Anderton

orhanproject
Overall mixed feelings, same as when adobe moved (forced) completely to CC (Im still on cs6) Didn't see anything about MELODYNE (ctrl+m) (i have the full version which works fine in x3e), will it still be available in platinum?

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But another advantage that hasn't really been emphasized is that rolling out and QAing one or two new program features at a time is much more straightforward than QAing 40 changes in a huge rollout. Also if there's an issue, it can be fixed more quickly.
 
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Not to mention, if there is a really REALLY big issue, the new Cakewalk Command Center allows people to roll back with ease http://www.cakewalk.com/command-center
 
It's the type of feature that you hope to never have to use, but I can think of plenty of times where DAW upgrades broke 3rd party compatibility and the question of which company was at fault was never fully defined. When faced with those situations and an immediate fix is not available from either developer, the ability to roll back is HUGE!

theheliosequence
Hmmm... it says membership renewal after 12 months is $199 or $19.99 per month. I also notice that this version doesn't seem to be called Sonar X4, but as far as I could tell... Sonar 2015. I'm I to believe that Sonar will no longer have version upgrades, but just be constantly upgrading on the same platform or perhaps a yearly overhaul? Does that also mean that Sonar will basically be $200/year to continue using from here on out?

Yeah, there are no more versions. We will be constantly updating the program and when you purchase you'll never have to worry that a new one is around the corner. You'll be covered for 12 months with the current version plus the new stuff you'll be getting. The one big difference and why we don't call this subscription is that you keep everything you own assuming you are currently a member or completed 12 months. So for $20/mo or the upfront fee, we'll be providing you a lot of value that we hope will keep you happy and a customer. Of course if say in a year you aren't satisfied for whatever reason, you'll keep everything you received and can decide at a later date if you want to opt back in. If you pay upfront, you are all set and are covered for 12 months.

I noticed that the one-time payment for the upgrade from Sonar X3 Producer to Sonar Platinum is $149, but if you pay $14.99 for 12 months it comes to $179.88. Is this basically just rewarding customers for paying all at once, or is there something I'm not getting by using the one-time payment offer? Does paying all at once equate to buying 12 months of the subscription or am I only paying to use the software as it is with no updates available to me? 

orhanproject
Overall mixed feelings, same as when adobe moved (forced) completely to CC (Im still on cs6)

1 - Didn't see anything about MELODYNE (ctrl+m) (i have the full version which works fine in x3e), will it still be available in platinum?

2 - still no overhaul on selected/active track highlighted, its still hard to see what track is active
3 - pattern tool, what is this? Clone stamp ala photoshop? name one occation where its useful :) whos idea/request was that?

Check out the Pattern Tool video on the page to see how it works. Basically you can copy a MIDI part and then use the tool to paint your MIDI parts. Huge time saver.

Ryan Munnis [Cakewalk]
Not to mention, if there is a really REALLY big issue, the new Cakewalk Command Center allows people to roll back with ease http://www.cakewalk.com/command-center
 
It's the type of feature that you hope to never have to use, but I can think of plenty of times where DAW upgrades broke 3rd party compatibility and the question of which company was at fault was never fully defined. When faced with those situations and an immediate fix is not available from either developer, the ability to roll back is HUGE!

 
Yes Ryan, that is really cool. I also like that you can download stuff when you want, can skip an update and come back to it later, etc.

Still no varispeed but.... everything else looks awesome!!!!

skitch_84
I noticed that the one-time payment for the upgrade from Sonar X3 Producer to Sonar Platinum is $149, but if you pay $14.99 for 12 months it comes to $179.88. Is this basically just rewarding customers for paying all at once, or is there something I'm not getting by using the one-time payment offer? Does paying all at once equate to buying 12 months of the subscription or am I only paying to use the software as it is with no updates available to me? 

There's a discount for paying upfront. But whether you pay upfront or monthly, you'll get the new version with all the new features plus the features coming up over the next year. Basically, you are getting what would have been X4 and then X5. 

I have been a Cakewalk customer since the Midi days in the mid/early 90's. I would say that I typically will get good use out of every other (or maybe one in every three) version of Sonar... For example... Used 8 a ton...but barely used 8.5 (even though it was solid). X1 was a nightmare for me and was never really usable, while X2 has been great and used a lot. Haven't really got much use out of X3, but could at least use it at this point... where it was too buggy early on. Most of this depended on how big of a project I was working on and how buggy the current version was at the time. I usually have pretty complex projects with tons of tracks, busses, sends, FX (4x UAD-2 Quads), layers, automation, midi, etc... so when things aren't really solid, I just have to stick to a version that works or that I can really count on.
 
With this in mind... could I sign up for monthly updates and if the software isn't working out for me, stop payment until the software becomes more stable and start back up with monthly payments again? Or will there be retroactive charges or lost features doing this?
 
Although part of me is skeptical that any major DAW could keep a constantly updating software bug free for the majority of a year, I'm also kind of curious if people's ability to stop payment until fixes are made to really keep the focus on the software working... as opposed to big promises every year and half that may or may not come to fruition. My first thought was negative towards this... that it was a way to milk loyal customers ($199/year as opposed to $149 every year and a half)... but now I wonder if it could be a good thing?
 

bapu
Andrew,
 
So I can post a bug on Tuesday and have a patch on Wednesday?

HAHA. It won't be daily. But you can expect more fixes over the course of a year. And we'll be working on improving the product and current feature sets, which customers have asked us to do for a long time.

It's a bit confusing, and my initial reaction was dismay as I'm not a fan of monthly licensing, but it looks like for those of us who wish to upgrade once a year it looks similar to what we had before - except with periodic releases of new features as they become available and monthly pricing for those who desire it.