Sanderxpander
I honestly don't use the formant tool a whole lot, but I did take their deal (until the 16th) to full Editor (149), because I wanted the timing tool and the pitch drift and modulation tools.

 that's a steal.. even at the $300 I paid I though it was (expensive) good value.

Comping is definitely a huge improvement. The color-changing of tracks etc. is pretty sweet as well. Melodyne, and the other plug-ins are nice to have, and they will see some use in my arsenal. Aside from this, and hopefully some massive fixes, X3 isn't going to wow critics at trade shows. These are some hooks to ring people in, and although the fixes and new comping were really all I needed, which could have been X2b, I'm personally seeing that X3 is really an iteration vs. a revelation.
 
Don't get me wrong, it was a very welcome upgrade--badly needed since X2 was essentially orphaned from a life-cycle or improvements. But it's not really a game-changer. Noting the length of time for these improvements (from X2a to X3a), unless there are tons and tons of fixes and coding architecture improvements, coupled with the faster update trend (thus far), I personally don't see X3 being a "must have" for people on the fence. Again, I hope Cakewalk did some true undercover magic on the framework. That was where I felt X1/X2 failed, and hopefully X3 will prevail.
 
What I can predict from the purchase by Gibson is that Tascam is going to quickly (read, hastily) compete with Presonus and build a DAW controller/mixer that will integrate with Sonar much like the Presonus board integrates with Studio One. The Presonus board has made the cover of the Sweetwater Catalog at least three times in a row, and you simply cannot miss that! I sincerely hope this is the target. I'd like to see Tascam prove the critics wrong about their target market and bring us something real and professional. I still prefer a mouse for precision adjustments, but for Automation and such, this could be a win!
 
I've at least got 25% of what I wanted, and my biggest issue (Take Lanes) has not really been fixed, rather, re-invented. I'm pretty happy about that. As it was said by Cakewalk, although maybe not all of the gripes and requests/wishes would be retained or perfectly decoded, we've been heard. Here's to good times!!

I suppose a lot of it depends on your normal workflow. I track vocals a lot and it's finally soooo simple and quick to take the best sounding phrases from multiple takes and almost simultaneously fix pitch and amplitude issues. I'm one happy camper!

Sanderxpander
I honestly don't use the formant tool a whole lot, but I did take their deal (until the 16th) to full Editor (149), because I wanted the timing tool and the pitch drift and modulation tools.

And don't forget about polyphonic editing in Editor.  It's amazing...!

brconflict
Comping is definitely a huge improvement. The color-changing of tracks etc. is pretty sweet as well. Melodyne, and the other plug-ins are nice to have, and they will see some use in my arsenal. Aside from this, and hopefully some massive fixes, X3 isn't going to wow critics at trade shows. These are some hooks to ring people in, and although the fixes and new comping were really all I needed, which could have been X2b, I'm personally seeing that X3 is really an iteration vs. a revelation.
 
Don't get me wrong, it was a very welcome upgrade--badly needed since X2 was essentially orphaned from a life-cycle or improvements. But it's not really a game-changer. Noting the length of time for these improvements (from X2a to X3a), unless there are tons and tons of fixes and coding architecture improvements, coupled with the faster update trend (thus far), I personally don't see X3 being a "must have" for people on the fence. Again, I hope Cakewalk did some true undercover magic on the framework. That was where I felt X1/X2 failed, and hopefully X3 will prevail.
 
What I can predict from the purchase by Gibson is that Tascam is going to quickly (read, hastily) compete with Presonus and build a DAW controller/mixer that will integrate with Sonar much like the Presonus board integrates with Studio One. The Presonus board has made the cover of the Sweetwater Catalog at least three times in a row, and you simply cannot miss that! I sincerely hope this is the target. I'd like to see Tascam prove the critics wrong about their target market and bring us something real and professional. I still prefer a mouse for precision adjustments, but for Automation and such, this could be a win!
 
I've at least got 25% of what I wanted, and my biggest issue (Take Lanes) has not really been fixed, rather, re-invented. I'm pretty happy about that. As it was said by Cakewalk, although maybe not all of the gripes and requests/wishes would be retained or perfectly decoded, we've been heard. Here's to good times!!

I would disagree with the "wow" factor in light of ARA & VST3 - Those are both big ticket items IMHO.  The latter because it addresses a long-standing and very valid need, and opens up better VST compatibility.  So even though it is more evolutionary than revolutionary in SONAR terms, it puts SONAR in a better place among the conpetition.   And when it comes to ARA, seeing as SONAR is only the second host to include it makes it a very big deal in my book.  And since SONAR also adds features like dragging audio clips from other tracks or the Browser to MIDI tracks, and automatically converting them, it opens up so many possibilities.
 
Adding those to the new comping workflow and track colors really makes X3 stand out, at least to me!   And so far it does seem as though this might be the most stable version out of the gate in quite some time.   And since the updates are coming quick and there's no sign of that changing, it's sort of like the perfect storm in SONAR world.  
 
Where it goes from here is anyone's guess, and of course that's all it can be.   But given the first two week's of X3's existence, I'd have to give a big ole "+1" to your good times reference and raise you another update or two or three.  
 

VST3 is welcomed, to say the least. ARA is going to be useful for many, but I've very rarely ever had to use V-Vocal, so Melodyne to me is an added bonus I may not find in use too often. Maybe other things will start popping up here soon to reap ARA's benefits. It's almost like I would benefit from seeking out artists who would definitely require me to employ it in every session to really enjoy its benefits. Otherwise, it's a +1 bullet-point, but not really what I'd call a wow-factor item (that's just my opinion). It's tough to impress further when you're already ahead of the game in some ways. Cakewalk has done a great job with X3 in listening to feedback (especially negative feedback), and it's even more of a challenge to decide which needs to fulfill by priority and on time with conflicting needs out there.
 
Although X3 is my DAW now, and I have stopped shopping around, it's not my DAW yet. I still have hopes it will eventually grow into that, and maybe I ask too much. The Wow factor in my eyes comes from taking the whole experience to a new level, such as re-designing the GUI to bring in Skylight for X1. I'm happy whether it was changed or not, but I still believe the Wow-factor would come in if the DAW could span across multiple monitors with enlarged controls for touch, and give you the experience of being in a World-Class studio with the ease of using a large-format AVID console (but in this case, touch coupled with large touch-screens). Something big like that would blow people's minds I bet.
 
Coming from an arsenal of 3rd-party plug-ins, I didn't really see much benefit in the ones added to X3. However, they do look enticing, and I'm willing to give them all a whirl. These alone justify the price of the upgrade (I dare any argument here), and I'm excited to see them, but there's other areas of change I'd like to have seen in the DAW itself first, such as larger faders, or themes. I will add the fly-out EQ makes it more likely I will use it. I just couldn't deal with the tiny one in X2's PC.
 
Looking forward to my next session!

LOL... I guess I am the typical guy in that I do first, then read the manual if something does not "go right"... the comping video is only 6 minutes (of course, I did not watch it, so the new record button was "unknown")... and I had friends (musicians) over last weekend and have been DYING to get them to adopt SONAR... and my reaction was "I am not sure what is happening here"... lesson learned for me... Sadly... NONE of my musician friends use ANY DAW at all :( It makes it very difficult to collaborate with people I have played with... since they need to set up in my studio to "contribute" :(
 
If I can get them to adopt any DAW at all, it better be SONAR!!!
 
Michael

brconflict
 
Looking forward to my next session!

And I think that sums it up best!   When you're looking forward to use your DAW, that's a good sign despite whatever limitations or missing features might exist.