This isn't going to be a popular response on this forum but my advice to you is spend your money on a decent laptop and stick with Sonar 6. Seriously! I 'upgraded' from Sonar 5 to X1 and quite honestly it has been quite literally a waste of time and money.  I haven't found any advantages in X1, only disadvantages. It's been more of a downgrade than an upgrade. Unfortunately I can't get my money back because I bought it online and they don't give refunds. I've put in about 30 feature requests that would actually be improvements over Sonar 5 but I'd be very surprised if they get implemented. I've had a hard time trying to find ANY improvements in X1 over v.5.   Download the trial version and you will begin to see what I mean.  I'd be careful with and old 2480, I have a VS880 and it just stopped working and nobody, including Roland, can tell me why.  I'm not familiar with the 2480 but I guess Sonar (6) with decent PC and soundcard will give you a more user-friendly system.

Hi AV Man- you must be joking. What about things like LP-64 eq and compressor, vocal strip, percussion strip, perfect space, matrix view, 64 bit support etc etc etc. 

Have you not noticed these things? 

If you can't see any improvements you have major problems my friend.  

I'm just hoping they keep working on X1 to get it's stability issues under control. I bought it knowing it was still somewhat in its infancy but had matured enough to be at the point most of the major bugs had been worked out. The way I see it is it might take a couple more updates until it's rock solid and I'm okay with that. I'm not really a power user anyway. I just want to get some virtual drum tracks laid down so I can put my bass/guit/vox and occasionally other live recorded instruments in there then perhaps mess around with some of the crazy synths that came with my package (but nothing too crazy, just add some extra ambiance/layers/ whatever to the tracks). My main focus was the extensive mixing/mastering type effects included to get everything sounding as nice as possible. However I see people eluding to X2 already and that is a bit of a concern. I don't want to pay for a new, potentially unstable upgrade while the software I purchased (X1) gets left to languish. It probably won't be an issue for me either way and I'm sure everything will be fine but the paranoid part of my brain sees this X2 stuff getting talked about and... well I get a little concerned. Maybe others can voice their thoughts on that to quell my fears.

What about a potentially stable upgrade beepster. And what are these instabilities in X1 that you are alluding to? It's been working very well for me since the beginning and almost perfectly since the second patch.

I just see a lot of crash issues and stuff others seem to have. I know there are many factors involved in those types of things and probably, as I said, won't encounter them myself once I get everything set up properly (again I'll likely be sticking to pretty basic stuff compared to some of you guys) but I just would like to see X1 stick around for at least a few more years before we move into any massive upgrades or overhauls. Just curious about what might be on the horizon is all. Yanno?

I should perhaps point out that my 'upgrade' was to the Studio version from the Producer version so I didn't get those plugins.  I had Perfect Space in Sonar 5. I have found that strangely the 64bit version runs slower and is less stable than the 32bit version, it is also capable of making a pig's ear of older project files which use 32 bit plug-ins.  I won't list all the shortcomings I've found with X1,  I have mentioned a few in previous posts but I keep finding more. I don't have the time or energy to report them all. The list would be very long!  Crucially, I wouldn't recommend X1 to anyone using a laptop - especially the Producer edition! The new interface and its wastage of screen space is nothing short of a disaster. I have learned the new tools and keyboard shortcuts - and re-created as best as possible ones that are absent, I even bought a secondf monitor to try to compensate but I found when returning to v.5 I was much more productive again. I just feel a bit stupid for falling for all the marketing hype around X1.  I do feel I am justified in expecting more from an upgrade that cost me $100 ... 4 versions later!  My experience with X1 has been bordering on a nightmare and has cost me a hell of a lot of wasted time.  In X1 I have lost features that I had previously and the implementation of some features like audiosnap and clip envelopes is just plain diabolical, to the extent that those features may as well not exist.
 
Sorry but I guess you didn't have the opportunity to use Sonar 5 so you wouldn't realise how X1 is a step (4 steps?) backward but you are right. I do have a problem with X1!

And I guess whether if there is ever a paid upgrade that X1 will continue getting worked on and supported afterward. I am completely new to Cakewalk software so I don't really know their policies or procedures as far as that type of thing.

@A V man... hmm... I'm certainly no expert but I don't think X1 is supposed to just be crammed willy nilly onto old systems like that. I think it needs a little more hardware oomph to shine. Just a thought. I do feel your pain about the screenspace issues though. I don't even think two monitors is gonna cut it for me. But I seem to be getting used to the shortcuts to hide and display things as I need them so I'll deal with it.

 Beepster -  I was actually replying to Backwood's comment

but you say  "if there is ever a paid upgrade that X1 will continue getting worked on"

You are making the same assumption that led me to X1!  'worked on' maybe but for who's benefit?  As I see it Sonar has gone backwards and might keep going backwards. When they talk about upgrades they are giving with one hand and taking away with the other.  And do you know what the most amazing thing about it is... the 'carrots' they offer to get you to upgrade the newer versions are nowhere near as useful as the the stuff they have taken away or simple but useful features they could have but have failed to add. 

I'm speaking from the perspective of someone who doesn't have the resources to upgrade to replacement sound cards solid state hard drives, a multi-processor machine, dual HD monitors or even the latest 'Producer' version but I guess most customers, like the OP are in a similar situation.  Software should be reliable and efficient and upgrades should prioritise the needs and mindsets of existing customers. Not only should user interface overhauls should provide a comfortable and 100% fall-back to previous modes of operation for experienced users but they should also provide genuine improvements to existing tools and functions and not downgraded versions of the same (IMHO). Damn - by spending $100 on this so called upgrade I don't think I've even gained the right to switch to the Producer version at a discounted price if I wanted to. I don't think I've gained anything at all other than a clearer insight into what makes Software houses release 'upgrades' and how they go about it. Yuk!

Well... sorry it's not working out for you. It is a very massive program though so it sounds like your issues are being caused by trying to run it on an older system. My old rig has an ancient version of Nuendo installed on it. The newer version would just destroy that system and not work at all so I didn't bother. I also know any current DAW software would rip it to pieces as well so I made a plan, built the new gear and invested in Sonar. I won't go into specific details why but I figured it was the best bang for the buck. What you are describing is just the nature of the tech industry and more so the consumer tech industry. It's a fast moving environment and sadly with the amount of work that gets put into these things if they didn't do this type of stuff many companies would simply fold and we the consumers would be left with nothing. Infuriating? Certainly, but there is a reason things happen this way. Hopefully you kept an image disc copy of your system you can roll back to or if you have your original Cakewalk discs still handy do a complete uninstall of you upgrade so you can reinstall the version that worked for you. Then at least you have the version you like set up and have access to a newer version if you can ever upgrade to a system that can handle it. Nature of the beast my friend. The tech follows the software and the software follows the tech like a snake eating it's own tail. Peace.