I for one will be a lost customer if X3 comes out before or instead of an X2b. I won't pay for bug fixes, since I already paid for a product that was intended to be free of bugs. I'm trying out Cubase 7 this weekend and give it a real go since I haven't touched the product since version 4 or 5, and to prepare for X3 in lieu of X2b, but I'm still hopeful.  
 
Cakewalk, if you're reading this, I'm sincerely hoping you'll change your mind about your opacity and give us X2b next. Thanks!

I don't usually chime in on these topics, but to be fair, If they're really working hard on making the next offering right and are fixing the major bugs, no matter what it's called, they deserve our patience. Yes it would be great if someone was keeping us abreast on the progress but I doubt seriously that their silence is a result of dissing us or being callused to our needs.
 
Steve

Im so glad i still have my X1b and not upgraded to X2 ;-)
Atleast it works fairly good, and as long i can do what's needed, there is no reason
for me buying a new midi / audio software.

As we can not sell, or transfer the licence, we are stuck with it, sorry no refund's guy's !
So when we need to buy the same program, cause they  upgraded it 
to let's say X3. Then you have tossed the $$$ for X2
right out the window, into the big blue ocean.

For me i can certainly not, spend all that cash for nothing.
Off course someone has more $$$ they can spend, but still..
I think the Industry has became to concerned, how to make more $$$ !
and less support, if not at all.
that is atleast for me a concern, i dont say that Cake is, but many company's do !

I must say i feel with the ppl, that have issues with theyr DAW's.

So ill wait for the X3 and wait some more to see, how it will perform.

Maybe an free X3 for all the users of X2, as an band-aid on the wound, would be nice !
Hey CAKE you listening !  ( me jokes a bit, cause im to boored..  ;-)

soens
 Yes it would be great if someone was keeping us abreast on the progress but I doubt seriously that their silence is a result of dissing us or being callused to our needs.
 

If they do not publish open and fixed issues, they miss the feedback from users. Just look at Cockos Reaper or Steinberg Cubase forums how active their users are and how fast the bugs are fixed. Cakewalk acts like a company from the last century and they do not realise that it is year 2013 now and the SW development has changed a lot. The frequent bug fixes together with active  users feedback are just the industry standard now. But, as I said before, it looks like, the Cakewalk is run only by marketing department and marketing department does not like bug fixes, their like new releases, new product advertisement, new promotional videos, new interviews and new third party plugins with nice GUI.

It used to be that the beta testers would keep a close eye on the forums and alert development to the issues popping up. As beta testers issues were reported, some just got passed up and not pursued. The easy squeaky wheel got the grease most of the time. When the wheel fell off completely, that always got attention.

Ever since Roland bought Twelve Tone, it has gone downhill IMO. I am sorry I upgraded to X2 and may not get X3 since 8.5/X1 does what I need. They would have to offer a free or steep discount for X2 users to upgrade to X3 for me to get on board with that absent an X2b update.

soens
I don't usually chime in on these topics, but to be fair, If they're really working hard on making the next offering right and are fixing the major bugs, no matter what it's called, they deserve our patience. Yes it would be great if someone was keeping us abreast on the progress but I doubt seriously that their silence is a result of dissing us or being callused to our needs.
 
Steve

That is a fair assessment, but the culprit usually is rooted in cost. As a customer, my perception is that Cakewalk's development team is understaffed. I'm sure they're not dissing us or being callous, and they do take great pride in their work. I believe the bakers have a job more challenging than anything I've ever done in my career as a Network Engineer. However, I do believe they are heavily driven in priorities due to the lack of resources and time. I know exactly what that feels like. I managed an Engineering team for 4 years, and that was our biggest challenge (meeting priorities with little cashflow and constant overtime with no light at the end of the tunnel). I don't think Cakewalk is ignoring us, but I did want to point out how transparent Steinberg was on their own forum. I was thoroughly impressed! You have to have time and resources to gain that.
 
I'm a very patient guy. In fact, I have recommended in several threads that I don't want to see X2b hit us until it's darn well good and ready. My concern is that I don't want the "fixes" to simply be rolled up into an X3 (a paid upgrade) bundled with new features that could (and likely would) present their own new bugs and issues.
 
More, I would pay for X2b. I'm contradicting myself here on the surface, but my point is, I would pay for X2b to be filled entirely of fixed and efficiency improvements, right alongside re-engineering Take Lanes and Zooming. I don't want to pay for these things to appear in X3 bundled with a bunch of other "things" I don't know I need yet.
 
If I have a voice on where my money goes, X2b, and I'll pay for it gladly. I wished X2a would have fixed all our issues, but that wasn't the case, and in fact for me, it subtracted some performance, but that being said, I'd pay $99 for X2b to not have to sink $699 in Cubase 7, which is a likely move if X3 comes next. We like it to be great, but even 1,000 features that rule are all shot down if the framework is iffy and causes cursidents.
 
I hope this clears the air a little from my perspective.
 
 

The current CEO is the former head of Marketing
Hth

One additional comment here about X2b, and I'll accept being ostracized for saying this, but for some companies, such as Waves for example, there's an update plan you get with the purchase of a new plug-in. When you buy it, the plug-in includes the update plan for about a year. Should Waves update the product, you get the update/upgrade for free during that time-period. If you let that update plan expire, you'll need to purchase any updates made to the product, and/or renew the plan. I don't like the idea, personally, but I now see the benefits.
 
What this does is not only protect your investment, but keeps a cash-flow coming in at Waves even when all plug-ins have basically been sold, and customers no longer need to purchase new plug-ins. In the case of Cakewalk, revenue is generated only by sales, not support. That's not a very predictable model, and innovation or fixes are harder to justify in expense, especially the longer sales have diminished for the flagship product.
 
I will go on to say that Waves blew my mind when I had a support guy work with me at almost midnight on a Friday from his home to fix an issue I had with Sonar crashes while using Waves plug-ins. However, I scheduled the time with the tech, he called me on my mobile, and he did all the work. All I had to do was sit back and watch. That's what a support plan can do, folks, and I believe if you buy something big for $399 (Producer) you get what you pay for, and the fact that Cakewalk even supports it for free is a challenge. If it were more expensive, or we paid for a support plan, Cakewalk could justify spending the resource hours to better support and more brains in seats to get this stuff under better testing. I think they do what they can with what they have.
 

brconflict
In the case of Cakewalk, revenue is generated only by sales, not support. That's not a very predictable model, and innovation or fixes are harder to justify in expense, especially the longer sales have diminished for the flagship product.

Usually the minor updates and bug fixes are free (Cockos Reaper, Steinberg Cubase, etc. ) and major updates are paid. There is one exception, Image-line Fruity Loops has lifetime free updates and it is one of the most popular DAW.
 

True, but Fruity Loops doesn't do a whole lot in comparison.