Jim Roseberry
Magix is a large German software development company.
They do far more than create/sell DAW software... (Graphics, Web-Design, Video Editing, etc)
Just bought Vegas from Sony... so I doubt they're in financial trouble.
Gibson is half a *billion* in debt!  Boggles the mind as to how that was allowed to happen...
 
IMO, Samplitude's Object based audio editing is still significantly more advanced than most other DAW applications.
The one exception being Reaper (with its Item based editing - which was "cherry-picked" from Samplitude). 
The MIDI side of Samp isn't as advanced as Cubase, but the Piano Roll is nice... and the notation is decent.
I prefer Sonar's GUI, but I can get around Samplitude pretty easily (wrote the English users manual for a earlier version of Samplitude 2496).
One thing I miss in Samplitude (vs Sonar Platinum) is Track Templates.
Simple feature... but what a time-saver
 
Performance wise, I don't think Samplitude is particularly inefficient.
They implemented a Read-Ahead Performance Cache a *long* time ago... and that dramatically increased performance.  Reaper is the most CPU efficient DAW application.  Sonar Platinum is one of the more efficient DAWs.
By comparison, I find Samplitude's performance to be middle-of-the-road.
Much more efficient than Live (albeit Live's audio engine is focused on other priorities like Warping audio)
 
If you're a long time Sonar user, no matter which DAW you choose to be your new #1, you're going to make some compromises.  There will be some things you love (gap-less audio engine)... and others that'll leave you scratching your head (no Track Templates).
All the current major DAW applications are capable of amazing results.
It's just a matter of finding the one whose "compromises" best suit your situation. 
 

Hey Jim, long time no see. I'm still using the two M-Audio Delta 2496 cards I bought to run on separate Windows 98SE machines, one running Sonar and the other running GigaStudio and Purrrfect Drums that I bought from you so many moons ago.
 
I use both those Delta 2496 cards in my single Win7 64-Bit machine now with REAPER, and spend all my time recording music, and not working on chasing some issue with my DAW. You mentioned CPU efficiency. I run more than 100 plugins on my projects with a measly 2.66Ghz Intel i5 and Asus P7P55D based machine that I built 6 or 7 years ago.  Some day it will break and I'll be forced to build an upgraded machine. So is there a problem with cherry picking good stuff that other products have? I use clip based pitch correction through clip based envelopes when there is a stray flat or sharp note, and add effects to single clips to do things like make a solo stand out. Is that what you are referring to that REAPER cherry picked? Who did they steal editable notes on a staff from?  <G>
 

Hi Glennbo,
 
Been a good while... and it's nice to see you!
 
FWIW, I was one of the one's pushing the Reaper devs (years back) to "cherry-pick" the Object editor type features from Samplitude.    
So... I certainly don't think it's bad/wrong/etc.
 
My point above... was to mention that Reaper was the only other DAW application that had similar editing capability (and that it originated in Samplitude).
 
I've had Reaper playing a stress-test project (48-sample ASIO buffer size) where the CPU is running at 99%... and the audio played back glitch-free.  That's amazing.
 
My only "criticism" of Reaper is that is configurable almost to a fault... and I'm not crazy about the default UI.
Performance, function, and stability are all excellent.  Also great to see ARA is being implemented!
 
I've got most of the major PC DAW applications (including Reaper)... and there's a lot of like about all of them.
 
 

Jim Roseberry
Hi Glennbo,
 
Been a good while... and it's nice to see you!
 
FWIW, I was one of the one's pushing the Reaper devs (years back) to "cherry-pick" the Object editor type features from Samplitude.    
So... I certainly don't think it's bad/wrong/etc.
My point above... was to mention that Reaper was the only other DAW application that had similar editing capability (and that it originated in Samplitude).

 
Well feel free to push them to ripoff other things you like from all the DAWs you have at your disposal! 
I don't use it that much, but when I need clip level editing, I sure like it.
 

 
I've had Reaper playing a stress-test project (48-sample ASIO buffer size) where the CPU is running at 99%... and the audio played back glitch-free.  That's amazing.

 
It was REAPER's efficiency and stability that converted me from Sonar ten years ago.
 
Those are my #1 requirements in a DAW. I can't run 48 sample with my ancient M-Audio 2496 cards, but I do run them at 64 samples, and never ever change it from that, no matter how many tracks or plugins I have in a song.
 

My only "criticism" of Reaper is that is configurable almost to a fault... and I'm not crazy about the default UI.
Performance, function, and stability are all excellent.  Also great to see ARA is being implemented!

 
I'm not a fan of the stock theme. I use a modified version of White Tie's Imperial theme that has been sized down to fit on a single large monitor. When they release a version with ARA2, I may have to actually consider looking at Melodyne, although most of my projects are comprised of recorded performances that sounded good enough to consider them as "keeper" tracks to begin with, so post editing is not really used much.
 

I've got most of the major PC DAW applications (including Reaper)... and there's a lot of like about all of them.

I would expect nothing less. Before I retired at 59, I was doing software development and support, so I had every flavor of Windows and some Linux setup in my office so I could hands on any call I might get to troubleshoot.
 
Happy New Year!
 

200bpm
I was a Samplitude user and was on their upgrade train from 2005 til this past update when I switched to Sonar. 
 
I owned Pro Suite and had been paying their exorbitant update fees from Samp 7 through X1.  When they came out with  X3, I essentially "lost" all the investment I had made into their suite, and from an upgrade perspective, was lumped in with the lowly "classic" users who were on the lower product tier.  So I had already spent a couple grand and if I wanted X3 Pro Suite it would be something like another $400-500. (Same as if someone was upgrading from the low tier product.) The mentality was, "we are all pro users here, what is $500 for an upgrade?
 
