Hate to say this because Scott is awesome and his books are amazing. However, with his X3 book around the corner I will give you an honest, hold off unless you can get it at a reduced price. Amazon is still charging full price. I absolutely think you should buy X3 Power when it comes out, but if you are looking for something to get you up and started and were willing to look at material made for older versions, there are other options. The older X1 and X2 videos in the cakewalk store are available dirt cheap now. Another option, and it does feel a little awkward mentioning what some might consider a competing book with a questionably similar name, is The Power in Sonar (Quick Pro Guide) by William Edstrom. I don't consider them competing products because one is truly a quick start guide and the other is as complete of a resource as you will find. I hope Scott can appreciate my honesty in this matter because I honestly want every Sonar user to buy the X3 book when it comes out. I just think if one is going to start with a book that does not cover current version, price and redundancy are factors. Good chance much of the material in X3 Power will be repeats of what was in X2 power. Buy going with the other book option and getting X3 Power when released, the user gets a much more cost efficient option and won't be re-buying the same material in a few months.