jayson
So I've decided to get the Platinum upgrade and re-evaluate after a year.

 
Makes perfect sense to me  
 

So one thing I would like to be assured of, as a Platinum member, is that the new content won't be special edition or lite versions requiring a further purchase to get the full version.  I'll be less likely to renew if that's the case.

 
I don't know what all they have planned, but the stuff I'm working on is original, and never before released. Although members will receive it as part of the program, it looks like at least some of it will be available for purchase by non-members and even non-SONAR users. But of course, members would get it first, and wouldn't have to pay extra.
 
Then again I would hope that at least some exclusive, but light, versions would be part of the plan. I get a lot of mileage out of TH2 and Breverb even though they aren't full versions. Also, realistically speaking it's going to be difficult to justify putting in something like a program whose full version costs $200 in a $149 upgrade.
 
What would probably be ideal is if companies who provided light versions offered really great update deals so you could get the full version at a substantially reduced cost.
 

Also, I'm hoping Cakewalk might be more open to let members vote on possible new features maybe via the features and ideas forum.

 
Hmm...I wonder why Cakewalk decided to start a features and ideas forum...  Clearly Cakewalk wants to pay attention, look how many of the new features have their genesis in forum requests.
 
Yup, you get it.
 

Anderton
 
It works just fine. The problem is you don't.

Praise be to THE CRAIG!

yevster
Sonar forums are so entertaining around a release. 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. This is different from before when the number of versions you were behind determined how much you paid to catch up. The model, on its own, IMHO, is beyond reproach.

 
Yeah, it all matter how moch the new feature mean to you. Either their is a must have or more, or the accumulation of enhances seems beneficial to you, then the value of the package becomes appropriate to your needs. At the moment there is nothing, for me, so I'll wait, but a time will come. I can't see cakewalk never having special offers, especially if they fear a longterm customer maybe opting out, so it may not even be $200.
 
If upgrade for 200 in June, and wait 18 months and do the same in December 2016, then that's 400 over 3 years (assuming they don't throw out a special offer to draw me in), compared with 150+200+200 = 550 if I upgrade annually for the next 3 years. The only way Cakewalk can get me to really purchase  quicker than my plan is through offers or making it too damned irresistible, so good for me either way.
 
Part of what make this package appealing is AD2 3 kits, it's a great opportunity. Those who have the 3 kits that came with AD1 when they got X3 (assuming they managed to upgrade them), can now make AD2 a much more rounded package of options. But not for me, because I took that step.
 
After a year passes, and people are looking for their second year, surely cakewalk will be looking for another 3rd party relationship to fill out the value of buying on. If I buy now, I get the last years feature that there are adding (about 15 of them), and the ones that are set to be released over this year. Why would I upgrade then, I will not be getting the past 12 months development, I'd have had that already. So either I wait a while or cakewalk look to bundle some other irresistible juiciness.
 
AD2 as a bundle is smart, as nearly every musics user wants drums. But what can you add when everyone has them. If I didn't have the AD2 stuff I needed, an got Platinum, then I would have get 3 kits, and in the December sales pick up extras. Then Platinum bundling 3 kits in 2016 isn't going to appeal to most 2015 purchasers. Clearly their is a relationship with XLN, but Keys are not so universal to music production as drums. (And I have those too, so please don''t make it them).
 
Seems to me, Cakewalk will need a new partner to make 2016 upgrades worthwhile.
 
Dear Cakewalk
http://www.fabfilter.com/
Regards
Scott

yevster
No argument that Pro Tools is backward feature-wise and in terms of the overall value proposition. My point was that without significant improvements in the reliability of the product, Sonar cannot compete for the Pro Tools users who are seeking greener pastures. I won't bother recounting all my nightmares with X3 here, but no commercial user with clients or deadlines would have put up with a quarter of what I had to go through.

I dunno, I'm a commercial user with clients and deadlines, and done soundtracks and narration for hundreds of videos as well as remixing and recording with no more problems than I get with other software (including Pro Tools), with the exception of Reason (their closed system has significant merit in terms of stability, which I think is one - ahem - reason for the ProChannel), and Ableton Live, which I've always found to be unusually solid even though it lacks certain features (like comping) that I need for commercial applications. That's why I use it live, but not in the studio. Before Live, I used Reason live, for the same reason. (How many times can I say "reason" and "live" in the same sentence? Have I set a record?) 
 
