Touch is a gimmick - how did this even make the list?

I sincerely hope CW will re-work Take Lanes. That will be the one thing that could keep me on board. If they don't, I'm gone, too. Take Lanes are a monumental failure, if you ask me.

I also hope CW will prioritize dumping old code for new, more modern methods, so that we can get routine updates instead of once in a green moon Service Packs. Nearly every other company now offers routine updates. It's time. 

Lastly, I hope CW read all of my ideas and advice and will at least take those things to heart.

We'll just see what happens next. I'm pulling for X2b. 

dorism


Touch is a gimmick - how did this even make the list?

Like it or not touch is the future and it's far from a gimmick.  At some point everyone will be assimilated.   I'm not happy about Cakewalk's direction and I don't own anything touch capable but they are smart to get in front of touch just like they were the first with 64bit.

I like spent so much money on DAW software and what I got works for now. If I don't like X3 and I feel a need to upgrade I would consider Studio One or Cubase. Those two products have come a long way. They are both excellent DAWS in my opinion

dorism


I think touch is more indicative of the market they are targeting - i.e. music creator 6 consumer type audience. They didn't even implement it fully as most of the widgets and buttons are nowhere near touch friendly. Half baked. Pardon the pun. What works on an ipad or notebook does not translate to a professional recording environment IMHO as 99.99% of studios have their screens at head height (for practical and H&S reasons). Using a touch interface like that would be extremely fatiguing. Maybe at some point in the future the mixing desk itself will be replaced by a massive touch based screen but I cant see that being viable for 5-10 years, but I still think there will always be the requirement for a keyboard, screen and mouse in a semi/professional studio. Thinking about this a little more - I can't actually recall anyone, at any point in time - in 13 years of Sonar usage, requesting a touch based interface. I'm questioning why this was given priority over bug fixes, and improving other aspects of the software such as audiosnap or colour customisation. Must be part of the deal with being so close to MS. You have to push their agenda - rather than that of your own community?

Microsoft is pushing touch because Apple was so successful with it.  The "massive mixing desk" screen you mentin is not 5-10 years away, it already exists: Steve Slate Raven MTi
Think what you will but the world is changing .... again.  There will always be multiple options but touch is here and it's here to stay.  It is hugely less expensive to buy a touch monitor to use with Sonar than a full size moving fade controller would be.  It may not be what you want or need now but it's growing quickly and Sonar for better or worse is on the bleeding edge.

declan


I'm not really sure what the OP is really asking here.  So many people have other DAWS because they're inexpensive compared to what most musicians shell out for... well you name it.  I don't have any problems with X2a that make me cringe.
 
Right now I think I'll probably skip a couple of upgrade cycles.   $99 these days is about a third of some of the best software out there.

In broad strokes, I'm simply inquiring about whether or not the new (hypothetical) standard of amount of updates (1 instead of 3 or 4 as we have been used to in previous versions) would change people's minds about upgrading their Sonar.

I am of two minds on this.

I hate a lot of the bugs and stupid workflow issues (take lanes? who thought up that booger of code?) that have plagued both X1 and X2. Stability has always been an issue, but the quirky things that make the program bomb out these days has to be seen to be believed.

I like some of the improvements. Maybe not all the execution of the improvements, but that is mostly a matter of taste.

But like others, I do see one of CW's biggest selling points, its sense of community, rapidly eroding. Mods are gone. Company interaction at a nadir. What once were topical arguments between members are now full blown fights. Name calling and condescending behavior are way too frequent. Brutal manifestations of solipsism (ie. if I didn't experience, I doubt it when you say it happened to you). I won't even get into this antiquated and thoroughly awful forum software....

I was a very active member of the Songs forum, often offering advice and encouragement. I find it, too, has kinda devolved.  Not enough new blood and a bunch of the same bad actors playing out their ridiculous psychodrama in textual format.

So in conclusion (since ya asked!), I dunno about continuing down the Sonar path. It might be the right time for me to find something new.

