Hi-
 
Something that occurred to me after the Strum Session update in Foxboro went from working as a VSTi in other DAWs to being SONAR-only is that with the membership model, maybe there won't be any more plugins that work in other DAWs, like Addictive Drums, Channel Tools, VX-64 Vocal Strip, PX-64 Percussion Strip, etc, etc, etc.
 
It would make sense, since people could pay for a month's membership and ostensibly get a plugin that would work "everywhere and forever," but OTOH, I'm not crazy about the idea of getting plugins with updates going forward that are exclusively locked to SONAR or can only be made to work in other DAWs with a paid upgrade.
 
What do you guys think?
 
Thanks-
 
-Susan

Quite honestly Susan it doesn't bother me in the slightest.
 
I have no need or desire to go outside of Sonar for anything other than CD burning.
 
I'm sure others may have a different viewpoint but this is mine! 

An excellent point. Cakewalk should be able to get a better price on third party plugs that are tied to Sonar, since the plugin developers would be able to sell a retail version to anyone who wants to use it in another application. Altering an existing plug to lock it to Sonar should be a pretty trivial programming exercise. I expect that even without the membership model, that lock in was going to be more common, as third parties got organized to offer Sonar-locked versions. 
 
A full featured plug that is locked to Sonar may be a better deal than a lobotomized trial version for dedicated Sonar users. But even better for the plugin developers is to just alter their time and often feature limited demo versions so that they only work in Sonar for the duration of a subscription, phoning home to the Cakewalk servers at every update to see if you are still a member, or timing out a year after installation. I expect that Cakewalk would welcome the lock to Sonar, as it is an added incentive to renew, but they would probably resist a limited time plugin, since it puts their claim of ownership of Sonar (and presumably the associated plugs) after the paid up annual fee in jeopardy.  A membership model for Sonar and a subscription model for the bundled plugins would be difficult to explain.
 
 

Hi. I agree with Bristol_Jonesey.
I do everything in SONAR, except when making the occasional cd.

I don't buy Sonar for any extras at all. Even if only the core program were available I would still upgrade it.

And not because I do everything in Sonar but I don't really care. To be honest while I can use the Sonar plugins I don't much. It also seems to be the norm these days.

None of the plugins included in Reaper, Samplitude, PT or Studio One work in other programs, and there's probably others.

I am struggling on whether to risk the drama of moving up from X3e
I value this kind of information. I don't enjoy surprises either.
Thanks for posting.

I would be super pissed if that ever happened for AD(2), Melodyne or TH2 since I bought upgrades for them. I MOSTLY use them in Sonar but have an Ableton license too and would expect to be able to use those plugs. Other than that, I'm not too bothered.

I think the whole process of tying plugins to a specific host is cheesy at best.  I put up with because I'm going to use Sonar 95% of the time anyway, but it would be nice to be able to use the tools we pay extra for in a different host when we need to.
 
Having said that, I understand the reasoning.  It's flawed reasoning, IMO, but I understand it.  I use Sonar because it fits the way I use a DAW, not because I want to continue using a plug that was bundled with it.
 
Not a show-stopper for me, and it's nice to have the tools 95% of the time.

plugins are supposed to be a shared platform, all this locking in is just desperate business tactics (imo);
also, i buy a host as a host, not for the bloat that tags along;
also, also, i wouldn't expect an included plugin that worked across the board to suddenly become locked in after an update and without warning

mudgel
I don't buy Sonar for any extras at all. Even if only the core program were available I would still upgrade it.

And not because I do everything in Sonar but I don't really care. To be honest while I can use the Sonar plugins I don't much. It also seems to be the norm these days.

None of the plugins included in Reaper, Samplitude, PT or Studio One work in other programs, and there's probably others.

I agree with this. If I walk away from Sonar, I'll have to factor in the impact of finding alternatives for any plugs I use that are locked to SPlat. I think the inclusion of the plugins to Sonar is (and should be) secondary to the core functionality itself.