Bapu mentioned the Roland takeover - which started out as a partnership...
I can't remember at which point exactly they actually became the biggest share owner - sometimes in 2008 I think (?), but looking back as an ex-Sonar user, I
do see a change from there on.
It's like until that point, Sonar (and Cakewalk) had gained a certain momentum.
Prior to Sonar, Cakewalk products didn't have that much credibility - for all the wrong and the right reasons. But Sonar changed that. And from version 1 to 8.5, they certainly gave me the impression that the sky was the limit. It was like good old Cakewalk but w/ the financial means and ambition to rival the best...
Not only Sonar - they had the ambitious Project5 and a bunch of new top notch virtual instruments which earned them lots of praises at last. Z3ta, Dimension Pro, Rapture - man, that quite a line-up! And w/ a genius like René on board, the sky really was the limit.
I must admit that, as a long time user, it felt good to see Cakewalk finally getting the recognition they deserved. They were packing in the new features at such a rate that many of us juts wished they'd sit one out and re-organize a bit.
Then Roland took over...
Project5 development was ended.
Amazing synths w/ an almost infinite potential were put aside while other developers saw the immense potential of the SFZ format first developed by René (Alchemy, anyone?)
And Sonar had its gut thrown out on the table and was re-assembled to look like Studio One (which itself is only a pale copy of Logic ;) ) - only, w/ all the good old typical flaws of Sonar.
Had it been called Sonar 9, it might have been less depressing. It would have been ONE release in a long line. But it was a fresh start, what they kept from the past and expect to build on...
You know, I'm 99% happy w/ Logic, but Sonar will always hold a warm spot in my heart. Man they had something good - if only they'd refined that...
Man, it was darn good.
