Question- for those that still haven't upgraded from Sonar-X3 and earlier...

Every time I see a new %off email from CW about Sonar, I often wonder- (considering the frequency at which they do this) are they failing to get a sizable amount of customers to take that step? CW has done several surveys, so they obviously tried to get a feel for what hold customers back. The coupon campaign has been effective in getting me to eventually make a move, because the price got so low that I couldn't ignore it. Those days however, are gone for me. I've stopped at X3, and have absolutely no intentions to go any further with the program, unless the much requested midi merge is added. I have at least 5 versions of Sonar I don't use, because such a basic core feature is omitted. I bought them because got caught up in the hype of the plugin packages.
 
CW, has added some interesting features that are more useful for some, while others may not use them at all. These updates can easily become bloated features if you only use them once a purple moon if at all. Reaper is only 8mb for the 32bit version, while the 64bit is 10mb by comparison. It has a lot of features in a small blueprint. What size is Sonar now? I'm not interested in bashing CW, because I think they're doing a good job. I can't take that away from them just because I'm displeased with an aspect of the program, so I'll get back to the point of this thread.
 
CW continues to add some great monthly features, but are there any long standing-desired ones that prevent you from upgrading from earlier versions, including (pre-X) versions? I'm interested in all feedback about the subject, but more specifically want to know if the lack of midi merge recording, is a significant deal breaker that would or has prevented you from upgrading? If not, what is?
 
 

mudgel
I'm able to record MIDI from my controller and make several choices with subsequent data recorded to the same track.

I can choose to replace existing data, record new data to a new track or record midi data to the same track leaving existing data in tact.

I don't think Cakewalk specifically call it MIdi merge but it certainly allows you to do so.

https://www.cakewalk.com/...help=Recording.10.html

Perhaps you lack familiarity with the software.

Hiya, I've been with cakewalk since sonar v7 and I'm still using Sonar X1, I have upgraded to X2 and X3 but still use X1 every day because I like to use track colours, X2 and X3 are too dark and make me depressed.
Also I don't like this new monthly subscription so I will stay with X1 as I works very well for me. 

kine321

John
Is there some reason you posted a copy of Mikes post with no comment?

Yes... I don't know what happened when I was using the editor and it somehow posted before I added a comment. I was going to correct it, but it was late and I opted to call it a night.

That is good enough then. We'll forget about it. 

hubie100
Hiya, I've been with cakewalk since sonar v7 and I'm still using Sonar X1, I have upgraded to X2 and X3 but still use X1 every day because I like to use track colours, X2 and X3 are too dark and make me depressed.
Also I don't like this new monthly subscription so I will stay with X1 as I works very well for me. 

Sort of off topic don't you think? The subject is MIDI merge. 

Well Sonar 2015 has more color customization then the older X series did. 

kine321

MandolinPicker

kine321
I'm interested in all feedback about the subject, but more specifically want to know if the lack of midi merge recording, is a significant deal breaker that would or has prevented you from upgrading? If not, what is?

For me it is budget. I have a limited amount of money to spend on my musical endeavours. To upgrade is about $100 - which is not a bad deal - but instead I decided to purchase a Irish D Low Whistle (about the same price). Thought that this would make a nice compliment to my dulcimer. Which is the other thing about Sonar - it has a lot of stuff for the electronic musician that probably makes it worthwhile to upgrade. For me, I do acoustic recording, so staying with X3 makes sense - there really isn't much in the new Sonar for someone like me.

 
You made a good point about budget and UN-needed features you're not likely to use, because you mainly record audio. Maybe, Music Creator7, would've been a good choice since it seems to be a measly $20 and still packs a punch without the bloat. Thanks for your comment!

Or SONAR Artist?

kennywtelejazz
To the OP , I haven't upgraded from X3 to the current version of SONAR for the simple reason that to do so would involve me having to upgrade my hardware / computer at this point ….
I'm a little miffed that of a sudden an i 3 is considered under spec to run SONAR ……
 

If you are running X3 successfully on your PC there is no reason why the new version won't run better. It uses less CPU resources and memory than X3 did.

kine321

kennywtelejazz
With as much Love and respect I can possibly muster ,
John Please quit trying to micro manage the OP's thread . This is a valid topic and it deserves it's own thread …
 
To the OP , I haven't upgraded from X3 to the current version of SONAR for the simple reason that to do so would involve me having to upgrade my hardware / computer at this point ….
I'm a little miffed that of a sudden an i 3 is considered under spec to run SONAR ……
 
Kenny

Thanks Kenny for the backup!
 
Wow... I hadn't checked the minimal specs, so that's news to me. Seems an i7 is the standard nowadays, while the i5 and equivalents are minimal. These are the minimal specs listed for X3: **Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 2.67 GHz / AMD Phenom Quad Core 9750 2.4 Ghz or higher** It's interesting how developers make programs more CPU intensive and resource hungry the more powerful CPU's become. Also shows that these updates come at a cost.
 
