That's right... The band is gonna figure out that they can record them selves and you'll have a lot more time for fishing.
 
;-)

I am not worried about this band doing final recordings themselves. They are old school and want real drums and real guitar amps. They simply don't have the capability or know-how to do those things. They will make demos with programed drums and emulation guitars, get the songs arranged etc... Then come to me for real micing and all that.

I don't think it was mentioned above (I might have missed it - and it may not apply to this situation), but just to point out that the licensing of Sonar does not allow sale or transfer to anybody, and when the initial install is done there are two explicit check boxes that spell that out, and are required to be checked to indicate acceptance and understanding of that in order to proceed with the installation.
 
Cakewalk has been super kind to actually rely on trust for the above, since they began, and as posted above by others, the current sale prices are so low that someone should be able to get a fantastic product with whatever level of X3 that they can afford.
 
Bob Bone
 

Licensing probably wasn't discussed because the issue in this thread (as I read it) is how to purchase SONAR as a gift and get the best price possible. I did mention the one upgrade per license but choose not to go into the details of what upgrades mean WRT the license or other transfer issues.

That's right Scook, this was about purchasing a new license as a gift as I love SONAR and would never consider transferring my license to anyone. I am very happy with SONAR and will continue using it moving forward.

Just to add one little tiny thing, Before you purchase X3 basic, check out the price difference for Studio. Sure they can upgrade themselves, but Studio is very, very close to Producer in features , were as X3 basic is,, well basic. I purchased Studio for $99 as an upgrade from LE. 
LE comes with Roland stuff and now is shipping with Tascam's new interfaces. 
You could buy each of them a Tascam 2x2 interface and they will have LE free.. 
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audio/tascam-us-2x2-usb-audio-interface
 
 

johnnyV
Just to add one little tiny thing, Before you purchase X3 basic, check out the price difference for Studio. Sure they can upgrade themselves, but Studio is very, very close to Producer in features , were as X3 basic is,, well basic. I purchased Studio for $99 as an upgrade from LE. 
LE comes with Roland stuff and now is shipping with Tascam's new interfaces. 
You could buy each of them a Tascam 2x2 interface and they will have LE free.. 
http://www.musiciansfriend.com/pro-audio/tascam-us-2x2-usb-audio-interface
 
 

Nice find Johnny! I think that will work out just fine. Thanks!

Sylvan
That's right Scook, this was about purchasing a new license as a gift as I love SONAR and would never consider transferring my license to anyone. I am very happy with SONAR and will continue using it moving forward.

I was 99.99 percent sure this was the case - just thought I should post it, in case it ended up factoring into any thought processes.  The very presence of your post asking about doing what you were/are contemplating indicated to me that you were trying to follow Cakewalk's  rules.  :)
 
Bob Bone