I say get X3 working solid for everyone then move on to X4.

wst3
it is a little bit sad, but the vapor ware epidemic of the late 1980s pretty much spoiled things for consumers. And yeah, for those that might not remember, it really was that bad!

Isn't this when the current Sampletank came out and they announced work on Sampletank 3?

AT
Kenny, you need to get out a little.  

very true AT 
 
Kenny

As much as I love free updates, assuming Cakewalk sticks to the average of a version a year, I really hope they are working on X4 now!
While some issues remain with X3, there has already been a tremendous amount of fixes. By now, I would happily pay for new features (or just stick with X3, 'cause it's pretty ****in' as is).

@WST3 (Bill)
 
Here is your quote from above: "So while it would be nice if Cakewalk could announce their plans, I think it is wise of them do be cautious. Of course I can be calm, and even generous, because X3e is working quite well for me. My biggest gripe at the moment is some 'fun' with large Kontakt instances, matching outputs to tracks, which is nothing new, and of course the plugin manager still drives me nuts. All in all that's not so bad!"
 
Sooooo, I use Kontakt LITERALLY all day, every day, and I would like to know what these apparently frequent challenges are that you keep having with Kontakt - matching output to tracks, and whatever else.
 
The reason I ask you to elaborate on whatever those issues are, is that I have learned to use a pretty straight-forward and foolproof method of getting several instruments loaded up in an instance of Kontakt, and matched up nicely to the audio and midi tracks that correspond to the loaded instruments.
 
I would like to go over this with you in a separate thread, so I would like you to please gather your thoughts on those Kontakt challenges and create a new thread, so that I can guide you through what I found to work VERY well for me.
 
Sound like a plan?  :)
 
Bob Bone
 

I am often asked "how soon/ how long will it take you to....." I try not to respond, but when pressed I have little choice- most people give the earliest possible/ best eta, then one thing or another and they're late, having to apologize and explain and reschedule- I actually go the other way around, meaning the slowest. longest expectation and add a few onto that-there is some grumbling, but an "alright...."; acceptance- this allows me do the job without feeling stressed or rushed, paying my usual meticulous attention to detail as I go along, and when I'm done, hey ! I'm early ! and people are happy.
 
I am not the fastest- but I strive to earn a reputation for consistent reliability.
I think we've all been burned enough by flash-in-the-pan cheap junk- not just software, but durable goods like cars, furnishings, gadgets etc.- where we pay a good dollar we have a right to expect it to work.  I would rather have no update than something rushed that causes it's own host of problems. If cakewalk wants to invest in delivering a better product to it's customers,  it is their own choice- but I would like to ask others to refrain from pressing them so that they feel compelled to rush something broken out be it a patch, an update or a whole new iteration.

Mosvalve
I say get X3 working solid for everyone then move on to X4.

+1. I very much see X3 as a 'wipe the slate clean' and 'catchup' release, there are still a lot of legacy issues that need clearing and it is totally doable. We've put enough effort and time into showing exactly where the existing faults are (see my previous link) and I would hope in return we get resolutions. It will draw a line in the sand and that will encourage and give me confidence enough to jump on the X4 bandwagon from a forward thinking perspective. So far so good, it would be sad to see the process grind to a halt as we've got this far. It may be best to wait another year for X4 if necessary, I really want fixes not features right now which may bring in a whole new set of bugs. Get the pain out the way first. Thanks Cakewalk for great progress so far...

Disclaimer: I do not speak for Cakewalk. The following is what I've seen ALL software companies do, based on my experience of consulting over the years to Ableton, Avid, Sony, Steinberg, Microsoft, Native Instruments, Opcode, InMusic, PreSonus, Acoustica, Passport, and many others; I assume Cakewalk works similarly.
 
There are some problems with "fix all the bugs first before moving on." Showing a bug exists, and providing the steps to reproduce it, doesn't necessarily provide the path to fix it and more importantly, QC the fix. Sonar X3 has been out for 7 months - look at the fixes that have happened, divide by the number of days, and you can figure an average of days/bug. It would take a long time to fix every documented bug no matter how minor, so all progress would stop on development.
 
Also, fixing bugs can create new bugs. The POD Farm fix that happened is a good example of that, but there have been others. So after you roll out the bug fixes, then there's another round to fix the new bugs that surface, unless you've spent extra time in QC. It's like the famous calculus example of a ball that goes halfway to the wall each time it bounces. In theory, it will never reach the wall but at some point you say okay, it's reached the wall
 
Then there's also the issue of feature requests vs. bugs. If there's a feature request that would massively benefit the majority of users compared to a bug fix for a really esoteric situation that affects only a handful of users, which should the manufacturer pursue? A handful of users will say fix the bug, the majority will say feature request (remember, you can't have both).
 
But let's assume it is actually possible fix all the bugs, and the bugs that result from the fixes, sometime in 2015. Other companies that don't feel a need to fix all the bugs will add shiny new features, and then people will come into the forum and complain that "Hey, Reaper lets me concatenate quadratic defluxers, Sonar can't do that, wow Sonar sucks!" Then to add insult to injury, Cakewalk finally does get around to adding new features, and some of the bugs that were supposedly "fixed" resurface because now they're interacting with different software.
 
What software companies do is after a release, they come up with a fix as soon as possible to deal with "showstopper" bugs. Then as reports come in, they fix more bugs. Eventually they get to the point where they decide that enough bugs have been fixed and the ball has reached the metaphorical wall, but at that point, they DON'T just flick a switch where bug fixing stops and development begins. What happens is bug fixes and development proceed in parallel, so that the bugs are tested in the context of the next generation of software, which can potentially keep "fixed" bugs truly fixed.
 
It is simply not possible to fix all bugs, meet demands for feature requests, and develop new features and products simultaneously. Not even a company with Microsoft's resources (just a bit more than Cakewalk's, know what I mean?) can pull it off. Apple can't pull it off or iPhones would still be on iOS 7 and work perfectly instead of arriving at 7.1 through many inbetween steps. Apple didn't wait until 7.1 fixed the bugs from 7 before releasing a new iPhone model. No matter how smart the Bakers are, I don't expect them to do what neither Microsoft nor Apple have been able to do...nor any other DAW manufacturer, for that matter. So, I believe they will continue making what they feel are the appropriate tradeoffs to satisfy the needs of as much of their customer base as possible, in as timely a manner as possible.
 
However, I did request that Sonar be able to concatenate quadratic defluxers in a future version.
 
 

Anderton
It is simply not possible to fix all bugs, meet demands for feature requests, and develop new features and products simultaneously. Not even a company with Microsoft's resources (just a bit more than Cakewalk's, know what I mean?) can pull it off. 

Exactly. I still encounter bugs in Microsoft Outlook that annoyed me back in 2007 (and which I reported back then). Millions of businesses worldwide trust their finances to Intuit Quickbooks and that has a ton of bugs too. Heck I bet there's bugs in missile guidance systems (although with Skunk Baxter on the team I'm sure they'll all be ironed out soon enough ) 

The next Sonar version may very well be a Tascam-branded product...