I have to agree that this offer should be extended a month or two for loyal customers. I upgraded to 8.5 Producer a little over a month ago and went for it because everything I read said nothing new was planned until at least mid 2011.
 
I've used Cakewalk stuff since the Twelve Tone days and having to shell out another $99 within 2 months of the last upgrade is a real bummer.

I'm so pissed. I walked past the shop where I bought shoes from a while back, and do you know what they've got in there? NEW SHOES! AND they've got them on sale!!!

WHERE THE HELL ARE MY FREE SHOES?

mwall

DaveSchuler


I think that people who upgraded to 8.5 within the last couple of months ARE being penalized:  If I had not bought 8.5 a month ago I could upgrade to X1 for $99.  But since I'm such a loyal customer it's going to cost me $178 ($79 for the 8.5 upgrade plus another $99 for X1).

I'm seeing that X1 Producer is $99 for current 8.5 Producer owners. What are you looking at?

That's what I am wondering.

If you bought Sonar recently, you got what you paid for. Now you can upgrade. If you choose to.

Expecting CW to hand out freebies to all? Come on people!

This just has to be the most STUPID thing Cakewalk have done.   I just recently bought 8.5, X1 was never mentioned at the time, and now I have to pay $99 to upgrade whereas if I had waited just a short while I could have had X1 free?  Huh?   There is no logic to that, CAKEWALK please treat us all fairly.   Version 8, not 8.5 was the last version, so 8.5 purchasers should also get X1 free.   Please lets have some sense from a company that in the past I have never had any cause for complain before, and I have been using cakewalk since 1999!!!    If they dont extend this offer to existing 8.5 users I will now seriously think about dumping all cakewalk stuff and moving to another DAW.
Jack.

But seeing as this was all virtually a surprise announcement, with no foreshadowing to the average buyer, this "get X1 FREE if you buy 8.5 from this date forward" is quite a punch in the gut to those of us thinking we were just buying the latest and greatest.

I'm not telling Cakewalk what to do, but if it were my choice, if I were unveiling this new surprise version with a deal like that^, I'd be fair to my recent customers and make it "get X1 free for those who buy 8.5 today or within the past 45-60 days".

Again, what if someone just bought 8.5 on October 30th?... Just tough luck, or what? C'mon =P

It never ends regarding the I can't upgrade coz I just bought the previous (and still current) product. What you guys are asking for is an end of model run out sale before the next release.

Upgrades are not expensive for a product such as this (unless your are at the hobby level) and there's no reason to expect a run out sale.. but it is the only way to keep everyone happy (if possible) but depends on your product/business model.

The thing buyers have to remember is that when you bought your 8.5 product, I am sure you intended to use it for some time. So do exactly that and buy the next model at the same time in 12 months and you are in the same boat... and not ripped off etc.

Just because a new shiny model is released, it doesn't mean you were somehow ripped off or you just 'have' to bring your product back so you can drive away in the new shiny one instead does it? The 8.5 you bought is a killer app... killer.

Enjoy!

The way I look at it is, they are not really selling 8.5.
They are selling X1 in advance and letting you use 8.5 until X1 is available.
How many long time users are using anything older than the newest version that you own? The 8.5 is a loaner and Cakewalk clears the soon to be outdated stock. Sucks to be on the wrong side of the update time line but the cutoff has to be somewhere.

I'm a boxed set and manual kind of guy, I wonder if I could get 8.5 with the upgrade to x1 and get the boxed sets for both. The 8.5 would be a just in case the laptop chokes on x1 for live use.

Ha, I almost bit when they sent me that pretty mailer a month or so ago for $79, I think. Right then and there I knew instinctively that a new version was about to drop. I'm glad I trusted my instincts. Now I can get 'em both for $99 instead of $178.
The only bad part is that I won't be able to savor the full flavor of The X Factor cause my system is well below the required specs(C2D1.67GHz). So I guess would be stuck with 8.5 until I can afford a new computer.

Seeing as I own 8.5 producer - bought just 2 months ago (and is now 8.5.3) can I upgrade to 8.5 for free (as I already have it) and thus get X1 free?     LMAO......  

Yes, that´s the way it goes!

I can't seem to find the cross upgrade price- does anyone know about going from Sonar 8.5 studio to X1 Producter.

TIA

Cakewalk has been pushing out a new SONAR version around OCt since the year 2000.

If you've waited a year into version 8.5 shelf life hefore buying you surely can't really be suggesting you're buying the latest and greatest version. You're buying the current version which Cakewalk can update at anytime. It appears they've done pretty much what they've always done.

There's been speculation on this board for 2 months now about when the next version might drop.

Apparently the cats out of the bag and those who bought 8.5 within 38 days of the release of X1 will get it free. That's pretty generous if you ask me and in line with what cakewalk do every year. that's why someone said when you see the upgrade price drops to an all time low($79) its a fair indicator that a new release is about due.

If you think you have a case of special entitlement why not pose your request to Cakewalk as they are the only ones who can give you an answer. If you ask me 5 weeks is a reasonable time.

mudgel


Cakewalk has been pushing out a new SONAR version around OCt since the year 2000.

If you've waited a year into version 8.5 shelf life hefore buying you surely can't really be suggesting you're buying the latest and greatest version. You're buying the current version which Cakewalk can update at anytime. It appears they've done pretty much what they've always done.

There's been speculation on this board for 2 months now about when the next version might drop.

Apparently the cats out of the bag and those who bought 8.5 within 38 days of the release of X1 will get it free. That's pretty generous if you ask me and in line with what cakewalk do every year. that's why someone said when you see the upgrade price drops to an all time low($79) its a fair indicator that a new release is about due.

If you think you have a case of special entitlement why not pose your request to Cakewalk as they are the only ones who can give you an answer. If you ask me 5 weeks is a reasonable time.

I see your points as seen from your point of view, but, consider my point of view.
 
1)  I don't upgrade every year and really don't pay attention to Cakewalks release schedule.
 
2) I didn't even know about 8.5 until I got a sales pitch in the mail from Cakewalk a couple of months ago.  So, I wasn't "waiting" around before purchasing.  In fact, I assumed because I got the advertisemet that Cakewalk was selling the latest version.
 
3) I just joined this forum, AFTER I bought the 8.5 sales pitch...I was looking for assistance.  So, I never saw any of the posts about possible release versions.
 
4) Yes, I have already emailed Cakewalk about this, although, I doubt much will come of it.

I think this kind of stinks too. I upgraded from Sonar 4 in late September and just installed 8.5 on my computer last week! Now Cake is telling me never mind 8.5 - wait 4 weeks for an entirely new GUI - and guess what? You get to pay extra for it!
 
I'm not happy - especially when Cake has traditionally offered the latest upgrade for free to folks who bought with-in a certain number of weeks before the announcement.
 
Cake knows when I registered 8.5 - to be honest, I feel like X1 should be free to me.
 
Mike

Question for Cakewalk...

Some of us want to have the immediate access of the download version but also want a copy of the physical media.

If we purchase the boxed version online, will we be given access to the downloadable version as well?

Or 

Will their be a downloadable version sold that allows you to purchase separately mailed physical media for an additional fee?

-e.B