I have an unlimited upgrade for Sonar Platinum.  Now I see they have sold out to Bandland.  I am kind of confused here as I figure I will have to start upgrading again.  For now it appears to be free.
 
I am not sure if I should continue to use Sonar Platinum or start using the new free version from bandland.  I can't imagine that a free version from bandland would have all of the features of Sonar Platinum.
 
Any insight into this is much appreciated.  Thanks
 
 
 
 

I would suggest installing and using CbB and keep SPLAT installed as a backup. Also, keeping SPLAT installed means you can continue to use all of it's premium extras/content in CbB as well. As a SPLAT lifetimer, that is what I did and so far it has been working out quite well. CbB has been getting near monthly updates (bug fixes/new features/enhancements), so it almost like a continuation of my SPLAT Lifetime license in that sense. Bandlab seems to be making the right moves in continuing the Cakewalk legacy as well. 

fads
 I can't imagine that a free version from bandland would have all of the features of Sonar Platinum.

CbB started with the unreleased Platinum 2017-11 and built upon it. Installing CbB without the add-ons is similar to installing the SONAR Platinum core.
 
CbB does not include most of the plug-ins bundled with Platinum. As a Platinum owner. the plug-in add-ons available for CbB are not necessary (Melodyne 4 Editor trial version, Studio Instruments and Drum Replacer). As recommended above, leave Platinum installed to have access to all the plug-ins and content bundled with Platinum in CbB.
 
Like Platinum, CbB has a theme editor. It is on the add-on menu in BandLab Assistant.
 
CbB requires an internet connection to activate. BandLab Assistant is the tool used to install and activate CbB.
 
CbB installs like an upgrade to SONAR; separate folders for the program, content and config files while updating shared folders. CbB install instructions are here.

fads,
 
Use both of them.
 
Thais what I do, I have Sonar as my main DAW because I liked mixing in it and use a lot of the 3rd party plugins.
 
i like CBB because of it's new features. So I create in CBB on one computer, export to my Main Studio computer and mix in Sonar Platinum.  The Best of Both worlds !!

fads
Now I see they have sold out to Bandland.

I can't sleep. Someone is 'wrong' on the internet.
 
Gibson shut down Cakewalk, Inc in November 2017. That ceased any development of SONAR and ceased lifetime updates as well.
 
In March of this year BandLab bought the Cakewalk assts.
 
The was no "selling out". More like BandLab resurrected the product and is now calling it Cakewalk by BandLab.
 
CbB (as it is lovingly referred to) is now in early release stages while they transition the customer base to BandLab's ecosphere. Which means you need to create a BandLab account using the same email address that you used in your Cakewalk store account. Why? Because one day CCC will be shut down in lieu of you receiving any transferred over products and assets from Cakewalk, Inc to BandLab.
 
You must install the BandLab Assistant in order to install CbB (and other assets now and later). You must have online ability for the computers(s) you plan to install on. There is no offline (yet) installation capability. And finally there is no 32bit version of CbB, it's only 64bit and it seems likely it will never be 32bit (but I've been proven wrong before).
 
Now the good news is anything "Cakewalk, Inc." you have installed from CCC or earlier will continue to work in CbB. So it is wise, for now, to NOT uninstall SONAR Platinum.
 
HTH

 

Jesse G
fads,
 
Use both of them.
 
Thais what I do, I have Sonar as my main DAW because I liked mixing in it and use a lot of the 3rd party plugins.
 
i like CBB because of it's new features. So I create in CBB on one computer, export to my Main Studio computer and mix in Sonar Platinum.  The Best of Both worlds !!

This advice doesn't make sense to me. The two programs are 99.9 percent identical at this point. I don't think most people would want to go to the hassle of using both programs. That's totally cool if this system works for you. I just didn't want to leave the original poster (and any other newbies) with the impression that there are significant differences between the two programs, because, as of now, there really aren't. 

Edited to add: The advice that makes the most sense is to install Sonar Platinum and Cakewalk by Bandlab on the same machine and then use CbB for everything. That way, you get all the third party plugins from Platinum AND you can be using a version that is fully supported and updated AND you don't have to import/export between two different versions of nearly identical software.

jeremy@cominginsecond.com
 

Jesse G
fads,
 
Use both of them.
 
Thais what I do, I have Sonar as my main DAW because I liked mixing in it and use a lot of the 3rd party plugins.
 
i like CBB because of it's new features. So I create in CBB on one computer, export to my Main Studio computer and mix in Sonar Platinum.  The Best of Both worlds !!

This advice doesn't make sense to me. The two programs are 99.9 percent identical at this point. I don't think most people would want to go to the hassle of using both programs. That's totally cool if this system works for you. I just didn't want to leave the original poster (and any other newbies) with the impression that there are significant differences between the two programs, because, as of now, there really aren't. 

Edited to add: The advice that makes the most sense is to install Sonar Platinum and Cakewalk by Bandlab on the same machine and then use CbB for everything. That way, you get all the third party plugins from Platinum AND you can be using a version that is fully supported and updated AND you don't have to import/export between two different versions of nearly identical software.

What he said.

At this point I would see no reason to use the older Sonars. 
They just need to be there in the background so you can take advantage of the free stuff they included that is not included with CbB. I removed my X3 and Home studio icons from my desktop.  

The only way to know is to try CbB. Compare. Asking others what you should do doesn't make a lot of sense. Only you know what you should do.

As pointed out, they are they same core program.  I have a windows 7 machine I haven't upgraded yet.  Splat works fine as is and I'm not sure about win 7 long term w/ CbB.  My win 10 machine has both and works fine and I've custom installed from DVD older programs to both SPlat and CbB.