As I just upgraded my laptop to one with touch, I actually want to move over from X1 Producer. I thought of doing the 60% Off upgrade to X3 (at €79) but missed that deadline. Upgrading to Platinum will set me back €199 which I find too steep considering I'm just an amateur and have already realized in the past I didn't really need Producer (apart maybe from the VSTs that came with it). On Facebook Cakewalk already responded that it's no longer possible to buy a discounted X3 upgrade (if someone knows other options e.g. via resellers, I'd love to hear, although most still seem to ask the full $199 for an X3 upgrade).
 
Anyway, the advise that I got from Cakewalk was that if €199 is too steep for me, I could always downgrade to Artist or Professional. I have some questions on that though, and let's assume I would opt for Artist :
1. Can I keep on using the VSTs that came with my X1 Producer (e.g. Dim Pro, TP Amber..) ? If so, I guess I would not get any updates on these anymore (but there haven't been any for years now, so no big deal).
2. Once I have done my downgrade, does that also forfeit my eligibility for future X1 Producer to Platinum upgrades ? I.e. suppose after a year of Sonar Artist, I want to head to Platinum after all, will that cost me €199 (upgrade 'from an older Sonar Producer' to Platinum) or will that then cost me €399 (upgrade 'from any other Sonar' to Platinum).
3. Can I actually buy Artist in addition to my X1 Producer, as if being a new customer ? In that case, this could work around any disadvantages in previous bullet. Obviously, it would then cost me €99 (full Artist price) instead of €49 (upgrade to Artist) but at least I then still have my X1 Producer which at a later date I could still upgrade to Platinum at €199 if I would absolutely want Platinum at that point.
 
(note: I am assuming here that prices won't change in the future. AFAIK all pricing is still very much in line with how they used to be, so I don't expect any huge changes in the near future).

You can always upgrade from say Artist to Producer or Platinum. What the prices will be in the future is the risk you take.

mudgel
You can always upgrade from say Artist to Producer or Platinum. What the prices will be in the future is the risk you take.

Well, that scenario is exactly what I want to avoid in the future! Upgrade from Artist to Platinum will always be the most expensive upgrade. I have X1 Producer today, so I am trying to see what my options are to later still be able to upgrade from X1 Producer to Platinum, instead of Artist to Platinum. With the current pricing, that's a $200 difference.
So basically I'm wondering about paying $50 extra now, by purchasing Artist as new ($99 instead of $49 for the upgrade), to avoid later having to shell out $399 instead of $199 for an upgrade to Platinum.
 
So bottomline is: does a downgrade from X1 Producer to Artist sort of erases out my Producer ownership and thus takes away a later Producer-to-Platinum upgrade path.

The VSTs from your previous purchase will work.
 
Here is a chart of the differences between the tiers
https://scontent-a-lax.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/s600x600/10906025_10152568529706034_3100468373639476139_n.jpg?oh=cfc2dd871f7e3503b2a25140c184948a&oe=552D1728
So no Vocal align, nor Drum Replacer when that becomes available. The former you can do with Melodyne or Audio snap, and the latter is really only important if you have live drums or loops. You'll get ARA so your previous melodyne should work. You'll still have Pro Channal, just not expandable.
 
If you can put up with that for a year, then you'll probably move up a tier with out a surcharge, and I'm imagining they'll will have some different bundled stuff. If there is a surcharge, then upgrade in 14 months to Platinum and the surcharge will probably be negated.
 
 
 

 
I hope Cakewalk is working on a FAQ that covers all these possible situations.
 

It's also possible that, once the dust clears and the launch has taken place, CW will have an upgrade offer from previous versions (including X1) with monthly payments. I'd hope for something like that if I were in your position.

Kamikaze
If you can put up with that for a year, then you'll probably move up a tier with out a surcharge, and I'm imagining they'll will have some different bundled stuff. If there is a surcharge, then upgrade in 14 months to Platinum and the surcharge will probably be negated.

 
Not sure I understand this.
We don't have crystal balls, but if they stick to the past policy, I could wait for years before upgrading and still have it at the same price. E.g. current price for older Producer versions to Platinum is $199, even if you are still on Sonar 3 Producer dating back from 2004 or something. So that's what I'm considering counting on. I could just live with Artist for the moment and then still upgrade my X1 Producer to Platinum several years from now. However, that only works if a downgrade to Artist doesn't wipe out my Producer history, else I'm better off buying the Artist edition brand new and basically have licenses for both X1 Producer as well as Artist, both being eligible for whatever upgrade/membership in the future.
 

rontarrant
It's also possible that, once the dust clears and the launch has taken place, CW will have an upgrade offer from previous versions (including X1) with monthly payments. I'd hope for something like that if I were in your position.

But that's already the case today. If you have the latest Producer (X3) you get to upgrade to Platinum for $149. If you're on an older one (could as well be X2 from 2011 as 3 from 2004) you pay $199.
In fact they already hint on the site that in the future the scheme will be similar. Right now the pricing table says that after 12 months it will become $199, but elsewhere they actually mention that an active membership would provide you a discount for renewal. So my guess is that a year from now, an active Platinum member could renew for $149 instead of $199. This scheme would be almost identical to the licensing scheme in the past, where 'from latest version' would now translate to 'while your membership is still active' (or has expired less than x days ago).
 
 
Also, we're sidetracking a bit here, because my original questions actually have nothing to do with the new membership thing. They would be just as valid if they had released an X4 with regular licensing/pricing scheme. Like I said: the main question is: if you downgrade, say from Platinum (fka Producer) to Artist (fka Essential) do you lose the right to have a later 'from Platinum/Producer' upgrade. Normally an upgrade really erases your previous license, e.g. you cannot upgrade and then sell your old copy. So in that respect I could conclude that downgrading also erases my previous Producer license and no longer allows me to follow the 'from Producer' upgrade paths.

henk.vanwulpen
As I just upgraded my laptop to one with touch, I actually want to move over from X1 Producer. I thought of doing the 60% Off upgrade to X3 (at €79) but missed that deadline. Upgrading to Platinum will set me back €199 which I find too steep considering I'm just an amateur and have already realized in the past I didn't really need Producer (apart maybe from the VSTs that came with it). On Facebook Cakewalk already responded that it's no longer possible to buy a discounted X3 upgrade (if someone knows other options e.g. via resellers, I'd love to hear, although most still seem to ask the full $199 for an X3 upgrade).

Some math for you
 
On JRRshop with discount you can get Platinum for  $79+$88. So, it is like you get 60% for X1->X3  + 40% for X3->Platinum. And you are "on top" right now!
 
If you do not have X2 and X3, you do not have some really nice VST, especially for "amateurs": Melodyne, Strum Acoustic, Breverb, AD2 and some other. And you do not get them with Artist.
 
One warning: once you register Melodyne, you can get limited time invitation for the Editor version. It is awesome (see Celemony web site) since you can "fix" polyphonic material, but it is another unexpected $150..

Yeah, someone else already suggested me the JRR deal. Also given that via the Cakewalk shop everything is in Euro for me, the difference becomes even more substantial: Platinum would then cost me €144 instead of €199. So yeah, I am actually still contemplating going for Platinum after all, even though it's still a fair bit above the €49 or €99 Artist options from my opening post.
Anyway, I have dropped Support a mail to know about that downgrade option and what would then happen with my Producer license.