Does not support SYS EX

igiwigi
Does not support SYS EX

Digital Performer does. Any info on how is the state of things with the Windows version?

BTW - can anyone tell me how to set up email notifications here? I've set it up to send me an email whenever anyone replies to a thread I'm subscribed to - but it just doesn't work
 
I do get notified if another member marks my post as helpful - but not if someone simply replies to a post 

We buy software online much of which is expensive all is contract to license and at the end of the day if this happens we have no protection, if we move somewhere else this could happen again and therefore we should be more selective and careful on what we buy, do I really need that plugin etc. I think myself am going to carry on using this DAW as long as I can we still have lots of equipment at our disposal, concentrate more on my music and when eventually this DAW goes out of date see whose left on the market

jtendero@powerup.com.au
Studio One 3, the full version supports VSTs both ver 2 and 3. And it is available cheaply for Sonar users as a crossgrade. Studio One Artist is the low frills version.

The "low frills version" of almost any DAW, including Music Creator, by Cakewalk, supports VST...
And S1 Artist is not the lower one from Presonus, it is like Sonar Professional, "middle" edition.

Everyday, I take a look at this topic, just to see if some little bit of reason reach the guys in charge of this issue at Gibson... I am still shocked how they just threw away one of the best music programs of all time, like that... How they let things get to this point...

Anyone notice how the forum registered users gained about 3000 users in the last three weeks or so?

I was STUNNED when I saw the posted message a few weeks ago, I'd been inactive on the forums.
 
I've used CW SW since I bought it from Greg Hendershot on floppies; back in the day when he was a one man show.  I can't believe that Gibson would just walk away from this instead of sell it, there must be a tax advantage. 
 
I took advantage of the cross-grades offered by two competitors and I'm scoping them out. 

• I've been using Samplitude since it was "Red Roaster" but only to master CDs, not as my DAW.  So, that one has been upgraded to the latest and we'll see how I like it for multi-tracking, etc. 
• I upgraded from the Studio One Artist that came with my mixers (that I never used) to Studio One 3 Professional.

Of the two, Samplitude seems the most powerful overall, given it is essentially the same program as Sequoia that makes sense. But, Studio One is "prettier" in the GUI department and feels more intuitive.
 
However, the jury is still out, and will be out for a long time due to my day job, kids, mortgage, reality.  Why? I can buy ten cross-grades if need be, but I cannot buy TIME to learn to drive them and set up templates, etc ... Given that I just get little holes here and there to "play" it was great to have a tool like SONAR that I knew so well in my kit bag. 
 
I'm left wondering if I should take my 20+ years of CW audio projects and export them as waves per track before they are un-openable. Hmmm ... That would take time, so it's not happening. I'll keep my old DAW PC around and will do that after I retire in 5 or 6 years. 

I will be running Sonar for a long, long time. I have added  3 others DAWs in my toolset, (already had DP9.5).
There is way to much be re-learning outside of Sonar. I don`t have that time available to
spend years mastering a new set of tools. So for a while, Sonar is still home for me.
The other DAWs have their strong points, but I know Sonar very well.
 
Happy New year to all of you. 
I have truly enjoyed reading everyone`s comments.  Many were so very helpful and fun. 
I hope Sonar re-surfaces somewhere.
 
The talent that went into it`s creation since conception from the 80`s until now, was inspiring to see from it`s humble
beginnings as a midi sequencer, to a full-up Audio DAW. There are times a "classic" is born, 
such as Sonar Platinum.   
Have wonderful year, to everyone.
DB 

michael diemer

sharke

disdisley
i've only just found out 
why was we not informed ????
who will refund my purchases for plug ins and so on i've brought over the last month ?
and now i can not upgrade 
this is criminal scamming 

Question: are the plugins you bought locked into Sonar or can you use them in other DAW's? If you can use them in other DAW's then you absolutely most certainly did not get ripped off and no refunds are forthcoming. Even if they are only usable in Sonar, then I didn't read the part where your copy of Sonar has become disabled and you are no longer able to make music with it. 
 
Honesty people need to calm down with the drama. 
 
It seems like comments have sorted themselves into two camps. On the one hand you have the "Let me first say that I've used Cakewalk since the DOS floppy days, in fact here's a photo of my discs...." type posts, on the other you have "F&#^#^$! This is a scam and a ripoff and so help me god I will unleash the full fury of a UN taskforce upon Cakewalk and Gibson if they do not refund me in full and apologize for going out of business!" 

There are two reasons people are upset. First, they're upset about feeling like they got ripped off with the now obviously bogus lifetime update scheme. Who wouldn't be? But there's nothing to be done about that; they were taken advantage of by a company desperate to stay in business. Nothing to be done about that but accept it and move on. No class action suit is going to be filed. 
 
Second, people are upset about the loss of a great software program, which did not have to happen. and should not have happened. Cakewalk should not have been sacrificed to help stave off what may be inevitable bankruptcy by Gibson. That was uncalled for. The loyal customers should not suffer because of their poor management. Unfortunately, while highly unethical, there is also nothing illegal here either. So, again, only thing to do is accept it and move on. Or, stay with your favorite stable version of sonar as long as you can. 
 
I don't think anyone gains by being ridiculed for their legitimate feelings about what has happened. If it doesn't bother you, fine, say so. but don't put the rest of us down because we may have a different reaction. The thing about people is, we're not all the same. Everyone's are feelings are just as valid as yours. It would be a boring world if we were all robots which always reacted in the same predictable way. 

First of all, the lifetime update offer was not "obviously bogus." Nobody in their right mind would ever think the offer meant updates for the remainder of their own lifetime. Unfortunately, from reading online threads about Cakewalk's demise, it seems that there are a surprising number of people who aren't in their right mind. The offer was clearly intended to give the participants updates for as long as Sonar was being developed. Companies go out of business. Therefore, anyone paying for lifetime offers was knowingly taking a risk. I didn't read the small print on the offer and I'm guessing very few people did - but I'm willing to bet that it stated the terms of this "lifetime offer" in very clear, unambiguous legal terms. We weren't ripped off by the offer, it's as simple as that. 
 
All companies will do whatever it takes to stay in business. No company is going to come out and say "folks, we're on the brink of bankruptcy" to their customers, not as long as there's a chance to turn things around. Doing so would cause everyone to get cold feet and abandon ship, almost guaranteeing immediate bankruptcy. Lifetime updates was floated as a plan to reverse Cakewalk's fortunes, and the idea was likely floated with the best of intentions - nobody intended to go out of business and nobody intended to rip anyone off. 
 
Any feeling could be described as "legitimate" simply by virtue of it having been felt by someone. The trouble is that feelings are frequently not based upon objective fact, or reasonable trains of thought, or even a rational set of values. For example, people "mourning" the loss of Sonar and acting like some tremendous tragedy has been inflicted upon them need to get a grip of their lives. You only have to turn on the news to realize how pathetic it is. Here in New York the other day there was an apartment fire which wiped out 12 people, some of them kids. When I read stories like that and then go online and read some of the self-centered, melodramatic rants people are posting about the news that some dispensable, replaceable piece of software will no longer receive updates, it kind of annoys me. I guess my feelings are legitimate too, yes? 
 
The bottom line is that Sonar was nowhere near popular enough to justify the development cost. And that's not Gibson's fault.