My thoughts on this $149 pricing is that it's a cash grab before they close the doors. 
 
A little bit of history about the DAW. 
 
*10-15 years ago, it absolutely had the best sounding audio engine and audio editing of other DAWs.  It also had an attractive and professional UI.  Other DAWs have caught up and surpassed; very little has been done with the UI.  
 
*5 years ago, they undertook an OS X port and after a couple years of work, they announced that they were scrapping that project and would remain Windows only.  
 
* MAGIX had software distribution in major box stores, you could buy their products at Best Buy.  They also had a dedicated pro broadcast audience from prior decade.  Essentially they were selling cheap products and high end pro products.  I don't know if that business model works today. ( The consumer $49 version was actually a mildly scaled down version of Samp and you could absolutely produce music with it, as long as you didn't need advanced audio editing.)
 
*The online community is about 1/20th the size of Sonars.  Infrequent posts often take days to weeks for anyone to respond.
 
*Samplitude is a "heavy" app and runs fewer instances of a plugin than does Sonar.
 
In summary, while they were in the lead in some important areas, the impression was that each upgrade release represented relatively little work.  There would be a few new internal features, but the UI largely stayed the same, and the fiddly nature never changed.
 
This is a warning to those considering the upgrade.  To fresh eyes, it may seem vibrant and new, but having been with it for years, the feeling (I had) was that it's dying.  I don't see anything about it that would save it from Cakewalk's fate. 
 
 
 
 

Well, I'm new to Samplitude, only had it about a month, but... 'Samplitude is a "heavy" app and runs fewer instances of a plugin than does Sonar.' I have found it the opposite and more capable than Sonar so far when it comes to bogging down with plugins.
 
I don't think Samplitude is going to disappear anytime soon. Magix is huge, and apparently, they have recently taken on more developers to move things forward faster. I have been a Magix customer for many years and what I would say is that their marketing for Samplitude seems to be pretty crap. I ignored it for years without ever even trying it because I assumed it was an overpriced piece of junk. I only went for this deal to get SpectralLayers mainly, but I installed Samplitude and tried it out and ended up loving it!
 
I was worried about the cost of staying up to date, but I was told they do have deals like this one every so often and usually around this time of year. I guess they get more business out of deals like this for less than the cost of a big marketing campaign.

I was heavily "studing" Magix during those dayz and it appears that the make it smart ...
 
The have diffrent product from large populatin target to real pro 'strenght number one"
Second is that the diversity of stuff : i just bought web designer for making my webdsite and might buy their photo editing stuff cause photoshop plan is a reap off nowdayz ...
 
i had a look at the soundforge 12 studio thing and i do think they're going that road for all their products , basically i bought webdesigner bu i know it's gonna be all xara soon , what i think is that for samplitude / soundforge and spectral pro , they gonna do major lifting and those prices are to have a solid user base to then offer upgrades !!
 
The question is buy now uprades later , or wait for next versions discount ...
 
At this stage i don't see myself using samplitude , same for reaper , those 2 daws are the most powerfull alternative i've found, but when i put off my technical engineer hat to wear my producer one , those 2 have a decade of enhacment when it come to interface and workflow .... the guyz focus on engines and make porshes that are not pleasant to drive , no need to have porshe or ferrari technology if driving those is a pain 

Zo, yes you are right. I suspect 90% of creatives have bought some Magix software at some point. Xara Photo & Graphic designer is just great and I was really tempted to get that a few years ago. I got it with the Vegas Humble Bundle deal a couple weeks ago but haven't had a chance to use it yet. I have used Paintshop Pro and Illustrator (always had problems with Photoshop) for years.
 
I think you are right that they are plowing new efforts into their audio software including the software they just acquired from Sony. I think their marketing strategy with Samplitude over xmas has been very shrewd - instead of the huge cost of a marketing campaign, spend the money on a hugely discounted deal. I personally predict that the upgrade path will be affordable for a while though (via special deals if we wait) because they will be making some step changes to modernize and align all their products and we will ultimately be the testers.
 
As far as Samplitude goes, I have found it to be absolutely a great fit for my workflow. I am loving it and it behaves so well on my system. It is a very strong bit of software and I had never considered it before.

Am I correct in thinking that the Independence sampler (the 70 gig version that takes millennia to download) that is part of the $149 Samplitude Pro X3 suite CANNOT be used in other DAWS i.e. it is locked to Samplitude only? This limitation does not seem clear from any of the documentation or literature available from the MAGIX website

Yes, the bundled Independence may only be used in Samplitude. In fact, the VST scanner in SoundForge failed because it could not handle the 32bit Independence dll. I had to rename the file to get SF11 (or SF10) to scan properly. Fortunately, the other DAWs I have did not complain about the 64bit Independence dll but I did hide the synth from threm.

exitthelemming
Am I correct in thinking that the Independence sampler (the 70 gig version that takes millennia to download) that is part of the $149 Samplitude Pro X3 suite CANNOT be used in other DAWS i.e. it is locked to Samplitude only? This limitation does not seem clear from any of the documentation or literature available from the MAGIX website

The bundled one is locked to Samplitude. But you can buy it if you want to use it elsewhere.

Many thanks for the responses. I guess it would be churlish to bemoan the limited availability of this particular vsti given the eye-watering value that the whole $149 package represents. (I want it all for even less than the very little I'm being asked....}