Not new to Sonar, but with that said... the subscription platform was a super idea, andhaving AD2 is a plus. I have Professional at the moment and am laying in the cut to see what Platinum brings to the table next time.
I'd be in 7th or 8th heaven if the bundle was a Waves bundle ( input a demon grin here )
VSTs are a plus, but I also aquired Akai's Advance hard drive, so for me more mixng and mastering tools would tip my scale to buy without a second thought.
I also have the Reaper DAW and would like to see the same processing speed as that from Sonar ( even though I realize Reaper is somewhat barebones to Sonar in comparison). For me it could be the learning curve. I find myself needing to be more tedious with Sonar.
All in all, I hope they keep up the good work, bring a bit of everything for everyone in the next set, annd make my upgrade price as compatible as someone upgrading from X3. But mixing and mastering would make my cup runneth over.

I don't think the ADPaks are the "reason" for a price hike at all. So....that kind of makes the rest of the thread moot. I grabbed my few so they'll be on hand but I already have several gigs of drum samples so it really doesn't make much difference to me, the best it does is save me time. With enough processing you can make killer drums with a tin can.
 
 

Chop lots of raw almonds, at least a cup+
using an 8 inch pan, fry in lots of butter on low heat, careful to not burn
add lots of chili powder, stir, add more butter if needed
when almonds are happy, add 2-3 planks of white fish, turn
cover and turn-off burner
let sit for 10 minutes
 
======================
 
new nutrition report released this week:
   cholesterol in food has no relationship to cholesterol in blood

Don't use Addictive Drums so I couldn't care less about them as a freebie. I don't find many of the freebie add ons as incentives. For me it's what's in Sonar that counts and this release has had more than enough advancements to satisfy me.

mudgel
Don't use Addictive Drums so I couldn't care less about them as a freebie. I don't find many of the freebie add ons as incentives.

FWIW I hadn't paid that much attention to things like Strum Acoustic, AD, Blue Tubes, etc. But I started dipping into them and there are some elements to all those things that I really enjoy now. For example, I'm not that much into "vintage" sounds but am finding some really appealing aspects to the Blue Tubes plug-ins. And Strum Acoustic has that MIDI chord readout feature that's great...anyway, while I wouldn't upgrade specifically for those, I always end up being glad they're included. To me it's like when you have a really good meal, and just when you expect the maitre d' to bring the check, he brings some excellent after-dinner drink and says "compliments of the house." 

The 3rd party add-ons are the least attractive incentive to upgrade to me at present.  The reason is that I've collected enough plugins and soft synths to take care of my needs and most of my wants.   I installed AD just to use to test the mapping for EZplayer.  I never have liked the sound of Addictive Drums so it's not something I'll be using - free or not.
 
What moves me is improvements that will speed up my workflow.  The stacking FX bin and the unlimited view of sends in the Console view was the first thing I gravitated to.  The Vocal align feature is somewhat interesting but I've always thought that the human interplay of a doubled vocal is more interesting.  To each, his own.
 
I am looking forward to the Drum replacement feature and I hope that it is well thought out and developed fully.
 
The collapsible toolbar is nice and I've already started using that and AudioSnap is better but still needs development to get to the level of Elastic Audio and Beat Detective.
 
One thing that I will also say is that the Sonar update absolutely blows the Pro Tools update away (from what has been revealed) for satisfying user feature requests.

YouDontHasToCallMeJohnson
Chop lots of raw almonds, at least a cup+
using an 8 inch pan, fry in lots of butter on low heat, careful to not burn
add lots of chili powder, stir, add more butter if needed
when almonds are happy, add 2-3 planks of white fish, turn
cover and turn-off burner
let sit for 10 minutes
 

 
Mmmm... sounds yummy. Not quite as good as free drums, but...  I'm glad I skipped looking at this thread until now, and jumped to the last page.
 
Thanks,
Dave
 

Dave Modisette

One thing that I will also say is that the Sonar update absolutely blows the Pro Tools update away (from what has been revealed) for satisfying user feature requests.

+1

Also, the same night Avid announced Pro Tools 12, I enthusiastically checked it out and walked away s****ing/laughing. Either Avid thinks we out here have got stupid written on our foreheads or they thinks they have got Obi Wan Kenobi's skills of using the Force (You don't need to see anythig new LOL). Actually, just yesterday I checked it out again thinking surely I must have missed something... nup! Apparently we've got stupid written on our foreheads. The new Cubase 8 wasn't much better on that front, or Fruity Loops 12 either for that matter. When new 'practical' and 'usable' plugins don't get added with an upgrade I go into an uncontrollable fit-of-rage. Sonar sort of only got some major house cleaning IMO but at least they didn't take us for fools and added the top-notch REmatrix and AD stuff. IMO the Sonar update just made it (and i mean just) into the 'legitimate upgrade' arena. Waiting for Studio One 3, any day now, apparently it's gonna be huge. Cakewalk have got their head screwed-on straight, Sonar Professional is undeniable value for money, and clearly a slick move on Cakewalk's part to entice prospective buyers into Sonar land.

Dave Modisette
The Vocal align feature is somewhat interesting but I've always thought that the human interplay of a doubled vocal is more interesting.  To each, his own.

 
I think the concept was invented primarily for video ADR, where it shines...the vocal benefits fall into the "hey, it works here too!" category. The main use I find for it with sung vocals is aligning words at the end of phrases so they end together, and lining up sibilants to avoid a kind of "slapback" effect.
 
 

One thing that I will also say is that the Sonar update absolutely blows the Pro Tools update away (from what has been revealed) for satisfying user feature requests.

 
My favorite example of that is Mix Recall. I think Noel had already come up with the idea, but when there was a forum thread about "wouldn't it be great if...," I'm sure that gave him the incentive to finish it/add to it. Have you had a chance to check it out? The more I use it, the more I like it. 
 
Also I don't think you're a loop library guy, but the recursive browser search thing has changed my life when I'm looking for a specific loop or one-shot.
 

Drone7
Waiting for Studio One 3, any day now, apparently it's gonna be huge.

I was told at NAMM it's still a ways off..."later in the year."