Dear Chums,
 
I have owned Sonar 8.5 for a couple of years now and have only recently got round to using it. I have noticed that Cakewalk has a bit of a sale on at the moment:
 
http://www.store.cakewalk.com/b2cgbp/category.aspx?categoryID=47&cat=47&utm_source=bronto&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Image+-+100-20+sale&utm_content=Now+Over+100+Products+Under+%2420+-+Free+drum+kit+and+20%25+off+SONAR+X2+Producer&utm_campaign=May+28+2013+-+SONAR
 
Consequently I was thinking about buying some add-ons such as Steinway Pianos and some of the Digital sound factory volumes. Being a bit a novice I am not sure how compatible some of these packages are with my software so any advice would be welcome. Additionally, I think I would like to have Session Drummer 3 and True Pianos, is it possible to upgrade to these packages or even just do a straight upgrade to Producer?
 
many thanks
 
Bomber

You won't be able to upgrade to Producer if what you have is Studio. That's long gone, your upgrade path would be to X2 now. 

But there must be a way to purchase true pianos and session drummer 3. I'd either ask Cakewalk or google those questions. 

Session Drummer 3 continues to be a SONAR Producer exclusive, Session Drummer 2 is the only version for sale at the CW store. Truepianos is a third party plug-in http://www.truepianos.com/ If you own a version of SONAR that inucludes Truepianos Amber the vendor offers a discount for the full product.

Thanks for the replies folks, what about Steinway Pianos and some of the Digital sound factory volumes as offered in the link?

cheers

Bomber

If you're on 8.5 and you don't already have some suitable sample libraries, the Studio Instruments package is a good deal for $20. The strings are acceptable for pop/rock backing pads if not orchestral film scores, and the bass is actually pretty good. I've not tried the other module. The Lounge Lizard instrument is also usable for 20 bucks, if you don't have anything like it already.