brconflict
Project templates are so limited for this. You really only get one shot at it. What I want, is a feature, where you have 12 songs, and have completely mixed them all. After that, the artist decides they want the bass to sound radically different, or want you to change reverb settings for the vocals.

Yeah, this is exactly what I'd like to be able to use this feature for. It could work the same way as Track Templates does, and match existing tracks and buses by name.
 
(Although, since a large part of my mixing is done via plugins, I probably won't be able to make use of this feature unless it somehow copies FX chains as well.)

Hi Gang...

I've only read the pists as far as the middle of page 5, but something occurs to me that I thought I might question...

While this first year we get the latest new features as well as a year of further updates... That's actually the same as what we've been getting, but every following year, there is no new set of features as the new year rolls over and only the years upcoming periodical updates...

It appears to me that we "get less" this way...

Please forgive me if I'm stepping on any toes... I actually like the idea of the new system. ...and I've always believed that paying for continued development made a lot of sense and was actually what our upgrades are.

I for one only expect to buy the upfront version as I want to own what I buy, not rent it. I know that if I make all the payments I still own it, but if I miss (opt out) a month or such, would I still be able to use what I have bought for the remainder of the year or would it stop immediately? ...and if such a scenario happened will there be options/opportunities to pay off the months missed and end up owning the full years version?

Keni

The Midi stretch tool is the bomb, especially for non time signature based noise mayhem freaks like me.
 

joden
Although a follow up question would be does the ensuing $14.99 per month still apply after the end of the first year (assuming one pays the $149).
 
Or does the "subscription" then revert to the $49.99 per month thereafter?

See last line of the pricing info, renewal is $19.99/mo or $199.

mettelus
If you step back and think about X3, upgrades (Producer to Producer) were $149... the patches that followed were not guaranteed for that purchase (remember X2??), but patches to X3 came pretty fast and furious, which was a real treat for us. As far as going forward, the $149 pays for a year (time period) versus a version (i.e. "X4") is actually more minutiae from that perspective. I would far prefer seeing the support we saw with X3 continue going forward, and it also benefits the bakers in that there is not a "self-contained" version to package at each development stage. To the folks who upgrade regularly, it is actually just a change in the name.
 
For folks who jumped onto X3 after the X3e patch was released (for half price)... they got the same thing I paid double for, so this new structure seems to also equalize this (at the assumption that the one-time price for 12 months doesn't become $75... which seems unlikely since there will not be a "new version" in the pipeline).

There are some good points, but the underlying assumption is that Cakewalk is unable to afford the coding time to either 1. get it right prior to release or 2. fix the flaws (not add new features or provide "updates") for free under their prior pricing plan. Most of us have probably lost our investment in some application when the vendor went bankrupt and support disappeared, so the argument that whatever keeps the vendor solvent is an inescapable price to be paid. If this model saves Cakewalk, then you, at least, should be happy regardless. 
 
Bug fixes are not guaranteed, but no ethical business would release buggy software without making a genuine effort to fix the obvious problems, and few customers would continue to buy from firms that would not. There is nothing about the way Cakewalk collects money (aside from the fact that their old model did not supply sufficient income) that would have any influence whatever on how or how often they supply bug fixes. The software to download bug fixes as soon as they are ready does not inherently depend on a customer paying a monthly fee vs version upgrade.
 
For people who paid a lot less than you to get into a version late, they got a lot less time to use the version than you did, and were able to stay in the Cakewalk upgrade loop for an affordable price. That option is gone, and so I expect are many of those customers.

Keni
While this first year we get the latest new features as well as a year of further updates... That's actually the same as what we've been getting, but every following year, there is no new set of features as the new year rolls over and only the years upcoming periodical updates... 

It appears to me that we "get less" this way...

My take is, assuming we either pay for the full year now or subscribe for the next 12 months consecutively, it's a good deal now - we get to keep the current new features plus everything they release over the coming year.
 
But then 1 year from now we will face a very, very different decision point. Personally, I can't see any compelling need to worry about that decision right now.

joden

 
Thanks, yeah it was a page loading glitch when I clicked on the link from the OP.
 
Although a follow up question would be does the ensuing $14.99 per month still apply after the end of the first year (assuming one pays the $149).
 
Or does the "subscription" then revert to the $49.99 per month thereafter?

You would have the option to buy another "full" version (which is essentially paying for a 12 month membership which allows you to keep everything put out over that next year) for what is likely going to be $200. It's basically just like upgrading as we do now.
 
Or you can pay for monthly membership... not sure what the price would be.
 
Remember though you get to KEEP everything if you buy the 12 months at a time just like you get to keep X1, X2, X3. If you only buy one month at a time and let it lapse before 12 months is up you lose everything (except the stuff you bought in a twelve month chunk previously).
 
So if you don't want anything to change as far as upgrades just pay the for the 12 months in advance and everything will stay the same as it always have been. You pay once a year and you keep everything fully licensed forever.
 
Even if you DON'T pay for another 12 month chunk OR go on a month by month basis (basically letting you membership lapse) you can wait a few months and then pay for another 12 month chunk and you'll be up to date without losing anything.
 
You can find the FAQ about all this here... https://www.cakewalk.com/Products/SONAR/Membership
 
You have to scroll to the bottom of the page. 

Beepster

yevster
I'd be more curious about the "content" portion of the subscription. I made the jump to Cubase after X3, but since the $149 upgrade is just a little over the price of the included AD producer pack alone, it may still be worth it. So what kind of content is expected here?

Currently these... https://www.cakewalk.com/Products/SONAR/Up-Next#start
 
I'm assuming that page will be updated regularly. Unfortunately not much description of the upcoming features but the virtual keyboard is useful (I always wondered why we didn't have one). Drum replacement... well we can already do that but it's a pain so maybe it's a new tool to make it easier. QuickFX? No idea... maybe a hyper awesome FX Chain module.
 
Cheers.

I'm working on a bunch of content. I'm sure as it gets delivered to Cakewalk they'll be listing it.

scook

joden
Although a follow up question would be does the ensuing $14.99 per month still apply after the end of the first year (assuming one pays the $149).
 
Or does the "subscription" then revert to the $49.99 per month thereafter?

See last line of the pricing info, renewal is $19.99/mo or $199.

Cool, thx

Beepster

joden
 
Thanks, yeah it was a page loading glitch when I clicked on the link from the OP.
 
Although a follow up question would be does the ensuing $14.99 per month still apply after the end of the first year (assuming one pays the $149).
 
Or does the "subscription" then revert to the $49.99 per month thereafter?

You would have the option to buy another "full" version (which is essentially paying for a 12 month membership which allows you to keep everything put out over that next year) for what is likely going to be $200. It's basically just like upgrading as we do now.
 
Or you can pay for monthly membership... not sure what the price would be.
 
Remember though you get to KEEP everything if you buy the 12 months at a time just like you get to keep X1, X2, X3. If you only buy one month at a time and let it lapse before 12 months is up you lose everything (except the stuff you bought in a twelve month chunk previously).
 
So if you don't want anything to change as far as upgrades just pay the for the 12 months in advance and everything will stay the same as it always have been. You pay once a year and you keep everything fully licensed forever.
 
Even if you DON'T pay for another 12 month chunk OR go on a month by month basis (basically letting you membership lapse) you can wait a few months and then pay for another 12 month chunk and you'll be up to date without losing anything.
 
You can find the FAQ about all this here... https://www.cakewalk.com/Products/SONAR/Membership
 
You have to scroll to the bottom of the page. 

 
Yep got it now, thx Beeps