Sonar 8 to X1 = I Don't See It

Hello--
 
I've been a long time CW user and up until a prolem with the V100, I've never had any issues. I got a good guy discount promo card in the mail that I was eligable for a discounted upgrade to X1, but when I looked at what I would gain, I just didn't see enough to be worth it to me.
 
I think the stuff was 'nice', but not necessary. Am I missing anything in the area of the engine performance or CPU efficiency that didn't jump out at me on the webpage?
 
Any input is appreciated.
 
Thanks,
 
PS. I would go from 8 PE to X1 PE.

I agree with JonD. 

There are loads of new features from 8 to X1 (if you look at the 8.5 upgrade)


8-8.5 
Audiosnap is now version 2 (big improvement) as is the step sequencer (although I don't use that as much). 
Session Drummer is version 3. 

You have the Percussion Strip and Vocal Strip plugins which I find handy. 

And if you do a search for the upgrade features from 8 to 8.5 a lot of it had to do with optimizing the audio engine. 


Then add to that the upgrades in X1 and to me it's a very worthwhile upgrade. You'll have the pro channel, the new screensets and tool functions (which will take a while to get used to but are awesome once you do). 

Ultimately it depends on what you use Sonar for. 

Cheers!

I have been along time user of Cakewalk products. I would suggest the upgrade because if you tackle the learning curve now on a totally new gui you won't have much problem with the new upgrades from here on out. I love 8.5.3 but when they changed the work flow it was so drastic that it took me a couple of months to get up to speed on it. I would hate for you to keep working with 8 and 2 or 3 years from now have to upgrade to something that is really going to give you fits. The concensus is that the old Sonar is gone forever. There won't be support for it too much longer. If this is true, i would think if your going to continue to be a Cake user, you would want the most up to date version possible. If it's for hobby, that's fine. But if you are doing music commercially, not staying current with your gear and software is death. I know lots of guys that have Pro Tools on their rig just so they can answer YES when a client ask if they have it. Once the clients come in and see and hear the capabilities of Sonar, they very quickly change their minds about what they want to use for the best quality.Sonar X1 still has it's problems. I for one haven't had anymore problems with it than any other software. They all have bugs. There will be a new update in August. We hope that fixes it for the ones who are still having issues. As for me, X1 is rock solid and kicking butt in my studio. Just my 2 cents. I wish you luck.

I fully agree that the step up to Windows 7 64 bit is the best thing I have ever done. I love X1 64 bit! I continued to use 8.5.3 until I got a handle on X1. After about 3 weeks I felt comfortable enough to use it on a clients project. After the first attempt, I never went back. I still keep my old installations on the drive but I am proud to say I am an exclusive user of X1. I hope if you make the change things will go as smoothly for you as it has for me. I must admit I am tempted to go down to X1 32 sometimes. I do miss some of my older plugs that only work in 32. But, more and more companies and developers are jumping on the 64 bit wagon every day. With that said, my 64 bit plugin list is getting longer and I don't miss X1 32 or 8.5.3 near as much. I still haven't tried JBridge. I understand it may port even more of my 32 bit plugs over. I just wanted to push X1 hard with what you get right out of the box. The results have been wonderful. The only thing I would ask at this point would be to please give us back DX support. I have some old DX plugs that I miss a lot. Anyway, Good Luck!

I think the smart tool alone is worth the upgrade. Once you get used to using it, you wonder how you did things before.