  You may well be right - maybe touch is the future. Most users want as much information on screen at the same time (one of the main criticisms of the X series in fact) - touch forces you to 'supersize' everything so it can be interacted with - physically. The more touch friendly the less use of screen real estate. When I say massive screen - I mean - really massive -same dimensions as the actual mixing desks it replaces. The UI designer will have to abandon skeuomorphism too as the paradigm won't work. I don't see evidence of either... yet.

Yes I probably would.

I've had a bad go with X2a and computers so I sure wouldn't mind putting a few things
behind me. I would be hoping that it would be better than having to start over.

Of course X version was just upgrade price for me so it seems like a small amount to
help keep Cake moving forward and by reading how it's worked out alright for others I hate to completely blame Cake for a bad run that I've had.

So, yes I'll keep riding with Cakewalk. It's been a great ride and I'm not jumping out just
because the road got a little ruff....of course I may get thrown out. Always that.

vintagevibe

spacey


Yes I probably would.

I've had a bad go with X2a and computers so I sure wouldn't mind putting a few things
behind me. I would be hoping that it would be better than having to start over.

Of course X version was just upgrade price for me so it seems like a small amount to
help keep Cake moving forward and by reading how it's worked out alright for others I hate to completely blame Cake for a bad run that I've had.

So, yes I'll keep riding with Cakewalk. It's been a great ride and I'm not jumping out just
because the road got a little ruff....of course I may get thrown out. Always that.

I've been a user since Windows 3.1 and I've finally given up. It took all these years.

I can understand. I came very close a few times but it's always been for more reasons than just the software.
To me the whole digital world marketing can be very testy.

I'd be amazed if there was X3 by the simple fact that the code in sonar now seems so old and out of date to what the competition are doing that it would take a major rewrite of the entire platform to get the audio engine working in a way that is comparable to the competiton.
 
I don't believe Roland / Cakewalk have the market share to justify that investment and have given up on Sonar. Their complete lack of input to all the concerns in their user base speaks volumes as does sacking the core developers.
 
The show is in the very final act and whilst the fat lass isn't singing just yet she is certainly going through her scales

 
Wow...  
 
The code "seems so old" therefore there won't be a next version of SONAR?   There has been a complete lack of input?    Well, those two statements do seem to go right along with "they sacked their core developers".   I wonder if you could name just one?    I know I can't.
 
Sounds like another case of Conspiracies R Us.   Apparently it's making it's way around school. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Disclaimer... should CW disappear within the next 12 months I reserve the right to deny all existence to this thread.   
 
 

I don't think the code or Sonar itself is old - some of the features like audiosnap and track lanes need to be reworked as they are a bit cumbersome and difficult to use - especially when comparing to the competition but there are so many amazing things about Sonar which other DAWs can learn from. Smart tools, slip editing, one window interface, media browser to name but a few. I don't think this will be the last in the X series - I do think there will be an X2b and an X3 eventually. I think I've said before but my suspicion is X2b will be released around the same time as windows Blue (8.1) - in my own mind - that's the reason why a patch has taken so long as they want to fix it on the latest and greatest MS OS. We'll see :) What has been overlooked is the immediate needs of current X2 owners who are experiencing difficulties - like me, and the absence of any input here from Cakewalk employees. It's a shame. The key differentiator of Cakewalk over the others was this community - it was all joined up. Anyways. Cubase 7 has shipped so I'm looking forward to giving it a whirl when it arrives. I'm hoping whatever is next for Sonar really floats my boat. I'm still hanging in there ... but hedging my bets! :-D

wetdentist


having been down this road before with the jaw-droppingly stupid discontinuation of Project 5, and then with NI's Kore, i have become numb to what music software companies say.  it would not surprise me at all if Sonar got killed. corporations make stupid decisions all the time. granted, i don't have a plan B at this juncture.

Couldn't agree more but experience has taught me to at least start looking at plan b's and having done so unfortunately realised how big the gap is that sonar needs to bridge....be an epic triumph if they pull it off but my personal opinion is Roland recognise the level of investment required and won't cough up

I'm sure there will still be some sort of upgrade path for a few years once sonar gets rebranded as music creator - a low cost entry level DAW and they milk the last few dollars they can from the code ;-)