Teksonik
I've stayed with X3 Producer. At this point if I upgrade to Platinum what do I get ?  Is there a chart or FAQ for that somewhere ?  EDIT: I've found the release notes for Jan thru May.
So if I pay the $149 now I get the latest version of Platinum and whatever new versions are released for the next 12 months ?

 
Correct.
 

There are additions and improvements every 2 months ? 

So far it's been monthly, and that's the plan.

Teksonik

Anderton
 That shows maybe sometimes it's a good idea for Cakewalk to go in the direction of what they would like to see in the program - everyone there uses it,

Sorry, got to call you on this one. Everyone out here uses Sonar as well.  To place a higher value on the opinion of those who work for CW than on the opinions of those who purchased the software is.....well I think you can take it from there.......

And I have to call you on taking what I said out of context . The sentence before what you quoted said:
 
"To say that Cakewalk goes in the completely opposite direction of what people want is simply not true, nor is it a bad thing that Cakewalk has developed features that may not have been 'clamored for' but have been extremely popular."
 
I already showed that Cakewalk has been very responsive to the community. It's absurd not to place value on the contributions Cakewalk's developers can make on their own - they develop for it, they know the code, they know what's possible, and come up with ideas that only people "on the inside" would likely come up with...like VocalSync, which leans heavily on ARA integration to make it possible.
 

dwardzala
The people who write the software are experts in its use and understand far more of what's going on under the hood and can leverage that knowledge into new feature ideas a lot better than most of us.

The guys who write the code know the code but that doesn't mean they know how everybody else uses that software or that their ideas are better than those who spend all their time using the software not writing the code. Sometimes the people who write the code can't see the forest for the trees.  That's why user input is so important to the development of any software. The developers can't have all the ideas nor do they necessarily always have the best ideas.

Nor do the users.... Aye, there's the rub.

Anderton
 It's absurd not to place value on the contributions Cakewalk's developers can make on their own -

And I'll call you back out for missing the point.  I said:
"To place a higher value on the opinion of those who work for CW than on the opinions of those who purchased the software"
 
I said higher value.....not that the developer's contributions have no value.
I've been on enough Beta Teams to know that a lot of the best ideas come from users not the developers.  It doesn't mean the developers don't have any ideas but everybody works differently.  No one can possibly know what's best for such a wide range of workflows without input from the people who actually have those workflows.

Thanks Scook! That one simple link has answered so many of my questions. Thanks so very much! An informed community is a polite community!
And I've been on this rock for a few years, not the most tech savvy but you don't get this much gray hair from lack of understanding either. The membership program, with such a perfect analogy given by Craig earlier, does appear to be a win-win concept. As long as venues like this remain, and I laugh at times as such eager support is given here for sonar products that I though were long obsolete. Try and get Microsoft to help ya out with a bug in Win98....sorry, made myself chuckle a bit. Kinda makes me look twice at my old Sonar6 producer CD that I never learned (had time) to use, that I tossed with an old outdated machine.
Those that are afraid of the koolaid, all I can tell ya is "Cheers!" as I toss mine down! Tasty!!

charlygNor do the users.... Aye, there's the rub.

But the users pay the bills..........especially with a "membership" paradigm.
 
Ok I'm done.  You can't reason with people who are in "Defense of DAW mode". You see it on every DAW forum.

Teksonik
 
Ok I'm done.  You can't reason with people who are in "Defense of DAW mode". You see it on every DAW forum.

Sorry but that is the lamest way to "win" an argument on gear/tech boards. "Ya'll just fanbois!"
 
Really?
 
Anyway... I am no fb and was actually getting accused of trolling by a few people during my X2 woes. Almost all those issues immediately disappeared with X3 and all the new features were super useful and needed for my specific work. Sonar 2015, IMO, is simply X3... not on steroids but it's certainly been pumping some iron and doing some cardio work. I'm using it every freaking day now problem free (touch wood) and the useful new stuff (that I actually can use) is coming so fast I can't find time to check it all out.
 
That is not an exaggeration. If it sucked or I was displeased in any way I would say so (and I point out things I find lacking regularly). I think they are going in exactly the right direction for ME.
 
Where is your fanbois now?!
 
Sorry it ain't working out for you. Make feature requests if you want stuff implemented.

I tried GB, 3 different multi-trackers, and came back home to CW. They are worthy of praise in my book. I was getting nothing done for over 3 months, til I popped open X3(sitting  unused due to my lack of ability on it) and upgraded.  I bought two  tutorial videos and things are coming along nicely, I like the community here, and there is more than a wealth of knowledge. Everyone here and at CW wants you to succeed. It's better for everyone that way.

Teksonik

charlygNor do the users.... Aye, there's the rub.

But the users pay the bills..........especially with a "membership" paradigm.
 
Ok I'm done.  You can't reason with people who are in "Defense of DAW mode". You see it on every DAW forum.

Sadly, I agree, Teksonik.  Seems like if you are anywhere reasonably critical of the software or company actions, it does seem like people jump all over you, and "you're so wrong, how dare you be so critical, and you should feel lucky that you even get a chance to pay for and USE the software".  I've been around with Cakewalk since the Pro Audio 9 days, and I'll probably be with it for many years more.   So, I don't plan on leaving the software any time soon.  
 
However, as I mentioned before, I haven't upgraded from X3 yet, and I have presented concerns on why I haven't been willing to do that.  Eventually, maybe I will, but right now, I am concerned about how things are progressing, notwithstanding what forum members might try to get me to believe.  I guess time will tell.