not, what is?
 
 

 
Hi Kine321
I am curious as to what exactly it is that you can't do with Sonars current midi features?