There is a parable that Jesus told that goes something like this: 
 Well, the guys in the group that worked all day started to whine…..this was a vineyard and a winery after all.
They said;”WTF?   Some of these guys worked for one friggin’ hour and they got a penny, and some of those other guys worked half a day and got a penny, and we bust our donkeys all day long and all we get is a miserable penny too?”
And the owner of the vineyard and winery said, “How did I do you good people any wrong?   You agreed to work all day for a penny, and I gave you penny.    These other good people came out and worked for an hour and I chose to give them a penny too, which I have a lawful right to do.    It is no evil that I’ve done to you because I’ve chosen to be good these others.   Peace be unto you.  Now, stop your whining and get the heck off my property before I sic my dogs on you, you ungrateful SOBs.”
The story went something like that anyway.   
 
But you didn't finish the story............
Why did you not tell the real end of the story? 
 
Later that evening, the miffed "ungrates" after a short meeting off property
returned to the farmers house, killed and bbqd his dogs, had sex with his wife and daughters, and two of his sons (the others ran away), hung the farmer from a handy saguaro and generally had a party til dawn on free wine and beer
 
BUT that farmer sure showed them how commerce works didn't he?
Besides which, he was in the right.............right?
 
And no I am NOT advocating anything.........LOLOLOL
(2nd Amendment remedies being available or not)
 
 
The software in question is very good software
$99 is a pittance
As I have said elsewhere, we are very, very lucky to have the Cakewalk folks working FOR us
So shut the hell up and buy the software,
they could STOP working for us you know......
 

Thanks for the replies!

Every upgrade its the same story.
 
Where do you draw the line? Cake is letting those who purchase 8.5 within around 6 weeks of the release of X1 get a free update. Seems reasonable to me and is in line with a lot of other software companies.
 
Would 8 weeks be fair? six months?, everyone who ever bought 8.5? or do you think Cake should charge the full price for 8.5 right up to the release data?
 
If you bought it just before the announcment I could understand you frustration, if you bought it a few months ago less so. 
 
 

vladasyn


And, yes, I believe- prices should be consistent all the time.

Right. Well, you're going to be disappointed on that, every day, looking at every kind of consumer product imaginable. Companies do price promotions and special offers. I'm guessing you've actually observed this phenomena before.

You can 8.5 from version 8 now as a download for $99 and then get free X1

Hi - can I ask a slightly related question - is the free upgrade time dependent or price dependent? I have 8 Producer and realised I've still got the 8P - 8.5P in my cart from last month's promo (was tempted but didn't actually buy it!) - if I buy it now at last months price do I qualify for X1 free (on registration date) or not (on price paid)? 
 
I have asked CW sales support last week but as yet no reply.

Any thoughts most welcome. Cheers

Robin Kelly [Cakewalk
]

OldDog


A side question on upgrading, I currently have both 8 and 8.5 installed on my hard drive.  Will I be able to remove these instances if I purchase the upgrade with the disks?  I would really like to do a clean install once I upgrade.

Best, Harry

Yes but don't delete shared plugin directories or your audio directory if you point SONAR X1 to it. SONAR X1 is a separate install and does not require SONAR 8.5 to be on the system to run.

Robin

 
I am a registered user (an humble, amateur, enthisiastic musician) and will be upgrading from HS7XL to X1 Producer.
As I do not ever intend to use SONAR 8.5 will I actually have to install  it to enable me to be a registered user for upgrade to X1 purposes.
Will I be able to get a boxed upgrade here in the UK?

This could turn into another popcorn session.

mudgel


What I got for paying $99 to go from S 8 to S 8.5 last year was a whole years  use of the software.

this year it will cost me another $99 to from S 8.5 to X1. Basically it costs $99 each year to keep up with the most current version.

now if I decide not to get in at the beginning of the cycle and wait for X2 (next year) then a few weeks before X2 comes out next year I'll get an offer to buy X1 for $99 and get X2 free.

Cakewalk is being generous by allowing us to skip an upgrade and catch up for $99 provided we do it during a small period of 6 weeks. Of coourse while you save some money you didn't get to use the software for the year either.

From SP7, I skipped 8, and got SP8.5. I had to pay $179, so I thought pricing was adjusted according to how far back you're upgrading from. If I waited to get X2 (without getting X1), I would think I have to pay close to $200, no?
 
Or is it different now (as Mudgel has stated)?
   

Think of it the other way around...

If you're using 8.3 or earlier you can pre-order (and pre-pay for) X1 at the applicable upgrade price, in the meantime they'll let you use 8.5 while you're waiting for Dec 8th to arrive...

To answer/address a few questions and comments . . .

It will be like last year, the full install is just too big for a single download. So.... You have 8.5.3 installed. You download the X1 upgrade which then uses your 8.5.3 as the main source media.

This is not true - not sure where or how you heard this.  While the full install is rather large all the components will be available via download and do not require any previous version of SONAR to be installed to use.  For Producer users who are upgrading there is certainly no need to download Dimension Pro and Beatscape but I guess if you really really wanted to we're not going to stop you. 

1. Did the 8.5 download installer (SONAR_Producer_8_5.exe, 1.9GB) contain the content patches in the "Producter8.3ContentPatchRevB.exe" and "Producer831Path.exe" upgrade files (I think they were Session Drummer patches)

No it did not include the additional Session Drummer content

2. Likewise can we be assured that the X1 download will contain the updates in the SONAR_Producer_8_5.exe download plus the Producer851Patch.exe - Producer853Patch.exe files?

No it will not, the X1 download is a complete, full installer for a different application.  We offer upgrade pricing but do not require a previous version installed to install the SONAR X1 download

3. If not the download then what about the discs?  Also, have their been any content updates/additions to things like Dimesion Pro since Producer v7.0?

The download is the same thing one would get should they decide to purchase the media as well.  SONAR X1 will include Dimension Pro 1.5, however if upgrading from SONAR 8/8.5 Producer there is no need to download all 3GB of Dimension Pro again, you can simply run the 1.5 update (if you haven't already ran it)

4. What VSTs or content are no longer in X1 which were available in, say, 7.0?

The same instruments and effects are available.  Similar to 7, we don't install all of them by default but they are still available to be installed for backwards compatibility with projects that might still use them.  The included content, audio and midi loops varies a little with almost every release

5. In a nutshell, if I get the discs, can I ditch my old versions (ignoring any old VSTs that may no longer be included)??

Even if you don't get the discs you could still ditch your old versions, that's really between you and your download speed/patience

Hope that answers some questions.

From SP7, I skipped 8, and got SP8.5. I had to pay $179, so I thought pricing was adjusted according to how far back you're upgrading from. If I waited to get X2 (without getting X1), I would think I have to pay close to $200, no? Or is it different now (as Mudgel has stated)?

Pricing is still adjusted based on which version you are upgrading from however we have lowered all of the pricing on SONAR X1.  You can find today's upgrade pricing and what it will be starting on 12/8 here: http://www.cakewalk.com/Products/SONAR/X1-Upgrade.aspx

So Robin, I know I qualify for the Sonar X1 upgrade at $99 since I own Sonar Studio 8.5 but is Sonar X1 going to replace Sonar 8.5. Is it really Sonar version 9?

CAKEWALK - Simple question

It's not an option at the moment but can there be the option of either:

Upgrade and download version 8.5 and get an download version of X1 + physical

or 

Upgrade and download version 8.5 + physical and get an download version X1 + physical

Simples!

John T


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?

+1, now that's some funny SH$%