Craig, I really love your eZines. I know it isn't just you creating them, so, praise to the group.
 
Personally, I don't see how this release will make much of a difference to me.

• Start Screen.
• Tuner.
• FX Chains.
• Bug Fixes.

 
I think Cakewalk does a great thing with the unlocked FX Chains. The Pro Channel templates also rock. I get to try lots of things quickly. I can also expand and tweak. Mix Scenes take it all a step furthur.
 
Locked FX Chains are a disappointment. I do use them sometimes... mostly the pop thingy on the vox tools. But, it breaks the spirit of the whole thing. Are you really worried that people won't buy Sonar because you demonstrate use of FX bundled with most music software?  
 
I'm not stupid. I know why they are locked down.
When everyone knows which screw to turn, you can't charge $100 to turn it.
 
I really like to learn and improve. It's not only about how fast can I bounce and burn.
 
So, with respect, I ask for no more locked FX Chains. Or, said differently, you get no points from me for including locked FX chains, no matter how awesome the cloaked IP or the graphix behind the buttons and nobs. I think I may boycott on principle and never use the few I do.
 
I don't want to pay anyone to provide me something that discourages me from learning how to do it myself.
 
It's one of the things I hate about Plugins... I can't see how they work... don't know for sure what they do.
In the end, FX Chains push something under the covers that doesn't have to be.
 
I don't want a Gooderizer. I want to become good myself.
 
It seems like Cakewalk is no longer interested in developing me.
At least locked FX Chains are counter to the community spirit that I have come to associate with Cakewalk.

Hi gswiz,
 
You are a pretty reasonable dude but I think you might just be reading too much into this.
The reason for locking is has multiple parts. 
 
1. Its no different than releasing plugins. The developer works with a product manager and sound designers to create DSP that produces a certain sound or effect. The internals of the DSP and the actual parts used are seldom exposed in the user interface because it would add unnecessary complexity and overwhelm a user who just needs to use it for what it was designed to do. Good user interface design hides unnecessary complexity.
 
2. There may be IP involved in the design of a plugin so the developer is not going to show you all the details of how the sound was produced. They may also be third party licenses involved,,,
 
When we started doing these chains (as well as Style Dials that debuted in music creator) the goal was to provide a simple functional user interface and controls to perform common tasks. i.e. they were NOT intended to be a power user feature that is tweakable ad infinitum.
We had two choices - build these from scratch as plugins or using the FXchains technology. I suggested FXChains since it was the quickest path to develop using our existing plugins. In the future we will be taking a hybrid approach and use chains as well as internal DSP components in our library. These would NOT even be visible plugins since the components have no meaning on their own!
 
Anyway the bottom line is this is not so much to hide something from the user as to provide a consistent and friendly user interface to a complex mess of stuff beneath the hood that most users would be confused by. FXChains were always intended to be a platform for developing something from a complex series of plugins - an object oriented approach to sound design if you will.
 
Hope this clarifies the decisions. 

Thanks, Noel. It's obviously been wrankling for a while.
I'm sure you can see what I'm after.
 
I love that everyone can develop and share their own FX Chains.
 

just a remark and an other cons, 

Trust the man in the ostrich feathers
We love Sonar's new FX Chains. As you'll recall, they make it possible to create bundles of processing and then treat them as a single unit. They can also be saved for recall if you come up with something you really like. However, it's all too easy to fall back on a favoured effects chain again and again. Revered producer Brian Eno once claimed that he never documented the complex signal path of his effects boxes, so that he'd never be tempted to reuse them. There is some wisdom in that!

- http://www.musicradar.com/tuition/tech/8-expert-cakewalk-sonar-x1-tips-363463
 
it definitely says something ;) so they should be opened +1 (if it's possible)

Noel Borthwick [Cakewalk]
2. There may be IP involved in the design of a plugin so the developer is not going to show you all the details of how the sound was produced. They may also be third party licenses involved.

^^^ This. As I've said before, the FX Chains I've locked contain proprietary IP developed for Gibson while working as a consultant on the FBX project, and which Gibson owns. This IP is likely not worth the effort to patent, but does qualify as a trade secret. Because Cakewalk is a division of Gibson, I can take advantage of it but not to lock the chains would violate non-disclosure agreements that I signed. The other option would be simply not to make the FX chains available, but I think a lot of people appreciate the CA-X amps and would rather have a locked amp than none at all.
 
If you look through the Anderton Collection FX Chains, you'll find the vast majority are unlocked. The only ones that are locked are subject to the constraints above.
 

FWIW,
The 'Collection' chains are well appreciated if not a bit overused by myself and many others! Please keep em coming sir!

Anderton
 
I've locked contain proprietary IP developed for Gibson while working as a consultant on the FBX project, and which Gibson owns. This IP is likely not worth the effort to patent, but does qualify as a trade secret. Because Cakewalk is a division of Gibson, I can take advantage of it but not to lock the chains would violate non-disclosure agreements that I signed. The other option would be simply not to make the FX chains available, but I think a lot of people appreciate the CA-X amps and would rather have a locked amp than none at all.
 
If you look through the Anderton Collection FX Chains, you'll find the vast majority are unlocked. The only ones that are locked are subject to the constraints above.

 
Out with the debugger 

I for one don't care if they're locked as long as they keep coming!!!