Can I say for the record that I'm completely opposed to that "no new features til they fix all the bugs" thing? I want both, thanks.

I want what John T wants.

And I want to pass The Beagle in post count.

One is most likely more feasible than the other. 

Whether it's an X2 product, or an X1 extension / patch is, I think, largely immaterial. Either one will be an improvement upon and evolution of what we have now. So the only thing that matters is that there continues to be a good value for money proposition. X2 / X1e/f/g is really just the wrapper the proposition comes in.

I agree with John on both of his points actually.  


I am assuming when I say this, but I would guess there are separate groups of developers, ones that work on new Plug Ins, those who make repairs to X1, and those that are developing X1/ X2 for the future.  If something was to be called X2 and coming out in December, I am assuming that it is and has been worked on for a while now.  


Again, these are only assumptions on my part, but if a developer was busy working on fixes to X1, it would be hard for him to find time to focus and work on plug ins and new developments at the same time.  I think they will continue to develop the base program and continue to offer new instruments and plug ins.  Seems that what has changed is they will be more ala carte.

Makeshift,

You can be pretty sure that an audio-engine programmer and a plug-in programmer are not the same person. Programming has specialties and occasionally you can have a person who is capable of both but it is rare in an organization to have any one person actually do both.

Just my opinion as a software developer for just shy of 35 years having worked in multiple of software development environments. 

Yep, I have many friends and a brother that programs as well.  I suspect that they are divided into teams with Project Managers or team leaders and have specific goals and deadlines just like any other programing company.  They make many of their decisions on what they will work on well in advance of it rolling out.  These threads are fun to speculate on, but much of the direction and work has, in my assumption, been set.

I too would like Expanded and all the other plugs wrapped into one product called Producer.

John T


Can I say for the record that I'm completely opposed to that "no new features til they fix all the bugs" thing? I want both, thanks.

Amen to that.  If Microsoft had taken that approach, we'd all still be on Windows ME.  They'd still be bug-fixing that abortion of an OS.

Don't forget that an X-1 expanded now is over 800 dollar I think. So the total price of the new product will rise?

I hope PE stays where it is. I have nothing against Expanded. And like the modules they offer. Would love a LA2A plugin myself. But I can get by with what I currently have. Just hate the troubles lately with X1D.

Muziekschuur at home


Don't forget that an X-1 expanded now is over 800 dollar I think. So the total price of the new product will rise?

I hope PE stays where it is. I have nothing against Expanded. And like the modules they offer. Would love a LA2A plugin myself. But I can get by with what I currently have. Just hate the troubles lately with X1D.

You might want to get the Waves CLA-2A alone for $135 or less. They are now x64 too and no iLoks or anything. No need to run through bitbridge.

OK, here's my answer to my own question... I think they should stick with X1 and keep building upon it until more users and non users make it their favorite go to DAW. What is Pro Tools, Studio One 2, Cubase, FL Studio and even Reaper? X1 should be on everyone's radar. The updates really help and so does adding an upgrade option like Expanded and the modules to go along with it. I think it's safe to say that X1 will always be Essential, Studio, Producer and Expanded. And I no longer mind that it's a step up from Producer like I did in the past. The name just sticks like chewing gum and has a nice sound to it, "Sonar X1 Expanded". What I also think they ought to do is add more features to Expanded to get more users onto Expanded along with the great promotions they run. Initially, I didn't think much about Expanded and didn't buy into it because of the few features it offered. But it had synth replace and FX Chains that I wanted to eventually check out. I do want them to add more cool features since it does cost half of what the Producer upgrade is going for and the modules also cost $49 or more a piece. So getting onto Expanded does cost a lot more and especially adding those modules. I didn't have to buy it but eventually I bought into it. So that will probably happen when X2 comes around but I hope it doesn't come around by end of the year. Usually people look forward to new and improved products and technology, but this is one case where I rather prefer they stick with what they have and just improve upon it some more. And it being software, makes it possible and accessible to users. And with Expanded, it actually has helped prolong X1's life cycle. So therefor if they keep Expanding and Expanding... and keep on pushing it, X1 will be around much longer and more updates will follow that address the remaining bugs while improving upon X1 overall. This didn't happen to any previous version of Sonar, that is why 6, 7, 8 and even 8.5 will always have their bugs that will never be fixed along with features that felt were never finished like V-vocal, Beatscape, Matrix View, Staff view, etc. So X1 is really the best of the bunch and is still the current flagship product but more can be ironed out or added to make it everyone's favorite go to DAW.