I think one problem with SONAR in terms of reliability is it lets you do things you probably shouldn't do. For example Cubase and Studio One won't let you run 32-bit plug-ins in a 64-bit system. [Correction - Steinberg DOES include a VST bridge for 32-bit plug-ins, but they don't exactly recommend using 32-bit plug-ins in their knowledge base article on the subject]  If you don't use any bridging in SONAR, reliability increases. Also disabling that stupid HD Audio driver changed my life. It's those little things that can ruin your day.

yevster
No argument that Pro Tools is backward feature-wise and in terms of the overall value proposition. My point was that without significant improvements in the reliability of the product, Sonar cannot compete for the Pro Tools users who are seeking greener pastures. I won't bother recounting all my nightmares with X3 here, but no commercial user with clients or deadlines would have put up with a quarter of what I had to go through.

Not to start an argument Yevster, but there are numerous commercial users of Sonar with clients and deadlines. I am sorry you've had so much trouble with X3, but it has been a great, trouble free program for many of us.

aidanodr
I upgrade my Sonar X3 Producer to Platinum via the $149 one off payment. I get 1 year membership for the following 12 months. My choices then are:
 
1. Stop subscribing,own the Platinum outright with updates ONLY up to that point
2. Continue subscription via another yearly sub of $149 or greater ( after intro offer ) in perpetuity 
3. Continue subscription via monthly sub of $14.99.

 
And the big problem I see with #2 is that there is no assurance of any release upgrades at that time.  If this program were to deliver regular features of value and an assurance that the costs would not escalate unreasonably in future years, that could make some sense, as it would be roughly what people spend for a (more or less) annual upgrade.  But if the "features" are actually more like the downloads that Cakewalk threw in in the year before joining Gibson, I found very few of those to be relevant to what I do with the product.  Indeed, the only feature in the present announcement that I see a compelling case for (in my circumstances) is the ability to snapshot different mixes.  That is powerful, and if I had an expectation of ongoing improvements of that magnitude, I wouldn't have a big objection to the annual fee program.
 

yevster
And speaking of competition, with Cubase 8 pro selling in GuitarCenter and Musician's Friend for $400 with an included MIDI controller, perhaps the $499 intro price tag is counterproductive.

Well...not quite. They're selling off old stock of Cubase 7.5 for $399, with an upgrade to 8 when it comes out in February. But if someone buys SONAR in February for $499, they not only get the software that's current in February, they get updates and content for the next year culminating in the next "version" of SONAR. A more comparable analogy would be if you could buy Cubase 8 in February, and when you purchased it, get an update to Cubase 9 locked in at the same time for an extra $99, with the Cubase 9 features being downloadable as soon as they're ready.

I do not see Sonar as a product where people make millions of dollars off the backs of the consumers.  I would rather they adopt a business model that helps them make a decent living, while providing their service, as opposed to a business model where they suffer financially, perhaps go under, or at least do not have the resources to provide the product.
 
That is my 2 cents.

As a user of Steam version of Sonar, how it will be handled?
 
While at it, will Cakewalk increase the number of products avaliable on Steam?

cparmerlee

aidanodr
I upgrade my Sonar X3 Producer to Platinum via the $149 one off payment. I get 1 year membership for the following 12 months. My choices then are:
 
1. Stop subscribing,own the Platinum outright with updates ONLY up to that point
2. Continue subscription via another yearly sub of $149 or greater ( after intro offer ) in perpetuity 
3. Continue subscription via monthly sub of $14.99.

 
And the big problem I see with #2 is that there is no assurance of any release upgrades at that time.

 
I'll say it again, Cakewalk will be sharing announcements on upcoming developments more readily than in the past. They've already said Drum Replacement is on-deck.
 

he only feature in the present announcement that I see a compelling case for (in my circumstances) is the ability to snapshot different mixes.  That is powerful, and if I had an expectation of ongoing improvements of that magnitude, I wouldn't have a big objection to the annual fee program.

 
I'd pay $100 just for Mix Recall, it would be that useful to me. So I figure $25 for VocalSync and $25 for the new Control Bar is all I need to justify the cost, but there's all the other stuff too...