One thing for sure. I am glad I did not buy Superior Drummer while it is on sale this month. Getting AD 2 thrown in will be just fine and well, I'm saving some money because I would have bought Platinum in any case.
On a different note, I sort of wish I had waited on some of the PC modules I haven't used yet.. still, that's life!
 
I am HAPPY. Happy Happy! Just let me know when to pay!
 
I will have to read this thread and the other one and probably a few more a couple of times... and watch the vids, I don't have time for it right now but wow... I'll make time.
 
Thanks Bakers!
 
J

Anderton

SubSonic
I likely will take advantage of the $149 "upgrade" price to this new service from X3 Producer, but I won't pay $199 a year for it thereafter.

 
I don't understand why someone is so certain of what will be introduced 12 months from now that they've already decided they don't want it. Just because you've been burned by other models doesn't mean it can't be done right.
 
Those with decent memories will note that when I first came into this forum, I was dead set against subscription software programs. I wrote an editorial for Harmony Central, an article for Pro Sound News, and posts in other forums that made my opinions perfectly clear. And those opinions have not changed.
 
But then I understood that software requires a new means of distribution. Boxes in stores weren't going to cut it any more. Just go to a GC and see how many boxes of software are left. More companies were going to digital downloads. Apple took Logic away from retail, made it download only, and offered no upgrade path.
 
The rental model is great for companies. They get consistent cash flow, and because the software expires, they are accountable to no one. You want to open the files you created last year? Sorry. Pay up. Now.
 
What makes Cakewalk's approach so different is it incorporates the new realities software companies face, but is 100% accountable to the customer. Some people here recognize what a huge commitment that is on the part of Cakewalk in terms of rewarding and respecting their user base. Others don't quite see that...yet. But the onus isn't on YOU to renew. It's on Cakewalk to create something that makes you WANT to renew, because you don't have to. You can keep using your software, as long as you paid for it, for as long as you want.
 
That's a HUGE difference.
 
Meanwhile, all the people who said last September that Cakewalk would be out of business in a year after being acquired...well, let's hope all their bets were gentleman's bets. And if you're going to bet against Cakewalk again, I'd recommend the same approach.
 
 

Life is FULL of risk...every day your eyes open you take a risk...
Everytime you get behind the wheel of your car you are taking a "risk".
NOTHING is "For Sure" other then Death and taxes...

Companies come and go...things come and go...this is life....why worry about it?

Cakewalk has made good on their promises (with the exception of X2, which got "lost")
but, even if they do go out of business YOU STILL HAVE THE PRODUCT TO USE...no harm..no foul...
the only issue would be "content you didn't receive during the 12 months" which, quite frankly,
Is more of a "bonus" then a "requirement"...as we would have "bought" it for the same price...
and may not have received anything else till the next version...I don't see anything wrong here...
They've updated the product regularly, and given us upgrades almost annually....

That's good enough for me....

ChazEd

yevster
You can pay that $200 a year later, two years later, etc. You can wait until CW puts out enough new features to be worth your next $200. This is different from before when the number of versions you were behind determined how much you paid to catch up.

Can you please point me to this info in the faq?

Yep. Copying&Pasting:

If I let my Membership expire after 12 months, can I renew it again later?

Yes, you can come back any time and pay the Renewal rate. If you choose to renew Monthly payments, you will need to complete an additional 12 consecutive months to permanently activate the latest update you have received.

yevster...Look, this model actually allows you to choose how much you're willing to pay. Let's say your 12 months have run out. You keep what you've paid for, then just wait until CW puts out something that's worth another $200. You can pay that $200 a year later, two years later, etc. You can wait until CW puts out enough new features to be worth your next $200...

Tempting. But what about bug fixes/Patches? We all know these HAVE to come. if you want bugs to get fixed, you can't choose when to pay, you HAVE to pay (maybe even 12 months in order to "keep" the fixed patch level). This can not be legal, can it?

yevster
Frequency of updates also guarantees nothing.

This is true. I think it's the simplicity of the updates that appeals to development. Doing one significant upgrade and getting it right is easier than doing a bunch of simultaneous updates.

Ok, I got to say it. This is an intriguing twist to the SaaS model. And it is a far cry better than the Waves approach to the market for their plug-ins. I no longer run Sonar due to my platform change. But to be honest if Sonar were compiled for OS X, I'd come back based upon this new model. As far as Apple and Logic Pro X, the upgrade was a good deal less than my PT upgrade. And with PT you are limited on audio track availability if you're not PT Native or HD.

Gibson/Cakewalk have got the right model and approach. If I were a betting man I would say that this will be very attractive to a lot of home studio, project studio and some pro studios. I always found the Sonar product to be well ahead of the competition in capability and usability. And if there was a good marketing effort put behind this product, it might be that Avid may be looking at some stiff competition moving into their market space.

Agile development says that you run your project as splinters off the main code and then meld them back in after QA. The pricing scheme will not drive the update and development schedule, Iwould guess. It didn't at the SaaS software companies I've worked for in the past.

TabSel

yevster...Look, this model actually allows you to choose how much you're willing to pay. Let's say your 12 months have run out. You keep what you've paid for, then just wait until CW puts out something that's worth another $200. You can pay that $200 a year later, two years later, etc. You can wait until CW puts out enough new features to be worth your next $200...

Tempting. But what about bug fixes/Patches? We all know these HAVE to come. if you want bugs to get fixed, you can't choose when to pay, you HAVE to pay (maybe even 12 months in order to "keep" the fixed patch level). This can not be legal, can it?

Please read my previous posts that address this. To summarize again, legalities are determined by the EULA you signed and local laws, if applicable. Please refer to the Apple document linked to in a previous post for a representative example of a EULA drawn up by what are presumably highly competent attorneys.
 
The only legit concern I see is if a feature is introduced late in your membership, and later, a bug is discovered but you have decided not to renew. Then again, I would also think that if there was indeed a serious, show-stopper bug that was truly Cakewalk's fault and not just some incompatibility with, for example, a plug-in that deviates in some way from the VST spec, the new model would make it much easier to deploy that one fix to the user base through the connected installer. But that would be a question only Cakewalk can answer.

Cakewalk does not compete with Avid. To play in the high-end market, they'd need far better reliability than Sonar has had in its best days.

 

Soft Enerji
Just trying to get a definite answer to the Addictive Drums question that has been asked. Will I be able to use my ADpaks, MIDIpaks and Kit Pieces that I already own and use in AD 1, with AD 2? 
 

 
This is a question for xlnaudio dudes.