WallyG

tKx5050
WallyG - I'm apologize if I'm missing something, but I had to pay the upgrade fee when AD2 came out to get my Sonar AD1 kits upgraded as did everyone else at the time if they wanted the upgrade. We didn't get it for free. If I'm missing something in translation then nevermind....
 

I'm mostly upset with XLNAudio (as others are if you go to the Software forum) that they intentionally misled me with their producer bundle. (XLN was informed that their WEB site was misleading, but they did not change it)  It appeared that if you purchased the Producer Bundle (for $179), the Addicitive Drums 2 application would be included (it was) and I would be able to use my AD1pacs. After installing it, I found this not to be the case. I would have to pay an additional $79 for them to all play together.
Addictive Drums 2 with Sonar is a different case. I realize that XLNAudio has to make money and can't just give away their products with the new release of Sonar. I assume they are hoping that you will buy more ADpacs and/or "UPGRADE" your Addictive Drums to Addictive Drums 2 so all the ADpacs work in AD2. This is reasonable and fair.
 
The $179 purchase I made with XLN was not. They did not clarify the difference between an "Upgraded" Addicitive Drums2 and the Addictive Drums 2 "Engine".
 
Walt
 

Yes I gave XLN a piece of my mind regarding that about a month ago. I warned them that many users will not be happy about that.

coolbass

Karyn
It is a question that (I think) Andrew touched on briefly when asked about costs in the future.  I've been looking for his post for an hour but can't find it,  but it was along the lines of.. "like the version updates/upgrades in the past", in other words, skip an update and you pay extra (or get less discount) for the next one.

I think you are muddling the waters. As far as I have read,  Cakewalk is saying that if you ever had Sonar/producer or /platinum, the cost of re-entering will be 199$.

Honestly I don't see the value in speculating about the fairly distant future:
 
Cakewalk/Gibson is going to have to produce product/pricing that us users will be willing to pay and will also make it a viable product from a business standpoint.
 
I wouldn't be surprised to see some adjustments in future years to reflect this.
 
 Based on the number I've times I've upgraded over the years, Cakewalk has always tried (and succeeded!) to provide enough stuff to entice me at a price I was willing to pay. I would expect that to continue as they are smart enough to know that if they don't they will lose me as a customer.

And I know this has already been mentioned but for those extra content type goodies that get missed out on by those who let their membership lapse it would be nice if they were made available as extra add ons in the store... at a premium cost of course so as not to defeat the purpose of membership. Like let's say the Drum Replacement tool is something that is not part of the main program but I miss it and need it I could then pay X amount of dollars to buy it in the store. Of course, as I said, at a premium that would discourage A La Carte style abuse of what is starting to look like an honor/trust based system between Cake and the consumer (which I think is cool BTW just for the sheer FU to the traditional norms of modern corporate shenanigans).

I still need to know the bug fix policy.

So, say, for example, just before my subscription ends, there would be a a feature rolled out that was announced long before and I'm eagerly awaiting. Now, a major bug in this new feature slipped through preventing the new feature to work at all. A hot fix will be announced, my subscription ends, the hot fix gets roled.

What about warranty here?
I paid with my subscription for this new feature, but it doesn't work until fixed.
I'm not entitled to the fix, as I'm no member anymore.

How is this handled please?

What about other bugs which get fixed along the way after my subscription has ended?
I'm happy to subscribe in order to get new features, refinements and such.
But afai understand, there have to be a warranty period, for the product as a whole, and for new features and patches in particular that get rolled out?

Please clarify.

Thank you

I meant to ask earlier, and it certainly helps me decide, but is there a Release Notes doc for the new version(s)? I'd like to see a list of fixes/improvements, and new features. The video is not very revealing. Thanks!

Beepster

rfreeze
Are the 12 month periods set, or do they start/end randomly based on when each user buys in? 
 
I ask, because in my mind random would keep the Baker's marketing guys from dangling carrots on the other side of the line.  This would give me more confidence in the continuous nature of the advertised feature release process.
 
 

The 12 months starts the day you buy in and ends 12 months later so the idea is a perpetually dangling carrot. You can see what's coming up next on one of the Cake pages but I don't currently have the link open to post it. Right now it is showing a drum replacement tool, some FX chain thingies and something else that I'm forgetting right now.

Rfreeze makes an interesting point.  In the familiar model, Cakewalk (and most other companies) begin working in earnest on a new release after the most recent release is stabilized   (I realize there is some overlap, but the basic model is true.)  And this drives a natural development and marketing cycle that tends to be somewhere in the 1-2 year range between releases.  That does cause revenues to be very "lumpy" which might be a problem for some companies.
 
With the model that Cake is trying to present, there wouldn't be such discretely defined release cycles and they surely hope to make the income less lumpy.  But modern software development still favors major releases, especially for products as complex as SONAR.  For them to make the subscriptions continuous beyond the first 12-month free period, they will have to do at least minor releases to the core product before that 12 months is up.  otherwise, people will correctly conclude that nothing really has changed and the subscription plan is just an opaque way to raise prices.
 
I take the company at their word that they really do want to change the actual pattern of delivery and this is not just a marketing tactic.  They have 12 months to demonstrate that.

brconflict
I meant to ask earlier, and it certainly helps me decide, but is there a Release Notes doc for the new version(s)? I'd like to see a list of fixes/improvements, and new features. The video is not very revealing. Thanks!

Not exactly release notes but there is this...
 
https://www.cakewalk.com/Documentation?product=SONAR&language=3&help=NewFeatures.01.html
 
No list of bug fixes there. Just the documentation on the new features.

Hello
 
In Sonar Platinum is Additive Drums 2 the full version that can be used in other Daws, or is it tied to Sonar only?
 
Thanks.
 
Some great new features BTW........nice job Bakers.
 
 

It is this bundle http://www.xlnaudio.com/products/bundle/producer_bundle which is downloaded directly from XLN. It is not locked to SONAR.

TabSel
I still need to know the bug fix policy.

So, say, for example, just before my subscription ends, there would be a a feature rolled out that was announced long before and I'm eagerly awaiting. Now, a major bug in this new feature slipped through preventing the new feature to work at all. A hot fix will be announced, my subscription ends, the hot fix gets roled.

What about warranty here?
I paid with my subscription for this new feature, but it doesn't work until fixed.
I'm not entitled to the fix, as I'm no member anymore.

How is this handled please?

What about other bugs which get fixed along the way after my subscription has ended?
I'm happy to subscribe in order to get new features, refinements and such.
But afai understand, there have to be a warranty period, for the product as a whole, and for new features and patches in particular that get rolled out?

Please clarify.

Thank you

This question has been asked several ways now, but not answered yet.  We really do want to know :)