I always thought the number signified the year so I'd say release is due anytime in the next five months!
As August  and December can be ruled out as extremely unlikely my money is on sometime during the quarter Sep to Nov. Having said that I can't think what could possibly be included in a pay-for upgrade apart from more plugins and I have far too many of those now.
 
Edit: I do have a feature I'd like. A 'format painter' like there is in Excel. I'd like to be able to click on a clip to capture its colours (foreground and background) and clip name and then be able to click that format onto other clip(s) instead of having to keep using the Inspector for this.  E.g I like to paint clips the same colour that have been Melodyned.  

I am predicting X4 will include AD2.

My observations of CW selling strategy shows the following:
* There was good deals on X1 sales, some multi step procedure to get X1 Pro cheap.
* X2 was introduced with the "Content Club", which was 100% compensating the price drop during the next year.
* X3 came without any "Content Club", with relatively fast price drop and AD upgrade story. As the end effect, early adopters had to pay close to 3 times more for the possibility to use the same set during less then half an year.
 
While the absolute price is in any case low compare to the total semi-pro gear cost, for hobby users (like me) the difference between X2 price strategy and X3 price strategy is big.
 
Since X4 if/when it comes either has no great advantages and/or likely to follow X3 scenario, my answer on the original question: get X3 now, it is not going to be significantly cheaper and in case X4 comes soon it is good idea to wait for it's price drop in any case.

I hope the above posters have submitted those feature requests, maybe it's not too late for some of those to get considered for whatever is coming around the corner.
 
Bob Bone
 

My bet is April or Oct 2015. I'm sure I will be wrong.

What I'm learning is that software is a moving target. For example more features mean more time spent QCing, and there are goals about prioritizing and fixing bugs. Both are open-ended; there will always be bugs, and you can QC something forever with a million different systems. There also has to be a balance. Software companies don't just add new features in the week before release; some have been finished and sitting on the shelf for months, but there wouldn't be any point in saying "here's Update X3e.00000001 that costs $9.95" unless you were doing some kind of subscription program. 
 
At some point the company has to decide if there are enough compelling features to justify an update. If they don't include enough features, then people won't be interested in updating. If they try to include too many, then the release will take forever to appear because of all the testing that needs to be done.
 
I do feel Cakewalk has a good handle on this type of situation and whatever they choose will make sense.
 
 

My take is this: X3, for me has been the most solid since X1, so I'm good with it for the time-being (way more pleased with reliability than I was with X2, which I still feel was a bit abandoned). So, if the current version is keeping me afloat and working without pain, for every month/week/day the next version is being worked on, the better it's being tested, or the better the features might be. Take a waiting period as a benefit for better things.

brconflict
My take is this: X3, for me has been the most solid since X1, so I'm good with it for the time-being (way more pleased with reliability than I was with X2, which I still feel was a bit abandoned). So, if the current version is keeping me afloat and working without pain, for every month/week/day the next version is being worked on, the better it's being tested, or the better the features might be. Take a waiting period as a benefit for better things.

This!

Anderton
What I'm learning is that software is a moving target. For example more features mean more time spent QCing, and there are goals about prioritizing and fixing bugs. Both are open-ended; there will always be bugs, and you can QC something forever with a million different systems. There also has to be a balance. Software companies don't just add new features in the week before release; some have been finished and sitting on the shelf for months, but there wouldn't be any point in saying "here's Update X3e.00000001 that costs $9.95" unless you were doing some kind of subscription program. 
 
At some point the company has to decide if there are enough compelling features to justify an update. If they don't include enough features, then people won't be interested in updating. If they try to include too many, then the release will take forever to appear because of all the testing that needs to be done.
 
I do feel Cakewalk has a good handle on this type of situation and whatever they choose will make sense.
 
 

There were always be bugs, but the reality is if they need fixing they need fixing. Everybody has to accept that fixing bugs takes time and money. Those who prefer stability over features should buy the product six months after release after service packs are out.

However getting the consumer on a bandwagon of accepting that their workflow or routing/stability issues will only be fixed by upgrading to the next version I feel will only damage the reputation of the goods on sale. If there is an issue about development being too expensive or time consuming then you alter the release schedule and the price accordingly.

It might be X3 is the last version to have ancient bugs that are in limbo. If that is the case I'm willing to accept it. If they are still hanging around in 2015 then that would be a different matter altogether. Recent work by Cakewalk (service pack X3E being the latest) gives me hope that these ancient issues will be put to bed.

Cheers...

It all comes down to what will satisfy the largest number of people. At one extreme some people won't be happy until every bug is fixed, and they're willing to trade off new features to have that. On the other extreme are people who are not affected negatively by current bugs so they're willing to trade off bug fixes for new features.
 
Ultimately I think most people fall somewhere in between. They'd like any bugs that affect their workflow fixed, but would also be open to new features that improve their workflow - especially if some minor bugs cut their efficiency by 10% but a new feature would improve their efficiency by 15%.
 
I do feel that the rapid-fire pace of initial updates to X3 is a model that will continue to be followed. As you have pointed out some bugs aren't fixed if they intersect with new features, because it's more efficient (although less desirable for users) to find the bugs that result from this intersection and then fix the combination.
 
If my past experience with software holds true (prior to the Cakewalk acquisition I consulted to Steinberg, Ableton, Avid, Acoustica, Native Instruments, Waves, M-Audio, and others), many long-standing bugs will be fixed in a future version, a bunch will be fixed in subsequent patches, and some legacy ones will carry on. I don't see Cakewalk being able to deviate too far from that formula, but hey, you never know with these guys.