I am completely against a subscription only model. Quite a few times I had serious problems trying to stop an auto-pay subscription. What comes after the subscription model ? a cloud based Sonar? Steam only? How many people like what Adobe did? All the Adobe users I know are still using CS5.
When I buy something I like to own it.
I think I might stick with X3e or the final version prior to implementation of the subscription model.
One of the nice things now about Sonar is the licensing is essentially on the honor system rather than physical dongles or some complicated web-based dongle.
I am not sure if subscription would affect updates in a positive manner. Updates should not be rushed to meet a schedule because subscribers are expecting an update periodically.
If Cakewalk thinks subscription would attract new users, fine but implement it as an alternate purchasing option.

Dead against a subscription model. If I felt happy with a particular version and didn't wish to upgrade to the very latest, I would then be bound to be forever paying for something that i would much rather own outright.  

koikane
Thinking of upgrading to X from 8.5 but leary if a new verision is on the horizon.

Hello koikane , I thought I might talk w you on your original intended question …
I stayed on 6 PE for a real long time before I made the jump to X3 PE …that was due to the reason that I needed to upgrade my computer and OS to be able to run X3 …
 
I'm no expert ,  but it looks like the machine in your sig will be able to run X3 ...
 
May I sugest to you that if you haven't already done so yet , it may be a very good idea to give the X3 demo a whirl
this may  help get you up to speed on what has changed since SONAR 8.5 …  
 
http://www.cakewalk.com/Products/SONAR/Web-Trial 
 
the demo gives you 30 days …
considering the current time line here in SONAR LAND ….a lot can happen in the next 30 days 
then you can take it from there as to which version of SONAR X you will upgrade too   ..
the bird in the hand ? or the bird in the bush ?
 
all the best ,  
Kenny
 

Kenny:
 
Nice idea on the 30-day demo. Also, until October 31st, you can get 33% off Sonar X3 in the Cakewalk store. Of course, this is probably the first sign that X4 is right around the corner.

Jonness
Kenny:
 
Nice idea on the 30-day demo. Also, until October 31st, you can get 33% off Sonar X3 in the Cakewalk store. Of course, this is probably the first sign that X4 is right around the corner.

Hi Jonness , welcome to the forum  , also  thanks for the kind word 
Yes, one nice thing about getting the demo is it gives someone the opportunity to get acquainted with the X way of doing things ..
a person can follow along and learn a good deal of what is being featured in a number of these videos ...
 
http://www.cakewalk.com/CakeTV/SONAR-University/Get-Started 
 
http://www.cakewalk.com/CakeTV/SONAR-University/Go-Deeper
 
http://www.cakewalk.com/CakeTV/SONAR-University/Master-Class 
 
Kenny 

TomHelvey
I've been a Cakewalk user for more than a decade and upgraded regularly whenever new versions came out. If Cakewalk moved to a subscription model, that's the last they'd ever hear from me. I refuse to use any DAW that doesn't provide a perpetual license model. Dongles are annoying enough, having software call home to see if it's still licensed is even worse. Subscription licensing is probably the single worst thing Cakewalk could possibly do and would most likely cause them to lose the majority of their loyal customers.

I totally agree! I used to upgrade Adobe products, Photoshop, Dreamweaver (The whole creative suite), but have not sent them a dime since they changed to a subscription model.
 
As far as Dongles, when I was looking for a new DAW (my last one, a few years ago, was on an Amiga), I narrowed it down to Cubase and Sonar. As soon as I realized Cubase required a Dongle, it was gone! I also refuse to purchase any plug-ins that use iLok.
 
