"SONAR X1 Loyalty Upgrade is back for a limited-ti​me" ? What should I do ?

I'm a happy 8.5 PE user... I know how to use it, and I've produced a lot of critically aclaimed music using 8.5-PE... I also have several project in the works, and more than a few clients waiting in line for session time...
 
Why should I upgrade now?
Is X1-B right for me, or should I wait for X1-C ?
Should I avoid X-1 altogether, and continue with what works ?
 
Any serious insight and advice on this matter would be very much appreciated...

Personally its worth the upgrade, X1 is pretty much rock solid now, well for me anyway, not perfect but pretty damn good. I'm glad I upgraded when it first came out despite all the bugs, its given me time to learn the new work flow and I'm eagerly awaiting X1c which from what I understand includes all bug fixes, patches and some new things all in one installer:-)

notnat


I'm a happy 8.5 PE user... I know how to use it, and I've produced a lot of critically aclaimed music using 8.5-PE... I also have several project in the works, and more than a few clients waiting in line for session time...
 
Why should I upgrade now?
Is X1-B right for me, or should I wait for X1-C ?
Should I avoid X-1 altogether, and continue with what works ?
 
Any serious insight and advice on this matter would be very much appreciated...

You are going to get all the patches and hotfixes so that includes X1a, X1b, and X1c. There is a trial available as well if you want to test drive it and see how you like it.

Well, I never thought I would spend all the money and time to change all the work machines here at the studio. I took over two years to get all the UAD stuff and Sonar to play nice together and Im a big fan of what works, dont fix it! 
 
That being said, we finally took the plunge and upgraded all the machines from our trusty XP Pro and Sonar 8.5.3 all the way to Win 7 64 bit and Sonar X1a then X1b. Yikes, big change at first and It was a bit of a learning curve to say the least. But the result is this:

Once you have spent some time learning how to use your new tools, the FX chains alone warrant the change I think.

Screen sets on a single monitor ( like our remote rigs use ) are a lifesaver.
Finally having a decent mix buss compressor with the additional tools like the EQ and Tube Sat. is killer! Im using less of our GO TO plugs ( UAD ) than ever before. Of course, we still use the fav's like the LA2a, 1176, Pultects, Fairchild, ect but, the addition of the Pro channel makes the bulk of the overall mix MUCH either to grapple with in a production environment.
Skylite is a joy to work with on a multiple monitor system.
The new browser system is VERY fast and convinient and you will change the way you have worked in the past because of it.

The caveats:
If you import an exisiting project from 8.5 into X1 expect some hickups for now. The Sonitus EQ can be disabled and the new EQ enabled by 'cntl+click' on the new EQ power button and you will get a confirmation of the choice to replace it. But even after this, we have seen the new EQ plot become unresponsive at times.
In a 64 bit system, not all the FX in your possesion are gonna fly right now. Most will with Bit bridge and those that wont probably will with JBridge but even so, its gonna take some time to get every one on board.
Expect to see the "Teleport Not Responding" message from time to time, not a big deal as it dosnt take the project with it thank God!

The overall impression is a much more mature app with smart tools that work.  there are some quirks as with any new apps but most have fairly useable workarounds for now.
Every time you get a killer new piece of studio gear you are gonna spend time learning its strengths and weaknesses and this is no different. But when you do, your gonna have a faster and smarter work flow and stronger musical results in the end.

What's the loyalty upgrade,
 
I have not seen any notification.

notnat


Thank you FeatherLight for the post... 
 
Andrew... if I download and install the trial, and later decide to upgrade will I need to re-download everything?

also, will I still be able to continue using 8.5 on the same machine?

Frank - I'm not Andrew - and I don't know for certain, but I do believe you would still need to install the full version even after using the trial since the trial version does not have all functionality.
 
and to answer your second question, YES - you can still use 8.5 on the same machine.  I still have a couple of projects I am working on in 8.5 that I've not finished yet but don't want to move into X1 because of plugins.  I'm using GR3 in 8.5 on a couple of projects and since X1PE comes with GR4 which is 64bit, and because GR3 doesn't work in 64bit sonar, I want to finish those projects in 8.5 using GR3 without having to re-do them all in GR4 in X164bit.  so yes, 8.5 runs fine with X1 installed.

chuckebaby


ive had very little problems from the begining..so i guess it sounds like its a craps shoot to me..which i find simply amazing.
 a product costing as much as it does and seems like it works for some and not others...but like i said its been a work horse for me with very minoot issues.
i will say this though...sometimes it acts very strange..for instance something wont work..then i close the operation re open it and it works fine..i guess thats my only issue with it..its not predictable..but im not talking project ending/song stopping/my work is ruined..im talking a few minutes delay here and there..but not all the time

Wow.  If your ONLY problem is that the program is so squirrly that you have to shut it down and reboot it to see if maybe it works this time...and you consider that to be "very little problems"....

Or that "it's not predictable"....and THAT'S your only problem....

Then I guess we're using a different yard stick.
 
I'm not doggin' on you, Charlie, but those seem like huge problems to me.