No you definitely have to upgrade to the metals cans for the frequency response.  Then you plug in the paper cups to get that old school tone.

Yep thats the best way to go and its non destructive too. We'll get you into the 21 century eventually.  

lawp

Bristol_Jonesey
+1 Alex

surely one's enough already? ;-)

Nah - we collaborate over the telephone so we need an identical setup

dwardzala
No you definitely have to upgrade to the metals cans for the frequency response.  Then you plug in the paper cups to get that old school tone.

A paper cup emulator ...... I love it!!!!!   LOL!! 

in all seriousness though, try the demo, the workflow/ui is very different from pre-x sonars

michael diemer
So I get this card in the mail saying I can upgrade to Sonar X3 for just 49.00. I am currently on Sonar 8.5 Producer. I plan to get or build a new rig in a few months, when I retire. Haven't decided what DAW to go with then. I may stick with Sonar, try Cubase or even Reaper. I hear a lot about glitches with the X series, but it seems you get a lot too. At that price it almost seems I have nothing to lose. I can always go back to 8.5, right? So what do folks think I should do? I'm pretty happy where I am. I compose "classical music" for my own pleasure.

People are having a bit of fun with this, but I completely get where you are coming from. If what you have does everything you want and you are comfortable with it.... I mean, "Hey, they've brought out a new chisel, nothing wrong with my old chisel, but you have to upgrade your toolset every year, right?!!"   :)

Having said, that. I'm also getting a new pc, and I'm planning on upgrading, going from X1 Essential to X3 Studio, I fancy the new features, but as sombody pointed out, you have the flagship version of 8.5 - and you might be a bit disappointed with just the basic version of X3.
 
Personally, I like the layout and feel of Sonar now, I had to use Cubase on a recent college course and just could not get on with the dense layout and what seemed to me to be counter-intuitive design - but many would disagree.
 
 

"I had to use Cubase on a recent college course and just could not get on with the dense layout and what seemed to me to be counter-intuitive design - but many would disagree."
 
Not that many.

I was absolutely content with 8.5 and skipped X1, but I jumped in just before X2 was released ..Cake offered a decent upgrade.

It was a little different from what I was used to, but it was easy to figure out - without any WTF_what_do_I_do_now moments.
I fired up 8.5 a couple of weeks later, and it seemed less intuitive, since I was now accustomed to the pro channel, the FX chain & the browser.

The upgrade is worth it - but make sure you check the different X3's.
The $49 one won't get you many of the best things that X3 Producer has to offer.
 
Check out scook's link, and/or go here http://www.cakewalk.com/products/sonar/versions.aspx
 

X3 is a good place to jump into the X-series if not used any yet... very stable, ARA, VST3, loads of goodies... check the versioning though. The $49 upgrade is to the basic version, I believe.
 
Once you spend some time with the new interface, I think you will learn to appreciate it.