Walt

Since this has turned into a subscription thread, what about this? What if Cakewalk offered Music Creator and other DAWs on a subscription basis but once you move to X3 or X whatever Producer, TOTL software... the subscription model goes away and you just buy it and own it like always.
FWIW, I am not in favor of a subscription model but I don't think I'd leave right away. I definitely would NOT do a monthly. If it goes monthly, I'll need to move on. I pay for a few other things by the month like Spotify, Wolfgang's Vault, and for a few months Groove3, and they are enough.
Plus there is the thing about people cancelling the subscription, there will be a high potential for disagreements over when one can cancel, when one did cancel, there will be credit card disputes, etc. This is not as large of a customer base as some other subscription based services and I think it would be much more trouble than it would be worth. Maybe someone in accounting has calculated that they will add more than enough people with a subscription model to compensate for the people they will lose. If it comes down to numbers people making the decision, what we think wont matter. It could be a "New Coke" moment for Cakewalk. I think it is too much risk for the possible return. It is too soon after shocking too many people with Skylight etc, which I like, but I know everyone remembers the mixed reactions to the X series.
 
Another thing I noticed on the questionnaire was adding a rollback feature. It sounded good at first but after thinking it over, I really think Cakewalk would be shooting themselves in the foot if they added it. I'd say create the ability and if some update is ever so bad that it really needs it, then offer it as a D/L. Otherwise too many people would bail without really trying to get used to something. IMO. I see no need for a rollback for a new version if you keep your previous version (or two) until you're sure you don't need them but I suppose the rollback would just be for patches that turn out to cause trouble, I don't really know, but I think it would be potentially more of a problem than a help. It would add a whole new variable into the mix. I could be wrong though.
 
C'est la Vie,
J

Well, this is quite interesting. So, here's another option: $399 for a perpetual license as a choice. That should still be fine along with the subscription options. But here's a thought some of you may not really be considering: If you use Google, Dropbox, Netflix, etc. you're using a subscription-based service. Obviously a few of them offer free services for minimal use, but when you use it for business, you might upgrade to a subscription model so that you don't have to worry as much about your upgrade path and such. And yeah, no more dongles.
 
The trouble (or coolness) of subscription models is this: We'll be there one day. At some point in the future, it stands to be that your PC will be in a cloud, although the DAW industry will trail way behind this trend. But really, we are subscribing to Sonar anyway, perpetual license or not. Once the hardware and OS dictates the older software is no longer supported, you'll upgrade to the next version. And yes, Cakewalk does offer great discounts on upgrades.
 
I used to think perpetual licensing was better, but when you really dig into the way we typically use the software, subscription models aren't always so bad. Not a great thing here for Cakewalk, but say you decide Sonar isn't for you anymore? What if you're so infuriated by something in Sonar that a competing product does better? You can end/pause your subscription with Cakewalk and start/resume your subscription with another company. Then decide, "Nah, Sonar was really better." You can decide that without having to spend hundreds to own both products, or juggling trial versions that no longer work without re-installing your OS. Or say, you receive a session that is not native to Sonar to mix for a month. You can go away and come back. Or subscribe to both. How's that?
 
For businesses looking to save $$, renting software/hardware is far better. For example, I'm moving my company over to Google Apps from Zimbra. No more do we have to upgrade/manage the hardware, or upgrading the software, certificates, licenses, or spam. Those go to Google Apps for Business at $5/mo. per user. AND, Google can update the service/app on the fly for us! Obviously that last part doesn't apply here, but having free upgrades for life in the subscription model would be nice!
 
So, let's add perpetual as an option. No harm done. It's not something the software should really care about. Activating the perpetual license disables the licensing checker, and disables the upgrade path. Solved.

If sonar goes subscription model x3e forever then :) this isn't some video or radio service it's a digital audio workstation,there would be no good reason to have a business model like that,if there seriously considering a move like that there being foolish,all the money they would generate after that is curious passer by people.I for one would no longer consider sonar a professional DAW nor would I speak of it as such.if they want to remain respected in the music world then I hope this is a joke.

I really doubt it will happen. I can't see the benefits either for the consumer and or Cakewalk..

Yes a rollback feature for patches would be nice and perfectly doable, I suspect the cloud will handle that.