KPerry
People who want really good scoring use Sibelius, not Cubase or a.n.other DAW (even in the US where Finale is generally a more popular application): I'm talking music score/book publishers by the way.  There's little point trying to compete with Sibelius (back catalogs, online functionality etc).

  Hang around a film composer forum where the likes of Hans Zimmer participates they use Cubase.  If Sibelius or Finale became more like DAWs it's over $1000.  Publishing and composing are two different things. 

orangesporanges
I personally need time to absorb all the features I currently have at my disposal with X3e. Every time I am at a crossroads with upgrading, it's more for the extras, like AD and Nomad and for keeping current support wise than for general core enhancements. I look back at Cakewalk when it was more or less just a midi sequencer, and think " Wow, this far this fast". I'm content with X3 right now. A game changer would probably slow me down more than help. That being said, if the Matrix could make me learn Kung Fu or dodge bullets, I might have to rethink my position.

 I feel the same way.  Some people like an upgrade for upgrade's sake.
 
 2XL - 3XL - a very nice upgrade.  Sure adding some toys helped but it was a worthy upgrade. 2XL was supposed to be then end of the line for me but after discussing the upgrade in a different forum I was sold.
 
 Now look at these upgrades.....
 
 Go to Live's forum and you will see pages of complaints about their new browser.  To me it reminds me of using Gigastuio 2.5.  I have to let it sit before it's ready to use. Some complaints are that it uses more resources than Live 8.
 
 Reason 8 - advance users say it should have never been released as is.  Check out that forum.  
 
  I've noticed that X3PE is under $329 at a lot of vendors.  For someone who had no other tools for creating music that is a bargain for a multi genre app.

kennywtelejazz
is it even possible to top X 3's performance and features  when X 4 comes out ? 

 
I'll let you decide when you see it but the answer is most definitely yes - we passed that milestone a few months ago :)

Oh, you tease, Noel.

There are really only 2 things I could think of that would really round out my music production and distribution that seem reasonable for SONAR to have included:
 
1: I bought the "Xilisoft Gold Bundle Package" a few years back for just $39.00 that came with a CD Ripper, A DVD Ripper, an Audio DVD Ripper and most importantly the "XILISOFT AUDIO CONVERTER". The XILISOFT AUDIO CONVERTER allows you to convert between many audio formats but what I use it for is to create 128kbs Stereo .mp3 from SONAR's finished rendered out .wavs.  YOU MAY LAUGH at my 128kbs bitrate but my .mp3 sound really really great while also encoding into the smallest file sizes I have seen from any encoder (and with the best sound...imho). This programs uses the LAME MP3 encoding method which I believe can be used by any company at no charge and produces most excellent results with small file sizes. The program now sells stand-alone for $29.00 LINK: http://www.xilisoft.com/audio-converter.html
 
2. Closely related would be an option for SONAR to EMBED a GRAPHIC/AVATAR for the resulting .mp3 encoded version. I currently us the free "MP3TAG" software to accomplish this but since CakeWalk recommends SOUNDCLOUD it would be nice to be able to export my .mp3's with "BAND LOGOTYPES" or "ALBUM COVERS" embedded in them which show up in soundcloud, itunes and Windows Media Player along with the ability to edit all the ID3 tags


 
Other than that if SONAR would kick my but out of bed to get recording more maybve by making some sort of loud obnoxious noise it's flawless, for now!

-Shawn Lee Farrell

Seems that a number of bakers have been frequenting this forum the last few days. Normally a symptom of an impending BRAND NEW SONAR RELEASE!!!

Noel Borthwick [Cakewalk]

kennywtelejazz
is it even possible to top X 3's performance and features  when X 4 comes out ? 

 
I'll let you decide when you see it but the answer is most definitely yes - we passed that milestone a few months ago :)

Oh goody goody, Noel! I can hardly wait to see what's in store for us!

Noel Borthwick [Cakewalk]

kennywtelejazz
is it even possible to top X 3's performance and features  when X 4 comes out ? 

 
I'll let you decide when you see it but the answer is most definitely yes - we passed that milestone a few months ago :)

This is Excellent News  Thank you Noel . 
 
Kenny

i didnt know Cakewalk sold Blue Cat plugins in the online store (looking to spend my $25 voucher). You reckon any of these will be included with X4?

For me, X3 was a nice improvement of X2 and more stable. However my essential wishlist for X4 for it to work effectively with the included 3rd party VTS' and plugins from other sources. I purchased Melodyne Editor when I had X2. Since I've upgraded to X3e, I've experienced nothing but crashes from it and the inability to update to the latest verison. Suffice it to say no-one has been able to figure out why it's doing this.
 
Addictive Drums 1 worked really well and when I upgraded to AD2, the visual timeline consistently stops for up to 3secs before resuming where the project is...the project keeps playing fortunately...however again, XLN has not solved this.
 
I have other issues going on with various plug-ins, but I won't go into them. I guess that some kind of checking system that identifies exactly what plug-in, or what other variable is causing an issue and maybe advice/process for fixing it. 
 
Also when I send out my crash reports and select 'keep me apprised of this issue' is totally useless. I've not had one email ever that's come back from this apprising me of this issue. 
 
So apart from all the bells and whistles, stability and reliability along with a clear process for finding out exactly why something is not work, would be my dream Sonar.