Atsuko
Craig, I hope to you all the patience and tolerance of the world.

 
Thanks, but the majority of the people "get it" and understand why this is better. I think it's entirely natural that some people, especially if they aren't familiar with Cakewalk's track record, are skeptical. I believe that skepticism will disappear once they see the program unfold.

Beepster
...and a year's worth of tech support starting after he registers.

 
Really ?  I didn't know that.  I also just bought X3 but don't expect to be contacting support.
 
 

jsaras
I'd gladly pay $400 to have all bugs in 8.53 fixed.  I have no need for newly added half-baked features that need even more fixes.  I got off the Sonar submarine when Cakewalk laid the X1 egg.  My co-writer friend has the current Sonar X release and he has all sorts of oddball issues.

 
I don't know, it seems to me we would be more likely to get fixes for long-standing issues with the new model than previously. Previously there was always a hard deadline established long in advance, meaning the not-so-critical bugs got triaged into oblivion over and over again upfront.
 
With the new model, there are no hard deadlines, so bugs might not be triaged upfront to the let's-fix-it-next-time bin.
 
I might be wrong though. I'm just basing this off of how my own company does software releases. We follow strict deadlines established well in advance, and I see the same bugs pushed out to the next release over and over again. That is what the yearly release model requires.
 
Hopefully someone from CW chimes in and lets us know if that might be the case, which would be great for getting older bugs fixed.

400 dollars will hire a developer for two days if you are VERY lucky... Not sure if that model is sustainable.

I guess things won't change that much under the new system. In general, we'll be paying more money, and in exchange we have the promise of continuous ongoing improvements. I'm mostly broke, so the "more money" part is not appealing to me. From Pro Audio 9 to X3, I've never been able to justify the expense of purchasing every single upgrade, and I won't be able to afford an ongoing membership, which means I'll miss out on some of the "extras" (even if they're offered later at a premium price to non-members).
 
To Cakewalk staff (or anybody who knows): I see there is a "Coming Soon" page for core features. That will be helpful in deciding if and when to reactivate a membership. Will you be doing the same for the "extras?" I'd gladly buy in (for another year) for something specific, but I'm a little shy about maintaining a membership just to see what might happen down the road.

Hi Gang...

It appears that most of the pists in this thread are about the payment method. I'm near page 20 or so and I'm not seeing the no I'm curios about. I have no issues with the payment system though I feel the years following this year will feel very different as the new year brings only resetting the payment method and not receiving a big bunch of updates... I'll get used to that...

What I'm more concerned about right now is a bit of confusion that hopefully someone can set me straight on..

From X3 Producer to 2015 Platinum it seems to offer fewer ProChannel plugins than came with x3? I'm not counting those I purchased separately, but I didn't see the pc76 whicih I use a lot and what about the tape modeling? I bought a few others including the ca2a and the concrete limiter which again I use a lot...

So my question is if I go to Platinum, will I still have all the ProChannel devices I currently have? I'm guessing yes, but... :-)

Thanks!
Keni

CakeAlexS
400 dollars will hire a developer for two days if you are VERY lucky... Not sure if that model is sustainable.

Humble reason would dictate that he was probably referring to the $150-$200 upgrade cost with regard to the Sonar product he owns now to a newer version, versus fixing the version he owns now. The snide remark was NOT helpful.
 
It amazes me that the vast majority of comments in these 35 pages are dedicated to fighting over a financial model, and virtually no in-depth discussion is being had regarding specific bug fixes/improvements over the previous core product. To quote Jonas "I'd gladly pay $400.00..." if I knew what the bug fixes/improvements were in the new product before I bought it, as long as those bug fixes/improvements successfully addressed certain issues with the previous core product. Craig Anderton and other Cakewalk people have patiently expained the ins and outs of the financial model for the new Sonar. Why is it so hard to understand that some (if not all) people want to know exactly what was fixed/improved in the new Sonar as well?
I own X3e. The difference between $150 to upgrade immediately versus $200.00 to upgrade later is a non-issue. What truly matters to me is that the new version of the core product not only works significantly better than the old version, but that the core functions ALL work in the new version without issue.
 
I'll ask it again. Why is it so bleeding hard to have someone do what Noel Borthwick did with Sonar 8.5 - the "Whatsinaname" paper? 

Keni

From X3 Producer to 2015 Platinum it seems to offer fewer ProChannel plugins than came with x3? I'm not counting those I purchased separately, but I didn't see the pc76 whicih I use a lot and what about the tape modeling? I bought a few others including the ca2a and the concrete limiter which again I use a lot...

So my question is if I go to Platinum, will I still have all the ProChannel devices I currently have? I'm guessing yes, but... :-)

Platinum includes all the PC modules which shipped with X3 and REMatrix Solo, a new convolution plug-in from Overloud. Check http://www.cakewalk.com/Products/SONAR/Versions#pc. All your other PC modules will work too.

Keni
    I burst out laughing at the "pists", thinking you were delineating between the pros and cons/gripes here, but it was probably a typo.   Oh well, it made me laugh. Thanks! This thread could use some comic relief.
 
I will leave my X3ePE installed and therefore, all of my current Pro Channel items, will be available in X4(?) or Platinum or whatever....
That has worked for me in keeping things that I was used to/know how to use, in the next/new Sonar version, each time I've upgraded. I don't like it when things I use get dropped by the new version and it seems a small "price", for that access.
 
Michael
 

SGodfrey

FastBikerBoy

SGodfrey
This looks like very bad news for me.  The only way I've been able to afford Sonar upgrades is to wait roughly a year until they're about to release a new version and then take advantage of the final discount price.
 
Now I'm stuck on X2 Producer with no way to upgrade since I can't justify the non-discounted price and it looks like X3 is no longer available now.  Feeling pretty deflated right now!

Is a monthly payment not an option for you?

Thanks for the thought Karl, but no, it's still full price in the end.  I'm just a hobbyist, with more enthusiasm than talent, not much time to play and shallow pockets!

One thing that has bothered me with this new structure is that X3 was pulled from the online store at the same time as the new announcement. This actually bothers me even more when I think on it again, but upgrades from 3rd parties still exist for X3 (although a cursory Google search shows some already pulling stock).
 
I think the "hobbyist" perspective creates the most poignant point... Adobe's CC got kicked to the curb as soon as I sat back and pondered "I do this for fun, and own CS5.5, so without making a revenue stream (from Adobe products) to feed $600/yr to Adobe, what is the 'value?'" I am now reliving history, and my concerns are for the hobbyists and new users, both of whom will be pressured by this new structure.