keyzs
 
ON A SIDE NOTE: Sony has just released Sound Forge Pro 11. it comes with an integrated iZotope Mastering Suite... why would i wanna pay for a forced upgrade when i have Sound Forge Pro 10 and iZotope Ozone & Advanced Mastering Suite...???? Doesnt make sense.....
 
 
As Craig mentioned Adobe's model, though i have never used their CC collection, i am still on CS6. i can honestly tell you, with Photoshop, Fireworks, Premiere and After Effects there is nothing CS6 can do which CS3, CS4, CS5 and CS5.5 cant. Unfortunately the same cant be said about Flash and Dreamweaver... the web is now being developed by clowns who just put in codes and stuff which nobody can agree on..... 

ironically there is a thread in the software section  of this forum where most of the responses to Sony's newest version does not bring much  to the table.  IMO Sonar updates tend to offer considerably more than what Sony does.
 
I think the statements about Adobe are very much exaggerated. Off the top of my head I can think of several major features that CS6 offered in AE that were impossible in previous versions without.  The ability to offer true 3d text and extrusions with raytracing.   The addition of a 3d camera tracker was huge.  More and more compositors and motion graphic artists require cameras trackers to integrate 3d objects into 2d worlds.The warp stabilzer was big improvement too.  True, one could have exported to mocha AE and stabilized in there and imported back to AE, but that's a lot of extra steps and time.  I suppose the veracity of your statement is highly user dependent.

@Craig... ah yes... the Yamaha OTP... manZ... the years have past...
 
i guess at that time the SDK was still in its earliest infancy and nobody knew what to expect, how or where to go; it was kind of the wild west for electronic music and midi. if i can remember, Cakewalk, Cubase and Sound Diver were somehow connected and there was always some latency issue along with some SysEx Data thinngy... It was a time where everyone in industry was experimenting and couldnt make heads or tails of things... hahaha   (a fun time to be around though...)  
 
hmmm.... guess you'd be right on the point of collaboration where users will have all the same tools by staying together with one company. Still, IMHO, i believe the main concern for most of us here is not wanting to pay for subscriptions just to continue to use a buggy tool, however, to pay a small but reasonable fee for some new features or perhaps "repair" work to the existing platform. If however, a brand new platform is offered, i think it would be fair to either pay for the new "toy" or to have the option to "so called - trade in" / upgrade to the new platform version. What do you think... 
 
many thanks again for your replies...
 
@dubdisciple, yup i get it... bad Sony, they should have just left Sonic Foundry alone...  this new release will be really great for a new installer as it has much to offer and or perhaps someone upgrading from SF8 and below. 
 
true la.. i really agree that from X1 to X2, there are major improvements, one of them i particularly would enjoy is the improvements to the PRW; no doubt small, but we are moving along; also splitting the "automation" lanes in the main area.... i think the zoom timeline was taken from Ableton...  but thats all good too.... 

i am still on X1 though as i have about 11 tracks open-ended; during the launch of X2, i did preview the demo and it is impressive. X1d has been super stable all this while, i do get the occasional BitBridge Crash but other than that all is exceptional... hopefully, when X3 does come along, i might make the switch. 
 
what you mentioned about AE is also very true... i didnt look into those features you mentioned. for us,  we do a lot of compositions in 3DS MAX and usually upon render, we would compose the footage with AE using the standard camera track utilities. its an older way of works i guess...
 
however, if you are into AE, play with the Particle System... its extremely impressive and takes a lot less time to render compared to 3DS.
 
once again, many thanks for your replies..
 
cheers all... 

I made up my mind about subscription software after I got Office 365:
 
I hate it! I hope it's a dying trend! I will stay away for as long as I can and I will never touch it if it's anything like the Office 365! If this is the future, then I'm jumping ship!
 
My irrational 2 cents, but I'm sticking to them

Keyz.  I actually feel that Sony's problem is that they need to make the product theirs.  I have a bit of nosalgia for Sonic Foundry  but I think 10+ years is enough of a transition ;)

Maybe this thread would qualify for a poll.

I personally think many here are jumping the gun on this (Craig included) None of the audio DAW producers are in fact doing it are they? Presonus does not look like doing it, Steinberg is not doing it, Logic is not doing it. In fact for $200 you get to do download and use the program forever. Image Line have got the opposite view, pay one fee for every update for life!
 
Adobe has acquired Cool Edit Pro which is an audio program and as it now under the Adobe banner. And yes the vision software producers may be going down that road but it does not necesaarily mean all the audio guys are going to jump on that bandwagon.
 
I say wait and see what happens. Hypothesizing about won't really get you anywhere. If and when all the audio DAW guys do it then we will have something to think about but not until then really. As they say let's cross that bridge when we come to it.
 
And let's hope they don't go down that road too. I think for professionals who are earning decent amounts of money from it then it may not be such a bad thing but for those who don't earn a lot from using audio software then it could be seen as unfair.
 
Don't forget too that many of these bigger vision programs are quite expensive and the percentage of use in more professional and teaching applications is probably much higher (compared to audio) so they mey be thinking this model might be OK. Also there is much more dominance and less competition in these programs too compared to audio programs and that may have something to do with it. They may not be able to get away with that in the audio world so easily.

And let's hope they don't go down that road too. I think for professionals who are earning decent amounts of money from it then it may not be such a bad thing but for those who don't earn a lot from using audio software then it could be seen as unfair.

 
Well, I think that is key what you have just said there Jeff.  I think Cakewalk must know who their key market is and that it is based on a good share of weekend warriors and hobbyist, in addition to Professionals.  The Pro's will just right off a subscription as a business expense and let Uncle Sam eat some of the deductions.  Us part timers, and I would think there are a lot of us, it would hurt our pocket books pretty substantially.  Or could, unless it was a really fair price.  
 
I think it is a good subject to put out there and I think it would be interesting for Cakewalk to see the overall reactions to the idea.  I am sure that subjects like this come up at the round table from time to time...that is business after all.

I doubt Cakewalk goes that direction either.  They are simply not in the same position as adobe is in respect to their field.  A graphic professional is far more limited in what they could do without photoshop than an audio artist is without Sonar. 

gswitz
Anderton, do you use the PC EQs or do you prefer to use the LP 64 EQ? I often use the PC EQs because they are so easy and right there. It's rare I bother with the LP 64 EQ.
 
Also, I believe I remember a great section in your video about how to use the MultiBand Compressor. I'm surprised you now comment on it being unusable.

I usually use the PC EQs for tracks, LP 64 for complex tracks or program material.
 
The Multiband Compressor I used in the videos was the Sonitus one, not the LP 64 version. The LP 64 response was waaaay to slow to consider using in a video.

Jeff Evans
I personally think many here are jumping the gun on this (Craig included) None of the audio DAW producers are in fact doing it are they?

My job is to stay ahead of the curve...I know for a fact that many software companies are thinking about the subscription model, so I asked what this forum thought of it (as well as my Sound, Studio, and Stage forum) because the level of discourse in both forums can be thoughtful and constructive. I think this thread confirms my assessment. Better to ask while companies are still formulating their opinions rather than afterward, when they've already committed to something where users may or may not have had any input. This also why I published a column on the subject in Pro Sound News and an editorial in the Harmony Central Newsletter...I'm trolling for opinions.
 
Another reason I asked is because I DO think there is probably a way for subscription software to work, and there are enough smart people here I thought maybe someone would have a solution. I don't.   I expect that someday, some company will look at the subscription model with a fresh viewpoint and come up with something obvious and clever that will have users saying "Of course! Why didn't someone think of this before?!? This is great!"