Won't be long before the i7 becomes minimal.
 

kline321 ,
 
Yes , I was a little surprised that Cakewalk bumped up the min spec to an i5  for SONAR & Music Creator …
 
Kenny

Noel Borthwick [Cakewalk]

kine321
It's interesting how developers make programs more CPU intensive and resource hungry the more powerful CPU's become. Also shows that these updates come at a cost.

 
That isn't true in this case. There are tons of optimizations in Platinum that do not exist in X3. 
And there are even more coming in the next update.

That's good to hear and I stand corrected if that's the case, however, why change the listed minimal requirements, if the latest versions actually are more efficient than the X series, that list lower minimal specs than now? Seems this could  cause some lost business if customers think their system is under specs- and may cause issues for them if they seek support. It would be easy for any company to say your system doesn't meet min. requirements, so our ability to help you is limited. I'm not saying CW would do that, but, customers do assume the worst case scenario's. 

abb

kine321
Actually, this thread encompasses several points of interest. Yes, midi merge is a main interest, however, I did mention I was interested in all aspects that would keep users from upgrading.

What's keeping me from upgrading is Sonar's lack of 'integration.'  It has many great features, but some are disintegrated to the point that I have to struggle to get things done.  Even simple things.  Worse still, some features like ACT never really worked 100% (not to mention that it's needlessly complicated to setup).
 
All DAWs that have been around for a while, like Sonar, have a range of both old and new features.  But Sonar seems to be near the bottom when it comes to how well these features appear, and are accessed by the user.  I think part of the problem is that Cakewalk has focused on adding sexy new features in each release (like Addictive Drums) rather than investing in the underlying program itself.  At times this strategy has resulted in orphaned features; like V-Vocal.
 
I realize that this is just my take on things given that there are many satisfied users.  On the plus side, Cakewalk is a progressive company with an active forum, so I'm hopeful that eventually the interface will improve.  Cheers...

I think you will actually find that Sonar 2015 is constantly being optimized with each update. I am one that really doesn't have a need for Addictive Drums because I have BFD 3. Yet for many they are a great addition to Sonar. That said I still installed them. Audio Snap has gone through many updates as has many other areas of Sonar. The PRV for example is much better now than it was in X3.
 
V-Vocal is still working on my system because I installed it from a previous version. V-Vocal is a Roland product and Cakewalk is now a Gibson company. CW took care to replace it with Melodyne which is a more powerful audio editor. This meant CW had to redo how V-Vocal and Melodyne accessed the audio in Sonar with Region FX. A great new access protocol for accessing audio based on ARA. Both Melodyne and V-Vocal benefit from it.
 
There was also R-Mix that was dropped when CW left Roland. Yet it still works and can be installed from an older version.
 
ACT does work. It may not work well for you but it does work.
 
We now have Mix Recall and Vocal Sync plus Drum Replacer all of which have found very positives reviews here and elsewhere.  
 
Not everything CW offers will be useful to everyone all the time. It is impossible for any DAW maker to create a DAW that meets every need of a single person without having some features that some wont need. On the other hand CW does offer a range of features in three different versions. Artist has the fewest features but is still a powerful DAW. Producer has many more and Platinum has the most. Pick the one that is right for you and you wont need to complain about too many features.    
 
 

Jesse G
Well,  for me it's simply this, Cakewalk hasn't sent me an email offing any discounts or notices about new products in years.   The only email I receive from cakewalk is when I purchase something from them by coming directly to this website after seeing the large advertisement or reading a post that's informing the forum that something is available.
 
I sent emails to Cakewalk several time letting them know that I haven't received promotional emails from them since I purchased Sonar 8, I believe.   I have been buying Sonar products since Sonar 2.2 XL and I still remain faithful to Cakewalk products, however, they don't seem to understand what I am requesting.  
 
I've seen the promotion on this Cakewalk site a few days ago for Sonar Platinum for $99.00  from JJRRSHOP and Sweetwater when I hit the upgrade to SPlat button for their shops, but the Sonar upgrade button remained $149.00. I didn't want to take my purchase outside of Cakewalk as I am fearful that there may be problems with upgrades or something unforeseen.
 
All I want are EMAILS FROM CAKEWALK ADVERTISING THEIR SPECIALS AND PRODUCTS!!!  is that too much to ask for?
 
 

Hmmm.... that's an interesting issue with the email notifications. Sometimes I'll find emails in my spam folder that I'm surprised ended up there, since I've read emails from these companies a number of times and never flagged them as spam.
 
I think there's 2 aspects to the upgrade discount. The $149 is for earlier versions of Sonar while the $99 discount seems to be for X3 users specifically.

In my case, just personal reasons. I moved to a new city and I had to fit my studio in the corner of my girlfriend's living room while we found and renovated a new apartment. In the process my desktop died, and I am running Sonar in a Vista laptop with my old Emu 1616m, that has no drivers for newer OS. I have a proper studio room in the new apartment, and I am delaying the purchase of a new desktop and audio interface until I move to the new space.

There is another thread active right now about MIDI merge.  SOS recording has been around forever, but you can end up with separate MIDI clips on top of one other, and this can cause display issues in PRV.
 
As far as upgrading, I intend to but I have not pressing need right now and I fear my work will be be on hold while I sort out getting all my virtual instruments set up right, interface and console working, etc.