bapu

 

...X3 is better...  

Ya, way better.
 
Thanks bapu.

It sounds like you have been getting along just fine without the extra plugins. The only point to installing legacy product is if there is something that is such an essential part of your workflow that it would cripple you otherwise or you discover the it can do something you need that current setup cannot replicate. For me that was the case with r-mix. Just to play devils advocate, the core install is relatively small and some things like v-vocal seem to work better with Ara. I never used v-vical before but I dabble in it now and then now.

X1 was a blast, X2 bombed for some reason on my system but after much head banging was also a blast.

X3 is definitely da bomb! ;)

Very stable, I've almost started to believe it will never crash...

+1 to the advice above on just starting with X3. As you said in the OP, you do not use the plug-ins from X1/X2. Good chance you will probably never miss them, and can always add them later if you do.

I just installed a new 2T Drive a couple of months ago and faced the same dilemma. I installed only X3 and have had no regrets and few if any issues. I also installed only 64 bit version and did not install all the 3rd party plug ins I rarely use, only the ones that are staples for me.

For those who contributed and I didn't give a direct bit of 'Thanks' here it is: Thanks!
 
And thanks to the forum in general...it's nice to have a wide group to call on for opinions. The way this turned out I am almost tempted to think I'm not as big of dunderhead as I might think...nah that's just hubris pure and simple. 
 
Thanks again everyone.
 
Regards,

I didn't install any previous versions of Sonar when I did a clean Win 8 install.  If at some point I do need VVocal or RMix I'll just install them, though it isn't likely.
 
Dan