Hi folks. Ran a few searches for this matter, but couldn't find quite what I was looking for...
 
My most current version of Sonar is X2, which I've not really used to date (actually, being perfectly honest, I haven't even taken it out of the box! Figures, I bought it about a month before X3's existence/release was announced). Now that X3 has been out for a bit, and appears to be receiving a vast amount of more maintenance than its predecessor, I find myself contemplating that pesky little question in my head - to upgrade or not to upgrade, if it's worth it or it isn't, especially now, with the opportunity to take advantage of the loyal customer discounted upgrade price of $99.
 
But, rather than having a bunch of you fine folks tell me if it was worth it to you to upgrade, or even moreso, trying to get you all to put yourselves in my shoes and guess if it's worth it for me, I will instead simply ask this...
 
What are the biggest differences from X2 to X3?... Pro and con. Additions, subtractions, alterations, omissions, fixes, etc., etc.
 
Though I haven't really put my copy of X2 through its paces, between my experience with prior versions and having read Scott Garrigus' (excellent) Sonar X2 Power! in its entirety, I think I have a pretty solid understanding and familiarity with most of the features and functions of the program. So please, feel free to divulge in as many or as few areas and details as you see fit. All input is appreciated.
 
With this knowledge, I should be able to weigh all the relevant factors, and determine for myself if it is worth it or not to jump for the upgrade. Again, all input is greatly appreciated.
 
Thanks!
 
(PS: Sorry if this post feels over-asked to the more frequent visitors of the forum - I really couldn't find a previous thread that answered these specific questions I pose, mostly just opinion and personal review of the product's worth on a more subjective level.)

ARA integration, the new comping tool and color customisation is some of the first things that comes to my mind......oh and stability improvements. Check out the demo

Here's the new features list:
http://www.cakewalk.com/products/sonar/whats-new.aspx
As for enhancements, there have been enhancement in video codecs and numerous bug fixes.  For those, you can read the release notes for each update.
 
There are a few reworked features (track lanes and new comping), and a few features that have been dropped (R-Mix), and a few other small 'subtractions'.  Whether they are 'pro' or 'con' is going to primarily depend on your own user experience.  But, that's still a good reason for you to install X2 first even if you consider getting X3, so you can still have access to the old features if needed, and see if the newer ones are more to your liking.
 
In all, I think you should do the upgrade, even if you have not installed X2.  The biggest reason is so that you can have all the support and updates and fixes of a current release. 

dimelives1
...I really couldn't find a previous thread that answered these specific questions...

There's actually a thread started yesterday on this same topic in the Coffee House forum:
http://forum.cakewalk.com/Im-considering-the-loyalty-upgrade-m3014566.aspx
Maybe it didn't answer your questions though.

Dime,
 
Your framed the question well, but you did not tell us about - you - what you typically record, the kind of music, vocals, the complexity of your songs - etc. So it would just be giving you are random thoughts which is what you did not want.
 
Further, you did not say what version of X2 you have, making it a bit more difficult to answer the question you posed. But I assume from the $99 fee the version is "studio" .
 
So I will try to put it in some perspective.
 
If you are a one guitar and one vocal person, then stick with x2... if you are an occasional hobbiest, a quick recording here and there, stay with X2.  If you don't come close to overtaxing X2, stay with it.  If you are happy with teh stability of x2 the way YOU use it, then stick with it.  If you don't use take lanes, then stay with it. If you don't use melodyne then stay with it.
 
But if there are exceptions to the "stay with" criteria I just listed, you are wasting a lot of time by using X2. Go straight to http://www.cakewalk.com/products/sonar/versions.aspx and buy X3.
 
That's my opinion.

flameout
...you did not say what version of X2 you have...But I assume from the $99 fee the version is "studio"...

$99 upgrade price applies to Producer edition right now.

The new features you can easily find on the website. Two that pop to mind are melodyne and color schemes. But for me (and others) the biggest issue with X2 was that it is very buggy and essentially not supported. The take lanes feature in particular which is used for some aspects of editing and for comping was poorly implemented causing major workflow obstacles. Just search for any thread asking about updates for X2a and you will find long lists of requested by fixes and feature enhancements

I actually feel that X2 was essentially a beta product and not ready for prime time. But of course that depends a lot on how you use it. For me upgrading to X3 was not just beneficial but necessary.

Hey Kyle,
 
Thanks very much for reading my book! Comping and integration of Melodyne were really great additions to X3, but of course, it all depends on if you need the new features or not.
 
Scott

--
Scott R. Garrigus - http://garrigus.com - SONAR X3 Power! - http://garrigus.com/?SonarX3Power
* Author of the Cakewalk Sonar and Sony Sound Forge Power book series: http://garrigus.com/?PowerBooks
* Author of the Cakewalk Sonar ProAudioTutor video tutorial series: http://garrigus.com/?ProAudioTutor
* Publisher of the DigiFreq free music technology newsletter: http://digifreq.com/?DigiFreq
* Publisher of the NewTechReview free consumer technology newsletter: http://newtechreview.com/?NewTechReview

The new comping feature is one of the biggest time savers of all time, the new color scheme is fabulous, Melodyne and the ability to drop an audio track into a MIDI track and transform it to MIDI is unbelievable, and Addictive Drums (full version) is no slouch.

...and to the above I would add VST3 support, a better video foundation that will serve us well in future versions, lots of bug fixes and stability improvements, QuadCurve EQ flyout with spectrum analyzer, Blue Tubes suite of effects, and the BiFilter.
 
I never had the problems with X2 that some others seemed to experience, but overall X3 feels more solid and responsive. That's not a huge functional improvement, but over time, it adds up into a better recording experience.