That Slice deal on S1 could be tempting if they had crossgrade or upgrade options.
 
My only fear with CbB is that it will stop innovating with new features, just do (appreciated) bug fixes, and people will lose interest even in future paid add-ons.  Bandlab has done nothing to update or monetize the other legacy IP thus far, and it has been quite a while.

eve_ripper
…... S1 has a great "arranger" options...
I use S1 and using Cakewalk for different projects and purposes.

What he said

Wibbles

Starise
...
 
I never liked the rent to use model. Period. The day Cakewalk starts a monthly charge to use the software is the day I change DAWs. Makes far more sense for me to pay for upgrades and updates and own it at that point in time.  They still get their money either way so why not opt to let the customer buy the software and use it as long as they want? Or decide to upgrade when they want or need to? In a rent to own plan you never really finish paying for it. Loose a job, have a hardship and the bottom drops out.
 
 
 
...

The rent to own model allows those that can't afford to make one large payment (e.g. Wibbles) to use and buy a licence for the software. There is still the option to buy with a one-off payment.
 
With splice.com, loose a job etc, then pause your plan and resume it when your situation improves.
 
But sure, if you can afford to buy with a one-off payment, why bother with rent to own.
 

TBH I didn't look into the splice deal before I commented and I probably should have. I can certainly understand a monthly plan that eventually lets a person take ownership. Ownership in the sense that you are never challenged to pay more once payed up for the version you agree on.   Software development is ongoing. If you own it from a point in time you depend on that version until you decide to pay more. Aside from the monthly payment plan, this is no different than the person who pays one amount. Both arrive at the same place. Both own a version regardless of successive version updates. There is a financial advantage to this over an indefinite monthly payment plan. In that case you never own it and never stop paying.
 
As it stands now for me, I'm not using SO3 unless I need it for mastering. CbB is still free. I like working with it. The only thing that might persuade me to use SO more would be because I just bought Notion for the iPad. I'm not commonly a notation writer, but I am making exceptions because some of my recent work calls for it. If Presonus puts a sweet deal out there for Notion/SO4 over black Friday I might just bite, even though I have no idea how much I would actually use the product at this point. 
 
All of my work is now solidly grounded in CbB. The workflow- Idea>Instrument>Recording happens faster in that DAW than any other for me. After I record I can be all over the details faster and more efficiently as well.

so what was the cakewalk "membership"??

I'm thinking this thread would be MUCH more funny in the Studio One forums.
 
 This reminds me of the old story of a man walking down a street and he comes up a sign in front of a house that reads; "Puppies $500 a piece!"
 When he asks the owner how come she wants so much money for the puppies she simply throws up her arms and replies; "Because nobody wants them for free."

I understand all of the pessimistic comments regarding Cakewalk. One year passed from the Gibson debacle and the SONAR community is still with a "in the air" feeling and to worry them even more Noel&Meng are disappeared lately and we don't know what happened with the November update.
All in all, I am optimistic and I think that the absence of this monthly update may mean that they are preparing something bigger.

FYI  updates might not necessarily be monthly. I think the last one went a little past 1 month. The monthly idea is probably something that's come from the Gibson days. IMO I believe the idea now is to release solid updates and usable features.
 
Make no mistake. Updates will continue but might not be at one month intervals. Neither do I believe it will go for long periods of time between updates. Comparable competitors don't promise one month updates either. I would rather wait a little longer instead of get something that was rushed out the door.
 
@pwalpwal- The Gibson membership was different things to different people. I think the agreement then was fair even though I never participated in it since I was a lifetime member. 
 
 
I don't feel "in the air" . It's a DAW not a baby. I like what they are doing with it. I'll use it as long as I can. I think that will be for a long long time. If something happens unexpected there's always a plan B. None of it robs me of any sleep at night 

a13xhp
I understand all of the pessimistic comments regarding Cakewalk. One year passed from the Gibson debacle and the SONAR community is still with a "in the air" feeling and to worry them even more Noel&Meng are disappeared lately and we don't know what happened with the November update.
All in all, I am optimistic and I think that the absence of this monthly update may mean that they are preparing something bigger.

noel commented just yesterday on a years old bug

Starise
@pwalpwal- The Gibson membership was different things to different people. I think the agreement then was fair even though I never participated in it since I was a lifetime member. 

 
? not sure what you mean?

Starise
FYI  updates might not necessarily be monthly. I think the last one went a little past 1 month. The monthly idea is probably something that's come from the Gibson days. IMO I believe the idea now is to release solid updates and usable features.
 

AFAIK, BandLab still plans for monthly releases but dates do slip. It could be due to other demands for time (such as AES last month) or unexpected problems with the release. It is true without a monthly payment plan like the one used for SONAR, there is one less reason to strictly adhere to a release per month.