Alex Westner [Cakewalk]
 
We emailed all of our SONAR customers today, ...

I used to get these emails all the time but haven't for the last 6 - 8 months!  Is there a place to re-sign up?
 
Thanks.
 
Paul

Paul G

Alex Westner [Cakewalk]
We emailed all of our SONAR customers today, ...

I used to get these emails all the time but haven't for the last 6 - 8 months!  Is there a place to re-sign up?

FWIW I didn't get any email from Cakewalk.
 
I've gone from never getting email even after signing up multiple times,
To finally getting on the list,
To back to not receiving anything.
 

bsantini99
I think it's kind of funny how everyone keeps coming out to say I'm glad I jumped on the lifetime deal as if they need validation of their decision..
(.........)
I have nothing but respect and wish you the best of luck. It is still a good daw as it stands.

I think it's kind of funny that people who have supposedly moved on to another DAW come back here to post during times of turmoil and change as if they need validation for their decision.

Oh - and I am very happy that I jumped on Cakewalk's lifetime updates.

I think it's kind of funny how everyone keeps coming out to say I'm glad I jumped on the lifetime deal as if they need validation of their decision.

Seriously?  Of course I want validation for my decision!  How else do you gauge whether your decisions are good or not?  And the lifetime updates were not really barely more expensive that me "just" going to Platinum from X3 for a one year period - so hardly would count as a cash grab except possibly that they made the offer more attractive to me to jump rather than not move forward from X3 at all.  Either way, kind of a win-win for both me and Cakewalk, I think.
 
That is not to say that the pricing change is the ONLY validation.  It is not.  I am validated every time I get an update to the software.  And when my one year point comes around and I keep getting updates, that will be validation YET AGAIN.
 
What would you rather people say?  "I wish I hadn't jumped on the lifetime deal.  I sure wish I could be paying more".  Would that be some kind more reasonable statement to you?
 
pfffft...Sounds kind of more like you are trying to validate your purchase of Fruity Loops from here.
 
That said, I have a few open tickets with Cakewalk and I'm extremely disappointed in the lack of response I've gotten.  I opened these tickets last August and I cannot get any response. So, I'm sad that it APPEARS that the lifetime purchase is at the expense of responsive customer support.  THAT is totally unacceptable.
 

Blades
.... I'm sad that it APPEARS that the lifetime purchase is at the expense of responsive customer support.  THAT is totally unacceptable.
 

I don't think you can blame support issues on lifetime updates - it was pretty poor long before they were ever mentioned. 

mettelus
Ironically, the only feature mentioned in the OP that didn't exist a year ago is lenses.

Anyone who wants to see the full roster of additions in the last year (e.g., comping improvements, Matrix view updates, MIDI note chase, onboard audio speed improvements, tempo extraction, Melodyne multitrack support, Console 1 support, Rapture/Z3TA+ improvements, plug-in load balancing,Tungsten theme,  theme editor, Melodyne 4.1, Quick Group insert FX and freeze, linear phase EQ and multiband compressor plug-ins, Smart Swipe, TH3, etc.) can check out the Rolling Updates page.
 

Galeon
Speaking about plugins already included: they're too many, expecially in Platinum. TTS-1, Cyclone, Dimension LE, Dimension Pro, DropZone, PSYN II, Rapture, Rapture LE, Rapture session, rgcAudio Square, Roland GrooveSynth, RXP, Lounge Lizard Session 4 and many more. Some of them I've never opened.

Not sure how easy it is to judge a plug-in without opening it . However, backwards compatibility requires retaining older plug-ins. The development costs on them were paid off a long time ago, so including them a) adds nothing to the price and b) makes it easier to collaborate with people who got into SONAR relatively recently.
 

bsantini99
The lifetime updates deal will be back at some point when they need more money, so no one missed out.

 
Based on what I know (which I'm quite sure is more than you do), there are zero plans to resume lifetime updates. 
 

The lifetime updates was just a money grab to fund the mac development

 
That is incorrect, so please don't state it as a fact. I'll let someone from Cakewalk refute you if they want to, but I know the cost of bringing a Windows product to a Mac alpha, and it's not much. Remember, both platforms use Intel processors these days. It's not like the days of trying to port to a PPC processor.
 

Instead we got this overblown cash grab campaign.

 
One customer's "overblown cash grab" is another customer's cost-effective way to always stay updated with SONAR for an incredibly low price. 
 

... besides, no one "grabs" your cash unless you're waving it in front of 'em..... or letting it fall out the pockets of your holey jeans. 

Brando
I think it's kind of funny that people who have supposedly moved on to another DAW come back here to post during times of turmoil and change as if they need validation for their decision.

What's important to me is the music people make. I don't care what DAW they use, as long as their music has emotional impact that reaches my heart (or at least my brain).
 
I do notice that a lot of people who claim to have moved on, or diss SONAR for being inadequate for their needs, don't have links to their music. A cynic might say that's because their music isn't very good, so they're moving on because they blame their tools. I'd prefer to think it's more that they haven't found the perfect match yet for the way they create music. Just as no two DAWs are alike, no two creative processes are alike.
 
It's silly to diss any DAW because it satisfies the creative process of other people but not your own. 
 
As to the OP, I think the simplified structure is overdue. When it got to the point where you had to log in to your account to find out what your price would be, that's a warning sign that it was too complicated.